GREAT BRITAIN THE SAGA OF POLISH PETER LIKE THE OVERTURNING OF A 
DEEPLY EMBEDDED ROCK, THE PROFUMO SCANDAL CAUSED A FRANTIC SCURRYING OF 
A GREAT MANY ODD HUMAN INSECTS . ONE OF THE CRAWLIEST 
FIGURES TO EMERGE WAS THAT OF PETER RACHMAN, WHO MAY, OR 
MAY NOT, BE DEAD . LAST WEEK PRESS AND PARLIAMENT WERE 
ABUZZ WITH HIS SORDID STORY . RACHMAN LOOKED THE PART OF 
AN IAN FLEMING VILLAIN . SHORT AND FAT, WITH GROTESQUELY TINY 
HANDS AND FEET, HE HAD NO NECK, A BALD HEAD SHAPED 
LIKE A SOCCER BALL, AND SUNKEN BLUE EYES ALWAYS HIDDEN BEHIND 
DARK GLASSES . HE DRESSED FLASHILY, WORE ELEVATOR SHOES OF CROCODILE 
LEATHER . IT AMUSED HIM TO WATCH NAKED LADY WRESTLERS, AND 
HE HAD A FETISH ABOUT HYGIENE, INSISTING THAT ALL HIS SILVERWARE 
BE STERILIZED AND UNTOUCHED BY HUMAN HANDS . MORE THAN MOST 
MEN, RACHMAN LOVED MONEY AND WOMEN . WHITE CHIEF . IN 
1946, WHEN HE WAS 26, POLISH-BORN RACHMAN HAD ARRIVED IN BRITAIN 
VIRTUALLY PENNILESS AND POSSESSING A STATELESS PERSON'S PASSPORT . AT FIRST, 
HE FOUND POSTWAR BRITAIN A BLEAK PLACE . HIS ENGLISH WAS 
POOR, AND HE LABORED AS KITCHEN HELPER, INSURANCE AGENT AND BLACK 
MARKETEER . HE MADE HIS BID FOR FORTUNE IN THE EARLY 
1950S BY BORROWING $2,500 TO BUY A LODGING HOUSE NEAR LONDON'S 
HARROW ROAD . THE HOUSE COST SO LITTLE BECAUSE SEVEN OF 
ITS EIGHT ROOMS WERE OCCUPIED BY TENANTS PROTECTED BY RENT CONTROL 
AND IMMUNE FROM EVICTION . RACHMAN RENTED THE ONE EMPTY ROOM 
TO A PARTY OF EIGHT WEST INDIAN MUSICIANS WHO WERE ENCOURAGED 
TO HOLD NIGHTLONG PARTIES AND RAISE HELL ; THEY DID, TO 
SUCH GOOD EFFECT THAT THE SEVEN WHITE TENANTS MOVED OUT WITHIN 
THREE MONTHS AND WERE REPLACED BY SWARMS OF WEST INDIANS PAYING 
VASTLY INFLATED RENTS . EIGHTEEN MONTHS LATER, RACHMAN SOLD THE HOUSE 
FOR FIVE TIMES WHAT HE HAD PAID FOR IT, AND MOVED 
ON TO FURTHER REAL ESTATE TRIUMPHS IN THE RUNDOWN AREAS OF 
PADDINGTON, BAYSWATER AND NOTTING HILL . IN HIS SINGLE-MINDED EFFORT TO 
GET LOWRENT TENANTS OUT OF HIS HOUSES AND HIGHRENT TENANTS IN, 
RACHMAN HIRED MEN TO URINATE IN HALLWAYS, SMASH FURNITURE, AND ONCE 
IN BAYSWATER TO REMOVE THE ROOF OF A HOUSE AND ABANDON 
THE STUBBORN TENANTS TO THE MERCY OF WIND AND WEATHER . 
IN THE UNDERWORLD HE GOT THE NAME OF " POLISH PETER, 
" AND WEST INDIANS, WHO KNEW HIS POWER, CALLED HIM " 
WHITE CHIEF RACHMAN MAN . " BENT BASEMENT . THE RENT 
ACT OF 1957 VIRTUALLY LIFTED ALL CONTROLS AND ENABLED RACHMAN TO 
SHOEHORN TENANTS INTO HIS FLATS AT WHATEVER PRICES THE TRAFFIC WOULD 
BEAR . HE ALSO SHOWED TALENT FOR " BENDING THE BASEMENT, 
" THAT IS, CONVERTING CELLAR SPACE INTO CRIBS FOR PROSTITUTES OR 
INTO NIGHTCLUBS THE 1959 STREET OFFENCES ACT, WHICH DROVE PROSTITUTES OFF 
LONDON PAVEMENTS, BROUGHT HIM ANOTHER WINDFALL, FOR THE GIRLS WOULD PAY 
MORE FOR ROOMS THAN EVEN THE DESPERATE WEST INDIANS . IN 
ONE HOUSE, SEVEN PROSTITUTES WERE CHARGED $10 PER DAY, PAYABLE EVERY 
DAY AT NOON, OR $25,000 ANNUALLY, FOR A HOUSE VALUED AT 
$4,200 . THE SAGA OF POLISH PETER RACHMAN WAS NEVER ONCE 
FOUND GUILTY OF AN ILLEGAL ACT, AND NEVER ONCE PAID A 
PERSONAL INCOME TAX . POLICE AND PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICERS NEARLY LOST 
THEIR MINDS TRYING TO TRACE THE TRUE OWNERSHIP OF HIS 400 
TO 500 BUILDINGS . THEY WOULD DISCOVER THAT IN A SINGLE 
RACHMAN HOUSE DIFFERENT OWNERS WERE LISTED FOR DIFFERENT FLOORS ; ONE 
COMPANY WOULD HAVE A LEASE TO COLLECT RENTS, ANOTHER TO MAKE 
REPAIRS, AND A THIRD WOULD SIMPLY BE HOLDING THE HOUSE " 
IN TRUST " FOR ONE OF RACHMAN'S MYRIAD FIRMS . BY 
1959, RACHMAN HAD ENOUGH MONEY TO START DEALING IN BETTER-CLASS APARTMENTS, 
HOTELS AND OFFICE BUILDINGS . HE MARRIED AUDREY O'DONNELL, A PRETTY 
LANCASHIRE GIRL WHO HAD SERVED AS AN OFFICER IN HIS MULTIPLE 
CORPORATIONS, AND MOVED INTO A MOCK-GEORGIAN MANSION JUST OFF HAMPSTEAD HEATH'S 
MILLIONAIRES' ROW . THE GARAGE WAS LARGE ENOUGH TO HOUSE THEIR 
SIX CARS . NUMBERS FAME . ALWAYS ON THE LOOKOUT FOR 
GIRLS FOR HIS PERSONAL USE, RACHMAN FREQUENTLY VISITED THE SEVERAL NIGHTCLUBS 
HE OWNED, AND WOULD SIT IN A CORNER LIKE A SATANIC 
KEWPIE, A CIGAR IN HIS MOUTH, DIAMONDS ON HIS PUDGY FINGERS, 
A BLONDE JUVENILE OBEDIENTLY AT HIS SIDE, AND A BODYGUARD IN 
THE BACKGROUND . CHRISTINE KEELER WAS ONE OF HIS MANY MISTRESSES, 
AND IN OCTOBER 1960, HE SET UP MANDY RICE-DAVIES, CHRISTINE'S SOMETIME 
ROOMMATE, IN A WEST END APARTMENT COMPLETE WITH A TWO-WAY BEDROOM 
MIRROR AND A TAPE RECORDER BENEATH THE BED . " IN 
OUR TWO HAPPY YEARS, " SAID MANDY LATER / HE GAVE 
ME A MINK COAT, THREE MINK JACKETS, A PERSIAN LAMB JACKET, 
THREE DIAMOND BROOCHES, TWO PAIRS OF DIAMOND AND RUBY EARRINGS, A 
BIG GOLD DIAMOND AND RUBY WATCH, TWO DIAMOND RINGS, AND A 
JAGUAR . FOR MY 18TH BIRTHDAY, HE GAVE ME $2,800 IN 
CASH . " WHILE GAMBLING AT A LONDON CASINO ONE NIGHT 
LAST NOVEMBER, RACHMAN FELT ILL . HE WAS RUSHED TO EDGWARE 
GENERAL HOSPITAL, AND PERHAPS DIED OF A HEART ATTACK . ON 
HIS WRIST WAS A GOLD BRACELET WHOSE INSIDE, AS A HOSPITAL 
ATTENDANT DESCRIBED IT, WAS COVERED WITH SERIES OF NUMBERS THAT COULD 
BE EITHER SAFE COMBINATIONS OR ACCOUNT NUMBERS IN SWISS BANKS . 
WHATEVER RACHMAN DID WITH HIS REPUTED FORTUNE, OF $25 MILLION, IT 
WAS NOT FOUND IN HIS PERSONAL ESTATE, WHICH CAME TO ABOUT 
$20,000 . RACHMAN'S OWN FATE IS AS MYSTERIOUS AS HIS MISSING 
MONEY . THE LONDON UNDERWORLD BUZZES WITH RUMORS THAT THERE WAS 
A BODY SWITCH AT EDGWARE, AND RACHMAN HAS REPORTEDLY BEEN SEEN 
EVERYWHERE FROM MANHATTAN TO PARIS . THE QUESTION WAS RAISED IN 
PARLIAMENT, BUT LAST WEEK SCOTLAND YARD AND INVESTIGATING NEWSMEN WERE SATISFIED 
THAT THE REAL RACHMAN WAS DEAD AND THAT HIS CORPSE LIES 
BURIED IN AN UNMARKED GRAVE IN A HERTFORDSHIRE CEMETERY . 