delivered the goods. Then Guttmacher withdrew the $2.05 million collateral deposit from the Swiss bank, returned two million to the Iranians, and kept his fifty-thousand-dollar commission. Everybody was happy.”
“Why was my father happy?” asked Ariel.
“Well, for one thing, he'd laundered two million dollars at a cost of fifty thousand dollars. That's cheap in this trade,” volunteered Eric. “However, Guttmacher's bank collected the collateral DeLouise gave Credit Suisse only after DeLouise was murdered. In short, the operation was successful, but the patient died.”
“So DeLouise was planning to work for free if he ended up with his own money less the commission Guttmacher collected?” asked Ron.
“No. The plan was that the Iranians would pay him five million dollars, half when they'd receive proof that the materials were ready for shipment and the other half when the goods arrived. But that time never came. And DeLouise never ordered U.S. computers for the Iranians or nuclear materials from the Soviet Union. The whole thing was a hoax he perpetrated.”
Blecher continued, “But let's go back again. DeLouise's confidence in Guttmacher grew. He was lonely in a strange city and felt that he had painted himself into a corner. Guttmacher became his friend and listened to his gripes and stories. He entrusted him with his important documents. Herr Guttmacher understood that this man DeLouise had a huge fortune; this only fueled his greed. He realized that DeLouise was also disillusioned with his American wife and son because they never came to visit him in Europe. He felt they had given up on him. Guttmacher heard about Ariel, the daughter DeLouise deeply loved and said he was going to take care of.”
I looked at Ariel. Tears had come to her eyes.
“Then one day DeLouise told Guttmacher he was being followed. He was sure the Colombians had found him again. Guttmacher calmed him down and sent an ex-policeman to check it out. The ex-cop discovered that the people trailing DeLouise were Iranian agents who probably wanted to make sure DeLouise wasn't an agent of a foreign-intelligence service. They posed no imminent danger, but Guttmacher never told this to DeLouise.”
“Why didn't he tell him?” asked Mina.
“Because the fear made DeLouise even more dependent on Guttmacher. Remember, this businessman couldn't go to the police, and with his fortune, he was isolated and fearful in a foreign city. His only stable channel to the outside world was Guttmacher.
“The incident gave Guttmacher an idea, though. Since he kept all of DeLouise's banking documents and knew about the extortion attempt from the Colombians, he called Ignacio Perez, the Colombian, and offered an exchange: in return for DeLouise's head, Guttmacher would hand over the documents incriminating Perez for money laundering and bribery of judges and politicians in the U.S.”
“What was Guttmacher's plan?” asked Benny.
“Guttmacher thought that if all the documents and the keys to the money were under his custody, his new friend would be expendable, and he could keep millions of dollars of DeLouise's money. Because only DeLouise and Guttmacher knew where the money they secretly transferred from Switzerland was hidden.
“Perez agreed and sent three of his men to Munich. Two of them followed DeLouise and killed him in the street in broad daylight.
“Guttmacher delivered the incriminating documents, but when Perez received them he saw that a crucial document was missing, the one showing contributions to politicians and judges. He called Guttmacher to complain, but Guttmacher couldn't give him that document – he'd simply never had it. Perez threatened Guttmacher, who didn't know what to do, and there was no one he could ask about that document. DeLouise was already dead. Guttmacher knew what Perez was capable of.
“Next, Ariel entered the picture. Unbeknownst to Guttmacher, DeLouise, who felt threatened by the fact that he was being followed, had asked Ariel to come from Israel. Fearing that he would be hurt or killed before Ariel arrived, he did two things. First he reserved Ariel a room at a small pension; he didn't want her to be seen at the hotel with him. Ariel is an Israeli carrying an Israeli passport, so her presence next to DeLouise posed a danger to them both. Then he left letters for her with the pension's manager. By that time, DeLouise probably distrusted Guttmacher. Then Ariel arrived and called Guttmacher.”
“Yes,” said Ariel, “when I realized that I couldn't find my father, I called the one person whose name was mentioned in the letter my father had left me at the pension: Guttmacher. He said he didn't know where my father was, but asked me to leave the name of my hotel in case he heard from him.”
Blecher continued. “By then Guttmacher understood that by bringing his daughter to Munich, DeLouise had also brought her into the conspiracy. He had to get rid of her. He told Perez that DeLouise had given the missing document to his daughter. Therefore, the only way to get it back would be to kidnap her, and after she surrendered the document, to kill her. Perez's men followed Ariel from her pension and kidnapped her.”
Ariel picked up the story from there. “I didn't know what they wanted. I had no such document. But I had to gain time, so I told them it was in a safe-deposit box and that only my mother and I had access to. So they made me call my mother, and I asked her to come. I tried to hint that I was in danger and that she shouldn't come, but she misinterpreted what I said to mean that because I was in trouble I needed her. Then I was able to escape and told the guys at the consulate to call my mother to stop her from coming. But she'd already been here. They said they'd taken her back to Israel, and I decided to go to Moscow on my own.”
“You were either very brave or very reckless,” said Eric. “These people are ruthless. You were a target for a bullet in the back of your neck.”
Ariel smiled in embarrassment. I looked at her. She was more beautiful than ever. Her copper hair was braided the way I was growing to like, and very light eye makeup highlighted her deep blue eyes. She was again wearing a stunning business suit and looked beyond my reach.
“The kidnappers were afraid to tell their boss in Colombia that Ariel had escaped, so they frantically started to look for her. They contacted Guttmacher and squeezed him, wanting to know who DeLouise's contacts were in Munich. They hoped to trace Ariel through them. Guttmacher was frightened enough to give them Dan Gordon's name. Actually, he also gave them Peter Wooten's name.”
“Guttmacher gave them my name? The son of a bitch. He would sell his own father if he only knew who he was. Problem is, even Guttmacher's mother doesn't know his identity,” I said in contempt.
“Yes. He did, and they got hot on your trail.”
“Wait,” I said. “I'm confused. I thought you said the Iranians followed me.”
“Correct,” said Blecher. “But at any given time you were being followed by both the Colombians and the Iranians. The Colombians saw you enter the Mielke Bank. Guttmacher told them you were DeLouise's partner, so they assumed you may have retrieved something from the bank that was connected to DeLouise, perhaps the missing document. Therefore, when you left the bank, one of them attacked you.”
“Why didn't he take the envelope I had in my pocket? I was unconscious.”
“The elevator door opened and people came out, so he ran away. But you got even,” said Blecher, “because Rodriguez, the man you caught and beat up in your hotel room, is the one who attacked you outside the bank. We have his confession as well.”
“Then how did they know I was in Moscow?” asked Ariel.
“Guttmacher told them,” said Blecher. “I think you called him to say you were going to Moscow and gave him the name of your hotel.”
“How stupid of me. I should have known that because Guttmacher was the Iranians’ banker, I should be careful with him,” said Ariel.
“Two of them traveled to Moscow,” Blecher continued. “One of them searched Ariel's Moscow hotel room while the other guarded the entrance. The person who went to Ariel's room was still searching when Ariel surprised him and he tried to drug and kidnap her.”
“That's when Dan came and kicked the hell out of him,” said Ariel. I thought I heard a slight ring of appreciation in her voice, but I could simply have been hoping for it.
“That man and his partner are now in police custody in Moscow. We are asking for their extradition to Germany for the murder of DeLouise. The good news is that lately Soviet authorities have started getting rid of perpetrators they don't want by simply putting them on planes to places that do want them, with appropriate advance notification to the receiving authorities. We could have them sooner than we usually do.”
“How did the man watching the entrance to the hotel miss my arrival with Dan?” asked Ariel.
“I don't know. He should have seen you and recognized you; after all, you'd been his prisoner. I'll ask him after he's extradited.”
