Chapter 16: Aftermaths of a Battle

She was regarding me when I woke up. “My love, I should be angry with you because against your promise, Pavel protected only me, not us. But thank you in any case. What will we do today?”

“First you give me a kiss...” which she did...” ... but with a bit more enthusiasm...” which she did” ... and then I want my good morning kisses...” and she offered her breasts for my morning feast. The day had started.

Pavel was waiting for us in the breakfast room, and without hesitating, Jenny walked up to him and embraced him. “Thank you for yesterday, Pavel. We couldn’t have done it without you, and I’ll not forget it!”

He asked where Andrei was, and I checked with the waiter; he was apparently still in the meeting room we had reserved for him. “I’ll go and get him.”

Opening the door, there was Andrei fast asleep, his head over one arm, the computer still open, his hair messed up, and the shirt hanging out of his trousers. I wondered whether I should wake him, but we needed his input. I touched his shoulder, and he jumped up. He had problems opening his eyes, but finally, he managed to see who was in front of him.

“Count, I fell asleep, but I finished the job. Let me brush my teeth and wash my face, and I’ll show you. You’ll kill them – be careful; with this report, both parties are out of the government, and they’ll want revenge. Sydney will be such a wonderful and safe city for us!”

I went back to breakfast, and shortly after, he appeared with his trusty laptop. He was proud of himself, and when he showed us his work, we were, too.

The beginning was practically the same, perhaps a bit more focused, but the second visit killed them. The PM’s admission that he had done similar deals before, his dismissal of women, and his threats were clearly documented. Then there was the drug arrest attempt (and Andrei showed the video of how the same men who had stopped us outside had placed the drugs into our car in the underground garage). It was a wretched story, but it was seamless from the beginning to the end. How would we use this? I needed help.

We changed two little sequences and added some words, and the story had become a weapon.

We told Andrei to go and sleep for a few hours, talk to his mother, and tell her that he would be abroad for some time, but we would look out for him. He didn’t want to sleep.

“Miss Parker, I’ll take the car and drive to town. All my friends will be jealous, and my mother will be proud of me!”

He was still young, but his future was assured. “Andrei, be back at one o’clock for the flight to Berlin; keep your phone close to you in case we have to change plans.”

Half an hour later, Mr. Tussek arrived; we waited for another ten minutes, and the Governor was entering the hotel. We were sitting in a meeting room where IT had arranged a projector to show our ‘Report on Corruption in High Circles.”

Both were nervous, and Tussek said they had received an order from Warsaw to arrest us immediately, with a justification to be sent later. There was a grin in his eyes when he had to confess that his communication device had broken down at the end; since he didn’t receive the complete order and the judicial warrant, he decided to wait until the machine was repaired. He had called the Palace but couldn’t contact anybody in the upper government. It seemed that every politician who had any importance at all, was in constant meetings.

“What did you do, Count?”

Mr. Smirsky made the same comment – orders to arrest us, confusion about the legality of the order, threats, breakdown of communication equipment, and nobody in the upper government echelon could be reached this morning.

“I can only repeat, Count de Winter. What did you do? And Miss Parker, what did you do, because this mess is certainly not only the count’s doing. I see your hand also!”

A good politician; he remembered that Jenny was the company’s CEO that had lifted him to a position of eminence.

I turned on the laptop and the projector and told them to watch. Their faces showed interest initially, then concern, and when it dawned on them what the two had said and done, absolute horror.

“Miss Parker, can I have a drink, please? Double malt, please. Make that two, please - I’m shocked. Absolutely shocked. I had heard rumors, but this is way beyond anything I could have expected.” The Mayor mirrored his consternation and revulsion and wanted a double malt also. We repeated the showing, and now they were firm; something had to be done.

I told them about our plans: throw it into the social networks, get a Polish newspaper to publish it, talk to German and Brussels authorities, and eventually get one of these scandal-mongering newspapers to run an exposé: ‘Bild’? ‘Daily Mirror’?

Then came the really important question. How could we prove this? There were no holes in the story, but this could have been faked in today’s IT world. It would have been almost impossible considering the voice and face recognition apps, the documents proving the bank accounts in Panama and Warsaw; the use of credit cards and some of the dresses or handbags they had bought (there were photos in newspaper and magazines of sure wives of influential Polish politicians in showing off their purchases). The public would adore this!

I went once more through the whole story and always came back to the same point: a perfect audit trail review. Suddenly Pavel looked up.

“Gentlemen, I just remembered that last year I had a problem with documents gone astray, and I contracted a British private test laboratory. They do mainly product developments and tests, but they have a program, Chromeleon CDS, that worked perfectly for my purposes. I needed to be certain that nothing was missing or added from the first to the last step. It’s not their specialty, but they can adjust to a customer’s requirement. Should I call them?”

We agreed, and he left. Smirsky also left to check the latest developments in Warsaw, and after half an hour, we were back together.

According to Mr. Smirsky, the situation in Warsaw was chaotic, to say the least. Rumors about the PM and the possible defeat of the coalition in the SEJM were flying around, and he had been ordered again to arrest us, hire a plane and get us to Warsaw, no costs spared.

Pavel had spoken to the laboratory - Broughton Laboratories - in London, explained in general terms that we had documents, that we wanted them to be tested, and that we wanted a certificate that the documents and videos in the file had not been amended, changed or manipulated. They assured that they could prepare an audit trail including a timeline for all documents and issue a certificate for the final results of their tests.

This was looking better now, and we agreed that they would prepare their political allies that a major scandal would explode in the LaJ party and the Polish government, and they should be prepared to take advantage of it. We would fly to London, talk to Broughton, get the tests started, talk to authorities in Berlin to advise them about the report, and get their recommendations. If everything would work, as soon as Broughton gave us the final report, we would go public, and run away to Sydney. It would be fun to see the fireworks! Obviously, one day we would have to come back and testify; Pavel promised that he would have triple security on us.

We had lunch, they left, and picked Andrei up to fly to London. Pavel had arranged an urgent meeting with the Lab’s top management for the same night, and when we walked into their offices, the CEO was waiting for us. It took us time to explain the background, and then we showed him the video. He didn’t understand a word since everything was in Polish, but he could follow the story with our comments. He was as shocked as we were, called in his Head of Data Security, and after a lengthy discussion, agreed to put top priority on this job. It would take four days, and he would hand over his report and certificate personally to us. He took the gadgets, and Jenny warned him that they had to be returned to Sydney. He smiled. “Secret Service? Federal Police?”

He warned us. “Count de Winter, this story is quite unbelievable, and I cannot guarantee what we’ll find. By the way, who prepared this video?”

When I pointed to Andrei, who had been sitting quietly in a corner, his only comments were very positive.

“Young man, if you ever wanted a job in Great Britain, call me. I’m impressed, really impressed!” Andrei was happy!

We stayed the night in London at the Dorchester, an unremarkable external façade but gold and marble all over the interior; Andrei was visibly impressed. The weather was fine, so we walked around a bit, but we were tired and soon headed back to the hotel. Jenny saw the sign for the Tang Restaurant (a sumptuous traditional Chines décor from the old times; excellent with surprising Chinese dishes up to the Dorchester’s standards). We went to our apartment and called Maureen (who was still angry with us and threatened that she would take the next flight to Berlin if we were not back at the end of the week!). She agreed to call the Foreign Ministry and arrange a meeting with the Ambassador the next day, and we went to sleep, just following our nightly ritual.

After taking a short hop to Berlin the next day, we talked to my acquaintance in the Foreign Ministry. He was a diplomat, but his face showed his disgust.

“We had heard rumors, but this goes beyond every possible speculation we heard mentioned. Are you sure, Count de Winter? This will blow up into a major scandal if you’re right; if you cannot prove this, you’ll lose your company.”

I told him about the tests being made in the Laboratory and that we would go forward only if we had a Certificate in our hands. He warned us once more and said that he would whisper into some ears that ugly things might come up. The Polish government would crash, and every deal that had been carefully negotiated would be on hold.

“Count de Winter, what a mess! You remind me of your father and his honor and integrity. I’m satisfied that the de Winters are back! What is your family’s motto? Honor et fortitude? You represent your family well!”

Jenny was. proud because her husband’s character was recognized by a German diplomat! He also said that if I wanted to go ahead, he would give me contacts to the media, and I might want to go to Brussels. He also wondered about our security, but I assured him that Mr. Trotsky would handle this. Before we left, he warned us once more, and we could hear him calling someone even before we closed the door.

Pavel did handle security: A medium-sized BMW was waiting for us, and when I opened the door for Jenny, I recognized that it was armored. We went back to the Adlon, and I told everyone to relax - now we had to wait for the Broughton Lab. Jenny gave Andrei a credit card but said to him that there were computer shops in Sydney also. Pavel would stay around for whenever we needed him, and then finally, we also could relax.

Finally, we managed an hour to see the Australian Ambassador. Our role in the Polish shake-up could not be hidden, and it was recommendable that he was advised. We also urgently needed visas for Pavel and Andrei. Maureen had advised that he would see us late in the afternoon.

The Embassy was situated very close to an Underground Station, so we decided (against Pavel’s orientation) to forget the car and use public transport. The weather was fine, sunny and fresh, with the temperature around 80. The Underground was easy to use, very clean and fast, with instructions in several languages orientating the passenger. The four-story building was rather austere and, in my opinion, not very pretty, even somewhat ugly with beige–brownstone columns, decorated with human figures, and a glass entrance to the Lobby. Inside it was much better: modern design, pretty receptionists, and a friendly smile on their faces. Jenny announced us, and we were immediately led to the Ambassador’s office. Five minutes of waiting, and Jenny and I were ushered in.

The Ambassador was a man in his fifties, well preserved, and greeted us with a professional smile.

“Count de Winter, Miss Parker, I have been told that you need to talk to me very urgently. What can I do to help you? I didn’t have much time to prepare for your visit, especially since nobody told me what it was about, but I’m here to serve you. Sir Allan also called me and asked me to trust you implicitly.”