A suitable place. Helena Rubinstein

In the beginning of the twentieth century American businesswoman, Helena Rubinstein, was called a tornado woman for sure. Her fantastic capacity for work deeply amazed the contemporaries: that woman managed to create a huge industry of beauty, which spread from Australia to America; in addition to that she was known to control every tiny detail of it. The chemists who worked at new formulas of creams and mascaras, used to whisper that “crazy Helena” seemed to know too much in their field. The same thing could be said by any specialist of Helena Rubinstein’s empire.

In the afternoon of her life, Helena Rubinstein used to lead conferences without rising from her luxurious bed. Newsmen reported with great relish that the luxurious bedroom decorated in white and gold could do honor to any European castle, and the bed on which madam Rubinstein lay, once belonged to one of French queens. But the most secret fact about the bedroom knew only the closest maids and friends: just under that very bed was a special steel safe, storing jewelry. It should be mentioned that Helena didn’t conceal that after long years she had bought jewelry on the cost of three million dollars.

In 1964, when madam was already ninety two years old, some people tried to rob the great business-woman. Just before half an hour the traditional conference, three robbers broke into Helen Rubinstein’s house, having feigned delivery-men in the beginning. They managed to tie up the taken aback maids and butler pretty quickly and then rushed to the bedroom. By that time the owner of the house was already prepared for the conference, that meant she already lay on her bed, reading the last issue of “New York Times”.

• Who are you and what do you need? – asked madam with a cold tone putting the newspaper aside.
• Shut up! – answered one of the robbers rudely and put his revolver against the woman’s head. – Give us the key of the safe, quickly, or I will shoot you!
• Helena used to keep the key in her bag beside her, she had just covered it with the newspaper. Looking at the robbers scornfully, the woman reported:
• You can kill me, that’s not a problem. It won’t be great disaster as I’m an old woman. But don’t you dare rob me in my own house!

The robbers who knew that they had too little time, started to search for the key in the bedroom. While they were searching the woman pulled the bag out of the newspaper, grabbed the key of the much talked-about safe and hid it into the décolleté of her peignoir. The robbers managed to find the famous safe, but naturally they couldn’t open it. Having failed in finding the key, they folded the fragile woman into the sheet, moved her to the chair and shook up the bed and then the bag. But everything they could find was one hundred dollars in different notes.

The stuff, who had already arrived at the conference, set the woman and her maids free and then called the police. Naturally, it could not go by without journalists. The old lady, who already changed her suit to a more suitable one, gave a short interview. Answering the question where she hid the key of her safe, the lady calmly pointed at herself:

• Right here! – She said, pointing at her chest.

But journalists could not but ask where the safe with jewelry actually was.

• As for the safe, gentlemen, it is now in other suitable place, – answered Helena. – But I won’t show it to you!