‘Of course, Madame. Follow me please.’
Nicole accompanied the young woman across the room to a table where something looking like a microscope was resting.
‘Please look into the Iris ID Detector and sign on the dotted line, ‘requested the official, handing Nicole a form.
Soon they were being escorted by a security guard down a staircase to the bank vaults below. At the bottom of the marble staircase a Guard keyed in a ten-digit security code and the security door opened. Once inside, the door automatically closed behind them.
They were now in an anteroom outside one of the strong rooms. The security guard went across to the first strong room door entered another ten-digit combination on a central dial, opened three dead locks with separate keys, turned a wheel and the huge heavy circular door swung open. He gestured to her to enter while Parker remained outside.
Nicole went to box number 732 and inserted the key.
‘Here goes!’
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She pulled the drawer open, which felt quite heavy. She thought this was a good sign not knowing for sure if the CDs were inside. Karl had never mentioned anything about them to her. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a single CD case lying flat on the floor of the deposit box. Running her eyes quickly over the rest of the box she saw a stack of CDs standing on their edge. Much to her relief she removed all the CDs, locked the Safety Deposit box and joined Parker outside.
‘Wow. There must be more than twenty CDs here!’
Before Nicole could answer, she felt a vibration in the inside pocket of her jacket. She pulled out her cellular phone and saw a message from Raoul. ‘Polic on wey’
Saying nothing, she showed Parker the message.
He raised his eyebrows while he took some of the CDs from her.
‘Turn off your phone,’ he whispered.
The security guard waiting nearby, closed the large circular door and locked it. He led them back towards the stairs when Parker stopped and turned towards the security guard.
‘Excuse me Monsieur but I have a request. The contents we have taken from the strong room are extremely valuable. We have just received a text message that there is a problem with our security escort. He has been involved in a minor collision about a mile from here. Could we by any chance ask the bank to provide an escort to a secure location? We will be willing to pay for this service.’
‘Wait here one moment please,’ ordered the security guard.
The two waited at the bottom of the stairs while the guard went to contact his superiors. Nicole opened her large cream hand bag and placed all the CDs inside it.
‘Good thinking Harry! We would be walking straight into a police ambush had we ventured outside.’
Five minutes later, a middle-aged gentleman in a pin striped grey suit, white shirt and purple tie appeared at the top of the stairs and walked down four or five steps to join them.
The man extended his hand to greet her. ‘Madame Lehman. I’m the manager of the Bank. I knew your wonderful husband Karl so well. We had lunch together on many occasions. He was truly an inspiring man. All this nonsense in the papers about you is quite ridiculous. It would be an honor for me to be of service to the widow of such a noble person.
‘Thank you so much for your kind words.’
‘Now the bank’s facility manager has informed me there is a paper shredding truck leaving the basement in five minutes. This vehicle would appear to be a perfect ‘cover’ for you. I will instruct the driver to take you down town to a secure location of your choice.’
‘That would be very helpful, Monsieur?’
‘Flores, Hercule Flores. Follow me please.’
Nicole and Parker followed Hercule who waddled side to side like a duck as he walked down the hallway. Instead of turning left they turned right along another corridor and came to an elevator. Monsieur Flores keyed in a security code on the access control panel and the door opened. They descended two levels deeper into the basement before exiting the elevator into what looked like a small underground car park.
‘This is our depot where the cash vans deliver and collect from. Over there, the blue paper shredding truck is waiting for you.’
Flores shook their hands and bade them farewell. ‘Come back to Paris to live when all this trouble is over, Madame and we will look after all your banking needs.’
‘That is something I may very well consider,’ replied Nicole politely, raising her hand to bid Monsieur Flores farewell.
An automatic door opened on one side of the vehicle and they both climbed in.
Parker saw a sign that read, ‘Use the intercom to communicate with the driver.’
The truck left the underground depot and drove up the ramp and out onto the street. He looked out through the small rear window and saw three police cars parked down a short distance from the front of the bank. Six policemen stood around waiting for something to happen.
‘Lucky we got this truck. This place is full of cops,’ whispered Parker into Nicole’s ear.
He looked out again and saw a dark navy colored car pulling out from in front of the bank and starting to follow them.
‘It looks like cops in an unmarked car might be following us. They’re not leaving anything to chance. We’ll know soon enough.’ He pressed the intercom button on the side wall of the truck. ‘Driver, please take the next turn right.’
The vehicle turned right at the next junction and the car followed.
‘Now take the next left.’
The van turned left into a markets area with stalls on both sides of the street. The navy car soon appeared around the corner behind them.
‘Let’s see if we can see anything out the side window here.’
The truck started to slow down. He looked out the window and could see a crowded street.
‘We’re in a markets area. I think we might have to make a run for it.’
The truck was now down to a crawl and the car behind was keeping its distance about fifty meters away. The driver spoke on the intercom. ‘The street is blocked off ahead. I can turn right here and see where it takes us ok?’
‘Sure! Take the next turn right. We may have to get out in a hurry. How do we do that?’
‘Press the green button on the left-hand side of the door. It will open automatically’.
The van turned right and continued to move slowly along. Parker feared they may come to a complete stop somewhere in a crowded part of the street and get trapped.
‘Have you got everything together in the hand bag?’
‘Yes, all the CDs are here.’ Nicole surrendered the bag into his outstretched hand.
‘Right! Let’s make a run for it,’ he whispered taking a final look out the rear window. The navy car with the two policemen was now much closer.
He pressed the green button and the door opened.
‘Thanks,’ shouted Parker before the two leaped from the truck.
He saw from the corner of his eye the navy car coming to an abrupt stop and a policeman jumping out. The pair sprinted down a crowded side street, Parker carrying the cream bag over his shoulder. Nicole was right behind. She had a wonderful athletic figure, and this paid dividends as she was nearly outpacing him.
They cut left down another side street.
‘Lucky you wore flat heel shoes this morning!’
He glanced behind him and saw a plain clothes figure running towards them at full tilt, steadily closing the gap.
At the end of the street, a police jeep appeared from around a corner with four officers inside. It accelerated up the pedestrian way towards them, its blue light flashing and siren sounding.
‘Quick down this way,’ yelled Parker when he spotted a narrow passage way between two tall buildings.
They dashed down the passage, the Doctor leading the way. It finally opened into a small market square. Here he spotted a Yamaha R6 sports motorcycle parked outside a Boulangerie with its motor running. He couldn’t believe his luck. Withou
t a second thought, he jumped on to the motorcycle while Nicole lifted her skirt and slid onto the pillion seat behind, grabbing the cream bag from Parker and slinging it over her shoulder. He revved the machine and took off down the street out of the small square at high speed, Nicole clutching onto him around his waist as they accelerated away. The owner came running out but was too late to stop them. He stood and gazed at the bizarre spectacle of a man in a pin stripe suit and a woman in a cream dress, carrying a large matching handbag over her shoulder, racing off on his motorcycle. They sped along the narrow market streets for half a mile, finally emerging from a side street on to Boulevard Haussmann. They speeded along the Boulevard weaving in and out of traffic making sure to put as much distance between them and the police. At L’Arc de Triumph they went three quarters way around the large mad roundabout before turning onto the Champs Elysees. Parker recalled the race he had a few days earlier with the black Mercedes when he met Durand. This time he was travelling in the opposite direction. Nicole’s blond ‘hair’ flowed gracefully in the wind while the two raced along the main street of Paris on a blue and cream sports motorcycle weaving in and out of the heavy traffic. Parker with his navy pin stripe suit flapping in the breeze, his red tie fluttering like a streamer behind him, all presented quite a spectacle. People were stopping in the street to inspect this colorful sight.
‘They must be shooting a film scene’ suggested one woman to another. ‘It looks like one of those new Hollywood actresses on the back of that motorcycle.’
He drove to the end of the Champs Elysees and onto Place de la Concorde. He brought the motorcycle to a stop near the ‘Concorde’ Metro station. Both leaping from the bike, Parker went over to a nearby newspaper kiosk and threw the keys to a woman serving from behind a pile of magazines.
‘Please give these to the police, ‘shouted Parker breathlessly. ‘We had to borrow it in a hurry. Thanks!’
He ran off down the street with Nicole trotting behind. They disappeared down into the Metro station and ran towards the platform. A Metro train arrived almost immediately and brought them close to their hotel. They arrived back in their room at 1:30pm, none the worse for wear.
Nicole collapsed onto the bed to get her head together after their dramatic morning.
‘That was a narrow escape Harry. Only for your motorcycling skills we’d be now in police custody. What’s the next move?’
‘I spotted a cozy little Brasserie across the street we might try.’
When they got their breath back, the couple walked across the street and had lunch. They sat at a window seat watching the hustle and bustle of passing traffic and Parisians going about their daily business while they waited to be served.
‘Let’s see what’s on the CDs and decide how quickly we can complete the report,’ whispered Nicole.
‘Yes. The sooner we can close the deal, I guess the sooner this nightmare will be over.’
They both ordered an open sandwich and coffee.
‘Where do you think we should work from?
‘Well we can’t stay here in Paris, Nicole. It’s too risky. I have a weekend retreat in Cornwall. It’s a quiet country retreat on a hill overlooking the sea. It’s quite secure there, Grasmere Cottage. I totally understand if you don’t wish to…’
‘Oh no Harry. I think it sounds ideal if I could stay there for a short while until things quieten down.’
‘The problem is getting you out of France without being nabbed at an airport or at a ferry terminal. I wonder if Maurice could help us again and fly us across the channel to England?’
When they had finished eating, Nicole insisted on paying.
‘Let’s go and look at the CDs Harry. I’m kind of excited to see what they might contain.’
She paid the bill and they immediately returned to their hotel room.
Parker examined the CDs and found they were numbered and dated in chronological order spanning more than three years. Nicole pulled out her Laptop and switched it on.
She put the first CD in the disc drive and the CD booted up. A blue screen appeared with Lehman’s Research company logo across the top. The word ‘Clinical Images’ appeared half way down. Nicole pressed ‘enter’ on her keypad and a password window appeared.
‘Oh no! I haven’t a clue what Karl’s password is.’
Parker handed her two more discs.
‘Try these.’
She tried to open the next CD but found it too was password protected.
‘Knowing Karl, I’m sure these passwords are impossible to circumvent, they’re encrypted.’
Nevertheless, Nicole tried various passwords she thought Karl might have used like the name of their house in Zurich, the name of their holiday home in Cannes, Karl’s middle name, Nicole’s maiden name. Nothing worked.
‘Any bright ideas Harry? We’ve come to an unexpected dead end.’
‘I know a software expert in London who might be able to hack into them. Failing that, we’re going to have to set about finding the only person who could possibly know.’
‘You mean Dr. Philips?’
‘Correct!’
35
Monday morning, New York City. Lazare was pacing up and down outside Bill Johnson’s office waiting to be called in. Loraine was sitting at her desk close by, busy typing a report for her boss. She couldn’t help noticing how tense Lazare appeared, not the Mr. Cool, unflappable person he normally portrayed.
Her intercom lit up. ‘Bill will see you now.’
When Lazare walked in, his boss was sitting at his desk busy working on his PC. Johnson had a reputation for being tough, but fair minded at the same time. Originally from Fort Worth, his background was in oil. During his early career, Johnson worked for a large petroleum company in Houston and learned a lot about high volume oil trading in global markets.
He did not avert his eyes away from the computer screen when he spoke. ‘Take a seat Henri. What’s on your mind?’
‘Well Bill, I need to alert the company to a technological development we have uncovered in the Healthcare sector. We believe this could have devastating consequences on specific drug stocks we hold.’
Johnson looked up from his desk.
‘We uncovered certain leading-edge research that is being carried out in Zurich into Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI) by a leading cardiologist. We understand the research is privately funded with some assistance from the Swiss Government. When this new ‘iDrug’ is eventually released for use, it will impact sales of the leading antibiotic drugs on the market.
‘Antibiotics are under threat?’
‘Big time.’
‘What makes you so sure?’
‘When we first heard about this two months ago, we contacted Westland-Fitzgerald and asked them to contact the principles of the Swiss research company Lehman & Philips SA to inform them that an investment company was interested in making a substantial investment in their research project. An introductory meeting was held with them in New York and Westland-Fitzgerald represented us. We have been successful in negotiating a deal with the research company to effectively buy their silence at least long enough for us to off-load our stock. They wouldn’t play ball in letting us invest in their drug discovery however. They said an agreement was about to be signed and sealed with a large medical device company.’
‘How long will they hold off and how much did this deal cost?’
Lazare lying through his teeth replied, ‘Five million dollars each to the two principals of the company for six months silence.’
‘Once we start off-loading drug company stock even in small volumes, we will get negative market reaction. Let me see here,’ continued Johnson looking at his PC screen on his desk. A spread sheet of major holdings showed Cordalis-MC Holdings had $13.2 Billion in drug company stocks.
‘This represents about 11% of our entire stock holding, Henri. How do you propose to off load this volume of stock in the short time frame you’re talking about without causing the market to go sou
th half way through the sell-off?’
This was the tricky question Lazare had feared most from Johnson and there were no simple answers. He decided to ignore the question and continued talking about the offer on the table.
Before he got very far, Johnson was on top of him. ‘How long has this situation being going on. When did you discover this new research initiative by this Swiss company?’
‘About four months ago. I saw an article in the New York Times about research into Superbugs that was being carried out in Zurich by Prof Karl Lehman and his team. Naturally I was interested in anything to do with antibiotics research, so I checked out the company, learned something about Professor Lehman’s credentials and contacted him through the Westland Fitzgerald law firm.’
‘Why was I not told about this?’
‘Because it was just another deal I do twenty times a day, Bill. I’m authorized to carryout transactions up to 10 million dollars at a time without having to get authorization from you. Anyway, the alarm bells started ringing when I learnt Lehman is a highly respected medical consultant in his field of expertise in Europe. He’s somewhat of a maverick too, by all accounts. He tends to paddle his own canoe. He can afford to be. He comes from a wealthy family of Swiss bankers. His research into Superbugs is well advanced and rumors from the scientific community in Europe suggest he’s on the verge of a major scientific breakthrough.’
‘When did the six months silence start,’ snapped Bill.
‘About six weeks ago.’
‘How sure are we Lehman & Philips SA can be trusted?’
‘We’re in constant communication with them. I’m very confident we can keep on top of the situation with them.’
‘Right! I need to call in fund specialists from Wall Street to discuss our options on this ASAP. We’ll need input from Westland -Fitzgerald as well. I’ll email you about the meeting date. Say nothing to anybody about this?
‘Sure boss!’
Johnson took a sharp intake of breath. ‘I will hold back on informing the other people about the agenda for the meeting. This must be kept absolutely water tight. Any reports to the markets of a potential exposure of this magnitude could break Cordalis-MC.’
The Karl Lehman Affair Page 11