Windfall

Chapter 5

Gu

But Richardson came up with the information he needed next day. He gave Hardin an envelope and said, 'You don't know where you got it.'

'Okay.' Hardin opened the envelope and took out a single piece of paper. 'This isn't a computer print-out.'

'You're damned right it isn't,' said Richardson. 'If Gu

Hardin sca

It told Hardin nothing he did not know already except for the unusual spelling of Hendrix, and the Jersey address confused him until he realized that it referred to the original Jersey in the Cha

If Hardin was mad at Gu

He carefully maintained his pipelines into the offices of Gu

'Maybe Gu

"You can check that,' said Hardin thoughtfully. 'There'll be an expense account for the air fare. Do me a favour.'

'Goddamn it!' said Richardson heatedly. 'You'll get me fired.' But he checked and found no record of transatlantic flights since Hendrix had arrived in New York. On his own initiative he checked for any record of medical expenses paid out for the treatment of Hendrix's wound and, again, found nothing. He was a good friend to Hardin.

'Gu

Richardson had no suggestions.

Probably Hardin would not have pressed on but for a genuine stroke of luck. Nearly a month had passed and he knew he had to get a job. His resentment at Gu

Then he got a wire from A

NOW MRS KREISS STOP WISH ME LUCK ANNETTE.'

'Thank God!' he said to Richardson. 'Now some other guy can maintain her.' Briefly he wondered what sort of a man this stranger, Kreiss, was- then put the matter out of his mind. For he was now the master of unexpected wealth and his heart was filled with jubilation. 'Now I can do it,' he said.

'Do what?' asked Richardson.

'I'm flying to England.'

'You're nuts!' Richardson protested. 'Ben, this obsession is doing you no good. What can you do in England?'

'I don't know,' said Hardin cheerfully. 'But 'I'll find out when I get there. I haven't had a vacation in years.'

Before leaving for England he flew to Washington on the shuttle where he renewed acquaintance with some of his old buddies in the Company and armed himself with some British addresses, and he visited the British Embassy where he ran into problems. No one knew much about Jersey.

'They're autonomous,' he was told. 'They have their own way of doing things. You say you want to know about a will?'

'That's right.'

'In London a copy would be kept in Somerset House,' said the attache. 'But I don't think that applies to Jersey wills.' He thought for a moment then his face lightened. 'I do believe we have someone who would know.' He picked up a telephone and dialled, then said, 'Pearson here. Mark, you're a Jerseyman, aren't you? Yes I thought so. Would you mind popping in here for a moment?' Pearson put down the telephone. 'Mark le Tissier should know about it.'

And Mark le Tissier did. 'Wills are kept in the Greffe,' he said.

'The w hat?'

'The Greffe.' Le Tissier smiled. 'The Public Records Office. I had the same problem a couple of years ago. They'll give you a copy.'

'All I have to do is to go to this place, the Greffe, and ask?'

'Oh you don't have to go. Just drop a line to the Greffier. We'll go into the library and dig out his address.'

So Hardin went back to New York and wrote to Jersey, giving as return address poste restante at the London office of American Express. A few days later he flew and the day he left from Ke

In the employment of Gu

He enjoyed the walk. The sun was shining and he felt oddly contented and in a holiday mood as he strolled by the lake. It was true that it had been some years since he had taken a real vacation. Perhaps he had been getting in a rut and the split with Gu

After leaving the American Express Office Hardin bought a street plan of London from a news vendor because, although he was no stranger to London, it was many years since he had been there. Then he went into a pub to inspect the single letter he had received. The envelope was bulky and bore Jersey stamps. He ordered a half pint of beer at the bar and took it to a corner table, then opened the envelope.

The will was seven pages long. Jan-Willem Hendrykxx had left 10,000 to Dr Morton, his physician, as a token of esteem for keeping him alive so long, 20,000 to Mr and Mrs Adams, his butler and housekeeper, and various sums of between 1,000 and 4,000 to various members of his staff, which appeared to be large.

Detailed instructions were given for the sale of his real property of which he had a plenitude; a house in Jersey, another in the South of France, yet another in Belgium, and a whole island in the Caribbean. The sums arising from these sales and from the sale of his other possessions were to be added to the main part of his estate. Hendrykxx had evidently been a careful man because the will was up-to-date and he had estimated the current market values of his properties. Thenceforth the terms were expressed in percentages; 8 5 per cent of his estate was to go to the Ol Njorowa Foundation of Kenya, and 15 per cent to be divided equally among his living descendants.