Coming Soon
From Agincourt Publishing 
Texas Cement
by
Frank C. Dupuy 

Private Investigator Adrian LeBlanc is involved in the most intricate investigation of his career as he tries to salvage a bank merger while unraveling a convoluted fraud scheme that has the FBI, the Mafia, and several bank CEOs all vying for a piece of him.
 
During the course of the investigation, LeBlanc discovers too late that his client has failed to share critical information with him. As he endeavors to keep the lid on a banking scandal, LeBlanc frames an innocent man for murder and arranges the death of another while trying not to get killed by a variety of unhappy parties. 

Texas Cement is a fast-paced tale that has more Byzantine twists than a warped roller coaster.

On the face of it, the anonymous letter writer knew what he was talking about. One thing I had learned during my banking days was that any loan or lease that goes bad within the first twelve months is almost certainly fraudulent. I also knew that banks do not like to acknowledge fraud unless they are forced to. I finished reading the document, then turned to face Cravitz.

“Roberta!” he barked again. The lights came on and the screen slowly disappeared into the ceiling. “Well?” he asked.

“If it weren’t for the anonymous letter, you would probably have written this off as a bad deal and let it go. Now you have an al-legation that a bank officer has participated in a multimillion-dollar fraud. As soon as Howard Beal received the anonymous letter, he should have immediately turned it over to your security department for investigation, and security, per federal law, should have notified the FBI that it was investigating a major fraud.”

Cravitz’s did not comment. Instead, he asked, “Do you know who Buck Moody is?”

I racked my aging memory banks. “I believe he’s a Texas banker.”

Cravitz nodded approvingly. “He is the Chairman of the Board of Mustang Bank and Trust in Houston. Moody owns twenty-five percent of the stock, and, at the moment, is in full control of the board of directors.” He paused for a moment as he considered me carefully. Non-disclosure agreement or no non-disclosure agreement, Cravitz was not happy about having to confide in me. “Do you know why Premier National Bank acquired National Trust Company?”

“I suppose A, because the price was right to acquire another 250 branches in a four state area, and B, because the Trust Department was relatively intact. I remember that our Trust clients included some of Cleveland’s bluest blood.”

“Precisely. National Trust had the largest and most profit-able Trust Department in Northern Ohio. It controlled large blocks of old money. It was, and is, an extremely profitable operation.”

Enlightenment was beginning to play around the edges of my brain. “Might I assume that your interest, if any, in Mustang Bank and Trust has something to do with the word Trust in its name?”

“You might, indeed. Buck Moody, over the last thirty years, has acquired a select Trust clientele that reads like a Who’s Who of Houston society. It is an elite and profitable institution.”

Cravitz hesitated, then leaned forward to skewer me with his blue-gray eyes.

“One,” he rasped, “that we are on the verge of acquiring.”

My features remained politely impassive.

“LeBlanc, we are at a critical time in our negotiations with Moody. One or two details need to be resolved before we close the deal. If everything goes as planned, we are scheduled to announce the merger on July 15th.”

I had a question. “If Mustang Bank and Trust is doing so well, why does Moody want to merge with an out of state bank?”

“He would rather not merge with anyone, if he had the choice. Unfortunately, a number of institutions have decided that Mustang is desirable and have started to acquire stock. If Moody doesn’t find someone he likes to cut a deal with soon, he will be vulnerable to an unfriendly takeover.”

“What makes Premier so special? Why did Moody pick you?”

The blue-gray eyes shifted minutely. If I hadn’t been concentrating, I would have missed it.

“LeBlanc, Premier National Bank is solid. We have a reputation for reliability and for being well run. Buck Moody wants a partner that will not alienate his Trust customers. He is impressed by our Trust Department, feeling we share a common view of the Trust business. Premier has also made concessions. We will put all of our operations in Texas under the Mustang name, and retain Moody as president. Moody knows his clientele. If he merges with anything other than a first-class operation, his elite customers will go elsewhere.”

Enlightenment blossomed. “And the last thing you need are headlines in the Houston Post announcing to God and everybody that one of Premier National Bank’s leasing officers has committed a six million dollar fraud. Things like that scare the hell out of aristocratic Trust customers.”

Cravitz held his emotions in check, but it was clear that he was unhappy.

“Yes,” he agreed, “scare the hell out of them, and kill any chance of our ever acquiring Mustang Bank and Trust. If word of this leaks out, Moody will terminate negotiations with us in a heart-beat.”

The seconds ticked by as we contemplated each other. Cravitz broke first. He had reached a decision.

“William Farrell speaks highly of you. He says you are discrete, and, I quote “devious as hell.” Those are two qualities I admire. I want you to go to Houston to investigate this matter. Thoroughly. You report directly to me. When you are finished, I receive your written report and all of your notes. At the proper time, I will notify the FBI. Under no circumstances are you to contact any law enforcement agencies. Is that clear?”

I nodded noncommittally. I wasn’t agreeing to anything, yet.

“You received the anonymous letter on June 11th. Why have you waited a week to act on it?”

Cravitz pursed his lips. He did not want to tell me any more than he absolutely had to.

“Yesterday afternoon, Howard Beal received a telephone call from a Carl Ostermann. Mr. Ostermann was the sales manager for East Texas Diesel, one of the companies that supplied cement pumpers. He informed Beal that he was the letter writer, and if Premier didn’t do something fast, he was going directly to the FBI. Our original intent was to sit on the letter until after July 15th.”

Right, I thought, and continue to sit on it until hell froze over.

“What’s Ostermann’s problem?”

“He feels that his former employer treated him badly. I believe he also drinks. Beal informed Ostermann that an investigator would meet with him on Monday. He was assured that there was no need to contact the FBI.”

I shifted in my chair. It was time to decide whether I was in, or out. Some decision. I had known I was going to take the case after Cravitz had shown me the second slide on the projection screen. Cravitz had known it, too. My concern was that the old bastard certainly hadn’t told me the entire truth. I waited a little longer, just to make him wonder.

“Mr. Cravitz, what do you want the outcome of this investigation to be?”

“What I want, LeBlanc, is for this matter to be handled quietly and without any publicity. I want it put to bed. Do you understand me?” He did not raise his voice, yet the impact of his words was nonetheless powerful. Cravitz was asking a lot. In fact, he was asking the damn near impossible, and he knew it. This was his gambit to make me commit to how I proposed to handle the situation and to give him an idea of how much fallout there was likely to be.

“Tell me, LeBlanc, what can you do for me?”

“With a little luck, I can probably keep this from ever getting out in Houston, recoup most of your money, and prevent the FBI from having a fit that you didn’t inform them of a major crime against your bank.”

“Go on.”

“At this point, you don’t actually know if a crime has been committed, so you have no obligation to notify the Bureau. Frankly, that’s the least of your worries, assuming Ostermann is telling the truth.

“On Monday, I’ll interview Ostermann. When we’re done, he won’t feel much like contacting the FBI, especially after I point out he’s part of the conspiracy. As the sales manager, he had to have been in on it. The bad guys probably cheated him, so now he’s out for revenge. He hasn’t considered he might go down with them.

“The case needs to be thoroughly documented. That shouldn’t be too difficult. By next Friday, I will be ready to interview your leasing officer, Robbie Barton. The goal is to get a confession out of him and keep him on ice until after July 15th. When I’m finished, he can be suspended with pay, or sent out of town on a protracted assignment.

“With a confession and all of the documentation, you can probably persuade the local FBI office to accept jurisdiction. The victim, Premier National Bank, is in Cleveland, and ultimately, the loss took place in Cleveland. If the Cleveland office takes the case, and Barton rolls over, there is every possibility that the story will never get out in Cleveland, let alone Houston. Also, the same evidence you provide the Bureau will document your insurance claim.”

Cravitz and I traded stares. He knew that I had presented a best-case scenario, and that in the real world, best cases seldom occur. He also knew that if he didn’t do something, his carefully nurtured merger would die when the first hint of scandal was reported by the media.

“What do you need to get started?” he finally asked.

“I’ll need Richard Freemantle to pull all of the files and review them with me. It would help if you can find me a downtown office to work out of. One that’s away from the bank, but close enough to be convenient if I need something. I want a letter of introduction instructing your people to cooperate with me as your agent. All they need to know is that I’m a collections expert who is trying to recover as much of the bank’s money as possible.”

Cravitz did not write anything down. He could probably repeat our entire conversation verbatim if need be. I was also certain that the invisible Roberta in the next room was taking notes.

“Anything else?”

“Yes. I want a bank auditor to go down there with me. The Houston banks will cooperate better with an auditor than with a private investigator. Make certain that your audit department provides someone with a personality, someone other bankers will like to work with.”

“Very well, LeBlanc, I will have someone for you this afternoon, however, the auditor is not to be informed of the merger, nor are any of our people in Houston. You and Freemantle are the only ones who are aware we are in merger negotiations.”

I leaned back in my chair. “Mr. Cravitz, if you want the lid kept on your mess, I need your word that I’ll have complete discretion in handling this affair, including spending money for information and outside services. I’m going to have to move fast, and I don’t want to be second-guessed every step of the way.”

Cravitz frowned. He wasn’t happy giving anyone a free hand. “I must have one thing absolutely clear. Under no circumstances are you to contact any law enforcement authorities regarding this investigation. Is that understood?” 

“Completely. Oh, you can cut me a check for $20,000. I’ll let you know when I need more.”

My client flinched slightly before nodding his agreement. He was, after all, a banker. 

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