Holger carefully wiped the face of his diving watch and checked the time: 16:38. He was generally not one for jewellery, but his Panerai Luminor Submersible was exclusive jewellery for connoisseurs. If someone inquired about the watch, Holger never mentioned the price. If the person showed genuine interest, he would tell them that the watch was part of a tradition dating back to the 1930s when Panerai produced diving watches for the frogmen of the Italian navy. During the Second World War, Decima Flottiglia MAS combat divers sank the British warships in the harbour of Alexandria in Egypt. Pioneers. The audacious special operations underwater were no different from the ones the operators of today’s Frogman Corps practised. If pressed, Holger would also admit that he thought it good form not to wear a watch that every bartender in Copenhagen sported. Only the real enthusiasts would notice that his watch was a titanium model based on one from the 1950s, which was made for the combat divers of the Egyptian navy.
Holger looked despairingly at the pile of papers on his desk and resigned himself to the fact that it would be another long night at the office. The transaction between Niels Jørgensen’s packaging company and the corrugated cardboard manufacturer 220from Svenstrup south of Aalborg was taking all of his time. He had negotiated a letter of intent that ensured his client favourable conditions in the negotiation stages. But before final negotiations could be got underway first, the due diligence phase had to be completed. Holger was to carry this out with Niels Jørgensen’s accountants, and the phrasing of the due diligence questions were important. He was mulling over the themes of relevance when his secretary barged into his office.
‘They say they have a search warrant. There are five of them,’ the secretary blurted out.
Holger looked startled for a moment and sensed that something was seriously wrong.
‘Take it from the beginning,’ he said slowly and clearly while raising his hands to calm her down.
‘The police,’ she said in a shivering voice.
‘The police what?’ he replied, smiling as he tried to decode her facial expression.
The secretary cleared her throat, took a deep breath and started over, taking deep breaths whenever she paused:
‘There are five detective constables in reception. Umm. They say they have a search warrant. Umm. It’s something about asset-stripping cases. Umm. They’re going to search the office, your office.’
Holger had got up and was so concentrated on reading her hand-wrenching body language that the words only slowly began to hit home.
‘It’s clearly a misunderstanding. I’m not involved in such cases,’ Holger said calmly as he energetically brushed past the secretary.
The words were mainly intended for himself.