Renaldo (53 page)

history in this room held the answers for him. Perhaps you and Herr Stoltz will

add to that history.”

Wolfgang Stoltz had been brought along by his employer because of his

special facility for untangling complicated estate matters. He also had a special

facility for undressing attractive, wealthy widows. It was this particular skill

that brought him to the attention of Astor Gordero’s father, years earlier.

As a young lawyer, Stoltz had specialized in estate law. After being hired

by A.R. Gordero and Sons to fill a vacancy in their trust and estates division,

it quickly became evident that the novice German barrister had a knack for

unleashing pent-up romantic emotions in the frustrated, lonely ladies that were

most often the beneficiaries of the estates he oversaw. Wolfgang Stoltz played

his role as faithful employee and diligent counsel to perfection, and the client

roster of A.R. Gordero and Sons quickly swelled with the names of most of the

single financial heiresses in the capital.

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JAMES McCREATH

Discretion in high places was mandatory, and Herr Stoltz’s reputation was

never tarnished by his extra-legal liaisons. Quite the contrary, he became the

most sought-after attorney in all of Buenos Aires. His intelligent, reassuring

manner of explaining and simplifying complicated estate documents always

seemed to put his wealthy, usually attractive, clients at ease, so much at ease,

that the majority of Stoltz’s work was carried out in opulent hotel suites at

all hours of the day and night. He was well rewarded by both his clients and

his firm for his deft touch, and he had never entertained thoughts of striking

out on his own or settling down with one special woman. Wolfgang Stoltz

loved variety, and his profession afforded him an opportunity to use his special

talents on a variety of appreciative clients.

Florencia De Seta was now experiencing what a legion of similar Porteña

señoras had experienced before her. She was smitten by the handsome German,

there was no denying that!

During their conversation that afternoon in the office at Casa San Marco,

Florencia could sense a more than a purely business interest on his behalf as

well. It was, in particular, the way he looked at her. She could feel his eyes upon

her, asking mute questions, searching beneath her exterior guise for a more

intimate connection as she tried to simplify her family’s financial structure for

her two guests.

“The two family real estate assets, this home and the land and estancia

in Pergamino, are held in a trust set up by my mother-in-law, Lydia De Seta.

Upon her death, sole ownership rests with her grandsons, who are, of course,

my sons, Lonfranco and Renaldo. If she dies before Renaldo reaches twenty-one

years of age, those two properties are held in the estate until his twenty-first

birthday. Once Renaldo is twenty-one, the hard assets vest in the two boys,

and they have the option of maintaining both properties, or one brother can

buy out the other using a loan from the undistributed portion of his personal

trust. The personal trusts were also set up by Lydia, and they vest in the boys

at age thirty.”

The widow paused to make certain that her guests were following her

train of thought. A warm smile and a nod from Herr Stoltz confirmed that she

could proceed.

“There are two preliminary payments of two hundred thousand dollars

each at ages twenty-one and twenty-five. So you see, gentlemen, one of my sons,

Lonfranco, has already received his first payment of two hundred thousand

dollars, and is due to receive another in two years. Renaldo’s first payment

will be in May of 1980. Both boys have the option of taking loans from their

trusts after age eighteen. The current trustees are accountants with the firm

Martinez-Riachuelo, and they report to the boys and me on a quarterly basis.

Lonfranco took some money from his distribution for his personal use, but left

246

RENALDO

most of the cash in the trustee’s hands to invest on his behalf. Am I making

sense so far, gentlemen?”

“Very lucid and precise, Señora, please continue,” Wolfgang Stoltz replied

in a soft tone.

“It is my sincere hope that by the time the boys inherit the bulk of their

assets, they will have obtained not only an education, but the business acumen

that will enable them to handle their own investments. That is why I feel so

strongly about Renaldo not wasting his time with this football foolishness. He

has the mental capacity to not only attend medical school, but also to learn

about the world of finance and commerce. He is a very bright boy, and I will

not have him sidetracked for long, Señor Gordero!”

“Once again, Señora De Seta, let me assure you that the financial benefits

of a professional football career can be maximized in a very short time, with the

right person overseeing the deal-making. If your son has the athletic potential

that I and several others feel he does, he will be a very rich young man in a

very short time. One other thing, Señora, is that he will have done it all on his

own, and not through an inheritance or a trust. That self-esteem is something

Renaldo’s family fortune cannot give him at this stage of his life.”

Gordero sat back in his chair, pleased with himself at parrying the widow’s

latest anti-football thrust.

“I suppose there is something to be said in that regard, Señor Gordero,

but I worry about him so much. He is just a boy, suddenly living in a man’s

world. He has always been so shy in the presence of strangers. I fear he will

be overwhelmed, taken advantage of. Do you understand a mother’s fears,

Señor?”

“I am sure Señor Gordero is sympathetic to your misgivings, Señora De

Seta,” Stoltz interjected, “but your son has found in Señor Gordero not just

an attorney, but a trusted friend and confidant as well. It is our intention to

provide Renaldo with the very best legal and financial advice, while at the same

time educating him in the ways of contracts and agreements, so that he can

use that knowledge in future business dealings. That will, at least, give him

an introduction into the world of commerce and finance, as you so justifiably

wish.”

She found that his precise Germanic accent softly, yet authoritatively

reinforced the logic of his words. Herr Stoltz seemed to be in calm control of

the world around him, unlike so many of the hotheaded Latin businessmen she

had been forced to deal with in the past.
I can trust this man!
she thought. As

their discussions proceeded, she felt inclined to relate her own financial details

to her guests, in case the two legal minds could offer her any suggestions in

one way or another.

24

JAMES McCREATH

“My husband, Peter, and I were also the beneficiaries of two trusts

established by my mother-in-law. On Peter’s death, the assets of his trust

became my property through his will. I draw a monthly income from my

personal trust that more than covers my living expenses, for the real estate is

still owned and maintained by Lydia. I also have investments that are a result

of my family in Tigre. After both my parents passed away, the ferry business

and our family home were sold at considerable profit. That money was divided

among their surviving children, and that sum, alone, could have afforded me

a comfortable lifestyle. The same accounting firm that act as trustees handle

my personal investments, primarily for the sake of convenience. I sometimes

wonder, however, if I should not take the assets that are under my direct control

elsewhere. Having one accounting firm know everything about my financial

situation is unsettling at times. Perhaps you, gentlemen, could take a look at

my portfolio, at a later date.”

It was difficult for Astor Gordero to keep the Cheshire cat grin off his face.

This was exactly what he had set out to accomplish when he first contacted

Señora De Seta. He had known that the family wealth was vast, but exactly

who the controlling parties were and how the assets were distributed was a

matter of delicate inquiry. As Wolfgang Stoltz confidently reassured the lady

that A. R. Gordero and Sons specialized in managing some of the nation’s

most prominent families’ financial portfolios, Astor Gordero already knew that

Florencia De Seta could be convinced to do anything he desired of her.

While it was clear that using his trump card was not necessary to gain

the information he had sought, Astor Gordero decided that its use would add

some excitement to the proceedings. Yes, he would allow it. He would allow

Wolfgang Stoltz to court and seduce Florencia De Seta. That done, it was

appropriate to turn his attention to the timely demise of Lydia De Seta, so that

all the family assets would flow through to Florencia and her sons. The total

control of their family fortune would not be long in coming once Lydia had left

this world.

It has been a very successful meeting, very successful indeed!
an enthused Astor

Gordero thought to himself as he waddled through the front gate of Casa San

Marco and into his waiting Mercedes. Herr Stoltz would now close the deal, in

more ways than one.

248

Early March brought cooling winds to Mar del Plata, and flying in on those

winds came the National Team of Uruguay, intent on giving the local

heroes their first bitter taste of international competition. The fixture

could not be played in the main stadium due to several construction mishaps

which had severely delayed completion of the renovations. More importantly,

one of the near disasters was the collapse of the player’s tunnel leading to the

pitch. Luckily, the tunnel was deserted at the time, and the popular joke in

town was that no laborer could ever be hurt working on the sight because they

were always having lunch or a coffee break.

The situation was so bad at the Mar del Plata Stadium that the Brazilians

had cancelled their participation in the Copa Roca, saying that the venue was

unfit for use. Octavio Suarez was livid at the rebuff, but most of his ire was

directed at the local organizing committee for allowing the stadium debacle

to occur in the first place. Assurances were given by the National Organizing

Committee that work would be stepped up, and the National Guard was called

in to supervise the pace of construction. In reality, the stadium workers became

little more than slaves, working under the watchful eyes of armed guards.

The Uruguayan match was played in the smaller municipal stadium,

under cloudless blue skies, in front of a noisy, capacity crowd. There was some

pretty football played at intermittent intervals, but for the most part, it was a

lackluster, tentative ninety minutes. Octavio Suarez chose to go with the entire

A squad, without substitution, right up to full time. The crowd became restless

when the veterans failed to produce a goal after sixty minutes, and there were

calls for substitutions as well as jeers for the coaching staff. But Octavio Suarez

stuck to his original game plan. Not one B squad player made it on to the field

that afternoon. A 0-0 result was not well received by either those present or the

national press. Suarez’s rebuttal was one word . . . “Stamina!”

The following two weeks saw many experimental changes to the A squad

in preparation for the upcoming matches, hastily arranged with Peru. The

Ramon Castilla Cup was conceived at the eleventh hour to replace the failed

Copa Roca. Two games would be played, the first on March nineteenth in

Buenos Aires, followed only four days later by the return fixture in Lima.

The initial National Team game in the capital coincided with the

relocation of training camp to an all-new facility on the outskirts of Buenos

JAMES McCREATH

Aires. The just completed National Training Center would be the player’s home

for the next three months or so, and the organizing committee had spared no

luxury in making sure that the idols of the nation would train in first-class

surroundings.

While there was comfort to be had off the practice fields, it was a different

story out on the green turf. Octavio Suarez ravaged his charges for their lack of

discipline and imagination. The manager hounded those men that he thought

had performed poorly, and no reputation or past press adulation could save a

player from a Suarez browbeating, if the boss set his sights on him.

Wholesale changes to the A squad were made on a daily basis, but when

the team took the field in River Plate Stadium on the nineteenth, it was the

original eleven A squad players that lined up against the Peruvians. The

visitors scored an early goal, but Suarez would still not substitute. Whistles and

expletives rained down from the galleries as the team descended into its refuge

at the interval and, again, as they took the ball to kick off the second half.