the bottle of beer and a glass in front of Bob. He took a long sip from the bottle and wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his jacket. "When you systematically liquefy your assets, theycan disappear very quickly under the right circumstances. I warned you about the market."
"It had been quite profitable before my absence."
"Yes, and you wanted to make akilling ." Bob placed special emphasis on the word "killing" and took another long sip of beer. "It started on a Friday. The market dropped about two hundred points. The following Monday, it fell another six hundred."
Silence overtook me as the reality of the situation came clear. "The American economy has not entirely collapsed, has it?"
"No. Actually, it's bounced back fairly well. It'll take awhile, but the market should recover nicely."
"Then, so should we, correct? Surely Jenkins hedged against this sort of thing."
The mention of Jenkins caused both men to straighten in their chairs as if receiving substantial electric shocks. Bob toyed with his beer bottle. LeMeux downed his entire Pernod in one gulp.
"Your former financial manager has disappeared," Bob said.
"Motherless spawn of Satan! Robert, just what the devil has happened?" Heads turned as I had momentarily forgotten how loud my voice can boom.
"I tried to reach him," Bob replied. "When the market crashed, I was inEurope . You'd told me to sell some of your real estate holdings so you could buy more stock."
"Yes, I remember." Bitterness tinged my words. Jenkins had advised me that the market would continue to rise for at least another two years and had suggested selling my European holdings, which would be dropping dramatically in value, thus allowing me to buy them back later and make a handsome profit in the process.
"That fool, he didn't tell me what he was doing." Bob sounded angry. LeMeux searched forlornly for the waiter. "I'd been telling him he was being too optimistic, but he wouldn't listen." He paused and took another sip, emptied the bottle and waved it at the waiter. "Jenkins thought he was getting a bargain when it turned out he was buying at what would be an all-time high-water mark for the Dow. But he was so sure of himself that he made a huge, and I mean huge, purchase on margin - "
"He did what!" Again, heads turned. I lowered my voice to an angry whisper. "He did what?"
"Jenkins took out a loan against your entire portfolio a week before the crash."
I buried my head in my hands and cursed silently in a long dead language. "And then the brokerage house called in the loan, and we had to make up the margin, correct?"
"Yes," Bob replied. "We had to liquidate almost all your assets just to cover the margin call.
But then, apparently, Jenkins panicked. He sold off what was left of your portfolio."
"Sold! The cretin should have been buying."
"Yes, he should have been, but like I said, he panicked." The waiter returned and slammed another bottle of Beck's in front of Bob, while gently placing a fresh Pernod in front of LeMeux, who immediately downed about half in one gulp.
"I hopped the earliest possible flight," Bob continued, "but there was no sign of Jenkins by the time I made it back toNew York . He was gone, without a trace."
"And I presume he, as you say, cleaned me out?"
"I'm afraid so. He liquidated what was left of your portfolio, then drained your Swiss accounts. Then, just flat out disappeared."
"Motherless spawn of Satan," I spat. "We will find Jenkins. I will find Jenkins, and when I do - "
"Monsieur LeMeux," Bob interrupted, "can you please excuse us?"
LeMeux rose, looking relieved. "I am truly sorry about this regrettable state of affairs, Monsieur Farkus. If there is anything I may do to help, please feel free to let me know."
"Thank you, Jacques." I rose and clasped his hand. "I want you to know that I appreciate your service." I turned to Bob. "There is still some money, is there not?" He nodded, then produced a checkbook, hastily wrote a check and handed it to LeMeux.
"Thank you, Robert," I said, returning to my seat after LeMeux left. "I do forget myself sometimes." I leaned forward and lowered my voice to a whisper. "But when I find Jenkins - "
"You'll do what?"
"I will peel his flesh from his cowardly bones. Slowly! I will rip out his heart and squeeze the blood into my open mouth. While he watches!"