The 9/11 Connection

By James W. Macnutt

In the years since the events of The Odessa Connection, Isaac Menshive and Will McIntosh have settled into new and contrasting roles. Isaac, with his priorities firmly centred on his young and growing family in London, has taken a back seat in running the Menshive Trust, the vast and burdensome business enterprise he inherited. It is Will who oversees the trust’s day-to-day administration full-time alongside Isaac’s daughter Ruth, to whom he is becoming ever more attached.
As part of their researches, Will and Ruth discover that Isaac’s father, a university professor in New York who died under mysterious circumstances, had been working on his own ambitious project, based in the North Tower of the World Trade Center before the attacks of September 11, 2001. They call in experts to examine the Professor’s papers, including those scattered over the city when the towers collapsed, in the hope of learning more about his intentions. At the same time, Isaac’s grasping ex-wife and her two daughters suddenly come back into his life. Is this more than coincidence? Could they perhaps be in league with the sinister figures who have been harassing Isaac over the last several years?
The 9/11 Connection brings the story of Will and Isaac to a satisfying conclusion as it continues to develop the relationships between the familiar protagonists while introducing some highly colourful new characters. With the same flair for detail, psychological nuance and sophisticated geopolitical understanding as its predecessors, the novel displays an uncanny prescience about the current political situation in Eastern Europe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Jun 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9781398463691

James W. Macnutt

James W. Macnutt has been a practising lawyer for over 54 years and was honoured with a K.C. appointment in 1989. He continues in his full-time practice of law with the law firm of Cox & Palmer having offices in each of the four Canadian Atlantic provinces. Mr. Macnutt has written extensively on Canadian architectural, legal and parliamentary history as presented in numerous journal articles and in twelve major publications in book form. He is concentrating now on creative writing in the fictionalized history genre of which the stories in this volume are part. He continues to write and has four new manuscripts in draft form which will be published in due time. Married with two children, Mr. Macnutt has four grandchildren, two girls and two boys who collectively prevent complacency and indolence.

Book preview

Part One

August 2010

London – New York – Toronto

1

St Paul’s Cathedral, over five miles away, stood clearly in view on a crisp, sunny, early afternoon as Sophie and Little Isaac Menshive walked their new puppy on Hampstead Heath at the crest of London’s Parliament Hill. The view was not new to Sophie. She and her husband Isaac had bought a large townhouse in a garden suburb in Hampstead two years earlier and they took this walk frequently as part of their therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder.

As Sophie paused to identify some of London’s principal structures, usually obscured by clouds and mist or driving rain, she reflected on the journey that took her from New York as a new bride to accompany Isaac on a honeymoon to a dacha near the western Russian city of Smolensk. That journey was torturous, full of unexpected and terrifying incidents that ultimately led to her current physical and mental condition, as it did Isaac’s.

She felt a deep sense of peace and security in Hampstead, and with Little Isaac by her side she had a feeling of contentment and purpose that had been denied her for three years.

Isaaky, said Sophie, using her affectionate family name for her son, we can see so much of the city – look over there to the left of the dome of St Paul’s. We can even see the River Thames. What have you still to visit in Central London?

Momma, replied her delighted son who had been deprived of his parents’ companionship for months on end because of their medical conditions, I often come here to play football and to swim in the pond further down below the hill. I often look down counting the buildings I haven’t visited and I ask Uncle Will what they are and I ask him to take me to visit them. He has taken me through a lot of Central London and he explained the history of London and the connection of Britain to our United States. It’s very exciting!

I hope Uncle Will doesn’t tire you with his explanations. He knows a lot about history and architecture, but he can be long-winded and tiresome. We love him dearly, don’t we, but less lecturing would be good, don’t you think?

No, Momma. I like his stories. He connects them to the buildings and events of history that make them come alive to me. You have to remember, Momma, that London is more my home than New York or anywhere else. I am totally connected to this city and I find it really exciting to live and explore here. It’s great.

They walked in happy silence for a few minutes until the puppy, who bore the dignified name of Arthur, drew their attention to a squirrel he was pursuing with vigour. He should be on a leash, Momma. He hasn’t been trained yet. Aunt Anna promised to enrol Arthur and me in a school for dogs! It’s silly that I would go to a school for dogs, but she says I must go, too. I guess to keep Arthur company, said Isaaky, somewhat mystified.

No, dear. Training a dog involves as much training for the dog’s owner as the dog itself. Arthur will be a very big dog when he is full-grown. Alsatians can be almost three feet to their shoulder. You will have to learn how to make him obey you. It’s a lot like being a parent, dear. The mommy and daddy must learn to be parents as they train their children, too. No two children are alike, you know.

Yes, I know, said Isaaky. My friends Henry and Jerome are very different from me. But we have a great time together at school.

Arthur will be a great companion for you, Isaaky; he will also be part of the special protections we have. Arthur will join Bill and Alex, our security guards, in watching over us. Isn’t that a good idea?

Yes, Momma. I know we need Bill and Alex. Uncle Will told me about those bad men in Russia who made you and Poppa sick. I am getting big, too. I am part of our security. I will protect you and Poppa, won’t I? Uncle Will tells me I will. I believe him.

As Isaaky made his announcement, Bill and Alex were within shouting distance clearly watching them and their 360-degree surroundings.

The one and a half hours allowed by her doctor for outdoor exercise passed, and as it did Bill approached Sophie.

Madam, I think it is time to return to the house. The van is waiting for you up by the pub at the top of the hill. Dr. Menshive gave us clear instructions to have you and Master Menshive back no later than 3 p.m.

The pleasing smells of autumn from early falling leaves and distant fires burning were accompanied by the enthusiastic shouts of boys and girls playing soccer; it gave Sophie a sense of calm, peace and joy. Increasingly her life was resuming a sense of happiness after a sterile period of gloom and anxiety. Her joy at this time was enhanced by her recent diagnosis of a new pregnancy, but a pregnancy she was advised would be her last.

* * *

Isaac greeted his wife and son at the front door of their home, thanking Bill and Alex for bringing his family home safely. ‘Home safely’ as a concept had been absent from Isaac’s life for even longer, much longer, than it had been for Sophie. He had been shot and severely injured in Russia on several occasions as he had investigated the origins of the monstrous bequest he received through his father naming him and his sister as the beneficiaries of the ancient family trust.

He was left alone to deal with the complexities and uncertainties arising from the huge list of assets: assets located in various parts of Central and Eastern Europe in particular. The assets in London, Berlin and Switzerland were stable and secure but their origin and purpose had been as mysterious as those located further east. In the last couple of years, much of that mystery had been resolved but not how to deal with the inventory. Greeting Sophie after one of her first walks through a park was a great relief to Isaac. Normalcy, or at least the possibility of it, seemed real as he held his wife and called after his son as Little Isaac ran through the home with the puppy following him.

* * *

Tea was served in the library, Isaac’s favourite room in the house. Its substantial dimensions matched the overall scale of the house and the property on which it was located. Will MacIntosh, who was an essential and vital component of Isaac’s and Sophie’s family unit, had found and purchased the house for them at a time when they were still in a nursing home being treated for their post-traumatic stress disorder, aggravated by Sophie’s loss of a baby during a horrific birth.

It is good to see roses back in your cheeks, Sophie, my dear. I feared I would not see them again, said Isaac to his wife as she poured the tea, assisted by a maid in a neatly ironed and starched uniform. The maid may have appeared to be a simple domestic but like everyone else in this household she was a trained security guard, capable of taking out and neutralizing a three-hundred-pound boxer.

Thanks. I feel very healthy and relaxed today. I am becoming accustomed to London as the setting for my home and family; Isaaky loves it here, I think, largely because Will has taken him just about everywhere in the city. Isaac, Will has taught Isaaky the names of a lot of famous architects and I think just about everything about architecture and different styles. I am in awe of what he knows.

He is exceptionally bright and has a remarkable memory, but during these formative years when you and I were sidelined by our afflictions it was Will and Anna – really more Will than Anna – who took Isaaky in hand and acted as his parent. While I deeply regret and miss those years, I am grateful for Will’s parenting of Isaaky. We can never express our gratitude adequately.

I know, but I hope more than culture and history have been taught. I want Isaaky to be well-rounded and to be like other boys his age, Sophie replied, expressing a universally held goal for a mother’s children.

"Not possible, Sophie; Isaaky has exceptional intelligence which will separate him from many boys in his age group. That’s the reason Will put him in the private school he did. It is also important to remember that Isaaky is heir to one of the largest private fortunes on Planet Earth at this time, which will impose burdens and create opportunities that almost no other child will have. Compounding those issues, Isaaky is a Jew, born and being educated as a member of a Jewish synagogue in the Orthodox tradition. Sorry for the lecture, but you and I must accept who and what Isaaky is. Like other boys, no. However, we can make his life as secure and happy as I think most boys’ lives are. He must be engaged with boys from as many walks of life as possible.

Full marks, Sophie, to Will for what he has done for our son during our incapacity. I am over the moon about your new project. We can only hope this maternity venture will be more peaceful and happy for you than your last one.

I am feeling very healthy and relaxed, Isaac… just as I remember I did carrying Isaaky in the beginning. I only hope the new baby will be similar to him, whether it is a boy or a girl.

Sophie, be forewarned: Isaaky has decided it is a boy and that after his birth he will be on Parliament Hill playing soccer with him and our security guards. He wants the baby now. No delay… immediately, following Isaaky’s directions for play activities.

He will learn fast enough, Isaac, that the new arrival will have a mind of his or her own and Isaaky’s will may not carry the day all the time – or ever. My sister and I never got along until we were older, as I know you and your sister didn’t. That is part of being a family and learning to adapt and adjust to everyone. I admit I am looking forward to the new arrival. I shall never forget our lost baby – I visit her at least once a week, but I am ready to accept the new infant as an individual, ‘warts and all’, as mother used to say!

You are due in three months, which puts the birth in mid-November. Do you think there is time between now and then for a visit to the dacha outside Smolensk? I haven’t visited the estate for almost two years. I should check with the major-domo and manager to ensure all is well there, pleaded Isaac.

You can go if you wish, Isaac. Under no circumstances will I return to that dismal, horrible place in my current condition. Don’t you remember my last visit? Good God! Isaac, I was kidnapped and the terror of that experience led to the early onset of labour… and ultimately to me losing the baby. No. Nothing would induce me to return to Smolensk or anywhere in Russia in my current condition. I am happy and content here in London. I am coming to love it, almost as much as Isaaky does, if that is possible. And I have a fabulous obstetric team here in whom I have absolute confidence. As to you, Isaac, your last visit to that country led to your post- traumatic stress disorder after vicariously experiencing what was happening to me and after you were grievously shot a few times. I think you should stay here and let Will run things as he has done – exceptionally well, it appears – for the past several years. Stay put. Any further thoughts of that kind and I shall recruit Will to take my side.

I’m lost. Two of you against me would be hopeless. Actually, I think you are right, Sophie: I, too, am feeling better than I have for over two years. Yes, I shall stay where I am, but I shall ask Will to make a visit and report back. I think Isaaky can do without him for a couple of weeks.

Yes, Isaaky can. Can you, Isaac? You have become dependent on him totally on all matters affecting the money, the collections and the negotiations. It is a great relief to us both; let him do his work. He will keep you as informed as you require. Stay here in London. Your work with the synagogue has you fully engaged, and I have it on good authority that one or more of the major cultural organizations here in London want you – for a leadership role of some kind. That will give you something to consider.

As they sat in the library of their home enjoying their tea and biscuits, admiring the mahogany bookcases enhanced by Regency decorative details, illuminated by a silver-gilt chandelier and decorated antique silk handmade Persian carpets covering two-thirds of the floor area, both Isaac and Sophie expressed their contentment with a smile directed as much to themselves as to each other.

Loud shouts and squeals brought them back to the ‘now’ and reality. It was Isaaky playing soccer with the security guards and Will huffing and puffing trying to keep up.

Sophie rose and rang for the maid asking her to invite Will to join Isaac in the library.

Shortly afterwards Will arrived breathless: Thank God you called me when you did. I am almost totally done-in! That child of yours has Bill and Alex as exhausted as I am. It’s good for the boy, though. The security guys enjoy playing with him.

After taking a cup of Earl Grey tea and moving close to the samovar for two or three refills, Will turned to Isaac and said: I love this room and the layout of this house. I am glad it is suiting you and Sophie. Buying it on your behalf when you and Sophie were not well enough to make an informed decision was risky – I suppose as most of my decisions made at that time were. They all seem to have worked out well, though.

You know, Will, how grateful both Sophie and I are for all you have done for us. Yes, this house couldn’t have been a better choice. We love it. In fact, we were just talking about how much we like it. We also talked about something else that requires even more of our appreciation – your role as surrogate parent while Sophie and I were out of commission in the blackness of post-traumatic disorders. Isaaky is a healthy, affectionate and bright youngster with an enquiring mind. You have parented him well, Will. I know you have stuffed his little head with history, architecture and architects, but we can de-program him later. You will never know the depth of our gratitude.

Not that it is necessary that I know it. Anna and I tried very hard to be surrogate parents for Little Isaac. Yes, I think he has come along very well, but remember, he has the innate emotional and intellectual strength to achieve the results we see today. So, no more on that subject. It is as it had to be, replied Will, more pleased than he expressed.

On another subject, old chum, said Isaac somewhat sheepishly, I had thought that you and Anna were becoming attached in various ways. It turns out I am mistaken… I think I am mistaken. It appears someone else has attracted your attention. Am I correct? Given the person involved, I guess I should know. I think it is my business to know.

"I suppose, Isaac, that this is as good a time as any to tell you of my growing deep attachment to Ruth. Since she arrived from the States she has applied her remarkable professional skills as a lawyer specialized in international law to work with me on the management of the assets. We have worked exceptionally well together, growing more comfortable with each other. And, yes, gradually falling in love. I know there is a twenty-year difference in our ages, Isaac. You well know from your varied marital experiences that age is not a determinant of compatibility for love. Anyway, Ruth feels as I do. I guess I should say we are a couple, or whatever they say, nowadays.

I hope you and Sophie can accept this development. I do not offer to change or to try to change our relationship. While I have explored a little since my wife died, this is the first truly connected relationship I have had and I wish to continue it.

Silence ensued for several minutes.

Isaac spoke, breaking the silence. "I did not really know Ruth as a daughter before she arrived. You called on her to join our management team because of her family connection, a connection you correctly knew was necessary as part of my estate planning. I have come to know and appreciate her. In fact, I love her as a daughter, as does Sophie. No, I have no objection to your romance, and would have none if you marry. In fact, I would find it gratifying in a way as it would create a bond deeper than friendship.

My silence did not indicate indecision or opposition; it arises from my checkered past with two divorces and one or more failed common law arrangements. So my silence was because I was thinking about how a breakup between you and Ruth would affect your relationship with me, Sophie and Isaaky. I was never very good at that transition myself, as you know.

Ruth and I have discussed that, said Will. We are both mature individuals who will deal with a possible breakup as maturely as we can, knowing our duties to your family and to my continuing role in the management of the assets. No, I think there would be a reasoned and generous split. I want you to know, though, that Ruth is one of the most mature, sensible and practical people I know. We will weather the usual marital storms well, I think. You should also know that marriage has been discussed but no plans have been made.

With that, Will, I can only say I am genuinely excited and pleased for you both, as I know Sophie shall be. Imagine, Will MacIntosh as my son-in-law!

2

Ruth Menshive had been brought up by a mother left embittered by the failure of her marriage. She had in fact found herself ignored, dismissed and diminished by her husband Isaac’s preoccupation with developing his orthopaedic practice and latterly his assumption of the administration of the teaching hospital in which he worked. His erratic work schedule, which usually took him from the family for more than ten hours a day, inevitably caused strains in the marriage. However, it was more than a growing distance in the relationship that alienated and angered his wife: it was Isaac’s frequent and open love affairs that poisoned the marriage and led to the collapse of the relationship. This created a legacy of abandonment of parental responsibilities, and Ruth and her sister grew up with hostile and resentful feelings toward their father.

Ruth pursued her own education and career in accounting and in law, attaining post-graduate degrees in both. As she began to have a similar career and private life of her own, Ruth began to understand her father and she developed a sympathetic understanding of his priorities and treatment of his family. She married once but it was short-lived and, she frequently reminded herself, ‘blessed without children’. She knew she needed complete freedom to develop her intellectual and professional skills and to have the latitude to explore herself and those relationships that from time to time seemed satisfactory – but none for long.

As she entered her thirties, curiosity impelled her to discover who this man was; he had been so demonized during her childhood and continued to be by her mother when given the chance to express her venom.

Ruth increasingly sensed there was a similarity not only in their lifestyles and priorities but in their work-obsessed and self-centred personalities.

She knew little of her father’s activities, having met him infrequently. The opportunity to meet him on neutral ground arose when her grandfather died. Her aunt Anna had been a presence in her life, writing occasionally and once or twice a year taking her and her younger sister to lunch. It was Anna who had contacted Ruth and her sister informing them of the death and the date and time of the funeral in New York.

Her grandfather was a remote and largely unknown part of her ancestry; Ruth had met him only twice in her lifetime. During those visits, her grandfather had little in common with her and he remained a member of her family in name only. His funeral, which could easily have been missed on any one of several pretexts, gave her an opportunity to understand more about herself and her approach to life through understanding her father, whose pattern of choices seemed so similar to her own. A visit with her father at the funeral, removed from her mother and other influences that could have perpetuated the hostility, more and more led her to feel that the animosity toward her father was ill-placed and overdue for resolution.

The meeting with her father in New York was at the funeral home minutes before the start of the Jewish funeral service, none of which she understood, having been brought up a Christian by her Lutheran mother.

Isaac attended the service accompanied by a woman with two daughters. It was quickly apparent to Ruth that her father’s relationship with this woman was no better than it was with her mother, and his relationship with the children was as strained as it had been with her sister and herself. She tried to engage in conversations with the children, her half-sisters, and their mother during the reception, but she was left with the distinct impression that she was viewed as an intruder and a threat to their expectations from their grandfather’s estate. She did her best to try to create a friendship with each, but knew she had failed by the time she left the reception. Her father’s fractured relationship with this group was confirmed when they left the reception; no parting words or signs of affection were exchanged.

However, Ruth was at the funeral for a purpose. Before leaving the reception she approached her father, introducing herself: I am Ruth, your daughter…

Yes, Ruth, I know. I recognize you from photographs Anna has sent me over the years. Anna would have been here but she is in Philadelphia laid low with a bad back. I know she would have been happy to have seen you here – as I am. I will cut to the chase with you. I have wanted to make contact with you and try to create an understanding and a friendship. You must feel I have abandoned you for all these years. I deeply regret it, but there have been reasons, most of which have been my fault. I have followed your career path and your story from Anna. I think we have enough in common to develop a friendship.

Yes, Father, I agree. Frankly, that is why I am here. I didn’t know your father. He was a name and concept only to me, but I thought if I came I might be able to start some kind of father/daughter relationship. I would like that. Could we meet tomorrow and try to get to know each other a little?

Yes, I would like that very much. Your suggestion to leave it until tomorrow is thoughtful. I have a lot to do as a follow-up to Father’s death… estate stuff involving the usual lawyers and such irritating people. Tomorrow would be good. Would it be acceptable to you to come to my apartment on Lexington at 88th Street? The west side, sixth floor. Plan on staying for lunch. There will be just the two of us.

Ruth’s enthusiastic acceptance set the stage for a highly successful visit during which Ruth recognized that she and her father were similar and could be something like kindred spirits. She had always attempted to have an open and affectionate relationship with her mother and sister, but their personalities not only differed from hers but clashed on every level, requiring careful planning for even the most minor encounter. The parental relationship she had coveted in several of her friends with their parents, long denied her, now seemed a possibility.

They met several times over the next week; both Ruth and her father took unplanned time from their work schedules, getting to know each other and developing a father/daughter bond that successfully grew beyond their expectations.

A few years later, when her father had his celebrated auction of Russian art at Christie’s Auction House in New York, he invited her to join him. It was not only to further cement their relationship, it was a test for Isaac… Was this young woman, who was so similar to him in many ways, also someone who could understand his passion for art and for the preservation of their shared Russian-Jewish heritage?

Isaac had little time to spend with Ruth alone while the planning and sale took place, but he made sure she was invited to attend several meetings with museum officials and the Christie’s representatives. She demonstrated no knowledge of the art he was collecting or that her grandfather had at the time of his death. What Isaac found gratifying and encouraging was Ruth’s eagerness to learn and her fascination with the cultural traditions of Judaism and Western art. None of his other children or former wives or partners showed up at the sale. She felt a particular need to support him in this area of his life and committed herself to studying and learning more so she could have this as a common area of interest on which they could create a lasting bond.

Ruth’s interest in her father never had a mercenary or ulterior motive; this was a fear Isaac had and watched for. Ruth by this time was highly successful in her career and was monetarily well off, in part because her father had paid for her education and expenses and as a result she had entered her profession without debt – in fact with a significant monetary gift from her father when she graduated.

* * *

Childless, partnerless and drifting, Ruth considered a new career in medicine as an escape from her pointless existence. After attending an open-house day at a local university and visiting a pathology lab with all manner of grossness sealed in glass jars disguising nothing, she realized that a change to medicine would disgust her beyond endurance. Anyway, was she really all that interested in hands-on contact with strangers? Law and numbers were safely antiseptic and impersonal. Perhaps there was another alternative.

The opportunity for change came from a totally unexpected source. She received a telephone call from a man she met briefly at the time of her father’s famous sale of Russian art at Christie’s Auction House in New York. The caller had to identify himself twice and remind her when they had met.

The caller was Will MacIntosh. He identified himself as her father’s agent and chief operating officer and wished to talk to her about a role in her father’s business as a specialized lawyer and accountant, with the potential of a broader and more inclusive role. Ruth’s reaction was hesitant. She explained that she and her father barely knew each other, even if recent contacts had encouraged each to develop a greater relationship. And, she said, More importantly, I know virtually nothing of my father’s business. I know he must be wealthy, but whatever businesses he may have, I know nothing of them.

Ruth said she had an interest in exploring Mr. MacIntosh’s proposal further, but not until she understood what her father’s business was, what her role would be and whether her professional training would assist her in that role. As an encouragement to a determined caller she added, Your timing in calling me may be fortuitous for us both. I am ready for a major career change and a change of surroundings.

When she was advised the change of location would be to London, her level of interest suddenly changed to enthusiasm. I have been to London twice for a few days and loved everything about it, except the traffic.

It was arranged that she would meet Will MacIntosh in New York. Isaac’s condominium on Lexington was chosen as the site for the meeting, Will reasoning that Isaac’s extensive collection of art and antiquities would provide a visual explanation of Isaac’s interests and businesses.

The conversation lasted long enough to inform Will that Ruth had no knowledge of the inheritance Isaac had received or the dramatic events it had caused in his life. Will recognized that Ruth would have to be fully briefed on the current state of the new trust and its administration if she were to join Isaac’s team.

Also, the potential for conflict with her father had to be explored. There would be no point in engaging her in the administration if she proved to be timid and easily alienated from her father and his mission in dealing with the assets.

Will’s decision to invite Ruth to join the team was to find an immediate member of the family to take a role in the new trust to ensure continuity and to provide support for Little Isaac, should it be required. Anna was an attentive and affectionate aunt and she would continue to be a vital part of the child’s life, but she had no interest in or competence to deal with the monetary and business affairs involved in the administration of the new trust. Given Ruth’s background and the similarity of her personality – at least as Will now understood it – to Isaac’s, she appeared to be the best fit.

* * *

The meeting took place as scheduled in Isaac’s elegant and spacious lateral apartment. A cooperative, as the apartment was strangely styled in New York, but was owned by Isaac and operated more as a modern condominium. To ensure he would not be out-voted on any tenancy issue of importance to him, Isaac had acquired a majority and controlling interest in the other units in the building.

As Ruth and Will sat in the formal library surrounded by some of Isaac’s neo-classical statuary and paintings, a few pieces of ancient Greek antiquarian objects, Russian art on the walls and first editions on the bookshelves, Ruth gained some insight into her father’s interests and wealth. Will introduced Ruth to Isaac’s techniques and requirements for managing his portfolio of assets.

"Ruth, I have explained how Isaac holds this apartment, controls management of the building and limits his risk to confrontation and challenge by attaining the leverage of a majority vote at tenants’ meetings. He seldom attends meetings of the board but he reviews and controls the agenda for each meeting and he has his legal counsel inform the president of the board what decision he will approve. His legal representative sits in on the meetings as a control, but having established his positions in advance, legal counsel is required to do little at the meeting. That profile of control and relatively hands-off personal involvement in management reflects the principles on which your father operates his portfolio.

"I am the chief operating officer of all of the assets in the portfolio and have an absolute discretion in the management, acquisition and sale of the assets under powers of attorney and my role as managing director and trustee on many of the devices used to hold title to the assets. I leave the apartment to his New York lawyer. Your father’s health over the past four years has not been good. I will explain why and what his current condition is when and if you and I mutually agree to a role for you.

"In addition to the health issue that takes him away from a more involved role in the portfolio, two major changes in his life have had an impact that has taken his primary attention elsewhere. Both are healthy and positive. He remarried four years ago to an exceptionally fine woman who makes him happy, contented and fulfilled, particularly after the birth of his son whom I call ‘Little Isaac’. Most of us do, including your Aunt Anna. The other is equally important to Isaac: he has returned to his Jewish roots and he is actively practicing his Jewish faith. This, too, is a recent development – well over the past eight years and growing in commitment and intensity with the passage of time.

"Bottom line, the extraordinary portfolio requires current and future administration. I am aboard for as long as I am able to work. My health is excellent but I am in my fifties. I have to look ahead – not to retirement, as I would have no interest in that, but to the possibility of illness or accident. Therefore, I have persuaded your father that we need one of his children, one who can be trusted, to join the team with me. Needless to say, it would be made financially well worth your while. It would also involve you in your father’s personal and family life as a member of his immediate family. You would live in London. We have a range of apartments you could choose from.

I have not given you an idea of the value of the portfolio or of the nature and location of the assets. You will have gathered they are substantial, but you must be accepted as a key member of the team and you must first accept that role, before we get into those details. I know this would represent a complete change in your life, but I hope you will accept the challenge and opportunities my proposal offers.

Ruth sat quietly, looking about her and trying to sense her father’s presence and character in her surroundings. She had reached the conclusion that she could work with Will, but how about her father, with several wives (former), partners and children, some of whom half-siblings she didn’t know? Then there was her sister. Ruth knew her father believed she was an only child of her mother’s relationship with Isaac. Was her sister Isaac’s child? Could that be a compromising problem? She knew her sister well enough to know that she could, probably would be a problem if she believed she had something to gain from Isaac. She disclosed this to Will who simply said, I am aware of your sister, and of Isaac’s understanding that you are an only child of his from your mother.

It was agreed that their three-hour meeting, as cordial as it was, should end to give Ruth and Will the time to consider whether their discussion should continue.

* * *

After an invigorating walk in Central Park behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was only a couple of blocks away from Isaac’s apartment, Will returned there at four o’clock and as scheduled he met with Ruth who was prompt in her return at 4:30 p.m.

A two-hour discussion persuaded Ruth that the offer made by Will was exactly what she wanted as an alternative to her current activities, and Will was increasingly impressed by Ruth’s exceptional intelligence, experience and non-confrontational personality, a trait she did not share with her father; the others complementary to his. When Will asked whether she would like to visit London, meet her father and his family before making a final decision, she replied, No. You have been clear and precise as to what I would be getting into and even the potential for personal harm from those hostile to the trust. I made my decision during my walk along Fifth Avenue with a little retail therapy included. I am ready to accept your offer.

It was agreed that the details of the portfolio and extensive legal linkages should be discussed when she was settled in London and had her accustomed spreadsheets in front of her. As to her father, stepmother and brother, she had heard enough of them from Will to create a sense of family connection and she wished to become a part of their lives.

Ruth scheduled her arrival in London four weeks later. That would give her time to terminate her current employment and a tiresome relationship that was going nowhere and to separate from her mother, who would consider her joining Isaac a true betrayal.

* * *

Toronto

Will had one further task while he was on the East Coast. He had been keeping in frequent contact with his two daughters. After the death of their mother, a huge loss to them and to Will, his younger daughter was struggling with loneliness and separation from her father. His older daughter had a professional practice and was married with his first grandchild on the way.

He planned a meeting with Heather, his younger daughter, in Toronto a couple of days after his meeting with Ruth. This left time in New York to visit legal counsel there and to fulfill a commitment he had made for a meeting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue.

Guilt, a primary human emotion, affects most people from even the most trivial causes, as it did Will, arising from his neglect of both daughters over the past four or five years while he was engaged in the quest for information and meaning related to Isaac’s inheritance. His wife had fully supported his participation and preoccupation with the endeavours, and she did her best to fill Will’s void in the parental role. The girls were then at university and engaged in their own activities, separate from their parents at Dalhousie University, their parental alma mater.

Assurances that the girls were doing well and did not require paternal intervention didn’t remove his Presbyterian duty of fatherly precept, example and words of wisdom.

It was with that sense of guilt that Will took time off from his work with Isaac’s enterprises and assets and met with Heather at a hotel in Yorkdale, a district packed with upscale, overpriced, fashionable shops. The shops, Will knew, would cost him a small fortune as Heather was out for a day of retail therapy with a credit card he had arranged in her name, designating himself as the payor.

Heather had been working as an actuary for an insurance company in Toronto and she had discovered that actuarial science and its preoccupation on futurity calculations of deaths, lives and health-related issues used to set insurance premiums was dull and offered little future for her continued interest. She longed for a change in her career and location. She was single and had no prospects on the horizon. Her several relationships had been with numbers-fixated colleagues who found their greatest passions in arithmetic.

Dad, great to see you. You haven’t changed a bit. I need a new job and a new life. What can you do for me? Now. I’m frantic for a change.

As was usual with self-obsessed Heather, she got to the point quickly and she transferred responsibility for her plight to a parent. It had usually been her mother, but now that Will was the successor parent he was the recipient. It was nothing Will had not predicted. His last few telephone conversations with Heather were bleak, grumpy and deliberately designed to leave Will with the feeling that he was somewhat failing her.

What do you have in mind as a new job, Heather? Perhaps in hospital management, where actuaries can be useful in projecting long-range planning? Teaching? With your strong academic credentials, you could get a job at a university.

I need a complete change: career, place and people. I am bored beyond endurance. Mom always said when I got bored and frustrated that you would find something for me to do. You usually did, even if it was only to build another sandcastle. So…

What management skills and experience have you had?

Two years ago I took night courses in business administration at the University of Toronto and this spring I received a certificate of competence and completion. I think a combination of my actuarial skills combined with management could make me attractive to an employer, but I think most would find me over-qualified.

Where do you want to live? Let’s settle that. Toronto is out – you have not liked it. What about Vancouver or Calgary? There is a lot of creative energy and innovation in either city with lots of young people your age, Heather.

No, thanks. I met those types in Toronto. Dull. Nothing to talk about but careers, disappointments, hockey or football and increasingly, bad marriages.

If not Canada, where?

You have been living in London for the last few years. I really liked what I saw on my visits there with you. Okay. Let’s get to it, since you aren’t biting. Do you have room on your management team dealing with Dr. Menshive’s portfolio?

Perhaps. There are two compelling reasons why I should not offer you a job. Number one: you are my daughter and not accustomed to accepting directions from me without debate and refusal. Number two: I have recently hired Dr. Menshive’s daughter Ruth to move into my management team, prospectively as my 2-I-C. Any job that could be offered to you would be secondary to my absolute authority and Ruth’s secondary supervision and instruction. She is both a lawyer and an accountant. There would be a duplication of skills between you and Ruth. I am not going to create a fractious team that will distract me from my primary role as the chief operating officer. Apart from the organizational chart, Ruth is Dr. Menshive’s daughter and increasingly important in succession planning; so her role is more significant than her position on the chart.

Heather paused and replied with decisive vigour: I can and will fit in. I want to do it. I have followed your work with Dr. Menshive and your many adventures. I know I would not be part of that, but at least there are interesting and challenging things happening. I promise to behave towards you and Ruth and to get along with everyone. I know I can be fractious, like you, Dad, but I will conform. I see this as a great opportunity and adventure. You are probably worried I will intrude in your private life and become a social burden. I won’t; I will be busy visiting all of the pubs in London and getting to know the Aussie bartenders.

And that would worry the hell out of me! Well, your mother put up with dealing with that side of parenthood, so perhaps it is my time. I actually hear your mother telling me that I have no choice but to give you a chance. Let me be clear: I am not your mother, who always gave you great latitude in your behaviour. My directions will be treated as unequivocal instructions. If you can live with that, I agree to take you on – as a subordinate to Ruth Menshive. So you will have to get along with me and with her. Understood?

Agreed. When can I come?

Ruth needs time to get established in the team and in her father’s family. She is giving a month’s notice at her job. Give her four or five months to get established. Let’s say you can move to London in five months and start working with us in six months. Can you manage that?

I’m on it. Can’t wait. Any ideas about where I should live?

I shall have an apartment arranged for you. It will be on a month-to-month term so you can have time to look for something else or decide to stay in the apartment. It is in one of the properties in Dr. Menshive’s portfolio. Don’t think for a minute it gives you any freedoms that any of the other tenants would not have. I am vigorous in the leaseholders complying with the leases.

After a conversation focused on Will’s elder daughter Jean and her family, he left Heather happily heading off to a book store to purchase a handful of guidebooks of London. Her systematic and methodical mind would engage her in preparing for the move.

It was with apprehension and misgivings that Will left Heather, contemplating on the wisdom of what he had done.

3

Will had been in London several days before he next met with Isaac. Isaac had continued his commitment to the creation of a Jewish museum in Russia and one somewhere in Central or Western Europe, which took him on extended travels to visit the several museums in Israel, New York and elsewhere that had Jewish museums.

When they arrived at the new headquarters of the ‘Pan-Global Investment Trust’ where they were meeting, Will confirmed his acquisition of the building for Isaac. Its location was selected and recommended by Will and accepted by Isaac who was then in Israel, with a simple, Good. Buy it. I trust you, settling the purchase.

The building was constructed on speculation as part of the redevelopment of the area of Battersea on the south side of the Thames. It was a relatively modest building in scale compared with some recent developments nearby like ‘The Shard’.

Isaac, I have selected this site and the size of building in keeping with your family’s consistent policy – I should say – strategy of ‘hiding in plain sight’. Plain sight that would not attract notice. We have twelve stories here. The ground floor has commercial and retail spaces, all rented. We occupy the first, second and third floors. The fourth through sixth floors have professional offices, mostly small-scale legal and accounting firms, all rented, which we will use for some of our work. The top floors are apartments. Some are rented, but I have kept a few vacant until we see what the trust’s requirements are – for example, I have set one aside for Ruth, although she may prefer to be in one of the flats in Fitzrovia. That will be up to her. I have taken the liberty of having a professional designer of office space lay out our offices including yours and mine. So, what’s your verdict?

Isn’t my verdict irrelevant? asked Isaac. I went through the building carefully yesterday with the building manager. I like its location and layout. There is nothing I dislike about it, but I shall have my office shaped and decorated to my needs, as I saw you have anticipated. It’s good. I like it. Now tell me, who is the owner?

Ultimately you are, Isaac. The new company I had formed bearing the name you chose, ‘Pan-Global Investment Trust’, is itself owned by a company incorporated in Jersey, which in turn is owned by a trust domiciled in Prince Edward Island. I had my office in Charlottetown draft the trust settlement document with terms I prescribed. The name ‘Pan-Global Investment Trust’ will appear nowhere except in your ledgers and corporate records. The offices we occupy are legally rented in the name of ‘Battersea Investments Corporation’. I am the registered president and your trusted security guard Frank has been brought into the corporate structure as vice-president. Any problems so far?

None. I trust Frank with my life, as I have on several times in the past and he has never failed me. Well, once, but that is forgiven. Who is the secretary-treasurer?

That raises an issue I wanted to discuss with you; namely two new recruits. Ruth has agreed to join me full-time on our global management team. She starts in a little over a month’s time. She will not appear anywhere on the public records, as you will not. And for the same reason. She will, however, be listed as the secretary-treasurer of the Pan-Global Investment Trust which is the core management unit. As to the Battersea Investments Corporation, I propose to have my daughter, Heather, as secretary-treasurer. She’s an actuary, as you know, and she has taken some post-graduate training in business administration at the University of Toronto. I have agreed to her joining the team, but subject to our agreement – let me say I have had a blunt and clear discussion with both as to the chain of authority and the requirement for absolute compliance with instructions from either of us. Problems with my proposed plans for either Ruth or Heather?

None. In fact, I look forward to meeting Heather. I have spoken to her on the telephone several times when I was calling you. She is much less bossy and more genial on the phone than her father. I bet she’ll be a great addition to the team. She does know that her role is subordinate to Ruth’s?

Yes. That was made absolutely clear, as were reasons for disengagement.

Disengagement, what do you mean? I suppose more legalistic jargon.

Jargon it is not, although it is a legal term for firing someone… termination of employment. If, as I expect, Ruth and Heather get along well, they will form a trusted team supporting each other. They will each be in highly demanding roles and will have several subordinates. They will need a reliable backup.

Good planning. I really like the location of this building being close to ‘Tate Britain’, the gallery that holds art most similar to my British collection. I have plans to collaborate with the Tate on some projects I have in mind. It’s amazing to me how compact and accessible Central London locations are to each other. I can walk to St George’s Wharf a short distance away and take the water taxi to ‘Tate Modern’ in Bankside. Great choice of a location; good investment, too. It should appreciate well in value over time. Incidentally, Sophie invites you to join us in Hampstead for dinner tonight. We have a new chef – she is hoping to test him and she would like to get your opinion. Are you available?

I look forward to it. No doubt my special chum Little Isaac will be there.

Yes, but he is getting older all the time. Should you still call him ‘Little Isaac’?

I will as long as he doesn’t ask me not to.

* * *

Welcome to Menshikovsky House, William!

Isaac stood proudly beside his wife as she greeted Will; a surprised Will, who started to look around him to see to whom she was addressing. Little Isaac laughed at his mother, pointing at Will and exclaiming: He isn’t William, Momma, he is Will. Have you forgotten?

Isaac explained, Will, Sophie and I have decided to dignify this beautiful house by giving it a name as is customary in England. The name we chose is better than ‘End of the Road House’ or something that the English would be likely to choose. We both love the house and plan to stay here indefinitely, so to identify us and this place we have given it our original family name.

Great idea. However, why not go the whole hog and call it ‘The Baron Menshikovsky House’?

You are an idiot, Will. Of course not, although Sophie suggested it, too. No, Menshikovsky House it is and that is that.

What about the ‘hiding in plain sight’ precept your family has adhered to for almost two hundred years? – And very successfully, I should say.

In standard American style, Will was not shown into the living room or library. He was delivered by a rambunctious Little Isaac into the kitchen where preparations for dinner were underway, Little Isaac’s meal set out for him.

Wow! This reminds me of home. A welcome sight, Sophie, thanks. Now, how about an explanation for disclosing publicly in the name of the house, who you are and that you live here.

Sophie interjected with an explanation that clearly established that she was the primary author of the change. Isaac is getting restless sitting around here trying to find something to occupy his time. I encouraged him to go to the new company headquarters and find something to do. His reply was: ‘Will has it all under control there. I will be in the way; I wait for him to call me in when he needs me as he does from time to time. I like the routine we have established for the trust.’

However, this is where there will be a difference, said Isaac. Will, I have dreaded to openly and publicly head the trust’s initiatives on the cultural front. This is something Sophie is keen to be involved in; it gives us a common purpose on initiatives that will result in a lasting connection with London. I am really excited, as is Sophie, to take this on.

A great idea for you both. Now, down to practicalities. Do you want to operate out of this house or do you want space in our new headquarters building? I want and need a substantial degree of anonymity for the trust and its subsidiary businesses, but I can give you space on the third floor which could be used for the business portion of your plans and as a reception area when you are negotiating a project – a little more arm’s length and business-like than operating from your home. If the third floor appeals to you, you can engage decorators to create a space to your liking. It is nothing more than an empty construction area at the moment.

Will’s suggestion was enthusiastically embraced by Sophie and then reactively by Isaac. Increasingly Sophie was becoming the dominant partner in the marriage, a condition Isaac appeared to accept with calm good will.

Sophie, while pouring Will’s third cup of coffee, made a second announcement: We are going to have a large party here at Menshikovsky House. I have met one or two of the neighbours with children on the playing fields at the top of Parliament Hill. They have been very friendly and have invited me to join them for a pub lunch opposite the playground. Apart from my wish to know my neighbours, Isaac is determined to network with those in the creative arts and cultural management areas that he could use to his advantage as his plans for the new museum and exhibition space develop.

Isaac, remember this is a substantial departure from the precept of ‘hiding in plain view’ which I referred to a few minutes ago. It was that policy that kept the assets intact and thoroughly hidden for over one hundred and fifty years. What you are proposing will expose your wealth and if the breadth of your portfolio holding becomes known, as it will, your life will change dramatically. No longer will you be able to lead a quiet and private life.

Sophie spoke for both: This is the twenty-first century, Will. It made sense for Jews to hide and cower in a corner in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but not today. Not today. Those days are past. Jews are totally accepted. The ladies I meet and have lunch with treat me as they do others in the neighbourhood. No! I want to get out of the straight-jacket the Jews were in – at least most of us.

Will looked over to Isaac who was fussing with the coffee-maker, seemingly ignoring what his wife was saying. Isaac, do you share this point of view with Sophie?

Now Will, don’t you try to divide Isaac and me on this. It’s what we are going to do and that’s that, interjected Sophie.

There was no response from Isaac. Will realized someone would have to be given the task of informing Sophie of the rigours of the English class system. What may be acceptable in the playground or over a pub lunch usually does not establish recognition or acceptance in a formal and socially competitive environment which is what most residents of London face day to day. Those who are born to it understand and are compelled to comply with it. Those who are not, learn through hurtful and humiliating experiences. Will knew Sophie had become active in the Bevis Marks Synagogue. He would speak to the rabbi and ask him to assign some of the more socially ambitious women to talk to Sophie.

* * *

The next day started as usual at the new trust headquarters in a solemn and controlled atmosphere, with each member of the staff having been assigned duties for the day, month and quarter of the fiscal year. Will set to work with the joy and pleasure that controlled plans and purpose provide. It was disrupted by the unexpected arrival of Isaac and Sophie who were shown into Will’s office without announcement or forewarning. He did his best to hide his irritation.

I am here to inspect the office space Isaac and I shall develop for our planned ventures, Will, said Sophie. Please take us up to the level where the space is located. I need a key. I have an architect and one of London’s celebrated office design experts arriving this afternoon. We will manage the installations ourselves, but I need you to identify the space, giving me the dimensions and so on. Perhaps a briefing note would be helpful for my meeting this afternoon with the crew I have assembled.

So much for Will’s plans for the morning. Plans that would have had great import for the trust and ultimately for Isaac; certainly more so than decorating a vacant office.

At the conclusion of the three-and-a-half-hour examination, inspection and conceptualization of the space, with Sophie as the sole contributor, Will was finally able to break away, but not before taking Isaac aside, ostensibly to show him where the men’s washroom would be and to tell him firmly that he needed to have a one-on-one meeting with Isaac and that Sophie would not be in attendance. Isaac, seeing Will’s frustration, sheepishly agreed to the next morning at 9 a.m., a time when Sophie would be still preparing herself for an appearance at breakfast, Little Isaac having already been taken by a staff member to his school.

Will’s carefully planned afternoon was cancelled to give him time to contact Isaac’s physician, who was still treating him and Sophie for post-traumatic stress disorders created by the horrific events they encountered almost four years before in Russia. Were Sophie’s plans a fantastical creation arising from psychological aberrations? On the other hand, if they were developed by her rationally, would she have the emotional strength and resilience to engage in the social warfare her plans would require? If the plans were limited to Isaac’s objectives for the creation of cultural monuments, Will was confident that the arm’s-length emotional detachment it would bring would enable Isaac and Sophie to take part and to succeed. To be treated as a social equal in any of the layers of English society was an entirely different matter.

4

The risks Isaac and Sophie were taking in exposing themselves to the social and class challenges of London life and their personal privacy were beyond debate. The decision had been made to