“Twice, at least. Often four or five times.”
“And it is his practice to travel with large sums of money?”
“As do many of our guests.”
“So you’re familiar with his security arrangements?”
“Intimately. It’s my job to ensure his safety and that of his family and his possessions when he is a guest.”
“I imagine he keeps the money in the hotel’s safe.”
“I can’t comment on the prince’s actions. We do, however, dispose of a strong room to keep our guests’ valuables secure at all times. It’s small but impregnable. Guests make use of it to store their jewelry and other items of particular value.”
“And I understand he travels with his own staff when he leaves the hotel.”
“Team of five. Four junior, who vary each trip. One senior, who’s been with him forever. A Punjabi. Name of Vijay.”
“Do you coordinate arrangements with this Vijay?”
“The prince prefers to work directly with me. He respects my expertise in these matters.”
“Best to keep it between two professionals.”
“It’s the wise thing to do.”
“I couldn’t agree more. That’s why I’m speaking with you. One professional to another.” Simon scooted to the edge of his chair. “What other arrangements did you provide? Check his room for bugs? Countersurveillance sweeps?”
“Again, I can’t answer for the prince, but those are services that can be provided to any client upon request.”
“And if you had provided those services,” Simon went on, “hypothetically…did you have occasion to alert him of any unwanted attention?”
“If we had, the prince would have had nothing to worry about…hypothetically.”
“No undue attention?”
“None that I’m aware of.”
Simon stifled a smile. It was his way of thanking Delacroix, before moving on to a more delicate topic. “What about transport to and from the airport?”
“Ensuring safe passage of our clients upon their arrival or departure is another service the hotel offers. Arrangements are made by the hotel concierge. We use the same livery service for all our clients.”
“Based on your recommendations?”
Delacroix shrugged. “It’s necessary to vet any firm the hotel employs on behalf of its clients.”
“And you’ve been using this particular firm for how long?”
“Many years. We’ve never had a problem.”
Simon rubbed a finger across his chin, eyes narrowed. Then he leaned closer and placed his arms on Delacroix’s desk. “I have a question about the route the prince took to the airport Sunday night.”
“Yes?”
“I lived in Paris years ago. I didn’t have a car, but I got to know my way around. Me, personally, I never would have driven all the way across the city when the entrance to the highway is only a kilometer away. The route taken by the prince left him far more vulnerable to an attack than otherwise.”
“Alas, I was not involved in planning the prince’s route.”
“Really? A moment ago you said you were intimately involved in all his security arrangements. Wouldn’t such arrangements extend to finding the safest route possible to the airport?”
