The Swiss Suitcase (LSD, #1)

9. Streets Of Love

Streets Of Love

The rest of the lunch is like lunch should be in a five-star hotel: the salmon is favourite (I don't understand why most guests prefer the fish over the spaghetti; the Bolognese sauce is really good), a jolly mood and an animated conversation fill every table, most guests find it difficult to choose between the strawberry cheesecake and the hazelnut meringue, so I solve their problem and give them one of each, and finally, when I serve the coffee with chocolates, Rostov returns, whispers: "You'll love this...", slips my spiPhone in my pocket while he takes his own phone back, and helps me with serving coffee and cleaning up.

When Mister and Misses Lee leave the dining room, I follow them to the lobby where they enter the lift. A few seconds later, the indicator confirms their stop on the 5th floor.

I walk over to Rostov: "Our happy loving couple has gone to their room for a nap. If you take care of the domestic affairs here, I'll take a stake-out post in the lobby to see what you've found in their room and avoid they'll go somewhere without us noticing. Meet me there when you're ready."

Rostov mutters: "Nice friend you are. You let me do all the dirty work while you get paid for it... No, don't hit me. I was only joking. I will clean up. Don't worry."

In the lobby, I have a problem. There are lots of comfortable chairs and sofas, but they are for the guests: Mister Müller would kill me if he would find me playing with my phone, sitting in one of the leather Chesterfields. I walk over to the entrance and step outside to check if there's a place where I can hide myself to see without being seen, but the line of cars that go on and off in front of the front door makes that rather difficult. Best would be to stay inside, but where?

There's only one place where a hotel employee can be busy without being busy: behind the counter of the reception. There are places for four receptionists, each with hor own seat, computer, phone and notepad. Usually, two or three of them are taken. At this time of the day, almost three o'clock, only two girls are working, Naomi and Claudia; Sabina is probably on her lunch break. There's my chance to fit in, to make myself invisible and observe everyone who comes in or goes out.

I give Naomi a brief explanation: "Mister Müller asked me to do some assignments for him. Sabina told me it was okay; I could use her desk." I sit down, put the receiver of the phone to my ear to avoid questions from clients, take my spiPhone in my other hand, invisible for the rest of the world under the overhanging wood of the counter, and start to work.

Rostov told me I would love this. The first twenty photos show all kinds of documents that he found on the table of the room, all in what I now recognise as Korean symbols. I start the jpg2txt app to translate the photos into text files, then feed the text files to the MultiTranslate app from Korean to English and start reading. It's fantastic. The first document contains instructions to investigate a certain Mister Nikolai, complete with information on how to identify him, where he can be found. It shows even his flight number, including the date and the time of his arrival at the airport. The next document is a copy of a letter in which the board of the First Bank of Moscow allows Mister Nikolai to have the amount of 100 million Swiss francs at his disposal for what they call «a transaction as agreed by the board». The other documents are less interesting; they talk about details how to report, mention the possible existence of a certain document or a container in which it might be transported (without mentioning why this document is important or what might be written on it), and there are also similar references to objects that are new for me in this mission. What's the importance of a small, white, marble statue of a Greek goddess? Why do they want a painting of 2,40 x 1,80 with the portrait of Saint John, Saint Paul, Saint George and a mysterious fourth person, playing poker or blackjack in a Roman villa? Another document gives information about a shipment of posters of Angela Merkel. There is information about a golden trophy the German Mannschaft stole in Brazil, three years ago, which might be found in a certain vault in a certain bank in Geneva. Mister and Misses Lee have a lot of homework.