***
Dina stored her luggage in a locker at the Geneva train station, took a taxi, and half an hour later entered the Swiss Treasury Department. She found the reception area in Dubois' office deserted. The desk of his secretary was very organized and showed no evidence of any recent work that might have been done. Dina walked towards the closed doors of Dubois' office and after a gentle knock with no response, she tried to open them. They were locked. Looking around, she chose a chair across from the doors and made herself comfortable, hoping that somebody would show up soon. She did not have to wait long. The secretary, already familiar to her, walked in a hurry into the reception, holding two coffees in a tray in one hand and a couple of men's shirts covered in nylon in the other. She hung the shirts on a coat hanger in the corner of the room, lowered the tray onto her desk, and without paying any attention to Dina, enthusiastically marched towards the locked doors.
“Thank God,” she mumbled to herself after realizing that her boss was not in the office.
“Hello and good morning. Are you anticipating Mr. Dubois to be here any time soon?” Dina asked the startled secretary who was surprised to see her.
“Oh! You really scared me for a second, Miss…sorry, I forgot your name.”
“Dina Greduer.”
“Yes of course, Miss Greduer. Is Mr. Dubois expecting you?”
“I’m not sure whether he is expecting to see me today, but I’m sure that he will be happy to know that I’m in his office. Can you please inform him about me being here?”
“Certainly, Miss Greduer, the moment he is back. I'm not sure when that will be though,” replied Dubois' secretary with no attempt to hide her confusion.
The phone in Dubois' office rang several times.
“Sorry, I need to transfer the line to my desk.” The secretary moved quickly to her desk, picked up the receiver and pushed some buttons on her phone.
“Good morning, this is the office of the Treasury Director, how may I help you? No, Mr. Dubois is not available right now. Would you like me to take a message for him?”
From where Dina was sitting, she could see the secretary write something on her notepad.
“Yes, Sir, I will let him know that you called and pass him the message. Yes, I will ask him to call you back, yes. Thank you.” She hung up the phone. “I have no idea where he is. Maybe he is taking a day off? Maybe he is sick?”
Dubois stepped out of the elevator holding his coffee and a brown bag with croissants. Through the open doors of the reception, he could see and hear his secretary.
“Who is sick?” the Director jokingly asked, slowly approaching the desk of his secretary. “I did not give anybody my permission to be sick today.” He stood face to face with his secretary and with his back to Dina, sitting in the corner.
“Sir, the doors to your office were locked, you did not leave me any instructions or messages. I thought you were taking a day off.”
“How could I? I see we have an extra coffee. I did not know that we had such a good coffee shop downstairs. They have a great variety of coffee and desserts.” Dubois was in a good mood. He smiled and placed the brown bag onto the secretary's desk, gesturing to her to join him.
“Did I miss any calls?”
“Yes, sir. And you have a visitor.“ The secretary pointed to the corner of the reception area.
Dina was standing up when Dubois turned his head in her direction. The smile quickly disappeared from his face. He turned around and made a quick step towards her.
“Good morning, Mr. Dubois. How are you doing?” Dina walked from her corner to the center of the room. “I hope you are not surprised to see me.”
“Miss Greduer? I did not know that you were in town.”
“Of course I am.” Dina approached the secretary desk. She thrust her hand forward to greet Dubois. The short moment that it took Dubois to react to her gesture was enough for her to throw a quick glance at the secretary’s notebook, which said ‘Call Interpol.’
“Of course! You are here for our unfinished business.” Dubois finally lowered his coffee to the desk, held Dina by her right elbow and slightly pulling her forward, led her towards his office.
“I’ll be busy; please make sure we are not disturbed,” he told his secretary, unlocking his office door.
Dubois went around his desk, pointed to the chair opposite him and asked Dina to sit.
“I would like to extend my appreciation to you and your company for what you have done to recover the Twin Crown diamonds. Our government and my department and the owners of the Twin Crowns, are all very grateful for your work of facilitation and coordination in this matter.”
“Thank you. I hope that we can complete our risky venture and that all parties involved will remain satisfied.”
Dina’s words had an immediate effect on the Treasury Director. He saw that his compliments and sweet talk had no impact on Dina. Her thank you sounded dry and official. His thirty years of work for the Swiss government had taught Dubois to pay attention to and automatically analyze, not only the sentences, their structure and hidden meaning, but to the voice and intonation of the speaker. And he felt a great deal of hidden messages in Dina’s words. He sat quietly, inviting her to continue.
“You received the first part of the diamonds, delivered to you by Aleksa.” Dina paused. Dubois remained quiet, trying to understand whether Dina was asking him a question or making a statement.
“Yes, I did.” He decided to break the silence.
“Did you receive the letter that I attached to the package?”
“Yes, I received it.”
“So, what do you say to the conditions of my client? I hope that everything was explained clearly in the letter.”
“I’m not sure that we are ready to discuss your client’s conditions yet. We need more time. Our Legal Department is involved in reviewing your client's conditions with Interpol.”
“Last time I visited your office, you mentioned that it was a done deal. Anyone who would return all or part of the diamonds would receive the amnesty. Did I misunderstand you?” Dina asked.
“Last time you were here, I didn’t say that there would be multiple amnesties for multiple crimes.” Dina knew that Dubois was right and she had little hope of winning this argument.
“Unfortunately, my client understood your terms differently.” She stood up, as if preparing to leave. “He is ready to cancel the deal and would like to get his ten diamonds back.”
“What?!” Dubois stood up a little too quickly.
“I have been authorized by my client to get him back what Aleksa delivered to the Treasury.”
“You must be joking!” It was obvious that Dubois was losing his nerve. “The diamonds – the diamonds were stolen from us! They are stolen property!”
“But you didn’t know that they were stolen from you, did you?” Dina looked at director’s face.
“Why would you say that? Of course I knew.”
Dina smiled. Dubois caught her smile and lowered his eyes, his face burgundy-red. He understood that he had stepped directly into Dina’s trap.
“Wait a second, please.” He lowered himself heavily back into his chair, gesturing for Dina to follow.
“I’m not sure whether my client can wait. In the end, whatever you decide works for us. Whether you knew that the diamonds were stolen, or you didn't, it's all the same to us. Obviously, if you knew that they were stolen but did not announce it to the Swiss public, you may have a slight problem on your hands. Conversely, if you never knew that they were stolen from the Treasury, well, in that case you wouldn’t have any problem returning the diamonds to my client. Would you?”
Dubois knew that he was losing this logical wrestling match with Dina.
“You signed a non-disclosure agreement with us. Going public will put you in breach of your legal obligations.” He used the last weapon in his arsenal of retaliation.
Dina knew that this was the right moment to change the out
come of their meeting.
“Why would you think that I’m going to break the agreement that I signed? I haven't even thought of the possibility of going public. It is you who is forcing my client to go public. As far as I understand, you either give back the diamonds that my client delivered to you in good faith, or you agree to his conditions, arranging the amnesty, and he hands the rest of the diamonds over to you. Nobody needs to go public. I have no doubt that the owner of the Twin Crowns will be satisfied. The rest, a total of eighteen diamonds, is waiting to be delivered to the Treasury as soon as the amnesty documents are signed, given, of course, the full satisfaction of my client: an amnesty for each of the listed accusations.”
Dubois slightly lowered his head and looked away, considering his options. As usual, when nervous, his fingers began an automatic drumming on his desk.
Dina became still. She knew that she was at the breaking point of their haggle, and that Dubois, who had been left with only a few options, was now making a crucial decision. That decision would impact the future of her and her father. It took longer than she anticipated, but finally the drumming ceased and a slightly sagging Dubois looked at Dina.
“Can you please repeat your client's conditions?” It was obvious that he was surrendering and was stalling for time before declaring Dina’s victory.
“Before we talk about my client, I would like to drop, if I may, a couple of recommendations regarding Aleksa. First, I would like to ask you to phone Interpol and tell them to remove their surveillance of her. I would prefer to be present when you make this call.”
“Interesting. I wonder how you know that she is under surveillance. Are you sure about that?” Dubois made a surprised face.
“Mr. Dubois, I’m sorry to disappoint you by interfering with your plans, but yes, I am absolutely certain about the surveillance. Also, I would like to suggest a promotion. I think that you will agree with me that it takes a great deal of courage and fast thinking to take upon oneself an ambiguous task for the good of one’s employer.” Dina smiled.
“Yes, I agree with you. I myself was pondering a raise, a promotion for her. I will assist you in this request, with great pleasure.”
“As to my client's requirement, it's pretty simple, really. A clean legal bill, an amnesty signed by Interpol and your department, for all alleged felonies that are listed in my letter, and you immediately receive the rest of the diamonds that he has in his possession.”
“You understand that it may take some time to process the deal?”
Dina could sense in the Director's tone how difficult it was for him to admit his final defeat. For a moment she felt sorry for him, but after remembering her client, she was quickly back on the offensive.
“Please do whatever you have to do. With your permission, I’ll stay in your reception area, waiting for the signed documents.”
“I am afraid that it would be impossible. You know that it may take a day or two?”
“I’m not sure that my client can wait for the signed documents after...” Dina looked at her watch. It was almost quarter to eleven. She quickly calculated the time that it would take for Igor to pick up the last diamond, sent by Tamara with the secured shipping company. “Let's say 6 or 7 p.m. I have to leave immediately after that. Is it a good time to call Interpol in regards to Aleksa right now?" Dina asked innocently.
“Yes, and for your information only, I don’t have any diamonds on me. So, please do not ask them to stop me, to search me or to follow me.” She smiled.
“Yes, yes. I know.” Dubois smiled in return, lifting the receiver.