Part 20 (2/2)
”Together with Falcon,” said Anna. ”Perhaps you'd like to do the honors?”
Falcon ecu not only wanted to, he was looking forward to it. After the conversation with Cobra he had returned to rue de Cadix and worked until long after midnight. He hadn't even had time to tell Anna what he had found. He leafed through his papers.
”Perhaps you can relay the background first?” he said loyally.
Anna recounted briefly what they knew about Jasmine Squirrel's cubdom and youth. This gave Falcon a foundation on which to construct his presentation, and he took over.
”Thus,” he said authoritatively, ”there were two matters we could continue working on yesterday evening. One was that Squirrel was not found in any registry, apart from two recorded hospital visits. And, second, that Domaine d'Or Logistics paid her health insurance, despite the fact that she never listed them as an employer in her personal tax returns.”
”Domaine d'Or Logistics?” Bloodhound repeated with surprise.
”Are you familiar with that company, Superintendent?”
”No,” Bloodhound replied, ”but in Vulture's laptop there was a locked folder. It contained accounting for Domaine d'Or Logistics.”
”Did Jasmine Squirrel work for Vulture?” asked Anna.
”She said to me that she worked at that loathsome fast-food chain ... whatever it's called,” Bloodhound growled.
”A complete lie,” ecu dismissed firmly.
”Yet another,” Bloodhound growled.
”And?” Anna reminded.
”This is exciting,” said Falcon, smiling slyly. ”I started looking for Domaine d'Or Logistics yesterday. I thought they ought to have information about Squirrel that might lead us further.”
”Otherwise there's tax cheating going on,” Buck pointed out.
”Captain, it's better than that. Domaine d'Or Logistics, the company that has paid health insurance for Jasmine Squirrel for eighteen years, does not exist.”
”Doesn't exist?” Anna exclaimed.
”No. Well, that depends on what you mean. There is no company where tangible goods or services are actually produced, where there are employees and, well, you understand? All that exists are minutes from a corporate meeting held every year that approves a balance sheet that is submitted to the Ministry of Finance. The representative for all shareholders, likewise the CEO of the company and the keeper of the minutes at the annual meeting, is one Alfredo Wasp.”
Falcon ecu made a stage pause. No one in the room had ever heard of Alfredo Wasp and therefore the pause made no great impression.
”Wasp has a lot of experience with company meetings,” Falcon continued. ”He keeps the minutes for Nova Park's board meetings and shareholder meetings.”
Pedersen whistled.
”So it's Vulture behind Domaine d'Or, then,” Anna concluded.
”It gets better,” said Falcon.
Bloodhound still looked angry, but he could not conceal the fact that he was interested.
”I took a closer look at that health insurance coverage,” said ecu. ”It seems that Squirrel isn't the only one who has medical care paid for by Domaine d'Or. There are between four and eight names per year. A total of fifteen individuals. Certain names only appear a couple of years, others recur almost as often as Squirrel. One of the names is ... Emanuelle Cobra.”
”What?” Buck exclaimed. ”The secretary? The one you just said was a suspect but who didn't do it?”
”The same,” ecu nodded. ”And of the other names-you're not going to believe this-of the other fifteen names on the list, six of them have been convicted of s.e.x offenses. I checked with GL, and they knew about another three.”
”What are you saying?” asked Anna.
”They're hookers,” Bloodhound clarified brutally.
Field Mouse Pedersen struck the table with his paw.
”But ... now I get it,” he said. ”Logistics ... get it? Procurement? Someone's trying to be funny. Domaine d'Or is an escort service.” ... get it? Procurement? Someone's trying to be funny. Domaine d'Or is an escort service.”
”Jasmine Squirrel and Emanuelle Cobra are escort animals,” said Falcon. ”And if it's as the superintendent says, that Oswald Vulture had information about Domaine d'Or's business transactions in his computer-”
”Vulture is running some kind of brothel operation!” Anna exclaimed. ”And his colleagues at Nova Park who testified that Vulture would never do anything criminal?”
ecu had to smile.
”Okay,” said Bloodhound, standing up. ”d.a.m.n good, Falcon, I have to say. d.a.m.n good.”
ecu straightened up.
”Pedersen,” Bloodhound continued. ”Get the final story on Llama and Lamb. And Falcon and Anna, see about finding the auditor, Wasp. If you don't find him, bring in Cobra. Get her to tell everything she knows about Squirrel. h.e.l.l. This may loosen things up a little. Was there anything else, Jan?”
Buck shook his head. He was just as impressed as the others at Falcon's nighttime detective work.
6.2.
Alfredo Wasp was in the phone book, and he had nothing against them coming by and asking their questions. He was waiting at his office on emerald green rue Primatice, one of Tourquai's many dark, gloomy backstreets that were neglected in order to keep up all the grandiose avenues. Wasp worked alone, the office more or less resembled a living room, and apart from a failed attempt to create a sort of ficus jungle in the little alcove toward the street, the result was pleasant.
Anna Lynx and Falcon ecu were shown to a worn couch, where they sat down. Wasp, dressed in a stained but well-ironed suit and a hard-knotted bow tie around his neck, offered them coffee, which they both refused.
”We would like to ask a few questions,” ecu began, ”about a company that you've audited. Domaine d'Or Logistics.”
”That rings a bell,” Wasp replied, smiling.
”It's a company that ... doesn't have any business operations,” Falcon said in order to help refresh his memory.
”I have lots of those,” Wasp chuckled contentedly. ”You might say it's somewhat of a specialty for me.”
”Companies without operations?”
”That's right,” Wasp nodded. ”You have no idea how many large companies and organizations there are that, instead of liquidating some small subsidiary, let it lie fallow. Someday perhaps it will be activated again, and until then I take care of the formalities.”
”How many such ... fallow companies do you take care of?” asked Anna.
”A couple thousand,” Wasp replied. ”It varies.”
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