A little over an hour later, a Spanish helicopter hovered overhead. "Naked, stiff and floating," was the matter-of-fact police description of the corpse of a man who, in life, was a bullying, monstrous figure – media mogul, tyrant, and corrupt wheeler-dealer.What happened to "Cap'n Bob" between his call about the heating and noon, when the alarm was raised that he was missing, will presumably never be known for certain. Inevitably, the manner of his passing gave rise to speculation Theories abound, some of them fantastic. Here are some of the most popular.1) On the verge of financial ruin and probable disgrace, knowing that journalists were on his trail and bankers were losing patience with his financial juggling, aware he had finally run out of places to turn – and cash to steal – he killed himself.2) Worried that Maxwell had come into possession of tapes indicating MI6's involvement in the murder of the Bulgarian dissident writer Georgi Markov, British security agents killed him.3) Fearful that his activities on their behalf were about to be exposed, Mossad, the Israeli secret service, assassinated him.4) He had a heart attack and drowned.5) It was an accident, pure and simple.A decade on, the fallout from Maxwell's death shows no sign of fading.

Only this week, one of his business associates, Geoffrey Robinson, once the Paymaster General, was suspended from the Commons for three weeks over his behaviour towards a parliamentary inquiry into a payment to him from Maxwell Labour remains acutely sensitive to any Maxwell connection. Once lauded as a key supporter, Maxwell is now seen as a pariah, a robber of pensioners' cash to furnish his lavish lifestyle. Unfortunately, several members of the Labour hierarchy were close to Maxwell, among them Robinson, Alastair Campbell, Helen Liddell and Lord Donoughue – not that they knew anything of his financial shenanigans, of course.They, like other figures in the media and British public life, were shocked by Maxwell's death The first reactions were ones of fulsome tributes. Only later, when details of his raiding of the pension funds emerged, did that give way to another kind of shock – a sense of betrayal and anger.His family and closest business confidants have found it more difficult to argue that they did not know what he was doing. Two of his sons had to fight court actions to clear their reputations, but they will never shake off the Maxwell name. The former directors of his companies, and his bankers and advisers, have resumed their careers, with varying success – but the Maxwell link will never go away.If he had lived, he would probably have gone bankrupt and his plundering would have been revealed, eventually. But his sudden passing, leading to the swift collapse in confidence in his companies and the calling in of accountants, made the exposure of his crimes a certainty.His death, however, remains a mystery Even now, remarkably little is known about it.

He was 68, in poor health, weighing 22 stone and with a weak heart and lungs. Shortly before dawn, he left his cabin and went to the rear of the boat. He fell forward over a low rail and dangled over the water 10ft below. He clung on with his weaker left arm, tearing the muscles on that side of his body. Eventually, he tumbled into the sea, where he was found about 12 hours later It was dark and the ship's engines were running If he shouted and waved, the crew heard and saw nothing. He was naked, although it was later reported that his nightshirt was missing from his cabin.An autopsy carried out in Tenerife found there was no sea water in his lungs, which would have indicated drowning. Instead, the pathologist, Dr Carlos Lopez de Lamela, concluded he died of a heart attack Two days later, another examination was held.