Where Are You Now?

41

D erek Olsen was far from being only the irascible, petulant old man that his nephew Steve and his buildings manager, Howie, thought him to be. He was in fact a shrewd investor who had watched his real estate holdings in strategically chosen apartment buildings turn into a personal fortune worth many millions of dollars. Now he had come to the conclusion that the time was right to begin liquidating his assets.

On Friday morning he called Wallace and Madison and brusquely demanded to be put through to Elliott Wallace. Elliott’s secretary, long used to Olsen’s behavior, did not bother to tell him that Mr. Wallace was on his way to an urgent meeting. Instead, she asked him to hold, and rushed down the corridor to catch Elliot at the elevator. “It’s Olsen,” she said.

With an exasperated sigh, Elliott retraced his steps to his office and picked up the phone. “Derek, how are you?” he asked, his tone hearty.

“I’m all right. Your so-called nephew’s in a lot of trouble, “I see.”

“As you well know, Mack has been missing for ten years. It is absurd that the police are trying to connect him to any crime. What can I do for you?”

“He caused me a lot of trouble by disappearing when he was living in one of my apartments. Anyhow, that’s not why I called. My birthday was last month. I’m eighty-three years old. It’s time to sell everything.”

“I’ve been suggesting that for the past five years.”

“If I had sold five years ago, I wouldn’t get the price I’ll get now. I’m coming in to talk to you. Monday morning, ten o’clock, okay for you?”

“Monday at ten would be fine,” Elliott said, cordially. When he was sure Olsen had hung up, he slammed the phone down into the cradle. “I’ll have to reschedule the entire day,” he snapped to his secretary as he hurried back to the elevator.

She watched him go with sympathetic eyes. The meeting that had been scheduled was to decide who would assume Aaron Klein’s responsibilities in the firm. After staying home for four days, Klein had phoned in his resignation, saying that it was impossible for him to work side by side with someone who was the champion of his mother’s killer.