THE TAINTED TRUST (Volume 2 of The King Trilogy)

CHAPTER 83

         New York. Friday, August 31. Noon.

Kerri entered the luxurious offices of Mara, Griesdorf and Visconti. She headed straight for the reception desk.

As with most girls in Visconti's office, Alice Mancowitz, the receptionist, was very much aware of Kerri's relationship with Visconti. "Hi Kerri," she said with a big smile. "What brings you up here? As if I didn't know."

"To pick up the file. Miles wants it yesterday."

"What file?" Alice asked, embarrassed.

"It should be right here. Louis told me he would leave it at the reception desk before he left for the airport this morning."

Alice thumbed through the pile of envelopes and files on her desk. "Not here," she said, red faced and shaking her head. "Can you wait for an hour? Sue just left for lunch."

"I can't. Miles is going to have a coronary if I don't get it to him now. Louis promised he would give it to him two days ago...Maybe he left it on Sue's desk."

"I would get it for you, but I'm not supposed to leave this desk."

"Then I'll get it," Kerri offered.

Alice displayed a squeamish smile. "You really shouldn't, Kerri. I'm not supposed to..."

"Come on, Alice," Kerri prodded. "Just close your eyes. I'll be in and out of there in no time."

"Do it fast."

Kerri hurried to the filing cabinets behind Sue's desk and began a frantic search. Her heart pounded wildly as anxious minutes ticked by. She looked through drawer after drawer of files, desperately trying to find Visconti's account files.

Finally, under K, in the sixth drawer, she found the file for the King trust account. She opened it and found copies of quarterly and annual reports dating all the way back to 1980. She looked around to ensure no one was looking, then closed the drawer and carried the whole file back to the reception desk. "I found it," she announced, waving the file at Alice. "I'll bring it back as soon as Miles is finished with it. Just don't tell Sue I took it from her desk."

Alice grinned. "I'm not that stupid."

Kerri returned to the Iacardi office, headed straight for the copying machines and worked feverishly to make a copy of each annual report. She ran to her desk to drop off the copies, then rushed back to Visconti's office. She returned the file to Sue's cabinet, then hurried to the reception area. "Thanks, Alice," she said as she headed for the glass doors. "I owe you one."

Seconds after she stepped into the elevator, Sue emerged from the adjacent one.

Kerri returned to her desk and began to study her numerous unauthorized copies of Visconti's reports. She found nothing noteworthy until she read the report for the year ended, December 31, 1987. It showed an enormous decrease in the value of the trust from the previous year end. The decrease verified Visconti's admitted losses from the crash of October,1987.

The reports for the following two years, however, failed to substantiate his claim that he had recovered the losses with astute investments. Of even more interest to her was the absence of any cash in the trust. She distinctly recalled the 1988 year end report which Visconti had given to Miles Dennis in February, 1989, showing a cash reserve of two hundred and fifty million dollars and a net asset value of six hundred and sixty-two million. Her unauthorized copy of the same report showed no cash reserve and a net asset value of only four hundred and twelve million. In addition to the obvious anomaly, she had difficulty understanding why Phillip had said the trust was worth only three hundred million. Finally, none of the 1989 quarterly reports contained any reference to short positions in crude oil. Something was terribly wrong.