Chapter 6

Howard's secretary came into the office, "Mr. Detroit, the police are here about Mr. Smith."

A French detective pushed by her and introduced himself. Carl spoke fluent French so there was no problem with communication. The detective asked if the company had rented a car recently. Carl nodded his head. He knew that Howard had asked for permission to rent a car while he was on assignment in Paris.

"Mr. Detroit, I regret to inform you that Mr. Howard Smith was killed this morning in a traffic accident. We would appreciate it if you could give us the name and phone number of his next of kin so that we may notify them."

Carl sat down, "If you don't mind detective; Mr. and Mrs. Smith are, rather were, close personal friends of mine. I would like to tell Mrs. Smith about this tragedy myself."

The detective agreed and Carl asked him to give the secretary the address where Mrs. Smith could claim the body of her husband. The detective asked if someone from the office could make a positive identification of the body and Carl told him that he would do so. After a few more questions, the detective left.

He sat by himself for a long time after the detective left. This had put a crimp in his plans. While Howard Smith was never the choice to run the division here in France on a permanent basis, Carl needed him to fill in until a qualified manager was found. He picked up the phone and called the headhunter in New York that he used, and asked him to help find a replacement. He spent the rest of the afternoon going over the books for the division and found, that even with all of Smith's failings, the division was in good shape. The middle level managers were managing the company well and it was making money again. Howard probably was not in the office enough to do it any harm.

Carl left the office at 3 o'clock and drove to the hospital where Howard's body was and identified the body. He asked the hospital to recommend a funeral director and left instructions to just hold the body until he could contact the wife. He stayed until the body was removed to the funeral home and then left for the hotel. He wondered how Becca would react to the death of her husband.

Carl studied some files that he had picked up at the office and tried to decide how the death of Smith would impact his company. He never had much faith in Smith in recent years. He had been an excellent manager when he started with the company, but lately his gambling became the main focus of his attention. If he wasn't trying to scrap together a stake for that next big bet, he was trying to avoid the bookies and card sharks that he owed money to. Cark knew that Becca was better off to be rid of him.

He entered the hotel and went immediately to his suite. Marie was watching television and Becca was in the shower. Marie looked at him and knew that something was wrong. She raised her eyebrows in a question and he waved her off. Marie got up and went to her room. Becca came into the living room dressed in a terry bathrobe that was provided by the hotel. She looked at him and knew instinctively that something was wrong. The first thought that came to her was that he had fired Howard and had him put in jail for stealing company money.

Carl went over to her and took her hand and led her to the couch. He paused trying to figure how to best break the news.

"Becca, I have some terrible news. Howard was killed this morning in an automobile accident on the road to Monaco.

As soon as he told her where the accident happened, he regretted it. He had hoped to spare her as much pain as possible. Becca looked at him for a minute as if she didn't believe him and she searched his face for the beginnings of a smile that would let her know that this was just one of Carl's cruelties. When she assured herself that what he had told her was the truth, she got off the couch and walked out on the balcony of the suite and stared out at the City of Lights. Carl watched her but made no attempt to talk to her or go to her.

Becca stood on the porch for several hours with her thoughts. Although Howard had killed all of the love that she had for him, she could not dismiss the years that they had together. The times were not all bad. She remembered the grandiose plans that they had when they first got married. Howard was going to be a captain of industry and would take Becca around the world. They would have homes in Switzerland, Fiji, and Aspen. Becca would be the support for him. She would plan his parties, entertain his clients and have his children. Things changed after she found out that she could not have children. She was sure that Howard started gambling because she was barren. That was the reason that she could never bring herself to leave him.

She gripped the railing of the balcony and her thoughts started in another direction. What was she going to do now? She had never worked and it would be hard getting a job for the first time at the age of thirty-six. They had nothing in the bank; in fact she hoped that Howard had not bounced a few checks while he was here in France. The house was going to be auctioned off within 60 days and the equity that they had built up was almost nothing. Her parents were dead and an aunt who had died several months ago had raised Howard. The aunt hated Becca because she blamed her for driving Howard to gambling. Becca wondered if there was enough in the bank to take care of the funeral arraignments. Howard had always told her that he wanted to be cremated. She wondered if they allowed cremations in France.

Becca drove all thoughts out of her head and watched the lights of Paris come on as it started to get dark. As a new light came on she would wonder if the people who used that light had a happy life. She stared at the neon lights of the businesses and wondered if they had employees like Howard. She was amazed that there were so many people still walking on the streets below her. She liked what little she had seen of Paris. Somehow, being in Paris shielded her from all of the problems that had been dumped on her today.