LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter Eleven

      Within days, the first responses on Thibault began to arrive.

      A search of his criminal history came up empty, both in the States and with Interpol. His photograph hadn’t matched any that caused alarm. An asset check showed no liens or judgments against him. His personal bills were paid in full and on time.

      Thursday, Hauck was at his desk with a coffee, going over an immigration search on the guy who had perpetrated a mortgage fraud, when Richard Snell from London called back. “I’ve got an update on that subject you had me looking into.”

      “Thibault,” Hauck confirmed. He grabbed a pen. He had never met Snell, but the Brit was ex-Goldman, ex-Kroll, and had a reputation in the firm as a top-notch manager. “Go ahead.”

      “First, as you suggested, I checked his name against the alumni roll of the LSE. There is no record of anyone named Dieter Thibault having been at either, which I know is to no one’s surprise. There was a Simone Thibault, who received a degree in 1979. You’re certain you have the correct school?”

      “I’m only going on what I was told,” Hauck replied. It only confirmed what Merrill Simons had already said.

      “You also stated you did a criminal and Interpol check,” Snell continued on. “No reason to be redundant then. I did a quick search into the two investment companies you supplied. Christiana Capital Partners and Trois Croix. Both companies are basically investment shells. For a network of individual funds that are hard to track. They’ve been mentioned a couple of times in the business press here as among the bidders trying to buy up various real estate and Internet properties. Combined, they do list assets under management as over one hundred million euros. No one really has a sense of where the cash originates from. You mentioned some kind of connection to the Belgian royal family…”

      “Supposedly there are photos of them in his New York office.”

      “Haven’t been able to confirm that one yet. These families tend to go on and on, of course. More minor royals running around Europe than the rest of us. But no one I’ve run Thibault’s name by has ever heard of him in those circles, Ty. I’ll keep at it. But I did raise some peculiar issues though…”

      “Fire away.”

      “Thibault’s own CV lists stints at various banks. The KronenBank in Lichtenstein is one. It’s a bank that has been under some scrutiny in the past, coinciding with the time Thibault was there. It’s known as a loose place for people who would like to transfer assets quietly and without detection. They set up instruments known as stiftungs; heard of them?”

      “Remind me.”

      “Stiftungs are, in effect, trusts,” the Brit explained, “protected from most outside scrutiny, perfectly legal, but where the identity of the benefiting recipient can be a bit murky, shall we say. By intention. These assets can then move about from bank to bank across the globe, not so easy to trace.”

      Hauck had had some experience with money transferred through these vehicles into offshore accounts in the race to locate Charles Friedman in the Grand Central bombing case. Very difficult to trace without a subpoena from Interpol, which was almost impossible to get.

      “KronenBank is a small, restricted private bank,” Snell went on. “Thibault was listed as a Vermogensverwalter, the equivalent of an investment manager. The bank was also in the news some years back for something they call ‘doubling up.’ Taking commissions from both the client and the financial broker where they placed their money—say, a U.S. hedge fund. It all could be perfectly legitimate, of course, but in this particular case, there are reasons I’m slightly skeptical.”

      “Why is that?” Hauck asked.

      “I don’t know…Thibault’s company lists Simpston Mews, Limited, as one of the real estate transactions they have been a part of. It’s a big development along the Thames. Along with the Kai Shek Waterfront Project in Shanghai.”

      “Uh-huh.”

      “I asked our people who would know here. No one’s ever heard of Christiana or Trois Croix in this arena. Not to mention something else…”

      Hauck flicked his pen. “What’s that?”

      “Thibault also lists the AMV Bank in Belgium as a place he once worked. I contacted the head of personnel there. A man named Gruens. He confirmed that a Dieter Thibault did, in fact, hold a position there. Between the years of 1992 and1994. His title was key account-holder manager. Looked after VIP depositors, I assume. Very efficient, Gruen remembered. Well regarded. Good marks from his clients as well. In 1994, he moved on.”

      “To Bank AGRO. In Amsterdam,” Hauck concluded, checking Thibault’s history.

      “No. To manage some investment fund in Switzerland, as Gruen recalled,” the Brit corrected him. “It’s been almost fifteen years. The records are boxed away in some warehouse somewhere.”

      “Switzerland? I don’t see that in Thibault’s background anywhere,” Hauck said, flipping through his papers.

      “No,” Snell confirmed, “you won’t.” The Brit seemed to be hesitating, as if he was holding something back.

      “Gruen asked me why I was interested in Thibault after all these years. Not to divulge anything, I said he had a cash bequeath set aside for him, that he’d been named in a will. Which seemed to generate no small surprise…”

      “Why?”

      “Because Herr Gruen, as it happens, seemed to recall that the Dieter Thibault who worked at their bank went missing while on a business trip to France and was never seen again. A year or two after he left.”

      Hauck stopped writing. “That would be 1994 or ’95?” he said, surprised.

      “He said that one of Thibault’s clients had read about it somewhere and passed it along to the bank. As I said, fifteen years ago. I went so far as to wire him a photo of your Thibault, from the Internet.”

      “And?”

      “And the Thibault who worked there was apparently short and already starting to go bald,” Snell said flatly.

      “Oh,” Hauck grunted, his mind flashing to Merrill Simons, sinking back in his leather chair.

      Thibault had falsified his past. More than that, he had taken over someone’s identity. A likely dead person’s. If that was false, everything about him could be false. Who did that—except a person with a great deal to hide? Hauck thought of Merrill. The awkward smile, the hopeful expression on her face when she talked about how she hoped things would turn out. I suppose you could say we’ve fallen in love.

      “It would be of help if you could find me a set of fingerprints,” Snell said. “Or better yet, a sample of his DNA. Soon as you give me the go-ahead, we’ll track down just who this bugger really is.”