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.“Blitz did his banking at the Banca Popolare del Ticino.We got the bank’s name from Eurocard, which identified it as the bank of record for Blitz’s account.The average monthly balance on the account was twelve thousand francs.As for payments, it’s mostly the usual.Household items.Credit card bills.Gas.Electric.The man took a weekly cash withdrawal of five hundred francs, always from the same automatic teller in Ascona.All in all, a modest lifestyle for a man driving a luxury automobile and living in a multimillion-franc villa.”“Unless the villa isn’t his,” said von Daniken.“My thoughts exactly.” Hardenberg smiled thinly.“The first thing that caught my eye was a wire transfer that hit the account a week ago for exactly one hundred thousand francs.The note on the payment instructions read, ‘Gift to P.J.’ The next day, Blitz withdrew the entire amount in cash over the counter at his branch in Lugano.All on the up-and-up.He called ahead, spoke personally with the bank manager and explained that it was the down payment for a boat he was building in Antibes.”“Did anyone find the money at his home?”“I checked with Lieutenant Conti.Nothing turned up.”“Who transferred the hundred k to Blitz?”“Ah,” said Hardenberg.“Here’s where things get interesting.The money came from a numbered account at the Royal Trust and Credit Bank of the Bahamas.Freetown branch.”“Never heard of it,” said von Daniken, whose experience had brought him into contact with most meaningful financial institutions under the sun.“It’s a small bank with just under a billion in assets.It doesn’t keep a brick-and-mortar space.It’s a paper entity.If you’ll permit me, though, I’d like to stop with Blitz for a moment and move on to Lammers.”There were nods all around.Hardenberg fortified himself by guzzling a half a can of Red Bull and lighting a Gauloise.“As I was saying, our attention now falls on Theo Lammers,” Hardenberg went on.“His business was on the up-and-up.All accounts are at USB, which is a first-rate shop.I ran his numbers.Nine months ago, he received a two-million-franc wire transfer from none other than the Royal Trust and Credit of the Bahamas.”“Two million from the same bank?” Von Daniken slid to the edge of his seat.“If it came from the same people who wired Blitz the hundred thousand francs, we’ll know precisely who’s financing this racket.What was the money for?”“I took the liberty of calling Michaela Menz at Robotica.The funds hit the receivables account.That meant the two million francs was for work completed.The problem was that there was no invoice number attached to the transfer.She doesn’t know what the money was for.”Myer looked at von Daniken.“It was for the drone.”Von Daniken nodded.Now they were getting somewhere.“Did the money come from the same account number at the Royal Trust and Credit?”Hardenberg shook his head.“That would’ve made our lives too simple.It came from an unrelated numbered account.At least, unrelated on the surface.The chance that Blitz and Lammers are doing business with the same hole-in-the-wall in the Bahamas is a million to one.I relayed these feelings to Mr.Davis Brunswick, the bank’s chief executive.He was not forthcoming.At first, I tried charm.Then I told him that unless he gave me some information on who the accounts belong to, he would find his bank on the weekly black list circulated to over three thousand institutions across Switzerland and shared with every law enforcement agency in the Western world.”“Did it work?”Hardenberg shrugged.“Of course not,” he admitted.“Everyone’s a tough guy these days.I had to revert to plan B.Happily, I’d done a little homework on Mr.Brunswick before our conversation.I’d discovered that he maintained several personal accounts in our country to the tune of some twenty-six million francs.I gave him my word that unless he coughed up information on who was behind these accounts—and any others that might be related to them—I would personally see to it that every last franc of his money would be frozen for the rest of his natural life.”“And?”“Mr.Brunswick sang like a baby.Both numbered accounts were set up by a fiduciary firm that’s a subsidiary of the Tingeli Bank
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