"If I have to check it, for some reason, they do random screens of bags at intervals so someone could see into this bag on the other side." "Yeah?" "Hey, did I wake you?" "No." "Um, what are you up to?" "I'm just operating on a frog." " Wow." "Yeah?" " Yeah." " What part?" " Wrist." " They have wrists?" " Yeah." "Sort of." "Well, I..." "I didn't know you were gonna be up." "I know you told me not to call." "I was just..." "I was gonna leave a message saying that I'm okay and I hope you guys are okay." "I..." "I didn't think you'd be working." "I'm not work..." "Of course, I was sleeping." "You think I'm operating on a fucking frog at midnight?" " The police station." " Yeah." "Which?" "There's only one." "And it's in there?" "They brought the bag in there." "Yeah, early this morning." "With other things." "These other things." "You'll be going there today for your interviews, you men." "Get it back." "It's got my name." "It's got John Lakeman on it." "On what?" "On one of those little things... you tie around the handle." "I'm expected in there today, John Lakeman." "There's a bag with John Lakeman on it in there." "Has 11 million Euros in it." "Why would you fill out the little I.D. thing?" "Jeez, son." "Yeah, well, sometimes I have to choose between bad alternatives." "What if the airlines just lost it?" "Then you guys would be all pissed at me." "We would be all pissed at you, yeah." "Get it back." "While you're in there today, conduct your interview like an ordinary industrial engineer, and get the bag and then this part is over." "While I'm in there trying to look ordinary, you want me to steal something from a police office." "This task hasn't even started yet, John." "This bag still has to get to Iran." "That's the thing." "That's the hard part." "We haven't even started." "So get the bag." "And don't cause a dust up, because you're gonna need this cover in Iran, you know." "Who's there?" "Leslie." "What is it with this fuckin' guy?" "Go in there with Dennis." "Who is that again?" "My piping friend." "He knows about our thing." "Okay, great." "I come in peace." "Okay." "Look, um... flat out, son." "I'm starting, frankly, to resent you." "Starting really to dislike you." "I'm need very much to calm my rocking boat." "So, let's settle it down here." "I mean, I don't even know who you are, you know?" "I would just like to know who you really are, you know?" "I mean, you seem like two people sometimes." "To me." "Good at piping, poor at it, undivided attention, then completely fucking split attention between piping and God knows what." "I just want to know who you really are." "I mean, I know you're John Lakeman, right?" "And I know you like John Lakeman, and I don't like John Lakeman." "So, fill in that space for me between what you know about you, and what I know about you, so I can like you, too." "'Cause I think I will." "Because I'm Leslie Claret, I like Leslie Claret, and I know you don't." "So, I'm gonna fill in that space for you." "Here goes." "I'm Leslie Claret, youngest of nine children." "Dad was a tugboat captain." "Mom was stay at home, but a modern woman." "She studied architecture as a hobby." "Took me to Paris, France, at the age of 11 so we could see the Sacre Coeur." "I got my interest in design and engineering from her." "Okay." "Now you." " I'm John Lakeman." " Yeah." "My dad was a... tugboat captain, too." " No shit?" " No." "That's crazy." "Yeah." "I mean, see?" "Something in common." "How about mom?" "What did she do?" "Mom was also a... tugboat captain." "Wow." "Brothers and sisters?" "Only child." "Well, okay." "Okay." "Well, like I said, one of nine, so, "only child" sound like a pretty good deal to me, then." "Are you okay, man?" "I don't want to talk about it." "Okay, man?" "Yeah." "Sure." "I mean, I don't even know you and you're in my room." "Well, I'm going to leave as soon as the guy with the girl's name..." "And because of your son," "I have herpes." "I think." "So... okay?" "Could you just leave?" "I want to call my wife and tell her." "I want to tell her everything that's been going on." "Everything that's been going on." "Fuck." "Let me ask you this, John." "Would you like to have a breakfast?" "In my room, say?" "The Electress of Saxony?" "Breakfast is the meal where..." "Well, it's the optimistic meal, John." "The day's ahead of you." "Let's have a breakfast." "Cool." "It will be cool, John." "Hey, maybe we'll go crazy, and we'll get a whole spread." "Muffins, breakfast breads, etcetera." "Sound good?" "Very much, Leslie." "Well, let's see, we have, those interviews in a few hours, those police interviews." "You know anything about that?" "I don't." "Well, let's get a breakfast in before that." " See you in ten?" " See you in ten." "John, can you come in here, please?" "This guy says he wants to tell his wife the whole thing." "He's holding his phone." "Fuck." "I had an erection." "Not from being in a room with a sex worker." "I think mostly I was excited about helping you gather information, and one thing led to another and..." "I didn't even get you any information." "About where the girl and the passport is," "I just got herpes." "Put down the phone, Dennis." " Is that his name?" " Yes." " Yes." " Put down the phone, Dennis." "I have to tell her." "You can tell your wife you slept with a prostitute." "I'm okay with that." "Go for it." "But you cannot tell her about this situation you were drawn into." "Why was he drawn into this anyway?" " I needed his pee." " I have to tell her, man!" "Don't you get it?" "I have to tell her the whole thing." "If she thinks that I was wrapped up in some... world thing about Israel or whatever, then she might forgive me." " Dennis, give me the phone." " No." "Fuck you, sir." "Can you... stab him in the leg or something?" "I did that already." "Just caused complications." "Dennis... can we get some air?" "No." "I want to call Audrey." "We should get some air, Dennis." "No, I want to call Audrey." "The only other thing that I might want to do instead of that right now... is exercise." "Dennis." "Slow down." "Soft boiled eggs, Quiche Lorraine, cold smoked salmon, hot smoked salmon, organic muesli, fresh apricots, Greek yogurt." "Yep." "A whole spread." "And let's add some muffins, and breakfast breads, etcetera, to that." "Muffins and breakfast breads, etcetera?" "That's right." "A whole spread." "Seriously, get away from me, man." "I don't want you around me anymore." "Dennis, hang in there a little longer, man, and then you can just go back to your normal life." "F you, man." "All these other guys, they cheat on their wives on these trips." "I never did." "Ever." "So I wasn't normal." "I was excellent." "Now I'm normal, a-hole." "Dennis." "I don't care about you." "I'm full of shit now." "Look, man, I care about that, I'm sorry, but I never asked you to fuck anyone, guy." "Guy?" "I'm guy now?" "Dennis, stop." "Dennis." "I won't think twice." "I won't blink." "Imagine something you don't think I can actually do to you." "Because we're friends." "Yeah, okay." "I can." "Fuck you." "I don't mean fuck you, like I'm still gonna tell my wife, I'm not." "Just fuck you, man." "God-fucking-damnit!" "The Haupfhausen Western European." "Technical Collection Library." "It has to be that book." "Yeah. "Structural Dynamics of Flow."" "There should be a bunch in there." "Put my name in one." "You're gonna say you were at the library that night." " Yeah." " Why?" "It has to be." "And it has to be that book." "Why?" "It just does." "My interview is at 2 p.m." "Do it by then." "Yeah, cake walk." "I'm goin' right there." "A to B." "Don't use..." "That phrase messes with my..." "Sorry." "Certainly." "I understand that." "John." "I'm followed." "Sometimes." "Here." "You know?" "You can't be for this today." "Ready for our interviews, John?" "Yeah, I guess." "I've decided on my demands, John." "I'd like to discuss them now." "I'm sorry?" "Well, you're a liar, John." "You're a big liar." "And you shouldn't take me for granted, John." "I know things about you." "I might get chirpy." "And that'll be a costly tattle." "What are you talking about?" "Where the fuck were you?" "I'm sorry?" "Breakfast." "What the fuck?" "Shit." "45 minutes of my time waiting for you." "I had a whole goddamn spread." "Man, I'm sorry." " Leslie..." " I've had it with you." "Do you understand?" "A man asks you to share a breakfast." "There's a whole host of muffins, and breakfast breads, etcetera." "Invites you to share the optimistic meal." "And you just don't show?" "I've had it with your series of professional and personal slights." "Your lack of fucking common courtesy, and your shoddy goddamn piping!" "You are a mysterious asshole, young man, and I have had it with you." "Weird energy in here." "What the hell's going on here?" "Ce la journée amener votre enfant à travailler." "Do you have such a thing?" "Which?" "Bring your child to your employment day?" "Yeah." "I never do it, but, yeah." "Good afternoon." "You're not compelled to interview on this day, but our office is gathering information concerning the murder of Hector Barros, age 33, on the evening of the 11th." "And we've determined that you may have material information related to the case." "If you refuse to conduct today's interview, our office will begin the process of arranging a compulsory interrogation through a liaison application with your federal and local authorities." "Thank you." "Murder?" "Big liar." "What the fuck are you talking about?" "You didn't go to University of Pennsylvania as claimed at your interview." "You're a big old liar." "I have the 411 about you." "Peter Icabod." "Yeah." "Are you ready for your interview?" "Yeah." "Peter Cassius Icabod." " Age?" " 51." "Male." "I realize you're a male." "Sorry, I'm a little nervous." "Women make me nervous." "Ever... since..." "Ever since what?" "Ever since I was alive." "Did you interact with any airport personnel at the Luxembourg airport on the 11th?" "No." "Do you have knowledge of any of your colleagues interacting with airport personnel on the 11th?" "No." "Please write the following for me." "77 De Champlain." "Where were you on the evening of the 11th between the hours of 7 and 9 p.m.?" "Meeting with our European conforming team." "Your firm has entered Luxembourg more than 40 times over the last three years, has never been connected to any illicit incident, great or insignificant." "What's different about the trip your firm made to Luxembourg on the 11th?" "New guy, I guess." "That's all." "A new member of your traveling team?" "Yeah, John Lakeman." "You made a phone call at 7:10 to a woman named Beth Icabod." "This is your wife?" "Yeah, this is." "You mentioned earlier that women make you nervous." "Yes, this includes my wife, yeah." "Don't put those damn things on me!" "What else unsettles you?" "Bedding." "Hotel bedding." "Insects." "Just those three things?" "Um... one of my fellow employees." "You have fear of one of your fellow employees?" " Yes." " Specifically, why?" "He's hiding something, and the pressure of that," "I believe, makes his behavior erratic, and it creates stress in our workplace." "Which fellow employee?" "The detective would like to see you in the interview room." "Lawrence." "Do you remember any unusual events or moments transpiring for any reason over the time you spent at the airport?" "No." "Please write the following for me." "77 De Champlain." "Where were you between 7 and 9 p.m." "on the evening of the 11th?" "Entertaining two Asian young ladies." "In what manner?" "I'm a man of certain responsibilities." "Sometimes, as a stress reliever," "I like to be slapped about and taunted." "Or spanked here and there." "It's not a crime." "No, it's not." "Even where it's a crime, it's probably not a crime." "Amen." "McMillan is bankrupt." "Are you aware of this?" "Yes." "Are your colleagues aware of this?" "No." "I've... kept our financial difficulties a private matter to allow our traveling party to focus, and bolster us through our important third quarter." "Your colleagues believe you are here in Luxembourg satisfying the terms of a contract with the company Denon to provide infrastructure engineering services in the country of Iran in the following year." "Is this a fact?" "No." "We're traveling back and forth this month competing with several firms for that contract for the following year." "Competing to provide services." "My colleagues don't know we're competing, they believe we secured it." "What such services?" "A specific field." "Which specific field?" "The Structural Dynamics of Flow." "It is my understanding that there are five firms in Luxembourg at this time competing for this contract in this specific field." "And your colleagues are not aware of this?" "They are not." "Tell me about your traveling party?" "What do you know about them?" "My traveling party?" "Dennis McClaren." "Normal guy." "Leslie Claret." "War horse." "Steady as she goes." "John Lakeman." "What about John Lakeman?" "I don't know." "I don't know much about him, really, except..." "Except what?" "Crack shot." "Crack shot?" "He's unusually good with guns." "That means..." "It's about all I know." "How long have you worked with one another?" "A few weeks." "And this is your new personnel, the man who traveled to our city for the first time on the day of the 11th?" "Yes." "Where did he work before McMillan?" "The Pentagon." "Describe the basic nature of your work." "Industrial piping." "We create the structural dynamics to deliver elements from A to B, and we provide services concerning the vulnerabilities of that expectation." "Which expectation?" "The simple delivery of an element from A to B." "We consult concerning the obstacles, challenges, and insecurities that come up against the simple act of delivering an element from one place to another." "To name a few... attrition, gravity, mischief, calamity, incompetence." "Also erosion, contraction, expansion, buffoonery." "Essentially, we exist because of the tremendous difficulty inherent in simply transporting any entity from A to B." "Are there other firms who perform a similar function?" "There are four others." "And they're all here, as I mentioned, in Luxembourg." "Can I help you?" "Can I help you?" "I lost my way." "I'm sorry." "What can I help you find?" "I believe it's the interview room?" "I'm scheduled to be interviewed along with my firm." "Thank you." "Where were you between 7 and 9 p.m." "on the night of the 11th?" "Dining at the King Gerald." "Having a dinner." "With?" "Maurice Claire." "Denon higher up." "And?" "Just us." "Thank you." "That's all." "You know, Lakeman was supposed to be there." "Where?" "John Lakeman was supposed to attend that dinner." "Did he not?" "He did not." "He came late." "Very late." "At what time?" "Had to be after 9." "Sometime after 9." "What was his reason for missing your dinner?" "Some bullshit about his bag, lost bag at the airport." "Mr. Dennis McClaren said John Lakeman was with him the moments before his stabbing." "You're saying John Lakeman was due to meet you immediately following that, and he failed to appear?" "That's what I'm saying." "Did you witness him have an interaction, unusual or otherwise, with any airport personnel on the day you arrived?" "No." " But..." " Yes?" "But he stayed behind at the airport." "We left in the shuttle, he remained." "Something about his bag." "So I'm not able to tell you what he did there." "You, um..." "You called a non-functional phone number at 7 p.m." "Yes." "I did." "Because?" "Well..." "Yes?" "Well, that's the number of my former home." "I had a habit of phoning my wife each travel evening at 7." "It centered me." "And I continue to do it, even though there's no one there any longer." "I don't know why." "Each of your men phoned your wives at 7p.m." "Roughly." "Yeah?" "Kind of a business trip thing, I guess." "Thank you." "Thank you very much." "He's an asshole." "I'm sorry?" "Kid's a real fuckin' jerk." "That's all." "For the record." "Hey." "Good day." "Mr. John Lakeman, you're requested on floor two, interview room 216." "Mr. John Lakeman."