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“I’m also interested in Günter. And where he’s gone,” Emerson said. “I haven’t been able to speak with him for some time.”
“Günter isn’t a typical Grunwald,” Werner said. “He’s a bit of a free spirit.”
“That may be the case,” Emerson said, “but I’ve done a small amount of investigating and the results are intriguing. From what I can determine, Günter has been missing for at least a month. Irene Grunwald filed papers to gain power of attorney for the joint property owned with her husband. She informed the court that said husband, Günter Grunwald, was missing. Oddly, Mrs. Grunwald never filed a missing persons report with the police.”
“Irene might have a small drinking issue,” Werner said.
“I turned up more missing persons,” Emerson said. “Yvette Jaworski, a key Blane-Grunwald employee, went missing two months ago. Hasn’t been seen since. Two people in a firm that employs thirty-one thousand seven hundred worldwide? Not statistically significant. But interesting. Also, there have been two suicides of high-profile Blane-Grunwald executives in the past month. One in Tokyo, one in London. Both leapt from their office windows. Both men worked in the division that handled commodities, like gold. As did Yvette Jaworski.
“It’s a stressful job,” Werner said. “How did you come upon this unfortunate news? Do you have a contact within the firm?”
“I have a contact within the Internet,” Emerson said. “And the ability to focus my mind with laserlike precision on any subject.”
Riley thought the laserlike focusing was in the ballpark of the mind-clouding disappearing act. A little out there, but what the heck did she know? There were people who could lower their blood pressure and sleep on nails, right? Maybe she should ask Emerson if he could sleep on nails.
“There’s something else,” Werner said. “I’m telling you this in utter confidence. There have been some improprieties in our bookkeeping.”
“You mean embezzlement,” Emerson said.
“That’s the layman’s term. But I assure you, all the misappropriated funds have been identified and replaced.”
“And did this misappropriation coincide with Günter’s disappearance?”
“Yes.”
“And did it involve Günter’s clients?”
“Some of them.”
“Me, for instance?”
“Yes, but as I said, as soon as the discrepancy was identified, the money was replaced.”
“How long did that take?”
“Six hours,” Werner said, his face a mask of remorse.
“That’s rather fast.”
“We keep a close eye on our clients’ portfolios.”
“How much was appropriated by the misappropriation?” Emerson asked.
“The culprit took only a small amount from a limited number of clients,” Werner said.
“The amount?”
“One hundred thousand dollars from each client.”
Riley had to remind herself that she was living in a world where a hundred thousand dollars was a small amount.
“And you’re thinking that your brother absconded with these funds and disappeared?”
Werner nodded grimly. “It appears that’s what happened.”
“How many clients were involved?” Emerson asked.
“Six.”
