Abel removed a wallet from his inside pocket, shuffled through several old pictures of Florentyna and took out a new one of his grandson, which he proffered to George.

'Good - looking little boy.' said George.

'Sure is,' said Abel. 'The spitting image of his mother!

George laughed. 'You never give up, do you, Abel?'

'What do you think they call him?'

'What do you mean?' said George. 'You know very well what his name is.'

'I mean what do you think they actually call him?'

'How should I know?'said George.

'Find out,' said Abel. 'I care.'

'How am I meant to do that?' said George. 'Have someone follow them while they're pushing the pram around Golden Gate Park? You left clear instructions that Florentyna must never find out that you're still taking an interest in her or the Kane boy.'

'nat reminds me, I still have a little matter to settle with his father,' said Abel.

'What are you going to do about the Lester shares?' asked George. 'Because Peter Parfitt has been showing more interest in selling his two per cent lately, and I wouldn't trust Henry with the negotiations. With those two working on the sale, everybody will be in on the deal except you.'

'I'm doing nothing. Much as I hate Kane, I don't want any trouble with him until we know if Kennedy has won the election. So I'm leaving the whole situation dormant for the moment. If Kennedy fails, I'll buy Parfitt's two per cent and go ahead with the plan that we've already discussed. And don't worry your - self about Henry; I've already taken him off the Kane file. From now on I'm handling that myself.'

'I do worry, Abel. I know he's in debt again to half the bookmakers in Chicago, and I wouldn't be surprised if he arrived in New York on the scrounge any minute now.'

'Henry won't be coming here. I made the situation very clear last time I saw him that he wouldn't get another dime out of me. If he does come begging, he'll only lose his seat on the board and with it his only source of income!

'rhat worries me even more,' said George. Tees aay he took it on himself to go to Kane direct for the money.'

'Not possible, George. Henry is the one man alive who hates Kane even more than I do, and not without reason.'

'How can you be so sure of that?'

'William Kanes mother was Henrys second wife,' said Abel, 'and young William, aged only sixteen, threw him out of hisown home.'

'Good God, how did you come across that piece of information?'

'Mere's nothing I don't know about William Kane.' said Abel. 'Or Henry for that matter. Absolutely nothing - from the fact that we started life on the same day, and I'd be willing to bet my good leg theres nothing he doeset know about me so we have to be circumspect for the time being, but you need have no fear of Henry turning stool pigeon. He'd die before he had to adn - At his real name was Vittorio Tosna and he once served a jail sentence!

~Good God - does Henry realise you know all this?'

'No, he doesn't. I've kept it to myself for years always believing, George, that if you think a man might threaten you at some time then you should keep a little more up your sleeve than your arm. I've never trusted Henry since the days he suggested swindling Great Western Casualty while he was still actually working for them, although I'd be the first to admit he's been very useful to me in the past and I am con - fident he isn't going to cause me any trouble in the future, because without his director's salary, he becomes penniless overnight. So forget Henry and let's be a little more positive. What's the latest date for the completion of the Los Angeles Baron?'

'Middle of September,'replied George.

'Perfect. That will be six weeks before the election. When Kennedy opens that hotel, the news will hit every front page in Amerim'

37

When William returned to New York, after a bankers' conference in Washington, he found a message awaiting him, requesting that he contact Thaddeus Cohen immediately. He hadn't spoken to Cohen for a considerable time, as Abel Rosnovski had caused no direct trouble since the abortive telephone conversation on the eve of Richard and Florentyna's marriage, nearly three years before. The successive quarterly reports had merely confirmed that Rosnovski was neither trying to buy or sell any of the bank's shares. Nevertheless, Wilham called Thaddeus Cohen immediately and somewhat apprehensively. The lawyer told William that he had stumbled across some information which he did not wish to divulge over the phone. William asked him to come over to the bank as soon as it was convenient.