out to be right even though the bank had lost out on the deal. His smile broadened as he read the nickname 'Me Chicago Baron. Then, suddenly, he felt sick. He examined the accompanying photograph more closely, but there was no mistake, and the caption confirmed his first impression: 'AbelRosnovski, the chairman~ of the Baron Group talking with Mieczyslaw Szymczak, a governor of the Federal Reserve Board, and Alderman Henry Osborne!
William dropped the paper on to the breakfast table and thought for a moment. As soon as he arrived at his office, he called Thomas Cohen at Cohen, Cohen and Yablons.
'It's been a long time, Mx. Kane,' were Thomas Cohen's first words. 'I was very sorry to learn of the death of your friend, Matthew Lester. How are your wife and your son - Richard - isn't that his name F William always admired Thomas Cohen's instant recall of names and relationships.
'Yes, it is. They're both weU, thank you, Mr. Cohen!
'Well, what can I do for you this time, Mr. Kane?' Thomas also remembered that William could only manage about one sentence of small talk.
'I want to employ, through you, the services of a reliable investigator. I do not wish my name to be associated with this enquiry, but I need another run - down on Henry Osborne. Everything he's done since he left Boston, and in particular whether there is any connection between him and Abel Rosnovski of the Baron Group.'
There was a pause before the lawyer said, 'Yes.'
'Can you report to me in one week?'
'Two please, Mr. Kane, two,'said Mr. Cohen.
'Full report on my desk at the bank in two weeks, Mr. Cohen?'
'Two weeks, Mr. Kane.'
Thomas Cohen was as reliable as ever, and a full report was on Wilham's desk on the fifteenth morning. William read the dossier with care. There appeared to be no formal business connections between Abel Rosnovski and Henry Osborne. Rosnovski, it seemed, found Osborne useful as a political contact, but nothing more. Osborne himself had bounced from job to job since leaving Boston, ending up in the main office of the Great Western Casualty Insurance Company. In all probability, that was how Osborne had come in contact with Abel Rosnovski, as the old Chicago Richmond had always been insured by Great Western. When the hotel burned down, the insurance company had originally refused to pay the claim. A certain Desmond Pacey, the manager, had been sent to prison for ten years, after pleading guilty to arson, and there was some suspicion that Abel Ros - novski might himself have been involved. Nothing was proved, and the insurance company settled later for threequarters of a mfllion dollars.
Osborne, the report went on, is now an alderman and full - time politician at City Hall, and it is common knowledge that he hopes to become a con - gressman for Chicago. He has recently married a Miss Marie Axton, the daughter of a wealthy drug manufacturer, and as yet they have no children.
William went over the report again to be sure that he had not missed anything, however inconsequential. Although there did not seem to be a great deal to connect the two men, he couldn't help feeling that the association between Abel Rosnovski and Henry Osborne, both of whom hated him, for totally disparate reasons, was potentially dangerous to him. He mailed a cheque to Thomas Cohen and requested that he update the - file every quarter, but as the months passed, and the quarterly reports revealed flothing new, he began to stop worrying, thinking perhaps he had overreacted to the photograph in the Boston Globe.
Kate presented her husband with a daughter in the spring of 1937, whom they christened Virginia. William started changing nappies again, and such was his fascination for 'the little lady' that Kate had to rescue the child each night for fear she would never get any sleep. Richard, now two and a half, didn't care too much for the new arrival to begin with, but time and a new wooden soldier on a horse, combined to allay his jealousy.
By the end of the year, William's department at Kane and Cabot had made a handsome profit for the bank. He had emerged from the lethargy that had overcome him on Matthew's death and was fast regaining his reputation as a shrewd investor in the stock market, not least when 'sell 'em short' Smith admitted he had only perfected a technique developed by William Kane of Boston. Even Tony Simmons' direction had