THE TAINTED TRUST (Volume 2 of The King Trilogy)

CHAPTER 67

         Zurich. Monday, April 16.

The tranquillity and serenity of a warm April afternoon on the balcony of Alfred Schnieder's lavish Zurich condominium was broken by the shrill sound of his telephone. Before he could extract himself from the comfort of his chair, his wife appeared in the opened sliding glass doorway. "It's for you, Alfred," she said, frowning to show her displeasure at the intrusion.

"Who is it?"

"He said his name is Mike King. He's calling from Toronto."

"I'll take it in the den," Schnieder said. He hoisted himself to a standing position, then shuffled to the den and lifted his ivory handled, gold trimmed receiver. "It's about time you called," he said with a raspy voice. "One of the simple pleasures an old man holds sacred is to hear from his friends occasionally. An interval of a decade is quite unacceptable."

"How are you, Alfred?"

"My cup runneth over. Were it not for this infernal arthritis, I would be as spry as you remember me...And how did you know where to reach me?"

"I called the Banco International Venezolano. Manuel Blanco gave me your number."

"That little snot could never keep a secret," Schnieder quipped. "He'll never be a successful banker...Manuel is well?"

"I don't know. There was no small talk."

"Tell me about Karen. She is well and has given you many children?"

"She is well and gave me a son, nine years ago."

"Only one. Such a tragedy...And Phillip? He is well?"

"Yes. He's a young man now. He'll be twenty next month," Mike said, rolling his eyes. "Actually, he's the reason I called. As you will no doubt recall, we placed all of the funds in his father's estate in a trust. Simultaneously, we..."

"Yes, I remember it well. We transferred ownership of the trust to an anstalt, to hide it from prying eyes. Did we achieve our objective?"

"The paperwork has stood the test of time."

"The arrangement with Louis Visconti has worked well?"

"It, too has stood the test of time. You might be interested to know the trust's value has grown to over six hundred million."

"A satisfactory performance, but not exactly what I would have expected from a man of his considerable talents."

"In fairness to him, our instructions to Louis were to be conservative and to preserve the capital."

"Good, then what can I do for you?"

"Karen and I have decided to dispose of the money, and we need your help, Alfred."

In addition to shocking Schnieder, Mike's announcement succeeded in offending his European and South American banking values. "Please be more specific. Perhaps I misunderstood. Maybe you want the funds moved to another country, or disguised in some more obscure fashion. You might consider moving the money to Switzerland. You should know that tax evasion is not a crime in this country and there is no restriction on currency movements. Banking secrecy here is protected by both civil and criminal law."

"Let me be very specific, Alfred. Karen and I want to give all of the money to charity, and we want to do it anonymously."

"Completely aside from the fact that I think what you are proposing to do is absurd and tantamount to insanity, I fail to understand why are you telling me?"

"We need your help in the disposition. We want you to be an intermediary. We think your role in the creation of the trust and your extensive banking experience makes you uniquely qualified for the job. Most importantly, we don't want anyone else to know we have the money."

"Thank you for the compliment. Is there is more to the job than simply acting as an intermediary?"

"No, but the transaction has to clean. It's absolutely imperative that there is no possibility of tracing the source."

"If I were to accomplish your objectives, what compensation did you have in mind?"

"Would one percent be satisfactory?"

Schnieder smiled as he calculated an opportunity to make the easiest six million he had ever made. Still well connected in European banking circles, he could achieve Mike's goal without leaving the comfort of his condominium. "Extremely generous...May I expect your offer in writing?" he asked.

"Nothing in writing, Alfred. Nothing. You do have my word, however. It's as good as a written contract. I've never screwed anyone in my life and I have no intention of starting now."

"Then I will be pleased to accept your assignment. When do you wish to proceed?"

"I'll call and let you know, very soon."

"Splendid. How may I contact you?"

"You can't. I'll call you."

"As you wish. Please convey my kindest regards to Karen."

"I'll do that," Mike said, then hung up the receiver of his car telephone. He rubbed his face with his hands and smiled. "Yes!" he shouted, clenching his fist, closing his eyes, and experiencing an enormous surge of relief. Soon he would, once and for all time, remove the ball and chain which had tormented his conscience for too long.