The Zurich Conspiracy

question.”
    Franz Kündig did not follow up on her objection, but instead asked, “How were your conversations? Friendly?”
    “We kept to essentials. There was never any communication over a cup of coffee in the company canteen, if that’s what you mean.”
    “What was his relationship with Francis Bourdin like?”
    “I believe it was Herr Bourdin who brought Werner Schulmann into the company. At least that’s how I heard it. But I never asked specifically.”
    Franz Kündig rolled his chair away from his desk, turned, and crossed his legs. “Frau Rehmer, did you ever get the impression that he was peculiar in any way?”
    “Who, Bourdin or Schulmann?”
    “Schulmann.”
    “It depends what you mean by peculiar,” she said hesitantly. “You know, in our business everybody’s a little wound up in some ways. We’re surrounded by glamorous, prominent people—occasionally it’s like being in a film. That makes it somehow difficult to say what’s normal, given these conditions.”
    She didn’t know what the policeman would make of her words. Then it occurred to her that they were sure to have interrogated other Loyn people and possibly knew about her tense relationship with Schulmann. “Herr Schulmann certainly did not come to Loyn because he was interested in leather handbags and suitcases, that much is obvious,” she quickly added. “Which makes him different—different from most colleagues.”
    The officer in the corner finally spoke up. “We’ve found tapes at Werner Schulmann’s place. They are recordings of conversations between guests at a Loyn event. Among the recordings were conversations between Karl Westek and Curt Van Duisen.” He let his words sink in, his eyes never leaving Josefa’s face.
    Recorded conversations? The implication of his words was becoming clear to Josefa. A scene flashed through her mind: Westek and Van Duisen at a table together under the party tent.
    “Can you tell us something about that?” the second detective asked, his voice sounding far away to her.
    She shook her head. “This is news to me. I mean…How can that be? That would be an outrageous thing to do—for the company, for the guests. I can’t imagine why somebody would record private conversations.” She paused to collect her thoughts. “All I know is that the gentlemen you mentioned sat together during lunch at the same table. There’s a photograph of them…”
    “We assume that someone bugged the table, but we don’t know where the microphones were placed yet. Have you any idea who might have done it?”
    Josefa felt hot. Bugged! “You said Schulmann had tapes. Do you think he’s the one?”
    Kündig stepped in. “We don’t make any snap judgments; every possibility has to be considered.”
    “I know the people who worked on this event,” she said slowly so as not to make a mistake. “I can’t imagine that any one of them would do a thing like that. It’s absurd! What for? At the most it would be somebody who—” She stopped short.
    “Yes?” the second officer asked.
    “Somebody who’d want to drag the company’s name through the mud,” she finished the sentence in some agitation.
    This man in the corner looked more like a teacher than a detective. He cleaned his metal-rimmed glasses with an old-fashioned linen handkerchief. “The tent was put up the evening before.” He had obviously talked to Loyn employees already. Who were they?
    “Yes.”
    “When were the tables put up?”
    “The evening before too. We always hire the same firm, a moving company that coordinates with the caterers. We’ve worked with the company for years. Sepp Kohler, for example—the one who supervises the furniture movers—he’s been with that company for twenty years or more.” Josefa noticed she was talking as if she were still at Loyn.
    “Who had access to the tent?”
    “Basically everybody with a Loyn employee ID—same goes for the personnel of the two delivery companies. They were finished at seven and didn’t come back until the next morning with flower arrangements and candles and dishes. But the tent was guarded by security round the clock.”
    “So something like thirty people had access to the tent that evening?”
    Josefa thought for a while. “Theoretically even more. Maybe forty, because we had security personnel there as well, as I’ve said, about a dozen. But my team was continually busy in the evening. We had to take care of two hundred and fifty guests, after