“I need your help, Inspector, if that isn’t too blunt. The police have warned me that they are not going to investigate the case until they have assurances that they will receive full cooperation from your mission. Although technically your mission falls under the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, your ambassador doesn’t seem to bother much with diplomacy and so the entire matter has, as the Americans like to say, fallen into my lap. I want to get rid of it, and for that, I need your help.”

Helping the chief of Swiss counterintelligence was not wise, nor was it healthy. Swallowing razor blades was higher on the list of things I would consider. Still, the man seemed to know something about Sohn and his dealings with Jenö; he seemed to be working against whatever my brother was doing, and so far he had not done anything to me other than get under my skin, which was his job.

“Sohn and the ambassador didn’t get along,” I said. “I don’t know why. I doubt very much that the ambassador killed him, though. You may think we are a little crude in our ways, M. Beret, but murder is not normally part of the routine. That’s about all I can tell you, because it’s everything I know.”

“Really? You must know something more about Sohn. Don’t tell me you were simply overjoyed to run across a compatriot in a foreign city. Overjoyed compatriots don’t follow each other according to prearranged patterns.”

I had to laugh. “I should have realized that people who kept such close track of their soap would be very observant about everything else. Everything and nothing. Because on this one, you’ll have to brace yourself for disappointment. I really didn’t know him. In case you haven’t received the report yet, I did go to see the dungeon at Chillon the other day, and if you want to throw me in there you can. It would be pleasant to sit in one of those cells this summer and listen to the waves against the stone foundations. No matter what you say or how much you turn on your Swiss charm, I can’t tell you any more about Sohn, because I don’t know anything about him, nothing that you apparently don’t already have in your files. In fact you probably know a great deal more about him than I do. I’ll bet you have hollowed out an entire mountain to hold all the paper. Surely you must have other people you can ask. It seems to me that you have multiple sources, all the way to New York.”

“I don’t trust them. I never trust them. Besides, that’s not exactly the question, is it, Inspector? I’m not asking about his patrimony. I’m not asking you for background, for his gymnasium report card. I want to know why he arrived here yesterday, and why you met him.”

“You say he was here several times before. Apparently he liked the place, though I must tell you, I can’t imagine why.”

M. Beret pointed to the plate of cheese.

2

“You Chinese breed like monkeys, is what I hear.”

I looked stoically out at the gray waters of the lake. After leaving M. Beret at the Sunflower, I’d walked to the lake to sit and be alone. Some things are not fated, even if you do your best. I did my best to ignore the woman; some people give up and go away if you pretend to ignore them. It also sometimes works if you indicate that you do not understand the language.

“Rabbits, not monkeys, that’s what I meant.” The woman sat down and took off her gloves. She seemed not to notice I wasn’t responding. “It must be difficult for you here. Not much familiar to eat. God knows, we eat the normal things. I’ll bet you wish you had something to remind you of home. I heard there are a lot of Chinese restaurants on Quai du Mont-Blanc. I wouldn’t know, but you might try one of them.”

“I think you are mistaken.” I still didn’t look at her. Maybe she’d think I was meditating in the fading afternoon light.

“No, they’re over there.” She pointed across the lake, her finger in front of my nose. “Of course, I’ve never tried one, myself. I don’t eat that sort of food.” She didn’t stop to explain or pause before going on to the next subject. I’d met people like her before. Ideas seemed to take control of their brains in rapid-fire order. It was