Part 10
Messy evidence was often more credible than perfect evidence.
Mara got into the car.
Theo waited until they had left the service court.
“Are we going home now?”
“Yes.”
The SUV rounded the first bend beneath the hotel. The glass conservatory rose above the stone facade, glowing gold against the white slope. From a distance it looked delicate, almost transparent.
Theo watched until the trees hid it.
Then Marc Duret’s phone rang through the vehicle speakers.
He answered in French.
Mara understood only pieces, but she recognized the words tunnel, vehicle, and stopped.
Marc ended the call.
“Inspector Keller asks us to return,” he said.
“Why?”
“A laundry truck was found at the lower maintenance depot. Empty.”
“That does not require Theo.”
Marc glanced at her in the mirror. “Mr. Haldner is missing.”
“Which one?”
“Adrian.”
Theo leaned his head back against the seat.
“Can we keep driving?”
Mara looked at him.
“Yes.”
She called Jonas and told him they would not return.
He did not argue.
That scared her more than if he had.
They reached Geneva near dusk. The airport hotel had beige walls, sealed windows, and no chandeliers. Theo declared it better than the Haldner Grand because the pears in the breakfast display were soft.
Their flight to New York left the next morning.
Mara slept for forty minutes.
At three fifteen, her secure phone rang.
Jonas said, “Adrian turned himself in.”
“Where was he?”
“In the old service tunnel.”
“Doing what?”
“Trying to reach a storage chamber behind the original boiler room.”
“What was inside?”
“Eight crates.”
Mara sat up.
“The Sloan collection?”
“Some of it. We found eleven cataloged objects, including the original music box.”
“Condition?”
“Intact.”
“The crack beneath the rose?”
“Present.”
Theo shifted in the other bed.
Mara lowered her voice. “What else?”
“Corporate ledgers, appraisal files, donor correspondence, and several replacement objects. Adrian says his father gave him a tunnel key years ago and told him family valuables were stored there during renovations.”
“He went alone?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He says he wanted proof before speaking to us.”
“Or he wanted to remove it.”
“That remains possible.”
“What changed?”
“His father announced to the board that Adrian had independently substituted insured replicas and manipulated the auction inventory.”
“So Adrian found the crates to protect himself.”
“Yes.”
“Where is Conrad?”
“At the hotel. His passport has been surrendered voluntarily.”
“Voluntarily because you had no order.”
“Yes.”
“Helena?”
“Cooperating through counsel.”
“Daniel?”
“Gone.”
Mara closed her eyes.
“How?”
“He left the hotel in a foundation vehicle during the confusion after the video release.”
“The laundry truck?”
“No. A medical transport van carrying equipment from the charity demonstration.”
“Was it searched?”
“It had authorization to travel.”
“Signed by whom?”
“Helena Haldner.”
Mara looked toward the dark room.
“Where did the van go?”
“We traced it to a private airfield. Daniel did not board the registered flight.”
“He knew about the tunnel.”
“Adrian says Daniel maintained the inventory.”
“Of course he did.”
Jonas was quiet.
Then he said, “We recovered the missing ninety-four seconds.”
Mara swung her feet to the floor.
“From where?”
“The recorder in your credential wallet.”
“My recorder was in the conservatory, not the security system.”
“It captured a reflection.”
Mara waited.
“The mirrored panel behind the champagne bar reflected the pedestal area. Not clearly, but enough. Daniel approaches the base wearing gloves. He kneels. Adrian enters the frame. They argue. Daniel removes something from beneath the box. Then Theo walks toward it after Daniel leaves.”
“What did he remove?”
“We cannot see.”
“The brass plate stayed.”
“Yes.”
“Could be documents.”
“Adrian says Daniel was searching for a flash drive.”
“Inside an antique music box?”
“Inside a replica built to carry it.”
Mara stood and crossed to the hotel desk.
“Who put the drive there?”
“Peter Voss claims the former bookkeeper mailed it to him.”
“The missing bookkeeper?”
“Apparently she copied foundation transaction records before disappearing. She contacted Peter because she believed he was not part of the fraud.”
“Was he?”
“Unclear.”
“Why hide the drive inside a replica?”
“Peter intended to pass it to Margaret Sloan during the gala.”
“And Daniel knew.”
“Someone knew.”
“Did he find it?”
“Adrian said Daniel told him it wasn’t there.”
The words from the recording.
You were supposed to take it out before doors opened.
It wasn’t there.
“Then someone removed it first,” Mara said.
“We believe so.”
“Peter?”
“He denies it.”
“Adrian?”
“Denies.”
“Margaret?”
“No opportunity on video.”
“Helena?”
“Possible.”
“Conrad?”
“Possible.”
“Theo?”
Jonas did not answer immediately.
Mara’s hand tightened around the phone.
“The box fell,” he said, “and the base opened. The drive may have been dislodged.”
“Theo found the brass plate.”
“Yes.”
“He could have picked up something else.”
“Yes.”
Mara turned toward the bed.
Theo slept curled toward the wall. His navy velvet jacket was packed in the suitcase. His gray trousers from the gala were in a plastic laundry bag beside it.
She ended the call and switched on the desk lamp.
The trousers had been searched visually by hotel security after the brass plate was found, but no one had emptied the narrow coin pocket sewn inside the waistband. Mara had not even known it existed.
She put on disposable gloves from her travel first-aid kit and opened the laundry bag.
The first pocket held nothing.
The second contained a folded tissue.
Inside the waistband, her fingertip touched something rigid.
She drew out a black flash drive no larger than a thumbnail.
A smear of clear hardened resin marked one edge.
Mara sat very still.
Theo woke.
“What are you doing?”
She held up the drive without bringing it near him.
“Did you pick this up in the conservatory?”
He rubbed his eyes.
For several seconds, he only stared.
Then his face changed.
“I forgot.”
“Tell me.”
“It was under my leg.”
“When?”
“After the box fell.”
“You put it in your trousers?”
“I thought it was yours.”
“Why?”
May you like
“It was black like your badge thing.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
