shiny desktop, just a telephone. A computer and a fax machine with scrambler mechanism attached to it sat on a table off to one side. A comfortable sofa and a couple of comfortable chairs were strategically placed on the expensive carpet. Several paintings by an impressionist of international fame, equally expensive but not as comfortable, at least to the eye of many beholders, occupied the walls.
Antonelli matched his office. His suit was expensive, well cut to hide the size of his body, which ran to about fifty pounds over the recommended weight for his five foot ten height. He wore expensive shoes, highly polished every morning, when there was no rain, by the shoeshine man who had a stand outside the office building. His Rolex was always on display when he waved his arms in conversation, which he did habitually. His gray hair, what there was of it, was neatly brushed, and his nails were always well manicured. He walked as little as possible, but when he did, his gate was stately, without rolling from side to side and thus betraying the extra weight that he carried.
On the door to the suite, facing the express elevator that opened onto the vestibule outside the suit, was a brass plate that read simply, Antonelli Exports and Imports . Once a visitor got past the striking red-haired receptionist, there were corridors, a large open area where several clerks were busy at their desks, and finally the office of Nicolai Antonelli himself.
There were not many visitors, but this morning, there was a visitor. Perhaps “visitor” was not the correct word. Manfred Koch was actually an employee, but few if any of the workers in the outer offices could have told you that. He appeared at the New York office infrequently. Probably only Manfred and Nicolai knew that when Manfred was ushered into the office, the occasion was important.
On this January morning, Nicolai and Manfred were discussing a problem that had arisen the previous October. Nicolai was asking for an explanation.
“I still don’t understand what that fool Greek was doing so close to shore in the middle of a monster storm. You have explained to me what happened, at least what the Captain told you happened, but you haven’t told me why it happened. How many times have we talked on the phone about this matter and I still do not understand. What am I missing here?”
“Nicolai, you have asked me that fifty times, and fifty times I have told you that I have no more knowledge than I have already told you. The only conclusion I can come to is that the man was lying through his teeth. I think that he was in close to shore to transfer the goods to fishing boats working for somebody else, probably for more money than we were paying, and the boat that he hit showed up unexpectedly.”
“So how did he get so far out that the boat drifted back to that island and the body of one of the fishermen washed ashore but the other two stayed put?”
“You tell me and then we will both understand. I have investigated in every way that I could without arousing official suspicions and I don’t understand. So now what do we do?”
“The Helen of Troy is due to leave the Orinoco day after tomorrow. Get rid of the captain and the two mates. When they stop at Kingston have replacements ready to take command. You have good contacts in Jamaica?”
“No problem. I have a good captain all ready to go. I can have him fly to Jamaica in time to take command there. But there’s another problem.”
“I need more problems? What now?”
“The ship itself is not going to be worth keeping much longer. The old tub is in need of a lot of repairs. The engines quit in October and we put out too much money to repair them for the value we’re going to get from the ship. It was necessary to keep up the pretences at the time.”
Antonelli swore. “Tell the Captain to sink it after he makes this delivery. Pick a place where there won’t be much of an investigation. Check on the insurance. Can
Antonelli matched his office. His suit was expensive, well cut to hide the size of his body, which ran to about fifty pounds over the recommended weight for his five foot ten height. He wore expensive shoes, highly polished every morning, when there was no rain, by the shoeshine man who had a stand outside the office building. His Rolex was always on display when he waved his arms in conversation, which he did habitually. His gray hair, what there was of it, was neatly brushed, and his nails were always well manicured. He walked as little as possible, but when he did, his gate was stately, without rolling from side to side and thus betraying the extra weight that he carried.
On the door to the suite, facing the express elevator that opened onto the vestibule outside the suit, was a brass plate that read simply, Antonelli Exports and Imports . Once a visitor got past the striking red-haired receptionist, there were corridors, a large open area where several clerks were busy at their desks, and finally the office of Nicolai Antonelli himself.
There were not many visitors, but this morning, there was a visitor. Perhaps “visitor” was not the correct word. Manfred Koch was actually an employee, but few if any of the workers in the outer offices could have told you that. He appeared at the New York office infrequently. Probably only Manfred and Nicolai knew that when Manfred was ushered into the office, the occasion was important.
On this January morning, Nicolai and Manfred were discussing a problem that had arisen the previous October. Nicolai was asking for an explanation.
“I still don’t understand what that fool Greek was doing so close to shore in the middle of a monster storm. You have explained to me what happened, at least what the Captain told you happened, but you haven’t told me why it happened. How many times have we talked on the phone about this matter and I still do not understand. What am I missing here?”
“Nicolai, you have asked me that fifty times, and fifty times I have told you that I have no more knowledge than I have already told you. The only conclusion I can come to is that the man was lying through his teeth. I think that he was in close to shore to transfer the goods to fishing boats working for somebody else, probably for more money than we were paying, and the boat that he hit showed up unexpectedly.”
“So how did he get so far out that the boat drifted back to that island and the body of one of the fishermen washed ashore but the other two stayed put?”
“You tell me and then we will both understand. I have investigated in every way that I could without arousing official suspicions and I don’t understand. So now what do we do?”
“The Helen of Troy is due to leave the Orinoco day after tomorrow. Get rid of the captain and the two mates. When they stop at Kingston have replacements ready to take command. You have good contacts in Jamaica?”
“No problem. I have a good captain all ready to go. I can have him fly to Jamaica in time to take command there. But there’s another problem.”
“I need more problems? What now?”
“The ship itself is not going to be worth keeping much longer. The old tub is in need of a lot of repairs. The engines quit in October and we put out too much money to repair them for the value we’re going to get from the ship. It was necessary to keep up the pretences at the time.”
Antonelli swore. “Tell the Captain to sink it after he makes this delivery. Pick a place where there won’t be much of an investigation. Check on the insurance. Can
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