The Zurich Conspiracy

e-mails—from my address. The boss demanded we talk and I demanded an internal investigation. In the meantime I was on the point of going to the police and filing charges against persons unknown, but Harckmüller was afraid of a big scandal.”
    Paul was prowling like a tiger now back and forth in front of the bookshelves. His fingers brushed against the backs of the books as if he could gain some consolation from the contact. “After that, everything went wrong. Schulmann would seize every opportunity to shoot subtle little darts at me. He’d never attack me openly but would put me in a bad light whenever he could. My nerves were shot, and I was losing sleep; I’d make little errors, mistakes through lack of concentration. Schulmann would get off ironic remarks time and again, he enjoyed it enormously. He soon had other colleagues on his side, people whose work I’d criticized or who were jealous of my position in the company.”
    He came to a stop and turned to face Josefa, as if he had momentarily forgotten she was at the table.
    “Harckmüller privately held me responsible for the lousy atmosphere in the company. I sensed it though he never said it. Our relationship cooled noticeably, but Schulmann cast his charm around on all sides. He wasn’t particularly good at his job as far as substance or the heavy lifting was concerned. But he had great powers of seduction. He made people around him feel that he thought they were especially efficient and talented and seriously underestimated. I used to watch him at it quite a bit. He’d wrap them around his little finger. I heard some time later that psychopaths possess enormous powers of persuasion. Even psychiatrists get fooled by them time and again.”
    Josefa’s mouth was dry, so she took a sip of wine. “How did you find out it was Schulmann? That business about the computer, I mean.”
    “At first I was only guessing. I tried to set a trap for him. A trusted colleague let me use his computer for a while. But I couldn’t tell anybody I suspected Schulmann. I could lock my office, but other persons still had access to the area, security, cleaning staff. I couldn’t put in a video camera or hire a detective to investigate. At some point I gave up.” Paul sat down; the corners of his mouth were twitching.
    “Harckmüller was visibly relieved when I offered my resignation. Schulmann had the nerve to come into my office while I was clearing it out. He wanted to say goodbye. I told him I could do without that. Then he said—and I remember his exact words—‘Even giants sometimes go before a fall. Even the Titanic wasn’t invulnerable.’ He said it with a smile. That’s the exact moment I was absolutely certain he was the one, because one of my passwords was ‘Titanic.’ Christ, how I hated that guy!” Paul got up quickly. “I need some water if you don’t mind.”
    Josefa shook her head. She slipped her shoes on. The party downstairs was still in high gear, and Paul would antagonize his guests if he didn’t go downstairs soon. Served him right. Though that was much too lenient a punishment for the trouble he’d caused her. She was very hungry and started on the hors d’oeuvres on her plate. Paul came back promptly, as if fearing she might disappear in his absence. He’d barely taken a sip before he launched back into his story.
    “Schulmann would have driven you crazy, believe me. Those e-mails were meant to make you cautious. You were supposed to watch the people around you very carefully. I hoped if you were on your guard you wouldn’t fall prey to Schulmann’s charm.”
    “Charm? You’ve got to be kidding!” Josefa protested.
    Paul ran his fingers through his hair. “Yes, he didn’t particularly turn on the charm for you. I picked up on that right away. But my campaign was already underway, and besides, I had already decided to get you to leave Loyn…And as you saw, he drove somebody else nuts.”
    “Who?”
    “The murderer. I’m convinced that somebody went crazy because Schulmann went too far. Somebody who was less of a coward than me,” he said ruefully.
    “Paul!” Josefa was more horrified at his tone than his words. “Do you know your warnings were totally superfluous? I’d already been warned.” Paul looked up at her in surprise.
    She told him about Schulmann’s advances in San Francisco culminating in his sexual assault in her hotel suite.
    Paul slapped his forehead. “If only I’d known! Why didn’t you tell