Was It Suicide?

Robert Maxwell may be resting in peace in an Israeli cemetery, but the rumors about how he met his demise refuse to die down. Spanish investigators contend that Maxwell suffered a heart attack, but last week's revelations that $767 million mysteriously disappeared from a pair of Maxwell operations during the months leading up to his death have revived the speculation. There are three schools of tabloid-style musings:

-- MAXWELL KILLED HIMSELF! One version holds that Maxwell took his life knowing the financial dam was about to burst. The Daily Express in London reports that Maxwell seemed agitated and depressed during his "last supper." A variation is that he was suffering from a fatal disease, supported in one tabloid by Spanish doctors.

-- MAXWELL'S ALIVE! The Sun, a British tabloid, suggests that he might be hiding in South America while some other large chap rests in Jerusalem's Mount of Olives. The Guardian states, "The Spanish authorities have no evidence other than the word of his family that the body pulled from the sea . . . was that of Mr. Maxwell."

-- MAXWELL WAS KILLED! A rumor among cynical Israeli journalists is that Maxwell was an agent for the Mossad, Israel's spy agency. Thus Israel's enemies rubbed him out. Or was it that the Mossad executed Captain Bob to prevent him from exposing secrets? Or did he launder millions from secret arms sales to Iran and get killed "to shut him up." Then there's the one that Maxwell was hammered by New York Mafia hit men angry about layoffs at the Daily News. Or maybe . . .