nachinery running behind them. 
after refusing to give an inter-
Lite. You get the first move.' It was 
nan who seems to feel he can win 
3f the other side. His advantage is 
ow him or his history completely 
onsists of. He has carefully engi-
Le of the few truly baffling myster-
ed world. People know snippets, 
s friends gave were glowing: "I 
11 of seeing patterns," Les Wexner 
in politics and financial markets, 
and fashion trends. My skills are 
146 
• FILTHY RICH 
not in investment strategy, and, as everyone who knows Jeffrey 
knows, his are not in fashion and design. We frequently discuss 
world trends as each of us sees them." 
"I'm on my 20th book," said Alan Dershowitz, who'd met 
Epstein in 1997. "The only person outside of my immediate fam-
ily that I send drafts to is Jeffrey." 
But Ward also talked to other sources, who had their own 
questions and qualms about Jeffrey Epstein. Some were involved 
in lawsuits against him. Others had served on prestigious boards 
with him. One who had witnessed Epstein's aborted stint on the 
board of Rockefeller University called him arrogant. 
One powerful investment manager wondered about Epstein's 
conspicuous absence from New York's trading floors. "The trad-
ing desks don't seem to know him," he says. "It's unusual for 
animals that big to not leave any footprints in the snow." 
Ward uncovered legal documents, including Epstein's inter-
view with the SEC, given in the wake of his departure from Bear 
Stearns. She visited a federal prison in Massachusetts and spoke 
at length with Steven Hoffenberg, who told her that Epstein had 
made a major mistake in taking Bill Clinton to Africa. "I always 
told him to stay below the radar," Hoffenberg said. He made other 
accusations, about Epstein's financial practices, which Epstein 
denied—and Ward knew that Hoffenberg, the Ponzi-scheme 
mastermind, was not to be trusted. But she did find it strange that 
throughout the reporting process Epstein was much less openly 
concerned with what she'd found out about his finances than 
with what she'd uncovered about his dealings with women. 
Time and again, he would call and ask her: "What do you 
have on the girls?" 
147 
JAMES PATTERSON 
* * * 
One young woman Ward talked to had been invited by Ghis-
laine Maxwell to attend a party at Epstein's town house. There, 
the woman had noticed, female guests far outnumbered the male 
guests. "These were not women you'd see at Upper East Side din-
ners," the woman had said. "Many seemed foreign and dressed a 
little bizarrely." 
"This same guest also attended a cocktail party thrown by 
Maxwell that Prince Andrew attended, which was filled, she 
says, with young Russian models," Ward wrote. "Some of the 
guests were horrified,' the woman says." 
Another source, one who had worked with Epstein, said, 
"He's reckless, and he's gotten more so. Money does that to you. 
He's breaking the oath he made to himself— that he would never 
do anything that would expose him in the media. Right now, in 
the wake of the publicity following his trip with Clinton, he 
must be in a very difficult place." 
148 
Vicky Ward: Novembei 
IA/hat I had 'on d 
Beast article .pu 
some remarkah 
on-the-record stories from 
who came from Phoenix. . 
character was vouchsafed 
the artist Eric Fischl, had 1 
ing room, of how Epstein h 
separately, her younger sist 
Ward had written it all 
the ifs, dotted the i's. 
But when she called E1 
the allegations completely. 
"Just the mention of 
rTERSON 
to had been invited by Ghis-
at Epstein's town house. There, 
;uests far outnumbered the male 
you'd see at Upper East Side din-
ny seemed foreign and dressed a 
.ded a cocktail party thrown by 
attended, which was filled, she 
els," Ward wrote. "Some of the 
an says." 
had worked with Epstein, said, 
nore so. Money does that to you. 
to himself— that he would never 
: him in the media. Right now, in 
Dwing his trip with Clinton, he 
1) 
148 
CHAPTER 38 
Vicky Ward: November 2002 
What I had 'on the girls," Ward explained in a Daily 
Beast article published after Epstein's arrest, "were 
some remarkably brave first-person accounts. Three 
on-the-record stories from a family: a mother and her daughters 
who came from Phoenix. The oldest daughter, an artist whose 
character was vouchsafed to me by several sources, including 
the artist Eric Fischl, had told me, weeping as she sat in my liv-
ing room, of how Epstein had attempted to seduce both her and, 
separately, her younger sister, then only 16." 
Ward had written it all down in her notes. She had crossed 
the t's, dotted the i's. 
.. But when she called Epstein to get his response, he denied 
the allegations completely. 
"Just the mention of a 16-year-old girl," Epstein told her, 
149 
JAMES PATTERSON 
"carries the wrong impression. I don't see what it adds to the 
piece. And that makes me unhappy." 
If some sort of criminal investigation had taken place, that 
would have been one thing. But, at that time, no criminal 
investigation into Epstein's affairs had been launched. And in 
the absence of an investigation, the rumors of Epstein's dealings 
with very young women seemed to be just that—rumors. 
Graydon Carter consulted his lawyers, his editors, and his 
fact-checkers. And then something odd and disturbing happened 
at the Conde Nast building, then in Times Square. 
As usual, Carter had come into the office early. He swiped his 
key card in the lobby, pressed the elevator button, and arrived in 
the hallway outside the reception area on the twenty-first floor. 
It would have been a perfect time to review Ward's story. 
Her description of Epstein's town house—which is said to 
have been the largest private residence in New York City at the 
time—was priceless: "Inside, amid the flurry of menservants 
attired in sober black suits and pristine white gloves, you feel 
you have stumbled into someone's private Xanadu," she'd writ-
ten. "This is no mere rich person's home, but a high-walled, 
eclectic, imperious fantasy that seems to have no boundaries. 
The entrance hall is decorated not with paintings but with row 
upon row of individually framed eyeballs; these, the owner tells 
people with relish, were imported from England, where they 
were made for injured soldiers. Next comes a marble foyer, which 
does have a painting, in the manner of Jean Dubuffet ... but the 
host coyly refuses to tell visitors who painted it. In any case, 
150 
One of the photogra 
captured on video during 
Palm Beach Police Departm 
search warrant walk-throi 
of Epstein's El Brillo N 
residence (Palm Beach Pc 
Departm 
Jeffrey Epstein, Coney Isl 
circa 1969 (Anonyn-