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“No need to patronize me, Monsieur Gamache. Why are you really here?”
Now he was confused. He’d actually already told her the truth.
“My father told me you might suspect me if you found out I’d lied, so I wanted to come in and tell you the truth. I knew Monsieur Plessner, but not well. Hardly a relationship.”
“Did Plessner ever mention Stephen Horowitz?”
“Yes, they were friends. It’s how Monsieur Plessner came to me.”
“Through Monsieur Horowitz? Was he directing the investments? Was he part of the venture capital project?”
“I don’t think so. Stephen never asked about what we were investing in, and I never volunteered any information.”
Commander Fontaine stared at him, but, while blushing even more furiously, Daniel didn’t drop his eyes.
This was, after all, the truth.
“Did you know that Stephen Horowitz has quite a large account at your bank?”
“No, but I’m not surprised. He’d want money in France. He spends quite a bit of time here.”
“But Horowitz never approached you about investing in venture capital?”
“No. Never.”
“When was the last time you saw Monsieur Plessner?”
“Six weeks ago.”
“And you haven’t spoken since?”
“We spoke yes, on the phone. He called a few times. We discussed other possibilities.”
“Like what?”
“Well, honestly, we didn’t get far. The screwdriver people had told him about a company that makes screws, and another that makes washers. You know, the metal ring thing you put before a screw.”
“And?”
“And nothing. These things take months of investigating, sometimes years. Monsieur Plessner was doing some digging around, but he didn’t seem all that enthusiastic. Look, I can guarantee you that whatever the motive was for killing him, it had nothing to do with what we were working on. No one’s going to get rich, or poor, in those investments.”
Fontaine rose. “Thank you for coming in.”
Daniel also got up, surprised the interview was over so quickly and so abruptly. “Thank you for listening.”
She walked him to the door. “Will you tell your father you’ve been to see me?”
“Probably, eventually. I might let him squirm for a while. He sure made me squirm yesterday.”
“The difference is, he didn’t mean to. He was trying to help.”
The small rebuke wasn’t lost on Daniel, though he was surprised that she’d defend his father like that. He’d had the impression she didn’t much like him.
Daniel decided to walk back to the George V. He felt better for telling her the truth. And when all this was over, he and Roslyn should take the girls to Copenhagen, to see the home of the mermaids.
His girls would not be like that cop and never see the wonders of the world.
CHAPTER 31
