KERRI'S WAR (Volume 3 of The King Trilogy)

CHAPTER 34

Thursday, December 27, 2001. 9:00 A.M.

"It's Julien Geisinger calling, Miss King. Can we talk?"

"You can say anything you want, Julien. Secrecy is no longer important to me."

"I'm not sure I understand that, but be that as it may, I called to inform you that we have completed the distribution of the funds in your account, all in accordance with your signed direction. After deducting our expenses, the balance was zero, and the account was closed. Would you like me to tell you the amount each estate received?"

"No thank you. I've already done the math."

"Splendid. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, but thank you for your prompt attention to my request...Have you heard from Wilhelm Lentz?"

"Unfortunately, nothing."

"I'm very sorry," Kerri said.

New York. Thursday, December 27, 2001. 2:00 P.M.

Kerri opened a heavy glass door and entered the lobby of the Internal Revenue Service building on Broadway. She marched to the counter and announced to a young female receptionist that her name was Kerri King, and that she had an appointment with Agent Niel Johnstone. The receptionist called Johnstone's office, and within thirty seconds she was greeted by a short plump balding man in his late forties. He wore a dark blue suit that appeared to be government issue, an ugly green tie, and way out of style black tasseled loafers. Flakes of dandruff decorated his shoulders.

"Hello, Miss King. I'm Niel Johnstone. It's an honor to meet someone as famous as you," he said with a practiced smile. "Please follow me," he said, then led Kerri to his large but austere office at the end of a long corridor on the ground floor. He pointed to a silvered canister on a small table beside his desk. "Please help yourself to a coffee, then we can chat."

Kerri poured coffee into a white styrene cup, then sat on one of the two hardwood chairs in front of Johnstone's desk.

Johnstone lowered himself into his comfortable black leather upholstered chair, then again smiled at his visitor. "You mentioned in our telephone conversation that you wished to make a declaration. Am I correct?"

Kerri nodded. "I'm about to do something that I should have done a very long time ago. Before I do that, I should ask you how much time you're prepared to give me."

"My time is yours. Take as much time as you need."

"The reason I asked is because I'm going to tell you about a fairly large amount of money. There is a lengthy story attached to that money." Kerri took a deep breath, then stared into Johnstone's grey eyes. She prodded herself to continue, no matter what the consequences were. "Until this week, I had four hundred and eighty-seven million dollars in a private account in a Swiss bank. The name of the bank is Liechtensteinische Comco. It's in Geneva."

Johnstone frowned as he wrote feverishly on his pad of legal sized paper. "You said you had money in a Swiss account until this week. What did you do with it?"

Kerri took another deep breath. "I gave it all away."

Johnstone stopped writing an raised his eyebrows. "You did what?"

"I arranged, with the help of my lawyer and Julien Geisinger, the bank's president, to distribute all of the funds to the estates of the three hundred and thirty-eight Iacardi employees who were killed in the World Trade Center on September eleventh. I did it because I wanted to help the survivors. I knew they needed the money, and I was fortunate enough to be in a position to provide it."