‘According to witnesses, yes.’
‘Who the fuck does that?’
The assistant shrugged, but said nothing.
‘Does the ski lift go over the gorge?’
‘No, sir. It’s east of the gorge by a considerable distance. Here, take a look at this.’ He reached into his folder and pulled out a map of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Several additions had been handwritten in coloured ink. ‘I marked the ambush site where the bodies were found and the location of the cableway. As you can see, the violence was spread out.’
Mueller stared at the map and tried to make sense of things. Two of Kaiser’s men had been killed in the initial ambush, which had occurred on a hiking trail above the gorge. Afterwards, the vehicle had headed east where its passengers had linked up with the cableway that took them to the Olympic stadium at the base of the mountain. Meanwhile, Krueger and his associate had gone in the opposite direction, perhaps trying to beat Kaiser’s crew into town by using a shortcut through the gorge. A solid plan, especially if Krueger had someone waiting down below – which would explain the presence of Krueger’s friend near the ski stadium. Of course, everything went to shit when Krueger and his associate were killed in the gorge. Without backup, Krueger’s friend was killed as well, overpowered by the crew from the cableway.
As far as Mueller was concerned, all that made perfect sense. The one thing that didn’t, the one thing that still eluded him, was what had attracted Ulster and Kaiser to Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the first place. ‘What was in the crates?’
His assistant shrugged. ‘No one knows.’
Mueller shoved the table forward, driving it into his assistant’s stomach. ‘Obviously someone knows, or there wouldn’t have been a gunfight!’
The assistant nodded while trying to regain his breath. Once he did, he grabbed some napkins from a ceramic holder and cleaned up the coffee that had spilled on the table. Mueller watched him with a mixture of amusement and contempt, wondering how someone could take that much abuse without fighting back. If nothing else, his assistant was loyal.
Mueller waited until the mess was cleared up before he spoke again. ‘What else?’
His assistant glanced through his folder. ‘Krueger got me thinking. He tracked down the chopper’s registration by using its tail number. That’s how he discovered Ulster’s involvement in the first place.’
‘So?’ Mueller snapped.
‘So,’ he said as he kept flipping pages, ‘I took it a step further. Most luxury helicopters are equipped with radio transceivers that are used to track the vehicle in case of theft. I gave Ulster’s tail number to our police connection, who reported the chopper stolen. That automatically triggered its theft transceiver, a small device that emits an inaudible signal that can be detected by police tracking computers throughout Europe.’
‘And?’
‘And the Bavarian State Police got a hit.’
‘Where?’ Mueller demanded.
His assistant finally found the sheet he was looking for. ‘As of thirty minutes ago, Ulster’s chopper had crossed the German-Austrian border.’
‘Shit! He’s probably going back to Switzerland.’
‘Actually, sir, the chopper was headed into Germany.’
Mueller stared at him. ‘Ulster had left, but is coming back?’
‘We don’t know about Ulster, but his chopper was in Bavarian airspace as of thirty minutes ago. Our source said he would call us with updates.’
Mueller smiled for the first time that morning. ‘Wonderful! Just wonderful! Good thinking on your part. I should have thought of that myself.’
His assistant beamed. ‘Thank you, sir.’
‘What else do you have for me?’
‘Our source mentioned another thing, although he wasn’t sure if we would care. He said it was rather unusual for this type of case, so he thought he should mention it.’
Mueller sipped his coffee. ‘What’s that?’
‘He said Interpol was actively involved in the case.’
Mueller laughed. ‘Of course they’re involved in the case. Those pricks follow me wherever I go, hoping I screw up in public so they can arrest me for jaywalking or some other nonsense. I’m sure they do the same thing with Kaiser.’
‘Actually, sir, our source wasn’t surprised they were involved. He was surprised why they were involved. According to him, the Bavarian State Police were notified that two of the gunmen in the Garmisch shooting were undercover operatives working for an unknown agency.’
Mueller winced. ‘You mean they were cops?’
‘No, sir. If they were cops, the police would have notified Interpol – not the other way around.’
‘Not if they were Austrian cops. Maybe they tracked Kaiser’s crew across the border. It’s only a few miles away from Garmisch.’
‘You’re right, sir. I guess that’s a possibility. But …’
Mueller glared at him. ‘But what?’
‘Our contact thinks otherwise because of the source of the information. It didn’t come from a local agency. It came from Interpol headquarters.’
58
Jones wasn’t the type of guy who stood on the sidelines. He got his thrills by being in the action, not by watching it. Frustrated by Heidi’s lack of success, he kicked off his shoes and climbed into the artificial lake. The entire time he was wading through the water, he mumbled under his breath, ‘They think they’re so damn smart, just because they solved a riddle about a bird. I figured out the goddamn boulder. I used a piece of meat to jump out of a chopper. I’m a licensed fuckin’ detective. I’ll be damned if I’m gonna be beat by a stupid cupid with a boat up its ass.’
Payne grinned when Jones leapt into the water. He knew his friend better than anyone and was surprised it had taken him so long to hop in. ‘What are you doing?’
‘What do you think I’m doing? I’m saving your ass!’
‘But we don’t need your help.’
Jones trudged forward through the water. ‘It sure looks like you do.’
Payne glanced up at Heidi and winked. ‘Believe it or not, I’ve had my head between a woman’s thighs before. No complaints so far.’
She blushed and playfully smacked his cheek.
Jones continued his rant. ‘While you guys are frolicking in the grotto, time is ticking away. The gates open at nine. We need to be out of here before the tourists arrive.’
‘And what are you going to do that she couldn’t?’ Payne asked.
Jones stopped near the side of the boat. Although the cockleshell was tall in the stern and the bow, it dipped down in the middle. The entire craft was supported just above the waterline by a metal stand. To see how sturdy it was, he grabbed the stand and pulled on it. ‘It’s not a question of ability. It’s a question of desire. I’m willing to do things that Heidi isn’t.’
She glared at him. ‘Such as?’
He smiled. ‘I’m willing to piss off Bavaria.’
Without saying another word, Jones sprang out of the water and landed on his knees in the belly of the boat. It rocked from side to side on its stand, a combination of Jones’s weight and the surge of water that followed his leap, but the boat held firm.
Heidi gasped in horror. ‘I can’t believe you did that.’
‘And I can’t believe you didn’t,’ Jones argued. ‘It’s a goddamn boat. Not a Faberge egg. If you’re gonna roll with us, you have to break some rules.’
She looked down at Payne. ‘Jon?’
‘Hey, don’t look at me. I’m just a tamed hippo. You tell me where to go, and I take you there. Other than that, I’m staying out of this.’
Heidi fumed, but there was nothing she could do. Jones was already in the boat, and he wasn’t going to leave until he wanted to. ‘Fine! But be careful. This boat is an antique.’