Adam Blake - 121. Chapter 121

We walked into the infirmary, Marie on my arm and Gerry and I holding hands.

Frau Muller was sitting beside Anton’s bed reading a book to him. He looked up as we walked in, Frau Muller stood up and made for Marie to sit down. Marie put her hand on her arm, indicating for her to stay seated.

“Anton, how do you feel?” Gerry translated.”

“Very Goot, sir”

I smiled, he’s trying. “Son, tell him about what we talked about concerning school.”

I watched Anton’s expression, first was happy and then concern and then a lost look. I knew what those meant. “You don’t need to explain, son. His expressions tell it all”

“Father, he looks lost.”

“Yes, he knows what he wants and then realizes it can’t happen. Who will take care of his grandmother?”

“Adam, what are you going to do? He loves his grandmother.”

“Yes, and he is torn between two choices, we have to find a way to make those two choices merge.”

“I’m getting to know you, you’ll find a way.”

It was Michael that showed me a way. I was walking past the computer lab and I heard him talking. I looked in and he was on FaceTime with his younger brother.

“James, what does the program FaceTime cost?”

“It’s free, you just need to download it.”

“Can it be used anywhere in the world?”

“As long as you have internet connectivity.”

“James you are brilliant, you may have solved my problem.”

That evening, “I think I may have found a solution. Frau Muller is going to move into a two-bedroom apartment on the lake, I can find a housekeeper for her and a companion. I’ll install a satellite antenna on the roof, hook it up to the internet, then buy a large screen tv with a computer hook up, The program is called FaceTime and it’s free.”

I slept well that night.

In the morning, with my glass of orange juice, I headed for my run. “Johnny, have you ever figured out the distance for one loop.”

“No dad”

“Get to it, we need to know the distance to calculate the time.”

Johnny went and got a tape measure and measure one lap. I was winding down when I saw Billy heading to the run with Scotty and Bobby. The brothers were jogging but poor Bobby was running all out. Then I saw him collapse, I went and got him into a warm towel and started to work on his legs. “Billy, you should know better than to let him run like that. He will end up having leg cramps and problems. He’s too young”

“Hi Bobby, does that feel good?”

I carried him to my room. “Sh, Aunt Marie is sleeping.”

He went over and looked at her, crawled up on the bed, laid down, and went to sleep.

“I showered, dressed, and headed for my coffee. I looked at the runners, I think they were timing Billy. Scotty was the trainer today, I took my cup and walked to the track. “Scotty, when he comes in, I want you to make him sit in the hot tub for 20 minutes, then rub him down with hot towels. Make sure he gets a good massage, if you do the job right, he’ll fall asleep.”

I saw Johnny come in, he helped Billy into the tub and then crawled in with him. Johnny would make a good trainer, he watched everything and when he was relaxed he helped the other boys as they came in.

Walking into the Dining Hall, I laughed as I saw Marie walking with Bobby. “Where did you find him?”

“Where you put him”

“I picked him up at the track, he tried to keep up and completely fell exhausted. I took him to the boy’s locker room and gave him a hot rub down on his leg muscles. When I felt he had enough I brought him to our rooms, he saw you sleeping, crawled up, and was fast asleep when I left. He’s a cute kid.”

When he saw Scotty, he got down as to run a play and yelled, “Humph Humph” The boys laughed and when Scotty did it, he ran to Scotty, throwing himself into his arms.

That didn’t last long as he spied Billy, then he ran and jumped into his arms. Billy hugged him and kissed him on his cheek, Bobby kissed Billy as well, but a little sloppy.

Breakfast would be at the college this morning.

Walking to the college, “You seem to be happy this morning?”

“I am, I may have solved a problem.”

“Is it the one involving a nice old lady and a grandson?”

“Yes” So I told her what I was going to do. She liked the idea, I got a kiss for that.

Breakfast at the college was very nice, orange juice, tea or coffee, and crepes. Bowls of berries were passed If anyone wanted to add them to their crepes. The chatter was congenial, I knew there are still questions to be asked, but they can wait until the next Board meeting. I bid everyone goodbye, promising a draft of the minutes within a week.

Walking back to the school, the Ambassador joined us, “Adam, I haven’t seen the books and now I’m a Director” he left the question hang.

I laughed, “Are you concerned we may not have sufficient funds?”

“No, call it curiosity.”

“When we reach my office I’ll show you the school’s books but not mine.”

That seemed to satisfy him, I knew it would only be temporary, he’ll eventually want to see mine as well.

“James, please bring the books for the Academy, our Ambassador is curious.”

I sat at my desk when James brought in the ledgers. I watched the Ambassador’s expression as he looked at the numbers. “Is this correct?”

“Yes, we got rid of the book crooks.”

“How much of this comes from tuitions?”

I turned three pages and pointed to the posting. “Have you raised the tuition?”

“No, it has been the same for every year I have been here. You should know from Richard”s account.”

Looking through the ledger, I could see his eyes getting bigger. “What is this account?”

“When the IRS tracked down the offshore accounts of your Directors, we asked that they return the money to the school account.”

“And they did this?”

“They had no choice, if they didn’t the IRS would investigate all of the accounts and make sure the newspapers would hear about it.”

“What is this investment account?”

“The money didn’t just sit in the bank vault. I invested it in bonds and stocks, all 3 A. That is the quarterly dividends.”

‘How did you know what investments to make?”

“Remember, Charles and I own a bank. We have investors and analysts working for the bank.”

“This is none of my business, but I’m assuming you have also quite a nest egg, as you call it.”

“Is that your subtle way of asking?”

He looked a little embarrassed, “As you are aware, I have an allowance provided for the support of Gerry. That money has grown since I use the same investment firm.”

“So the school accounts have over a billion dollars, including investments.”

“Yes”

“Did the trustees know that?”

“I don’t think so, if they did they would want palatial homes built on the property. No, they were not too sharp in that sense. If an investigation was made into their accounts, one may find a few unexplained amounts.”

“So they were in on the scam.”

“How else could it happen, they were paid to look the other way. Do you think that these men didn’t know what was happening?”

“What about your new director, he was a trustee?”

“Yes, I had him and his bank accounts vetted. He’s clean, we have begun to look at the other accounts. I think they didn’t trust him, he was trying to do the right thing. Every meeting I attended, whatever he said was ignored.”

“So what happened if you find the other three on the take?”

“I’ll give them a chance to pay it back at the interest rate they got from the bank on the money.”

“If they don’t?”

“You’re not familiar with the national banking system, every major bank borrows from the central bank, for example, the Bank of England borrows money to meet cash demands as well as other banking expenses. Guess where some of their money comes from?”

“The US Treasury”

“Right, part of my accounts hold quite a lot of Treasury Notes, I call the notes, the Treasury starts calling their notes, a bank crisis develops.”

“You are wicked.”

“No, I’m not, these people stole from my boys, it's payback time. You know I’ll do anything to ensure my boys have the best. That was why the gymnasium was closed off, water bills were paid and there wasn't any water in the pool or shower area. I’m not wicked, I’m just evening out the playing field.”

“Richard thinks you are King Arthur resurrected.”

“Be sure to correct him on that. I want no hero worship.”