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'My brother was never taken prisoner in Poland. He was liberated from a German war camp near Frankfurt. The Americans kept him in a D.P. camp for a month and they handed him over to the Russians.'

'It can't be true. Why would they do that?'

'The Russians wanted all Slavs repatriated. Repatriated so that they could then be exterminated or enslaved. The ones that Hitler didn't get, Stalin did. And I can prove my brother was in the American Sector for over a month.'

'But,' Abel began, 'was he an exception or were there many others like him?'

'He was no exception: there were many others,' said Szymanowski without apparent emotion. 'Hundreds of thousands. Perhaps as many as a million. I don't think we will ever know the true figures. It's most unlikely the American authorities ever kept careful records of Operation Kee Chanl.'

'Operation Kee Chanl? Why don't people ever mention this? Surely if others malised that we, the Americans, had been sending liberated prisoners back to die in Russial they would be horrified.'

'There is no proof, no known documentation of Operation Kee Chanl. Mark Clark, God bless him, disobeyed his orders and a few of the prisoners were warned in advance by some kindly disposed G-Ls, and they managed to escape before the Americans could send them to the camps. But they are now lying low and would never admit as much. One of the unlucky ones was with my brother. Anyway, it's too late now.'

'But the American people must be told. I'll form a comknittee, print pamphlets, make speeches. Surely Congress will listen to us if we tell them the truth.'

'Baron Rosnovski, I think this one is too big even for you!'

Abel rose from his seat, 'No, no, I do not underestimate you, my friend. But you do not yet understand the mentality of world leaders. America agreed to hand over those poor devils because Stalin demanded as much. I am sure they never thought that there would be trials, labour camps and executions to follow. But now, as we approach the fifties, no one is going to admit they were indirectly responsible? No, they will never do that. Not for a hundred years. And then, all but a few historians will have forgotten that Poland lost more lives in the war than any other single nation on earth, including Germany.'

'I had hoped the one conclusion you might come to was that you must play a more direct role in politics!

'I have already been considering the idea but cannot decide what form it should take.'

'I have my own views on that subject, Baron, so keep in touch.'

The old man raised himself slowly to his feet and embraced Abel. 'In the meantime do what you can for our cause, but don't be surprised when you meet closed doors.'

The moment Abel returned to The Baron, he picked up the phone and told the hotel operator to get him Senator Douglas' office. Paul Douglas was Illinois liberal Democratic senator, elected with the help of the Chicago machine, and he had always been helpful and responsive to any of Abel's past requests, mindful of the fact that his constituency contained the largest Polish cornmunity in the country. His assistant, Adam Tornaszewicz always dealt with his Polish constituents.

'Hello, Adam. It's Abel Rosnovski. I have something very disturbing to discuss with the senator. Could you arrange an early meeting with him?'

'I'm afraid he's out of town today, Mr. Rosnovski. I know he'll be glad to speak with you as soon as he returns on Thursday. I'll ask him to call you direct. Can I tell him what it's all about?'

'Yes. As a Pole you will be interested. I've heard reports from reliable sources that the U.S. authorities in Germany assisted in the return of displaced Polish citizens to territories occupied by the Soviet Union, and that many of these Polish citizens were then sent on to Russian labour camps and have never been heard of since.'

There was a moment's silence from the other end of the line.

'I'll brief the senator on his return, Mr. Rosnovski,' said Adam Tomaszewicz. 'Thank you for calling.'

The senator did not get in touch with Abel on Thursday. Nor did he try on Friday or over the weekend. On Monday morning, Abel put through another call to his office. Again, Adam Tornaszewicz answered the telephone.

'Oh, yes, Mr. Rosnovski.' Abel could almost hear him blushing. 'The senator did leave a message for you. He's been very busy, you know, what with all the emergency bills that have to be acted on before Congress recesses. He asked me to let you know that he'll call back just as soon as he has a spare moment.'

'Did you give him my message?'

'Yes, of course. He asked me to assure you that he felt certain the rumour you heard was nothing more than a piece of anti-American propaganda. He added that he'd been told personally by one of the joint Chiefs that American troops had orders not to release any of the D.P.s under their supervision.'

Tomaszewicz sounded as if he was reading a carefully prepared statement, and Abel sensed that he had encountered the first of those closed doors.

Senator Douglas had never evaded him in the past.

Abel put down the phone and dialed the number of another senator who did make news and didn't evade sitting in judgment on anybody.

Senator Joseph McCarthy's office came on the line asking who was calling.

'I'll try and find the senator,' said a young voice when she heard who it was and his reason for wanting to speak to her boss. McCarthy was approaching the peak of his power, and Abel realised he would be lucky to have more than a few moments on the phone with him.

'Mr. Rosenevski,' were McCarthy's first words.

Abel wondered if he had mangled his name on purpose~ or if it was a bad connection. 'What is it you wanted to discuss with me and no one else, this matter of grave urgency?' the senator asked. Abel hesitated; actually speaking to McCarthy directly had slightly taken him aback.

'Your secrets are safe with me,' he heard the senator say, sensing his hesitation.

'If you say so,' said Abel and paused for a moment to collect his thoughts.

'You, Senator, have been a forthright spokesman for those of us who would like to see the Eastern European nations freed from the yoke of communism!

'So I have. So I have. And I'm glad to see you appreciate the fact, Mr. Rosenevski.'

This time Abel was sure he had mispronounced his name on purpose, but resolved not to comment on it.

'As for Eastern Europe,' the senator continued, 'you must realise that only after the traitors have been driven from within our own government can any real action be taken to free your captive country!

'That is exactly what I want to speak to you about, Senator. You have had a brilliant success in exposing treachery within our own government. But to date, one of the communists' greatest crimes has as yet gone unpublicised?

'Just what great crime did you have in mind, Mr. Rosenevski? I have found so many since I came to Washington!

'I am referring' - Abel drew himself up a little straighter in his chair - 'to the forced repatriation of thousands of displaced Polish citizens by the American authorities after the war ended. Innocent enemies of communism who were sent back to Poland, and then on to the U.S.S.R., to be enslaved and sometimes muxdered.'

Abel waited for a response, but none was forthcoming, He heard a click and wondered if someone else was listening to the conversation.

'Now, Rosenevski, listen to me, you simpleton. You dare to phone me to say that Americans - loyal United States soldiers - sent thousands of Poles back to Russia and nobody heard a -word about it? Are you asking me to believe that? Even a Polack couldn't be that stupid. And I wonder what kind of person accepts a lie like that without any proof? Do you want me also to believe that American soldiers are disloyal? Is that what you want? Tell me, Rosenevski, tell me what it is with you people? Are you too stupid to recognise communist propaganda even when it hits you right in the face? Do you have to waste the time of an overworked United States senator because of a rumour cooked up by the Pravda slime to create unrest in America's immigrant communities?'

Abel sat motionless, stunned by the outburst. Before half of his tirade was over, Abel felt that any counter-argument was going to be pointless. He waited for the histrionic speech to come to an end, and was glad the senator couldn't see his startled face.

'Senator, I'm sure you're right and I'm sorry to have wasted your time,'

Abel said quietly. 'I hadn't thought of it in quite that light before!

'Well, it just goes so show how tricky those commie bastards can be,' said McCarthy, his tone softening. 'You have to keep an eye on them all the time. Anyway, I hope you're more alert now to the continual danger the American people face.'

'I am indeed, Senator. Thank you once again for taking the trouble to speak to me personally. Goodbye, Senator!

'Goodbye, Rosenovski.'

Abel heard the phone click and realised it was the same sound as a closing door.

29

William became aware of feeling older when Kate teased him about his greying hair, hairs which he used to be able to count and now no longer could, and Richard started to bring girls home whom he found attractive.

William almost always approved of Richard's choice of young ladies, as he called them, perhaps because they were all rather like Kate who, he considered, was more beautiful in middle-age than she had ever been. His daughters, Virginia and Lucy, now also becoming young ladies, brought him great happiness as they grew in the image of their mother. Virginia was becoming quite an artist and the kitchen and children's bedrooms were always covered in her latest works of genius, as Richard described them mockingly. Virginia's revenge came the day Richard started cello lessons when even the servants were heard to murmur unsavoury comments whenever the bow came in contact with the strings. Lucy adored them both and considered Virginia with uncritical prejudice the new Picasso and Richard the new Casals. William began to wonder what the future would hold for all three of them when he was no longer around. In Kate's eyes all three children advanced satisfactorily. Richard, now at St. Paul's, had improved enough at the cello to be chosen to play in a school concert, while Virginia was painting well enough for one of her pictures to be hung in the front room. But it became obvious to all the family that Lucy was going to be the beauty when, aged only eleven, she started receiving little love notes from boys who until then had only shown an interest in baseball.

In 1951, Richard, was accepted at Harvard and although he did not win the top mathematics scholarship, Kate was quick to point out to William that he had played baseball and the cello for St. Paul's, two accomplishments William had never so much as attempted to master. William was secretly proud of Richard's achievements but mumbled to Kate something about not knowing many bankers who played baseball or the cello.

Banking was moving into an expansionist period as Americans began to believe in a lasting peace. William soon found himself overworked, and for a short time, the threat of Abel Rosnovski and the problems associated with him had to be pushed into the background.

The flow of quarterly reports from Thaddeus Cohen indicated that Rosnovski had embarked on a course which he had no intention of abandoning - through a third party he had let every stockholder other than William know of his interest in Lester's shares. William wondered if that course was heading towards a direct confrontation between himself and the Pole. He began to feel that the time was fast approaching when he would have to inform the Lester's board of Rosnovski's actions and perhaps even to offer his resignation if the bank looked to be under siege, a move that would result in a complete victory for Abel Rosnovski, which was the one reason William did not seriously contemplate such a move. He decided that if he had to fight for his life, fight he would, and if one of the two had to go under, he would do everything in his power to ensure that it wasn't William Kane.

The problem of what to do about Abel Rosnovski's investment programme was finally taken out of William's hands.

Early in 1951, the bank had been invited to represent one of America's new airline companies, Interstate Airways, when the Federal Aviation Agency granted them a frunchise for flights between the East and West coasts. The airline approached Lester's bank when they needed to raise the thirty million dollars to provide them with the financial backing required by governmental regulations.

William considered the airline and the whole project to be well worth supporting, and he spent virtually his entire time setting up a public offering to raise the necessary thirty million.

The bank, acting as the sponsor for the project, put all their resources behind the new venture. The project became William's biggest since he had returned to Lester's, and he realised that his personal reputation was at stake when he went to the market for the thirty million dollars. In July, when the details of the offering were announced the stock was snapped up in a matter of days. William received lavish praise from all quarters for the way he had handled the project and carried it through to such a successful conclusion. He could not have been happier about the outcome himself, until he read in Thaddeus Cohen's next report that ten per cent of the airline's stock had been obtained by one of Abel Rosnovski's dummy corporations.

William knew then that the time had come to acquaint ' He Ted Leach and Tony Simmons with his worst fears. asked Tony to come to New York where he called both of the vice-chairmen to his office and related to them the saga of Abel Rostiovski and Henry Osborne.

'Why didn't you let us know about all this before?' was Tony Simmons' first reaction.

'I dealt with a hundred companies like the Richmond Group when I was at Kane and Cabot, Tony, and I couldn't know at the time that he was that serious about revenge. I was only finally convinced of his obsession when Rosnovski purchased ten per cent of Interstate Airways!

'I suppose it's possible you may be over-reacting,' said Ted Leach. 'Of one thing I am certain: it would be unwise to inform the rest of the board of this inforination. The last thing we want a few days after launching a new company is a panic on our hands!