Style, you
either have it or you
don't. And if you have it, you have it
all the time.The Rogue's Quiet Weekend
by Tux Toledo
Page 13
Harry
was right. It was 2:15 by the time James brought the Rolls to
a halt in front of the National Hotel. I did not wait for him to open
my door. Ansley and Mary were in the cafe.
"Mr. Churchill," Ansley called. He looked like a teenage boy who had
just received his first kiss. "Where have you been?"
"In San Francisco."
"San Francisco? What were you doing there?"
Mary looked at me funny.
"Did you buy that land yet?" I asked.
"Yes, of course," he said. "So did many others. You should have seen
them all, Mr. Churchill!" His moustache twitched with self-satisfied
excitement.
My heart sank to the floor and I sat down to join it.
"You don't look too well, Mr. Churchill," Mary said. "Is something
wrong?"
"I'm afraid I have some bad news for you."
Mary tightened.
"Oh?" she said.
"I went to San Francisco this morning to investigate Mr. Jepson and the
companies involved in his real estate deal."
"What? Mr. Churchill, you didn't?" Ansley was a mixture of
anger and surprise.
"What did you find, Mr. Churchill?" Mary asked. She clasped her hands
tightly together.
I placed Harry's papers on the table. "Unfortunately, Jepson's real
estate deal is a scam," I said. "Jepson and his partner are crooks.
They are very good at selling land based on phony development plans.
Several lawsuits have already been filed against them. These men are
frauds."
"Oh, my," Mary said. Her voice was barely a whisper.
"Are you sure?" Ansley asked. He rose and looked down at me. "You
better have proof, Mr. Churchill. You can't just go making accusations
like this without proof."
"It's all here in these papers," I said. "With the lawsuits piling up
against them they'll probably take the money from this real estate scam
and flee the country if they can."
Ansley sat down and looked at the papers and then stared into space.
Reality hit him like a hard left hook.
"Our entire savings," he said. "We've lost it all." His colorful face
became lost its color.
"We should have been more careful," Mary said. "But we were so excited."
"I'm not very excited now," Ansley groaned. They sat quietly
and stared at the table. "I guess we should have listened to
you, Mr. Churchill. But how were we to know?" He
looked at me as his eyes pleaded his case. "We shouldn't have
rushed into this. You were right."
"Oh, dear," Mary said. "Oh, dear. What should we do now? Can
these men be stopped?"
I shook my head. "The deal will eventually be exposed for the scam that
it is," I said. "You can then sue Jepson and his partner, but
there will be so many other claims against them that the chances of
recovering your money are not very good. And it will take time."
"Can't we call the police or some other authority?" Ansley asked.
"They really haven't done anything illegal yet," I said.
"Then there's nothing we can do?" Ansley's moustache
disappeared as his lips puckered.
"Nothing legal."
© 2008 David Biagini