Finally, Cutler transferred the first $1.4 million across to the MIDAS bank account. This was the interest earned on the initial deposit and would be the running fee for the pristine organization. This was the same day Fabienne completed the new MIDAS website, with the first appeal to anyone with information on Cheryl’s husband’s death and subsequent disappearance from the Large Pink Boat.
Cutler would wait a month or so before putting up a page for his missing sister Elisa. He thought he owed it to Cheryl to try and solve that case first and put the whole of his team on it.
He had worked for several weeks trying to identify and locate other potential investigators. One person he had not considered was Detective Manfred Shultz from Munich. He had collaborated with him in the Werner case and had almost forgotten about him. The news about his sister Elisa had overpowered him to such an extent that he had overlooked an obvious and capable investigator.
Cutler had known Shultz for eighteen months while working on the Werner case. Shultz had been responsible for identifying the master forger and the first tenuous link with an unknown government official. It was unfortunate that six months before they arrested Werner, Shultz had gone off on holiday and then disappeared off the radar. The German police did not offer an explanation to Cutler at the time, and appeared to be hiding something from him.
Cutler was enjoying a Wiener schnitzel and Weiss beer with Enrich, the German police commander Cutler had worked so closely with on the Werner case. The meeting in Munich had originally been set up as an update on the counterfeit gang. The commander was aware that Cutler had left the Secret Service and set up MIDAS. They had become good friends during the lengthy investigation.
Having enjoyed the main course, they moved on to the apple strudel, washed down with a double helping of Jägermeister. In the pauses, when they were neither eating nor drinking, Enrich briefed Cutler on the progress of the investigation. In return, Cutler explained how he had now left the Secret Service and had set up MIDAS, and on the revelations, or lack of them, surrounding his sister’s disappearance. As an addendum and a throwaway remark, he asked Enrich if he knew of any first-class investigators looking for a well-paid and varied career.
Not really expecting any quick reply, Cutler was caught a little off guard when Enrich directed him towards Shultz.
“We kept this from you and within the department for his sake, and for the benefit of the department. Shultz’s wife went missing on holiday, and he spent some time under investigation as a prime suspect before being repatriated to Munich for lack of evidence.”
“My Lord, I didn’t know!” Cutler replied.
“It was several months before your terrible news concerning your sister. You had enough grief to deal with without giving you more bad news, as I know you both got on well,” Enrich said, between sips of his Jägermeister.
“Is he still with the department?”
“No, I’m ashamed to say. The bad publicity… he was released for lack of evidence, not cleared. My overlords deemed this sufficient to terminate his employment.”
Cutler thought for a moment before replying.
“He was a damned good investigator. What is he up to now?”
“He undertakes private investigations, affairs and divorces, mostly. But he is not happy in his work. I think he would be exactly what you are looking for, considering the remit of MIDAS.”
Cutler ensured that Enrich had the details of his new office in the Everglades, and in return he received the napkin with Shultz’s address and telephone number.
Cutler took a day to consider and assess the data Fabienne had accessed on Shultz. Knowing the man, and with Enrich’s advocacy, he gave careful thought and felt that the evidence before him was full of holes. He was willing to do what the Munich authorities had not done—give Shultz the benefit of the doubt, and the opportunity to come on-board with MIDAS.
They met at the Olympic Stadium. Cutler guided him past the lake and up the knoll while exchanging pleasantries. Cutler did not think it appropriate to ask him the questions he needed to be answered, nor did he want to be overheard while explaining the position available.
Atop the hill, with the BMW factory with the four buildings shaped like car pistons in the background, Cutler asked him about the circumstances of his wife’s disappearance. Cutler was stunned by the closeness of the situation surrounding Shultz’s wife’s disappearance and Elisa’s. Once satisfied he was telling him the truth, he outlined the vision of MIDAS and the offer on the table.
Shultz needed no more than a minute to absorb the implications and changes the offer would make to his life and accepted immediately. He had one proviso, however; that at some stage, MIDAS would investigate his wife’s disappearance.
Cutler accepted the proviso but thought they had three open cases now: Elisa, Cheryl’s husband Don, and now Frau Shultz.
“One more thing; the job may not always be safe. We are looking for killers. You need to make a will; we have insured each operative for one million dollars. In your contract, there is a ‘volenti non fit injuria’ clause. In simple terms, you accept the risk willingly.”
Shultz agreed to fly to the Everglades the following week for induction, technique training, and to meet the team. From there he would travel to Geneva to see the set-up there, and then he would be allocated his first case.
Cutler drove from Munich for several hours in his hired C-class Mercedes and met his next appointment at the service station of the A12 Autobahn. Unbeknown to Cheryl, Cutler had recruited one more investigator. The position was not for MIDAS, it was for his conscience. While his primary concern was MIDAS, and finding out what had happened to his
