The chasers are getting closer

Wimmer looked steadily at Henri Moret while he reported that Weichsler had to all appearances committed suicide and that there was nothing left of the money — except for about twenty thousand francs, which the police had confiscated.

It would be well now, thought Henri Moret, if old Devenaz were here. Devenaz had worked with his father long enough and would certainly know what to do now. Henri Moret had only come into the business since his father's illness and had heard only fragments of all these things that had to be done quietly and unobtrusively, only fragmentarily. Weichsler was dead, that much was certain, but one did not know whether Rizzi had taken his explosive documents or not. And one did not know, above all, whether Rizzi was an accomplice or a tool; whether, in the former case, he was content with this heist or whether he would follow in Weichsler's footsteps.

The silence was getting too long for him, so he told Wimmer to say what was on his mind. Wimmer looked up briefly and seemed surprised for a moment then he recapped the facts. At the end, he mentioned that Rizzi had been living in Mallorca at his widowed great‐aunt's hacienda for over a month and was otherwise completely inconspicuous. He took a copy of a fax from the table and looked at it again carefully. No, there was no doubt about it, six hundred thousand francs, though that would be about what Rizzi had lying in the Kantor‐private bank. Wimmer looked in his sheets and said that the six hundred thousand, according to the bank statements, had been saved up over many years or were demonstrably justly paid out premiums and balance‐sheet money from the bank, so it could not be Weichsler's money. Another point in favor of Rizzi would be that he had worked inconspicuously and above all for Kantor Privatbank, that his retirement was entirely in line with the bank's practices and that the owner, Dr. Kantor could only say the best about him. What remained unclear was what connected him and Weichsler, how they stood to each other. The one with the floppy hat pulled out the detective's report from the pile of documents and put a finger on a spot. Aha, the two met in sailing school and did 8 sailing trips together. Wimmer nodded, oh yeah, sure.

"Over nine hundred thousand francs are missing," Moret mused half aloud, while thinking that it might have been quite a bit more because surely not all the clients had contacted him, "so much can't just disappear like that!"

Wimmer nodded. "I don't believe in the suicide‐theory, although it sounds plausible," he said. "Not just because of the money," he followed up, "but because only the two together make a round whole." Wimmer waited to see if Moret would say anything in response, but Moret looked down at the tabletop with a serious face and remained silent. Wimmer waited another moment, then said, "We are both convinced that Rizzi committed the murder and made off with Weichsler's money!" Moret looked up in surprise, for Wimmer usually spoke in the singular, but now he used the "we" to express the unanimity of their opinion, of their common professional assessment. Moret looked closely at Wimmer's face, which he had known since he was a child, but he could detect no sign of uncertainty. No, Wimmer said what he thought, and there was no reason not to believe him. He looked for a split second into the eyes of the man in the floppy hat, into those terrible eyes in which he saw not only murder and treachery but also high intelligence. The one with the floppy hat looked at him stonily and then nodded his head in affirmation: he would be of the opinion of Wimmer, it might mean.

Henri Moret was undecided. He did not like the murder option because the money was was still missing. If Rizzi had had the money, he would have gone along with Wimmer's opinion. But it could just as well have been that he had no idea of Weichsler's machinations and had only unwittingly participated in the crime. It could also be true that he retired to his uncle's country estate after his uncle's death. This was supported by the fact that he had only savings from Vienna and that he obviously did not possess Weichsler's money. But what if .... Moret winced with a sigh.

"We must assume the suicide‐variant, confirmed by the Kriminalpolizei" he said, "at least until you prove me wrong. Murder or suicide, I don't care for the moment!" He paused for a moment before continuing, "Personally, I think Rizzi is innocent, a tool that Weichsler simply used deceitfully. Both the Kantor‐Bank and the Swiss banks have confirmed Rizzi's story. He did not have the loot either. But maybe he can know or guess where the loot is or who Weichsler's friends are." He paused for a long moment.

"Weichsler was an orphan and has not a single relative. Okay. Who were his friends, girlfriends? Was there an accomplice or someone who hid the loot? The criminal police searched his apartment only superficially, without any findings. What a shame! You have to do a proper search in the apartment, there will be correspondences to be found, even the documents for his robberies are not mentioned. This stinks!" He paused again and looked questioningly at Wimmer. The man nodded, they would get right behind it. Moret continued. "Wherever the money is, that's where the solution is, leave Rizzi alone. Get the money back first!"