The Karl Lehman Affair

by Jonathan R Hayes

  ‘What! Why would anybody want to murder Bill? What motive would anybody have for doing such a dreadful thing?’

  ‘That’s what we need to investigate. Did Mr. Johnson have any particular enemies in Cordalis-MC Holdings you might know about?’

  ‘Of course, there are always people in a company this size who have certain enemies, but none that would lead to murder. No way!’

  After a few more general questions about the deceased’s background, the detective left the building.

  Any question Henri Lazare had anything to do with Bill Johnson’s murder was never considered for a second within Cordalis-MC Holdings. At the next sitting of the board, Lazare was appointed replacement Senior Vice President (SVP) for Investment Strategy with immediate effect.

  52

  Hadley emerged from his boss’s office just after 7:00am. His ears were burning having got a right ‘bollicking’ from the Section Head for loosing contact with MV Asclepius. His orders were ‘top priority’ signed off by the Prime Minister and were a matter of national security. He was to find the ship and verify the contents of the stainless-steel container seen being taken on board in the dead of night. No resources were to be spared, no stone to be left unturned. He returned to his office highly stressed and contacted agent No. 9.

  ‘What is the latest information on the delivery jeep?’ demanded Hadley.

  ‘Well Sir, we ran a check on the registration number and found out it’s not a local Egyptian registered vehicle.’

  ‘Not surprised!’

  ‘The jeep bore false number plates, Sir. The ‘reg’ number shows up as an agricultural tractor from Sierra Leone.’

  ‘Typical! Do we know where the jeep originated from?’ pressed Hadley.

  ‘We don’t know precisely, Sir. We are going on the working assumption the jeep was driven from somewhere in West Africa all the way across North Africa to Port Said avoiding security checks at rail depots, airports etcetera.’

  ‘So, what are you doing about finding and intercepting this vehicle, No. 9?’

  ‘Well Sir, the jeep is now approximately twenty-two hours on the road out of Port Said. We believe it will return the way it came via the Cairo-Dakar highway across North Africa. Police along the route have been alerted. We are planning to intercept it somewhere east of Algiers, tomorrow morning in fact. We were in contact with the Algerian authorities and alerted them.’

  ‘Very good No. 9.’

  ‘Wing Commander, as we speak, I’m just getting reports in this minute from our contacts in Tunisia. The jeep has been sighted passing through the city of Tunis.’

  ‘Looks like your working assumptions are accurate No. 9. Have you got anybody to properly interrogate the driver?’

  ‘Yes! I‘m flying with No 2 to Algiers this evening to assist the authorities there.’

  ‘Ok No. 9. Keep on top of it. We can’t let this vehicle escape. It’s our only hope of discovering what’s aboard that ship.’

  ‘Understood!’ confirmed No 9.

  ‘Any update on the whereabouts of the MV Asclepius?’

  ‘No Sir. We haven’t been able to locate it. It must be somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea. It would have been easily spotted if it had escaped back through the Suez Canal. We believe it will head for open Ocean, so we should be able to lock-on to it in the Strait of Gibraltar.’

  ‘The Royal Navy (RN) have been summoned to give us assistance. They now have a submarine scouring the Med for the vessel. Get on to your RN contacts and keep me updated on the hour, every hour about developments.’

  ‘Will do, Wing Commander, Sir. Over and out.’

  53

  Having got confirmation of Philips address in the South of France from Durand the previous evening, Parker flew to Nice and landed there at 8:00pm.

  He took a cab to the Europa hotel on Promenade Des Anglais where Durand was waiting for him in the reception area.

  ‘How was your flight Harry?’

  ‘A bit bumpy. Did you fly down from Paris?’

  ‘No. I took a train and hired a car.’

  ‘I’m ‘Lee Marvin’. Can we go and eat somewhere?’

  ‘Ah! You are starvin!’. I know a wonderful restaurant close to the hotel.’

  ‘Sounds good!’

  Twenty minutes later after checking in and freshening up, he and Durand walked to the restaurant around the corner from their hotel.

  They were shown to a table almost immediately and ordered chilled beers while they perused the menu.

  ‘My local contacts in the French Gendarmerie were the ones who provided Philips address.’

  ‘‘Well done. I owe them one. Obolensky also confirmed our friend was living in the South of France during our telephone conversation earlier in the week.’

  ‘Good! Both sources of information point to Villefranche sur Mer’

  ‘Now! What are the plans to get Philips to co-operate with us? You have met him Raoul, and you know what he’s like?’

  ‘I was introduced to him at a party in Lehman’s house in Zurich a few years back. He struck me as a bit of a loner. He wasn’t very chatty. He’s the type of person who gives the impression he has something to hide. He didn’t talk at all about himself. He stayed focused on conversations around his work, though he was careful not to give too much away even on that subject. So, I didn’t get to know him very well at all I’m afraid.’

  ‘He’s a Doctor of molecular microbiology working with a world-renowned Professor of Cardiology. Maybe we can start off by getting him to explain what the connection was between him and Karl?’

  ‘Possibly Harry! We should remind him that Nicole is trying to complete the research work on her own and she needs his co-operation. I believe his loyalty and commitment to the project before Karl died was outstanding.’

  ‘Yeah! But you know he’s only interested in making money out of this whole venture. He’s not going to give anything away very cheaply especially since Karl died. He’s now holding all the cards.’

  ‘Why did Philips sell out to the New York private equity company if he was on the cusp of some major scientific breakthrough?’

  ‘Well according to Nicole, he was going to get five million dollars into his hand if he co-operated with the Americans for a mere six months delay in the sale of their iDrug technology. Philips’s share in the Lehman & Philips breakthrough was only going to be small; about half of what he got from the Americans.

  ‘So, Philips is now negotiating with the Russians on some modified version of iDrug?’

  ‘More than likely, so hopefully we can get some answers to these questions in the morning not least of which, the password for the CD’s.’

  54

  Martin Philips was preparing dinner in his townhouse. He had earlier been down for a stroll along the water front and bought fresh Red Snapper straight off a fishing trawler. He put a large pot of vegetable oil on the gas ring to deep fat fry the fish and retreated to the bathroom to have a shower while the oil heated up. The whooshing sound from the power shower ensured he never heard the twins entering through the front door. Despite the attack in Moscow, he got into the habit of leaving it unlocked. It was that kind of neighborhood, quiet, safe, mainly elderly neighbors living in the locality.

  ‘He’s in the shower,’ whispered one twin to the other.

  They crept along the passageway, past the shower room door and sneaked into the kitchen. There the two could see fish laid out on a cutting board and a large pot of vegetable oil heating on the gas stove close by. Their instructions were to make it look like an accident. One twin went back out to check on Philips while the other drew a knife from the kitchen drawer. Suddenly, things went quiet when Philips turned off the shower. The intruder tiptoed back into the kitchen and waited behind the door. The other twin was hiding in a small pantry off the kitchen. Both could see smoke starting to rise from the pot of oil. The shower came on again. They stood silently in their hiding place, the adrenalin rush keeping them sharp and alert and focused on the
ir prey. The shower motor whirred away in the background. The two could not see each other but both could see the saucepan of oil. It was getting red hot and the oil was starting to burn and fill the room with blue smoke. The intruders were witnessing a common domestic situation unfolding where someone takes a shower and forgets about the stove.

  Suddenly a loud high pitch sound filled the space of the small kitchen. The smoke alarm had activated. The two readied themselves when they heard Philips rushing from the shower room to attend to the stove. He dashed in to the kitchen completely naked, dripping with water, crossed the smoke-filled room and silenced the alarm. He went to the stove and moved the saucepan from the gas ring. The twins stepped out from their positions, saying nothing, standing motionless, one on either side of their prey. Philips, naked and defenseless, was taken completely by surprise. He froze with fear while letting out a low howl. The monotonous drip-drip sound from the kitchen tap was all that could be heard while Philips agonized about what was going to happen to him. Trembling from head to toe and completely vulnerable, he eventually broke his silence.

  ‘Who, who are you? Whah, what do you want?’ stuttered Philips with mind numbing terror, sounding like a man who already knew the answers to the questions he was asking.

  The twins stood there without uttering a word, staring blankly at Philips. One of them casually produced a knife he had taken from a kitchen drawer. Philips seeing the sharp weapon glanced at the boiling hot saucepan just inches away from his left hand, the only thing in reach he could use to defend himself. The twin closest to Philips instantly read his thoughts and lunged towards his prey, knocking him backwards and away from the stove. Philips tried to come forward again but slipped on the tiled floor made wet by the water dripping from his naked body. He let out a despairing scream before he fell backwards, close to the front of the stove, banging his head off the tiled floor. The nearest twin picked up the saucepan full of smoking hot oil and held it over the naked Doctor while he lay flat on his back on the floor. Philips vainly looked up from his position knowing full well what was in store for him.

  ‘We have instructions to recover a glass vial from you, Dr. Philips’

  ‘I have no vial here.’

  The twin said nothing in response, just kept staring down at the pathetic figure on the floor.’

  In a final act of self-preservation Philips made a determined effort to scramble up from the floor. The other twin easily pushed him back down again. Philips was entering the zone where time stands still, where his life for the second time in as many days, was flashing before his eyes. The twin holding the pot, in virtual slow motion, tilted the hot saucepan and emptied half of the burning oil all over Philips’s chest and outstretched arms. Philips let out a blood-curdling scream of agony while wriggling around on the floor.

  ‘Where is the vial,’ demanded the intruder.

  Philips was in agony. He could hardly breathe never mind talk.

  ‘Talk or you will die. Where is the vial?’

  ‘Ahhh……., ‘cried Philips trying to talk.

  The twin started to tilt the pot to spill more smoking hot oil over his prey.

  ‘Wait! We need the vial,’ shouted the other twin.

  ‘Too late. He’s done for.’ The twin proceeded to empty the rest of the scalding liquid over his genitalia and thighs. Philips howled and writhed in agony when large sections of skin blistered up and hung from his body like wet wallpaper steamed off a damp wall. He squirmed around on the floor in a circle for several seconds, his ribs exposed, before traumatic shock took hold and induced cardiac arrest. Philips slowly stopped moving and eventually lay still, save for a few final involuntary twitches of his arms and lower torso. The stench of roasted flesh permeated the air.

  The twins placed the saucepan beside the body to make it look like a tragic accident. They wiped their footprints from the wet floor and left the hot plate on the stove turned to ‘on’.

  They immediately searched the townhouse looking for the vial. After half an hour of looking in every nook and cranny, they found nothing.

  During a final check of the kitchen, one twin noticed Philips’ diary resting on a kitchen worktop.

  ‘It might contain some useful information,’ suggested the other twin. ‘Take it.’

  They both slipped out the rear door onto a narrow cobbled-stone laneway. Nobody saw them leave. They walked briskly to their motorcycle parked two streets away and made a clean getaway.

  55

  The next morning Parker and the PI left the hotel at 9:00am and travelled to Philips town house in Durand’s hired car. It was only a fifteen-minute drive along the coast road from Nice to Boulevard Princess Grace de Monaco. They parked the car in a public car park near the center of the town, located on an elevated site, offering spectacular views across the bay to Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. Large houses, smaller town houses and medieval apartments were all neatly tucked in to the landscape at various levels as the terrain descends towards the sea.

  Soon they were outside Philip’s home. Parker pressed the bell and waited on the door step. After a second ring he tried the door handle. It turned, and the door opened. He looked in and his nose immediately told him something was wrong.

  ‘Dr. Philips! Are you at home?’ he shouted still standing outside.

  No response! Both men shot glances at one another before Parker gestured they should enter. They went in and made their way slowly along the hallway.

  Durand spoke quietly. ‘I don’t think there’s anybody at home.’

  Parker opened the bathroom door and looked in, calling out again. ‘Dr. Philips?’ The shower had long since run cold. He reached in and turned it off.

  ‘Nobody’s here!’ Durand standing immediately behind Parker turned and opened the door into the kitchen. A strange smell emanated from the room, instantly signaling all was not well.

  ‘Oh my God,’ cried Durand with sickening revulsion when he entered and saw the grisly scene in front of him.

  Both men stared at Philips mutilated body lying on the floor beside the stove. The temperature in the kitchen was extremely hot and a strange sweet smell like burnt candy lingered in the room.

  Parker was lost for words.

  ‘Mon Dieu! The body has horrendous injuries Harry.’

  Durand went over and turned off the hot plate on the hob, not able to look at the body any longer. Parker, having seen many ghastly injuries over the years, was appalled at the condition of the body. He bent down over the victim to check for a pulse. There was nothing he could do. Philips had been dead for hours. He noted massive third degree burns on the victim’s chest and lower abdomen and a saucepan lying empty on the floor beside him.

  ‘We had better not touch anything and leave everything ‘as is’ for Forensics,’ insisted Durand.

  ‘What do you make of all this Raoul?’

  ‘Knowing what we know about Philips and the reasons why he was hiding away here, I’d say it’s murder. While it might look plausible he accidentally slipped and pulled a pot of boiling oil down on top of himself, it’s not very likely in my opinion.’

  ‘Yes. Look at the burn mark patterns on the body. Any forensic scientist would tell you there was more than one application of hot oil poured over the body,’ confirmed Parker. ‘It won’t take them long to conclude this is a crime scene.’

  ‘Poor Bastard. I’ll call French police and advise them of the situation when we’re at least an hour’s drive away from here. No need to mention your presence here at the crime scene, Harry. ‘

  ‘Fine by me!’

  Both men left the house in a shocked and somber state. Durand drove straight for the airport to drop Parker off.

  ‘I guess the scum bags that murdered Philips found out he visited Obolensky in Moscow.’

  ‘More than likely.’

  ‘It’s disappointing we never got talking to him. We could have got a much deeper insight into the relationship he had with Karl.’

  ‘Shit! The Password Harry? How w
ill you access the data on the CDs now?’

  ‘Gosh! I haven’t even thought about that. Seeing Philips like that has turned everything upside-down. I have a friend living in London who is an IT expert. I’ll talk to him and see if he can crack it.’

  ‘And Nicole could not assist here with remembering the Password?’

  ‘No! One strange thing, Karl never shared any passwords with her. I guess he was quite protective of her and kept her in the background. She did say the password could be hidden somewhere in their house in Zurich.’

  Durand left Parker at the departure area and immediately phoned Meyer to report the horrific circumstances of Philips’s body lying in the kitchen of his home. Following the usual raft of questions about why he was there, who he went there with, what time he arrived at, Durand agreed to meet him at the scene later in the day.

  A disappointed Parker boarded a plane for Heathrow quite shaken by the day’s events and with a growing concern about the safety of Nicole now that the killing had started again.

  56

  Lazare was settling into his new role in the plusher surroundings of the SVP’s office. He now looked forward to doubling his salary by impressing the board with his administrative skills and his unique understanding of the Equities market. He clapped himself on the back for getting Cordalis-MC Holdings into drug company stocks, which turned the company from being a medium sized operation into one of the larger private equity companies on Wall Street. While his original pedigree was questionable, sustained good performances over the last five years got him to where he was in the company hierarchy. He wasn’t going to let anybody, or anything undermine the company’s positions in the drug company stocks he had carefully built up over the last five years. He must tightly manage his positions for at least another six weeks to stay afloat. If this meant removing Nicole Lehman he would do it in a heartbeat. He knew Obolensky was too far behind in his research to be of any concern for at least six months. Besides, Philips had been removed. That should deter Obolensky from progressing very far in the short term. Lazare considered kidnapping Nicole would be a far better strategy than eliminating her. He knew she had some formidable people working with her to complete her husband’s report. Once she was alive her supporters would not try anything that might endanger her life. This way he could keep them silent for longer while Cordalis-MC Holdings’ share deals went through. This plan sounded quite perfect.