30
The same widely disseminated communication from Basel Lands CIB found its way to a quiet flat somewhere in Klein Basel, provoking differing takes on service and discretion, and misgivings that led to a difficult night.
‘I’ve been getting calls. Much worry about our guarantees of confidentiality.’
‘Our guarantees all stand. There are many countervailing points of view. Five experts? We have an entire community. This will be stated clearly and forcefully.’
‘Forcefully, herr?’
‘Subtlety is force. Discretion is art — fortunately, the right people appreciate it. The rest of them? …You know me. The machine’s much bigger than one wretched frau, five so-called experts, four not even Swiss. Will our friends allow a worried woman and a bumpkin policeman to throw a spanner in such elegant works? I think not. It just needs the right words.’
‘Or one bullet.’
‘Please stop worrying.’
‘Maybe two…You make me worry. At the end of the day, what are we without integrity?’
‘The gutter press will be with him. The media that matters will stay with us.’
‘The client is sacred. And the client is scared.’
‘You are scared. And I have to say it makes you less than beautiful.’
‘I’m Swiss. I know the value of service and discretion. And our word. Ours more than most.’
‘I can handle this. I will. I have to. I will do what’s necessary.’
‘We all have to do what’s necessary.’
‘Your tone bothers me.’
‘It’s because I care, mein herr.’