THE TAINTED TRUST (Volume 2 of The King Trilogy)

CHAPTER 95

         Horst Ullman, the detective in charge of the investigation, subjected Kerri to an intense interrogation. A tall muscular Arian with deep blue eyes and close cropped blond hair, Ullman spoke reasonably good English, accented with what Kerri thought was a German dialect. He stopped his questioning as soon as she told him of the rape. "You should be taken to the hospital immediately. Please don't worry. Monaco's medical facilities are among the finest in the world. As soon as I finish with my investigation here, I will join you at the hospital. There are a number of questions I would like you to answer." He took her by the arm and led her to the door of the suite, then asked one of his assistants to take her to the hospital.

After a thorough examination, semen samples taken and facial cuts treated, Kerri was allowed to take a shower. She was invited to watch television in the doctors' lounge while she waited for Ullman to join her.

When Ullman arrived an hour and a half later, he led her to a private room to continue the interrogation. "May I call you Kerri?" he asked.

She nodded.

"I have found it necessary to quarantine your hotel suite pending further investigation. I assume you would prefer not to return to that suite in any event. We have made arrangements with the hotel to have you moved to a different suite. The transfer of all of your belongings not critical to the investigation will be completed by the time you return to the hotel. Of course we will provide you with a complete list of everything we confiscate."

"Thank you," she said, attempting to smile.

"Now I must ask you an extremely personal question. I am curious to know why Mister Visconti raped you. It seems a rather odd way to treat a woman who was living with him voluntarily."

"I really wasn't living with him voluntarily," she said, then proceeded to tell Ullman the entire story of her father, Alfred Schnieder, the trust, and finally, her relationship with Visconti. "Shortly after we arrived in Monte Carlo, Louis discovered that I'm Mike King's daughter. It didn't take him long to figure out that I was a serious threat to his retirement plans."

"How did he make this discovery?"

"He found a photograph of my father and mother in my luggage. He wanted to know why I had a picture of Mike King. I told him I had kept the photograph because it was of my mother. When he..."

"Excuse me," Ullman interrupted. "Was it your mother?"

Kerri nodded.

"Please continue."

"When Louis asked me if I knew the man with her, I told him I didn't. There was no way I wanted him to know. I thought he believed me, but evidently he didn't. Then he found my birth certificate and went crazy. He hit me and started to rape me. He said he was going to kill me when he finished. I think it was his idea of sadistic closure." Kerri lowered her head and covered her face with her hands. "You know the rest of the story," she said as tears filled her eyes.

Ullman nodded. "And the electric drill? Perhaps you could explain that."

"The lock on Louis's briefcase was jammed. He used the drill to open it," Kerri lied.

"Were you aware of the contents of the briefcase?"

"No."

"Did you touch any of the items in the briefcase?"

"No," she lied again.

"Do you know why Alfred Schnieder was in your suite?"

Kerri proceeded to tell Ullman the story of Schnieder's arrival, of their argument and of the confrontation resulting in Schnieder's murder.