2 The Dante Connection by Estelle Ryan Read Free Book Online

countries? Where?” That eliminated Colin from my suspect list.
    Manny closed his eyes for a moment. “One was here in France, in Lille, the other in Germany. The police also found footprints at the various crime scenes, none of them the same. Some crime scenes had only one set of footprints, different to the other crime scenes. Other crime scenes had two or more sets of footprints from different perpetrators. It is all in the reports there.”
    I looked at the files Manny pointed at. “So, what do these cases have in common? Except of course the theft of valuables?”
    Manny had now completely taken over from Phillip. He counted on his fingers. “The thief or thieves knew exactly where to go. In the Lille house, the owner had a secret safe built into a secret wall. The wall was hidden behind a curtain, the safe hidden behind a panel covered by a valuable painting supposed to serve as a red herring.”
    I searched my mind for the meaning of that idiom and then nodded proudly for Manny to continue.
    “None of the safes were broken, lock-picked or blown up. The thieves knew the combinations to get in. One safe had a fingerprint lock which the thief managed to override. All the homes were insured, but by different companies. Maybe the most significant similarity is that all of them employed security companies.”
    “Not all of our clients have security companies in their employ,” Phillip said. “We highly recommend it to our clients, since they are all high-end with sometimes priceless valuables in their homes. Some people simply don’t want that intrusion. They would rather take the risk and pay a higher premium on their insurance than give strangers access to their home. Even if those strangers are security guards. Most of them do however have alarm systems, even if it’s only to scare away stray cats or the odd thief.”
    I thought about this. “What about surveillance cameras on those properties that were broken into?”
    “They were also overridden. While these guys were cleaning out the safes, the entire security system functioned as if everything was normal,” Manny said.
    The door swished open and Angelique, Phillip’s personal assistant, entered. As usual she looked elegantly formidable, except when she glanced at me. Then she looked terrified. She took another tentative step and addressed Phillip. “Sir, there is an urgent call for you in your office.”
    “Can’t it wait, Angelique?” Phillip insisted on an informal, yet respectful work atmosphere. Angelique never looked comfortable being addressed by her first name. Everyone in the office called Phillip by his name. She refused.
    “No, sir. It’s Madame Lenoir.”
    “Her house was also broken into.” Phillip jumped out of his chair. “Let me take care of this and I’ll get right back.”
    “No problem. Doc and I will catch up,” Manny said. Phillip followed Angelique out my viewing room and Manny turned to me. “So, Doc, how have you been?”
    “Well, thank you, Manny. How have you been?” I was well practiced in insincere interest and the exchange of mundane questions and answers.
    Manny laughed. “Are you only asking me to be polite?”
    “Yes.” I gave it some thought. “Actually, no. I haven’t seen you in five months and you’ve been working at Interpol. I suppose that you have done quite a lot of interesting things. That does make me interested in how you have been.”
    “Um, thanks, Doc. I think.” He leaned back in his chair. “Joining Interpol was a good move for me. We did a full investigation into Kubanov after that whole drama five months ago. Did you know we had a breakthrough in our search for evidence against that arsehole?”
    “No.” The Russian criminal disguised as a philanthropist’s actions had steered me on a path where I had seen far too much of the dark side of human nature. He had been at the centre of the case that had brought Colin, Vinnie and Francine into my life. He was a man who needed to be