The Zurich Conspiracy

excitement.
    “Yes, and it’s not only the voice. It’s the words too. ‘You’ve made me happy, baby.’ That’s what Pius always says after a successful shoot. ‘You’ve made me happy, baby.’ If he’s satisfied with the model and the pictures, he always says that. I was there at the time, at the outdoors shoot and wherever.”
    The two officers said nary a word.
    Dick as in Richard, it’s the joke of a lifetime , Auer thought to himself. That’s how fast things can move. A woman pays her lover the usual compliments, and Richard’s immediately a suspect.
    Kündig cleared his throat. “We’ll investigate the matter further, Herr Auer. We request that you tell nobody—”
    “That asshole,” Auer burst out. He pounded his fist on the table. “So that’s what Schulmann was talking about the whole time!”
    He jumped up and, without realizing it, started talking aloud as if trying to figure something out. “Schulmann made insinuations about my wild sex life on several occasions. He told me it was bad for my career to screw around with women connected to the company. When I told him what he was saying was absolutely uncalled for and indeed insulting, he retorted that he had proof and I’d better keep my mouth shut. He said all that very quietly, with a smile, but I found it…intimidating. And he wanted to be repaid for his silence, of course. He said I was to praise him to the skies in an internal report. I was to say how good the company morale had become, how he was able to motivate people, how enthusiastic the clients were about him.”
    Auer took a step toward the officers as if pleading before a jury.
    “These are things I’m expected to do all the time anyway, but subtly, gentlemen, oh so subtly. Not outright extortion. Don’t get me wrong—I’m above reproach here. There is not and has not been any wild sex life. I’m firmly in control, and my fiancée has nothing to do with Loyn. But those threats were meant in all seriousness, and as you know even rumors plucked out of thin air can be dangerous.”
    He made his hands into fists without thinking. “I knew you weren’t to mess around with Schulmann. And I knew I couldn’t keep on working with a man like that, so I left the company. But now I see he really thought he had proof. That tape! He made the same mistake you did! He thought that I was Dick. The motherfucker!”
    Kündig stood up. “Heinz, is that woman still in Paris?”
    “I’ll see to it right away. And the man?”
    “He’s probably long gone.”

Josefa was blinded. The harsh light reflecting off the bright walls was too much for her eyes, which had just adjusted to the dark. She blinked and instinctively turned her head away. But what she saw then took her breath away. She felt like she was inside a monumental oyster shell arching high up overhead. The cave walls shimmered in fantastic, mother-of-pearl colors that flowed into one another. Bizarre pillars grew out of the ground, narrowing as they went upward, like gigantic termite mounds. Stalactites inclined toward them, hanging like icicles from a roof. It was overpowering: dripstones like crystal candelabras in an underground cathedral. Neither she nor Pius said a word.
    Then they looked at each other, and Pius exclaimed triumphantly, “Did I promise too much?”
    Josefa shook her head.
    “Come on, there’s more to see. That’s just the beginning!”
    “Can it be more beautiful? Is that possible?”
    Pius held up the lamp. “Yes. But we’ll have to climb and crawl for another hour. Ready?”
    Saturday, February 8
    Contacted Loyn. Information: P. Tschuor had no assignments from Loyn from February 8–12. They say he is basically freelance, works for other clients as well. Get tel. number from his photo agency, Outlook. Karin Fabian gives us cell phone number. P.T. not answer cell. Fabian says she does not know where to reach him.
    Apartment super says P.T. always on road. Reason for postal box (at Sihlpost Post Office). Make inquiries of other photographers. Make list of friends and acquaintances. Find P.T.’s mother in Schaffhausen. She’s heard nothing from him in three weeks. Check his last tel. calls and numbers. Results negative. P.T. seems to use mainly cell. Ex-girlfriend has no further contact. Gives us names of acquaintances. Alert passed on to other police stations, including P.T.’s license plate. P. Hartwell is shooting in London. Zwicker going there for questioning.
    “I don’t like this