[00:00.00]She relished the novelty and thrill
[00:03.71]of having been summoned
[00:05.02]to this prestigious man's home.
[00:06.88]The sheer beauty of the place
[00:09.29]far surpassed her expectations.
[00:11.37]However, she was becoming suspicious
[00:14.54]about the reason for this visit.
[00:16.73]Now that she had received
[00:18.59]an orientation to his home,
[00:20.23]and notwithstanding her first impressions
[00:22.31]of the man, she was anxious
[00:24.17]to learn why she was here.
[00:26.24]What could a mere reporter
[00:27.78]do for this rich, influential man?
[00:30.62]He began to speak soberly,
[00:33.03]contradicting his earlier spontaneity.
[00:35.99]“I will tell you a story
[00:37.74]you may have difficulty believing,”
[00:39.71]he said, softly. “I was
[00:42.33]not born into this lifestyle.
[00:43.97]It is ironic that there is
[00:45.72]such a discrepancy between
[00:47.14]what I was and what I am.
[00:48.67]My father left the United States
[00:51.63]when I was about two years old.
[00:54.04]He ran a junk store
[00:55.57]in the slums of Winnipeg
[00:57.21]when I was a kid.
[00:58.74]He was a vulgar man
[01:00.05]but he knew how to
[01:01.59]fool people into thinking
[01:02.90]they were buying something
[01:04.11]rare or valuable. It was
[01:05.52]under his tutelag that
[01:07.17]I learned to be a fraud.”
[01:09.35]I decided at an early age
[01:11.65]that if there was
[01:13.95]a shortcut to success,
[01:15.26]I could bypass the complications
[01:17.01]of getting there by
[01:18.32]the conventional methods. I was
[01:20.19]like a hurricane, rushing forward
[01:22.70]without consideration for the rules.
[01:24.78]If it's any consolation,
[01:26.85]I didn't intentionally harm anyone
[01:29.60]in the process. I was able
[01:32.11]to stay within the parameters
[01:33.42]of the law, but just barely.
[01:36.16]I bought and sold used furniture
[01:38.56]before going into the antique business.
[01:40.64]When I bought, I always
[01:42.39]paid a fraction of the potential
[01:44.36]worth of the goods.
[01:45.89]When I sold, I always
[01:47.53]made a profit. I was able
[01:50.27]to upgrade my stock with
[01:51.69]almost every transaction. In time,
[01:54.43]I had a warehouse full
[01:56.07]of merchandise.I didn't
[01:58.04]flatter myself by thinking
[02:00.23]I hadn't muddied the waters a bit.
[02:02.41]I knew I had probably
[02:03.51]stepped on a few toes, but
[02:05.04]I was on a roll. I had
[02:06.68]the momentum and rejoiced
[02:08.43]in my success. As long as
[02:10.62]the money kept coming in,
[02:12.04]anything was permissible.
[02:14.23]One day, I received a visit
[02:16.96]from a rather important patron
[02:18.71]of the arts. He had an
[02:21.12]interesting proposition for me.
[02:23.20]He held the patent and trademark
[02:25.71]for the prototype of
[02:27.57]an innovative way to determine
[02:29.22]the age of a painting
[02:31.20]using ultraviolet light. He would
[02:33.28]sell them to me for
[02:34.70]the nominal fee of a nickel
[02:36.01]if I would reciprocate by
[02:37.99]doing him a favor. I was
[02:41.04]to include one of his
[02:42.25]personal paintings in my next shipment
[02:44.22]of antiques going to New York.
[02:46.19]At first, I thought he was
[02:48.59]mocking me, but he gave
[02:50.57]me his oath that he just
[02:52.20]wanted to ensure the painting
[02:53.85]would arrive at its destination safely,
[02:56.04]and, because it would be
[02:58.33]a part of an antique shipment,
[03:00.19]it would be exempt from import duty.
[03:03.26]It was a provocative offer,
[03:05.01]and even though I remained skeptical,
[03:07.30]I agreed.A few days later,
[03:10.91]a crated painting arrived and
[03:13.26]was added to my goods
[03:14.46]ready for delivery to New York.
[03:16.87]I had always subscribed to
[03:18.73]the theory that if something appeared
[03:20.48]to be too good to be true,
[03:22.12]it probably was. However,
[03:24.52]my greed prevailed and
[03:27.59]the painting was on its way.
[03:29.56]I was unaware at the time
[03:31.86]that my fortunes were about
[03:33.72]to go into a downward spiral.
[03:35.57]My benefactor, it turned out,
[03:38.42]was a man with a grudge
[03:40.06]against me. Irrespective of the fact
[03:43.78]that I felt a deal
[03:44.98]we had made years before
[03:46.30]had been fair, he felt
[03:47.83]I had cheated him.
[03:49.36]I was about to be
[03:50.89]the recipient of his wrath.
[03:52.64]When my agent in New York
[03:54.94]went to customs to retrieve
[03:56.36]the shipment, he was greeted
[03:58.11]by a squad of police waiting
[03:59.76]to detain him on
[04:00.74]charges of smuggling cocaine.
[04:02.71]It appeared there was a bit
[04:04.79]of a discrepancy between
[04:06.32]what I was told was in
[04:07.41]the crate and the actual contents.
[04:09.71]The drugs were in
[04:11.24]a hidden compartment in the crate.
[04:12.99]I admit it was naive
[04:15.29]of me to believe
[04:16.60]I had no enemies,
[04:17.92]but I didn't know anyone
[04:19.23]would go to this degree
[04:20.54]to prove how much he despised me.
[04:21.96]Hitherto, I had gone through
[04:24.92]life thinking that when two people
[04:27.10]agreed to a deal, if one of
[04:28.64]them got the better of the other,
[04:30.06]it was fair, because they did agree.
[04:32.79]Now I was learning that if
[04:35.21]you take advantage of some people,
[04:37.06]even with their permission,
[04:38.81]you aggravate them to seek revenge.
[04:41.43]I can't refute my recklessness.
[04:43.41]Almost seven years have
[04:46.69]elapsed since that time.
[04:48.77]My agent took responsibility
[04:50.19]for the crime and went
[04:51.61]to jail for five years.
[04:53.03]I felt guilty as hell,
[04:54.79]but I continued to pay him
[04:56.86]by sending the money to his family.
[04:58.40]I even withheld extra
[05:00.69]in a bonus account to give
[05:02.23]to him when he was released.
[05:03.86]I also gave up my business
[05:05.83]and began to help others
[05:07.15]start their businesses. In time,
[05:09.45]the guilt I felt subsided.
[05:12.07]I put my energies into stepping
[05:13.93]into the breach to help
[05:15.13]those less fortunate than I.
[05:16.99]To my amazement, my luck started
[05:19.29]to fluctuate upward and I flourished.
[05:21.81]All you see here today,
[05:23.56]I have accumulated since that time.
[05:25.63]Now, it seems, my enemy
[05:28.48]has decided to reclaim
[05:30.67]his power over me.
[05:32.10]He has reported the crime
[05:33.73]and the erroneous imprisonment of my
[05:35.15]agent and named me as
[05:36.80]the person responsible for the offence.
[05:39.42]I had never changed my citizenship,
[05:41.50]so the F.B.I. wants me
[05:43.79]deported so they can
[05:45.22]prosecute me in New York.
[05:46.53]I hope I can induce you,
[05:49.15]through your column, to tell my story.
[05:51.24]Next week I have to appear before
[05:54.08]a magistrate for the preliminary hearing.
[05:57.14]If I'm not mistaken, public pressure
[05:59.33]might enable me to
[06:00.75]avoid deportation at least.
[06:02.94]I am more likely to get
[06:04.58]a fair trial here than there.
[06:06.12]My record as a good citizen
[06:08.31]may offset the perception that
[06:09.94]I may be a criminal.
[06:11.47]What do you think? Will you help?
[06:13.23]Kate had listened to this synopsis
[06:15.42]in silence but her outrage
[06:17.27]was building. While his story
[06:19.35]seemed plausible, this plea
[06:21.21]for her assistance didn't quite fit.
[06:23.51]With his financial resources,
[06:25.70]he could hire the best
[06:27.12]legal team in the country.
[06:28.76]She realized she had to
[06:30.51]detach herself from her first impressions
[06:32.37]and extract fact from fiction.
[06:35.43]Why didn't she believe him?
[06:37.40]Suddenly, it came to her.
[06:39.38]Exposition of this version
[06:41.78]of Victor's tale would not only
[06:43.86]gain him public sympathy, it would
[06:46.38]invalidate any testimony against him.
[06:48.68]Nothing could constrain her
[06:51.16]when she realized she had literally
[06:52.58]been taken in by his story.
[06:55.31]“If you were innocent,
[06:56.63]why weren't you the defendant?
[06:57.94]If you were innocent
[06:59.03]all those years ago,
[07:00.02]why did your agent
[07:01.22]go to prison for you?
[07:02.53]Why did it take so long for
[07:03.96]your enemy to turn you in?
[07:05.82]The statute of limitations
[07:07.46]for that offence has expired.
[07:09.43]I believe this has been
[07:11.18]a pathetic attempt to get me
[07:12.60]to mediate your case in the press.
[07:13.91]I think you have always been
[07:15.55]an integral player in
[07:17.08]the criminal world and your past
[07:18.83]has caught up with you.
[07:20.26]My cardinal sin was allowing myself
[07:22.23]to be reeled in by your tales
[07:24.74]of what a model citizen you are.”
[07:26.28]Kate could feel herself
[07:28.68]getting dizzy and light-headed,
[07:30.11]surprised by the audacity she had,
[07:32.52]talking to anyone in that manner.
[07:33.93]Before she lost complete control,
[07:36.67]she would have to
[07:38.31]get out of there.
[07:39.52]She stood, turned, and
[07:41.38]marched toward the door.
[07:42.79]As she began to open
[07:44.33]the front door, she looked back.
[07:45.97]Victor stood beside his chair,
[07:47.61]pale and shaken. “You admitted
[07:50.56]you were a fraud in your youth.
[07:52.65]You are still a fraud!
[07:53.74]I will write your story...
[07:54.72]my version! My guess is that
[07:57.46]the eventual verdict will be‘guilty’!” |