“British socialite Alice Winter goes missing while on holiday on Ibiza,” Ingrid began.
“A fine start,” said Gabriel. “Please continue.”
“Edward Knight, her wealthy and seemingly desperate husband, hires the renowned art conservator and retired spy Gabriel Allon to find her. Several days after her disappearance, Knight receives a ransom demand for one billion dollars. Gabriel Allon, now acting as Knight’s negotiator, whittles it down to a half billion. Knight transfers the money to CyproBank of Nicosia before Allon can determine whether Alice Winter is still alive. Allon is dumped by the side of a road. Alice, however, is nowhere to be found.”
“Why not?”
“That calls for a certain amount of speculation on my part.”
“Speculate away.”
“British socialite Alice Winter was abducted by men hired by her husband, Edward Knight. Knight retained you to find her, knowing that your involvement would suggest he was innocent of any wrongdoing. When the ransom negotiations began, you drove a hard bargain. But what you didn’t realize was that the men at the other end of the line were working for your client.”
“Were the proof-of-life photographs real?”
“I believe they were.”
“Which means that Alice was alive then.”
Ingrid made no reply.
“When was she killed?”
“If I had to guess, not long after the money arrived at that bank in Cyprus.”
“In cold blood?”
“All contract killers murder their victims in cold blood, Mr. Allon. Why would Alice deserve better?”
“You were in the room with Knight when we received the initial ransom demand,” Gabriel reminded her.
“I remember it well.”
“Did he strike you as the sort of man who was about to have his wife murdered?”
“You could have played the role of the desperate husband, Mr. Allon. And I certainly could have played the role of a desperate wife.”
“That’s because we’re both professional deceivers.”
“Perhaps Edward Knight is too. Many wealthy businessmen are.”
Gabriel didn’t dispute the point. “That leaves Reinhardt Peter Hoffmann.”
“Chief of wealth management at Bank Josef Bänzinger & Company, a firm with a rather dubious track record that includes laundering and concealing money on behalf of its clients.”
“Hoffmann was in on it from the beginning?”
“Absolutely.”
“If that was the case, why did he pretend to bump into Alice on Ibiza?”
“For the life of me,” replied Ingrid, “I can’t figure that one out.”
“A rather large hole in your scenario, don’t you think?”
“Unless Edward Knight had nothing to do with his wife’s disappearance.”
“Then who was behind it?”
