want to have one of our staff arrested, they can do
that, if he’s a crime suspect. They want to talk to him before calling the
local police, they can do that, too. In that case it would be even better if we
were present, this Zayek is still a Commission employee, he has rights. Either
way, once Zayek is arrested and indicted somewhere, we’ll be out of the game
completely. We’ll never know what it’s about.’
That
was the longest speech Hans had heard his boss pronounce in a long time.
Hans
asked, ‘What if he runs away?’
‘The
evidence will still be there. His records, the statistics.’
Hans
nodded.
Tienhoven
looked at his watch. Hans checked his phone. ‘I don’t know where this Hoffmann
is now,’ Tienhoven continued. ‘But we could take the car and meet with him in
Luxembourg, or at a petrol station along the way. I’ll ask Gabriela to cancel
the afternoon meetings.’
Hans
wanted to be sure he understood correctly. ‘We do it right this afternoon?’
‘We
leave right now, as soon as Hoffmann confirms the meeting. What did you think?’
Hans
thought for a moment. ‘Do we tell him about the uranium?’
‘We’ll
tell him the truth,’ his boss replied. ‘And the truth is that we don’t have
definitive proof, but that we do have indications. Maybe they have indications
of their own, or more. This is a joint operation, after all. Don’t forget that
Germany is not an enemy. It’s not even a foreign country. It’s a member of the
European Union.’
Hans
nodded again. Just yesterday Tienhoven had warned him about manipulations and
oil and beer. But he did have a point now. Commission staff often developed a
certain wariness of certain European countries, or of certain groups of
countries, or of all countries collectively. Like Siim had with his railroad
legislation. But the truth was that the European Union existed precisely
because of, and to the benefit of these countries. The Union consisted of these countries. They weren’t protesters outside the door. They were the
shareholders.
Hans
and Tienhoven left the meeting room together and walked back up the corridor.
Tienhoven continued to his own office, while Hans made a stop at his in order to
check his e-mail. First, he wanted to have one last look at his inbox before
leaving. His work e-mail couldn’t be accessed from outside the anti-fraud
building, not even with a one-time code sent to a registered mobile phone, like
it was possible in all other Commission departments that weren’t investigating
each other’s fraud. Second, he wanted to print out Viktor’s follow-up analysis,
the two Excel sheets. He wanted to have them available in case the discussion
with Zayek required pointing out specific occasions of disappearing uranium. He
only had Holland as well as Poland as the second country so far, but maybe that
would be enough. He clicked on the icon and his printer started making the
usual noises.
While
it was still working, Hans took a breath and left his office to go see his boss
again. Tienhoven was already sitting behind his desk and looked up. ‘Yes?’
Hans
entered and closed the door behind him. The door to the secretary’s office was
closed already.
Hans
said, ‘I’m sorry, but don’t you still think that this is all going a bit fast?’
Normally
Hans preferred fast to sclerotic, and his boss knew that, but this here was
different, in nature not just degree.
Tienhoven
got up from his chair, walked over to the small round table in the corner, sat
down and invited Hans to have a seat, too. Hans gladly obliged.
‘For
example,’ Hans said. ‘Why does the Commissioner ask the anti-fraud department
to deal with spies? And we just say yes and go there. On a case that isn’t
entirely ripe yet, together with the BND, which is an intelligence outfit and
not a police force, and which has a defector and a plan that we know nothing
about?’
Tienhoven
heard him out, then he waited for a few moments before answering. ‘I
that, if he’s a crime suspect. They want to talk to him before calling the
local police, they can do that, too. In that case it would be even better if we
were present, this Zayek is still a Commission employee, he has rights. Either
way, once Zayek is arrested and indicted somewhere, we’ll be out of the game
completely. We’ll never know what it’s about.’
That
was the longest speech Hans had heard his boss pronounce in a long time.
Hans
asked, ‘What if he runs away?’
‘The
evidence will still be there. His records, the statistics.’
Hans
nodded.
Tienhoven
looked at his watch. Hans checked his phone. ‘I don’t know where this Hoffmann
is now,’ Tienhoven continued. ‘But we could take the car and meet with him in
Luxembourg, or at a petrol station along the way. I’ll ask Gabriela to cancel
the afternoon meetings.’
Hans
wanted to be sure he understood correctly. ‘We do it right this afternoon?’
‘We
leave right now, as soon as Hoffmann confirms the meeting. What did you think?’
Hans
thought for a moment. ‘Do we tell him about the uranium?’
‘We’ll
tell him the truth,’ his boss replied. ‘And the truth is that we don’t have
definitive proof, but that we do have indications. Maybe they have indications
of their own, or more. This is a joint operation, after all. Don’t forget that
Germany is not an enemy. It’s not even a foreign country. It’s a member of the
European Union.’
Hans
nodded again. Just yesterday Tienhoven had warned him about manipulations and
oil and beer. But he did have a point now. Commission staff often developed a
certain wariness of certain European countries, or of certain groups of
countries, or of all countries collectively. Like Siim had with his railroad
legislation. But the truth was that the European Union existed precisely
because of, and to the benefit of these countries. The Union consisted of these countries. They weren’t protesters outside the door. They were the
shareholders.
Hans
and Tienhoven left the meeting room together and walked back up the corridor.
Tienhoven continued to his own office, while Hans made a stop at his in order to
check his e-mail. First, he wanted to have one last look at his inbox before
leaving. His work e-mail couldn’t be accessed from outside the anti-fraud
building, not even with a one-time code sent to a registered mobile phone, like
it was possible in all other Commission departments that weren’t investigating
each other’s fraud. Second, he wanted to print out Viktor’s follow-up analysis,
the two Excel sheets. He wanted to have them available in case the discussion
with Zayek required pointing out specific occasions of disappearing uranium. He
only had Holland as well as Poland as the second country so far, but maybe that
would be enough. He clicked on the icon and his printer started making the
usual noises.
While
it was still working, Hans took a breath and left his office to go see his boss
again. Tienhoven was already sitting behind his desk and looked up. ‘Yes?’
Hans
entered and closed the door behind him. The door to the secretary’s office was
closed already.
Hans
said, ‘I’m sorry, but don’t you still think that this is all going a bit fast?’
Normally
Hans preferred fast to sclerotic, and his boss knew that, but this here was
different, in nature not just degree.
Tienhoven
got up from his chair, walked over to the small round table in the corner, sat
down and invited Hans to have a seat, too. Hans gladly obliged.
‘For
example,’ Hans said. ‘Why does the Commissioner ask the anti-fraud department
to deal with spies? And we just say yes and go there. On a case that isn’t
entirely ripe yet, together with the BND, which is an intelligence outfit and
not a police force, and which has a defector and a plan that we know nothing
about?’
Tienhoven
heard him out, then he waited for a few moments before answering. ‘I
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