The Karl Lehman Affair

by Jonathan R Hayes

  Parker encouraged her to keep going, pulling her along by the hand. ‘Just another few more meters and we’ll be safe.’

  Durand waited until they caught up with him. He helped the pair over the wire fence into the field before the dogs appeared on the pathway just behind them. Durand quickly shone the flash lamp in the direction of the hounds and could make out in the dim light that they were Rottweilers. The three cleared the fence without a minute to spare and started sprinting across the field while the dogs momentarily stopped at the fence to sniff the ground. They quickly sprang into the air over the fence and raced after the trio now halfway across the field running for their lives towards the helicopter. Durand reached the door of the aircraft first, the other two close behind with three mad Rottweilers snapping at their heels. He grabbed Nicole by one arm while Durand swiftly grabbed her by the other, propelling her through the open door into the hold. Parker leaped in just in time to miss the leading dog’s jaws. Durand still outside was not so lucky. When he kicked out at the first dog, a second dog lunged at him from behind and bit deeply into his calf muscle. He shrieked loudly with the pain as the intrepid Doctor dragged him inside by his shoulders, Durand all the while continuing to kick out at the fierce animal with his other foot. At the same time, Swiss police dog handlers were arriving back up the field at the wire fence totally breathless. All they could do now was stand and watch helplessly while the helicopter took off vertically with its side door still open, leaving a pack of demented hounds barking and walking around in circles at the spot where the chopper had rested. Immediately they were airborne, Parker reached across, slid the door shut and attended to the injured man. He was losing a great deal of blood and needed stitches.

  ‘There’s a First Aid kit under one of the seats’ shouted Maurice over the noise of the engine.

  Nicole was very worried about her life-long friend. She leaned across and gave him a big hug. ‘Thank you for everything you did tonight’.

  Parker attended to the wound as best he could, cleaning it with disinfectant and bandaging it up with whatever he could find in the First Aid kit.

  ‘You’re lucky Raoul. It’s only a flesh wound however it’s quite deep. No severed arteries thank God. You will need to go to a hospital to get stitches and an Anti- Tetanus jab.’

  ‘Where to now?’ interjected Maurice deliberately flying the helicopter east on take-off to mislead Swiss police about their true destination.

  ‘I must get back to Paris and you two need to get to that Safety Deposit box. Maurice, fly to Paris. Find a quiet spot in the north of the city where Nicole and Harry can be dropped off. You can take me back to Paris-Charles de Gaulle with you.’

  ‘Ok Raoul,’ agreed Maurice. ‘Then it’s straight to Accident & Emergency for you, mon ami.’

  29

  Meyer received a dispatch call from HQ while driving his unmarked police car through the streets of downtown Zurich.

  ‘Chief Inspector? Nicole Lehman returned to her house in the Airolo district earlier this evening after she escaped from the château in France earlier in the day accompanied by two or three people. She retrieved items from her house before leaving. Details are still a bit sketchy.’

  ‘Did our men apprehend her at the house?’

  ‘No. I’m afraid not Inspector.’

  ‘FUCKING IDIOTS,’ roared the Swiss Police Chief down the phone ‘

  ‘They locked themselves inside the house, which according to reports is built like a fortress.’

  ‘Then what happened?’ demanded Meyer drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

  ‘They escaped out the back of the estate mysteriously,’ crackled the despatcher’s voice on the radio. ‘The dog teams patrolling the perimeter picked up their scent as they made their escape. They gave chase along a forest path and nearly apprehended the suspects before they escaped aboard a helicopter.

  ‘A helicopter?’

  ‘Yes. And one of the fugitives was injured. He was bitten by one of the patrol dogs.’

  ‘Enough!’ shouted Meyer. ‘Now you get on to air traffic control in Zurich Airport and demand all details of a helicopter flying in the Airolo area south of Zurich. Get them to track its heading and get back to me as quickly as possible with the data. Understood?’

  Meyer’s guess was that Nicole’s entourage was now flying back to Paris and the chopper pilot would be dropping them off somewhere en route. He had already identified the helicopter from its sighting at Château du Zeton and found it was registered to a helicopter Taxi Company at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. Also, he guessed Durand was one of the people on board and he would certainly have pressing business to return to in Paris.

  The Swiss Policeman, not trusting French police to apprehend the suspect after escaping their clutches at Château du Zeton, radioed in to Swiss Police HQ to have a police helicopter at the ready as he himself was going to fly to Paris in the early hours of the morning determined to get results in this investigation and apprehend Nicole Lehman without any further cock-ups.

  30

  Maurice flew the chopper to Chantilly, north of Paris. The suburb was on the same side of the city as Paris-Charles de Gaulle. He circled the aircraft around the racecourse and landed on a helipad behind the main viewing enclosure. He looked at his instrument panel and saw it was 3:30am. People living in the area were used to helicopters coming and going at all hours of the day and night. Their arrival at this time would not attract attention.

  Parker stepped off the aircraft carrying the small amount of luggage the pair had cobbled together.

  Nicole bent down and gave Raoul a reassuring hug before she got off.

  ‘There’s a 24-hour taxi rank within a five-minute walk from here,’ advised Durand. ‘Good luck, mes amis.’

  The pair quickly found the taxi rank and took a cab in search of a Hotel.

  Nicole had a scarf rapped around her neck, which she slowly pulled up to cover half her face. Parker remembering a small hotel in the center of Paris, instructed the driver, ‘Hotel Concourse in Porte Doree. S’il vous plait’

  Ten minutes later they arrived at a typical Parisian five-storey terraced building with a small wine-colored awning covering the entrance. Parker pressed the bell and the Concierge soon arrived and unlocked the door. The chap looked like he had just awakened from a deep sleep.

  ‘Good morning Monsieur. Have you got rooms available?’

  ‘Come in please and let me check. The couple followed the Concierge to a small front desk.

  Parker looked around the reception area while the man checked for vacant rooms. The place was old fashioned. Mahogany panels lined the walls, the staircase made from polished hardwood; everything spotlessly clean with a distinct smell of furniture polish in the air.

  ‘Yes, I have a double room and two single rooms available,’ replied the porter looking at them both giving Nicole the once up and down.

  ‘We’ll take two sing….’

  ‘The double room,’ interjected Parker.

  The porter looked at both in a strange way. ‘Your names please?’

  ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smyth,’ replied the Doctor tongue in cheek. ‘We’re staying for two nights and I will be paying in cash.’

  ‘Another Smyth couple paying by cash! Very popular name with you British people,’ remarked the Concierge looking sheepish. ‘Ok. Room 307 on the third floor. Here are your keys.’

  The couple took the elevator up three floors and found their room. The first thing Parker noticed stepping through the door was the double bed.

  ‘Well Mr. Smyth or should I say Dr. Smyth…’

  ‘It was the first name that came to mind.’

  ‘Well!’ replied Nicole coolly. ‘What about Ms. Brown and Dr. Smyth and two single rooms?’ She stood beside the bed with her arms folded glaring back at him.

  ‘I thought it was better to give the impression we were husband and wife. The police and the mob are looking for two single people, don’t forget.’

  ‘It�
��s late and I’m ready to drop.’

  ‘I’ll sleep on the couch. You take the bed?’

  She lay down on the bed exhausted and pulled a blanket over herself.

  ‘I was just thinking since you may be recognized on the street, do you think I should go to the bank on my own to fetch the CDs?’

  ‘No chance’ replied Nicole drifting off to sleep. ‘They have Iris ID verification and copies of our signatures as well as needing a safety deposit box key. Both Karl’s Iris ID and mine are registered with the bank.’

  Parker settled into the couch with a blanket covering him. ‘Pity. In that case I’ll have to fetch some disguises in the morning. You will have to wear a blond wig?’

  Nicole did not reply. She was already fast asleep.

  31

  The following morning Meyer arrived at the head offices of La Préfecture de Police in Paris at 7:00a.m., unannounced. He went to the front desk showed his badge and insisted on meeting Inspector Pierre Marceau immediately. He was in no mood for being fobbed off.

  ‘I’m here from the Swiss Federal Office of Police to track-down Nicole Lehman and her entourage,’ confirmed the Chief Inspector to the duty officer at the desk.

  ‘Yes of course Dieter, no problem,’ came the sound of a friendly familiar voice emanating from an office behind the front desk. It was his friend and former associate Chief Inspector Victor de Bruin. ‘We are at your disposal to assist in whatever way we can,’ declared de Bruin walking out to greet him.

  ‘Thank God it’s you Victor. Now we might get something done.’ The two men retired to de Bruin’s office and closed the door.

  ‘Victor, I’m sure you are aware of the Lehman case?’

  ‘Yes of Course Dieter. It’s on every News channel’

  I’m certain Nicole Lehman and her private detective friend returned here to Paris late last night from Zurich. He is a close friend of Madame and lives here in Paris. We know he travelled with her to Switzerland by helicopter when they escaped from the château in Pouilly. Another male accomplice with them has yet to be identified. My Swiss police colleagues told me last night Durand was injured, bitten by a police dog on the leg during their escape. It’s my guess he’s probably being treated here in Paris in some A&E Department as we speak.’

  De Bruin picked up the phone and issued instructions to a police woman on the other end. ‘Run a check on all Metropolitan hospitals and A&E departments in a ten-mile radius of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport immediately. We are looking for a man with a severe dog bite to the leg.’

  Meyer’s mobile phone buzzed. He listened attentively to the voice on the other end. ‘Thank you, officer,’ replied the Chief Inspector before ending the call. ‘Air traffic control at Lyon picked them up briefly on Radar at 2:30am this morning and identified them from the aircraft’s transponder. They were travelling north towards Paris when they lost contact with them.’

  ‘Where did they go?’

  ‘They flew below the Radar detection threshold after they left Lyon air space. I estimate they would have arrived about 3 a.m. this morning in Paris.’

  No sooner had he uttered these words when the desk phone hummed. Inspector de Bruin grabbed the receiver and listened to the message.

  ‘Très bien’ snapped de Bruin and hung up. ‘Let’s go Dieter. Raoul Durand was admitted to Hôpital Saint Louis about two hours ago.’

  32

  Parker awoke early the next morning, Nicole was still sleeping. He disappeared out of the hotel to buy much needed apparel. He soon found a large department store about two blocks away. He purchased a navy pin stripe suit off the peg and some accessories; a red tie for himself and a pair of dark glasses and blond wig for the lady. When he returned about an hour later, Nicole was dressed and ready to go for breakfast.

  He dangled a shopping bag in front of her. ‘These are for you.’

  He quickly changed into his new clothes before leaving for breakfast.

  ‘You look very smart Harry.’

  ‘Thank you for the complements, Ms. Lehman. And you will be wearing?’

  Nicole took the blond wig out of the bag and tried it on. ‘Voila!’

  The wig totally changed her appearance. She removed it again and put it carefully on the bed before going downstairs for breakfast.

  ‘We haven’t eaten since yesterday lunch time,’ commented Parker before tucking into a hearty portion of bacon and eggs.

  ‘Karl had bacon and eggs every morning,’ recalled Nicole ‘He believed it was every bit as healthy as breakfast cereals.’

  ‘We now must get to the bank in Place Dauphine as inconspicuously as possible. I have a Metro map here. Now let me see. Ah yes there’s a station quite close to us here.’ He pointed to the map. ‘We need to travel to Cité Metro station.’

  After breakfast, they stole quietly out of the hotel and made their way towards the Metro. The pair cut quite a dash as they walked briskly along the street, Parker wearing his new pin stripe suit, white shirt and red tie, Nicole wearing a cream-colored suit, double breasted jacket and a straight skirt to the knee retrieved from her house in Zurich; nothing too vivid, yet subtly enlivening. She looked strangely elegant with the blond wig and dark sun glasses.

  They took the Metro across Paris making two changes before arriving at Cité.

  They quickly emerged from the station out into Place Dauphine.

  ‘The bank is three blocks away, west of here.’

  While they walked towards the Bank building Nicole decided to take a small risk and use her mobile phone to call Durand. She was quite worried about her old friend. She pulled up his name on her screen and pressed the call button. Getting no answer, she sent him a text message instead.

  ‘Have you visited this bank before?’

  ‘Just one time with Karl. We were depositing deeds of a property we purchased on the Côte d’Azur. Karl used to be a regular customer here at one time.’

  ‘So, you know the drill inside?’

  After a ten-minute brisk walk they arrived at the bank and went inside.

  33

  Meyer and de Bruin arrived at Hopital Saint Louis and walked through to the reception desk.

  ‘Monsieur Durand is in the A&E Department’ confirmed the receptionist. ‘It’s the third corridor on the right then first left after Radiology.’

  ‘Merci’ replied the Swiss policeman before both men hurried off down the corridor.

  When they entered the clinical suite, Durand was lying on a trolley in an examination cubicle with a blanket covering him. He quickly spotted his Swiss associate as the two policemen walked towards the open cubicle.

  ‘Bonjour Dieter. It didn’t take you long to find me.’

  Meyer spoke with an impatient tone. ‘Ok Raoul, no sense in beating around the bush. We know you were in Château du Zeton with Lehman and you escaped to Switzerland with her and another man last night.’

  ‘Escaped?’ exclaimed Durand with a perplexed look on his face. ‘I have committed no crime, Dieter. I was not escaping from anything. I merely left the château and went on a helicopter ride with some old friends. There’s nothing illegal about that is there?’

  ‘I told you Nicole Lehman was wanted for questioning and a warrant had been issued for her arrest. You are a private investigator Durand and you are subject to the law just like everybody else.’

  ‘Dieter, I told you already. Nicole had nothing to do with her husband’s murder. She is trying to unravel a very difficult situation with Karl’s unfinished research and I believe the Swiss police would be better served by stopping their ridiculous harassment of this totally innocent woman and concentrating their efforts on finding the two motorcyclists that are most likely working for some organized crime gang.’

  ‘What were you doing going to the suspect’s house in Switzerland last night?’

  ‘She needed to fetch some clothes and personal effects from her house. She does not want to return to live there until the real murderers are apprehended.’

 
; Meyer looked at Durand with a sarcastic smile. ‘It’s a long way to go to fetch clothing indeed. Where did you drop her off?’

  Before Durand could answer, the Swiss CI’s mobile phone started vibrating in his pocket. He listened intently to a person from Interpol on the other end before hanging up.

  ‘Victor, follow me please,’ insisted Meyer walking to a location out of earshot of Durand.

  While the two policemen were talking, Durand took the opportunity to grab his mobile and found it was turned off. He quickly turned it on and saw a text message received ten minutes earlier. He opened the message and read the brief note. ‘Raoul, hope you’re recovering well. Love N.’

  Raoul had a gut feeling the police had just tracked down Nicole in Paris from her mobile phone signal.’

  The two policemen stood close together talking all the while keeping an eye on the patient.

  ‘She’s in Place Dauphine, Victor. Stay here and make sure Durand doesn’t try to contact her,’

  ‘Yes of course Dieter. I’ll radio for backup. My men will meet you at Place Dauphine in fifteen minutes.’

  Meyer broke away and left the room in a hurry.

  De Bruin walked back towards Durand barking instructions into his phone before replacing it inside his pocket.

  Durand held his phone in his hand under the blanket as de Bruin approached him. The message from Nicole as far as he could remember was still on the screen. He clicked the reply button and very slowly keyed in a message, trying to remember the layout of the keypad. He eventually keyed in ‘Polic on wey,’ before pressing the ‘send’ button.

  34

  Once inside the bank the pair walked over to the customer service desk where a young female bank official was seated.

  ‘I would like to withdraw some valuables from our safety deposit box.’