Chapter 19
The next morning Kara checked up on her sister and then regrettably had to go to her other job at CatCo. James and J'onn had headed to speak to Simon Lawrence while Mon-El promised to keep her informed regarding Alex and Maggie.
"Hey there lady," Lena's voice snapped Kara from her thoughts and she looked up at her friend. There had been radio silence from her friend for a little while and she was hoping to catch her at her desk.
"Hey," Kara smiled back but it wasn't her usual smile and the raven haired woman could tell something was up.
"Care to step into James' office for a second?" Lena asked. Kara only nodded and the two quickly moved from Kara's desk and into the office, where Lena closed the door.
"Everything ok?" Her friend asked.
"That obvious huh?" Kara shook her head.
"Yes and when a certain someone like you is distracted, I tend to get nervous," Lena admitted.
"Alex and Maggie were hurt chasing down a lead and I want to be with them but I need to pretend to be normal. Coville is on the loose again and we think he's part of the reason that the bank was blown up the other day," the blonde explained.
"Oh no. Are they going to be ok? Is there anything I can do?" Her friend asked.
"The doctor assures me they will be fine but it might take a long time for them to get that way. However, there may actually be something you can help me with. What do you know about Simon Lawrence?" Kara wanted to know.
"He's rich but kind of a recluse. He doesn't attend the big parties that most in his circle would and he tends to donate money to museums and to charities. No one really knows how wealthy he is or how he got his money. Some speculate it was the stock market while others think that it's just the money his father made before the collapse of the family business," Lena explained.
"What was the family business?" The blonde asked.
"The Lawrence business was selling life insurance," this seemed innocuous but Kara could tell that there was something else that bothered her about it so she pressed her.
"That's a lot of money from selling life insurance. How is that possible?"
"Rumor has it that during nineteen thirty-eight and nineteen thirty-nine, Lawrence's father sold life insurance in Europe… A majority of the people he sold to were Jewish…" Lena swallowed at the implications. Her mother had done some horrible things to people but she wasn't sure it even reached the level that the rumors suggested. Her brother on the other hand, could have been lumped in with the rumors she was about to share.
"He sold life insurance to people who had a very good chance of dying?" Kara's eyes went wide. World War Two broke out in nineteen thirty-nine and confirmed deaths from battle had reached over sixty million people. Some totals at over eighty million when counting those that died from disease and famine caused by the war. The numbers included the seventeen million who died as part of the Holocaust; six million of that number were Jewish.
"It's just rumors. I can't confirm any of it," her friend explained, throwing her hands up in front of her waving them back and forth.
"That doesn't net Lawrence millions of dollars though," Kara gave her a look.
"It does when you don't have to pay back on any of the policies and had people put their prized belongings in safety deposit boxes owned by your company, promising that the Nazis couldn't touch it, safe in Switzerland," Lena finally spat it out.
"So then he sold the items when no one came to claim their policies or belongings," the blonde was disgusted.
"Supposedly there were paintings by famous artists, silver and gold jewelry, and money; all of it worth a lot, and all of it he could sell once he folded the company and liquidated its assets. Then invest in the stock market and let it do all the work for you," he friend said. While Kara wasn't sure if that was how Lawrence landed the book that could be of Kryptonian origin but if someone was that unscrupulous then there was no telling how the book came into the family's possession.
"It's supposedly why his son has spent his life trying to donate most of the money away. Since its only rumor and suspicion, the charitable organizations take it. They need it," Lena shrugged.
"This has been eye opening to say the least. Thank you," Kara smiled.
"Welcome. I'm guessing you're going to need the rest of the afternoon off?" Her friend smirked.
"If I may," the blonde smirked back.
"You've got a big story to break after all," Lena winked.
To Be Continued…