Iolande de Bar
Sandro Botticelli
Leonardo da Vinci
Connetable de Bourbon
Ferdinand de Gonzaque
Louis de Nevers
Robert Fludd
J. Valentin Andrea
Robert Boyle
Isaac Newton
Charles Radclyffe
Charles de Lorraine
Maximilian de Lorraine
Charles Nodier
Victor Hugo
Claude Debussy
Jean Cocteau
“Lieutenant?” Another agent stuck his head in. “The switchboard has an urgent call for Captain Fache, but they can't reach him. Will you take it?”
Collet returned to the kitchen and took the call.
It was Andre Vernet.
The banker's refined accent did little to mask the tension in his voice. “I thought Captain Fache said he would call me, but I have not yet heard from him.”
“The captain is quite busy,” Collet replied. “May I help you?”
“I was assured I would be kept abreast of your progress tonight.”
For a moment, Collet thought he recognized the timbre of the man's voice, but he couldn't quite place it. “Monsieur Vernet, I am currently in charge of the Paris investigation. My name is Lieutenant Collet.”
There was a long pause on the line. “Lieutenant, I have another call coming in. Please excuse me. I will call you later.” He hung up.
For several seconds, Collet held the receiver. Then it dawned on him.
Collet now understood why the banker had hung up so quickly. Vernet had remembered the name Lieutenant Collet—the officer he blatantly lied to earlier tonight.
Collet pondered the implications of this bizarre development.
He immediately called Interpol and requested every shred of information they could find on the Depository Bank of Zurich and its president, Andre Vernet.
