The Butler(43)

    “No, I didn’t. I was there for a week, and then I went back to Paris, where I’m currently staying with my mother.”

One of the officers who hadn’t spoken up yet addressed Joachim in a surly tone. “Is she your girlfriend?” he asked, pointing at Olivia, and Joachim looked shocked, and wondered if they were trying to trip him up.

“No, she’s not. She’s my employer.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Have you had sex with her?” the officer asked him right in front of Olivia, and she blushed and looked shocked.

“No, I have not. May I ask why you’re asking us these questions?”

“You can ask, but we don’t have to answer. We’ll get to that later.” Joachim guessed that there was a reason for it, but he couldn’t guess what it was. “Is the name on your passport an alias?”

“No, it’s not. It’s my legal name.” He was careful not to say he was born with it, now that he knew his mother had changed their name to his grandmother’s maiden name when his father left them, and his grandfather was arrested for war crimes. There was no way these people would ever understand that. And it was none of Olivia’s business. This was humiliating enough, without adding to it.

“Have you ever been arrested for drug trafficking, or smuggling?”

“No, I haven’t. I’ve never been arrested.”

“Have you been in prison?”

“No, I have not.” At the last few questions, he began to suspect what it might be about, but he was not going to ask them any questions or volunteer any information.

    They left them alone again then. This time for an hour. They had been in the small, airless room for almost two hours by then, with no sign of relenting, and Olivia wondered if they were going to put them back on a plane to Paris, and not let them into the country. But she had no idea why. As the minutes ticked by, she began to wonder if there was something dangerous in Joachim’s past that he hadn’t told her. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. They avoided talking to each other while they waited, not knowing if the room was bugged and who was listening, or watching them.

The officers periodically drifted back into the room to repeat some of the same questions and got the same answers. And they kept an eye on them through a two-way glass window the entire time.

When they had been there for four hours, Olivia was feeling sick, and she was wondering what was going to happen to them, and if they would be arrested. She was wondering if Joachim had brought drugs with him. Maybe there was a whole side of him she didn’t know. Anything was possible, and there had to be a reason for the interrogation they were being subjected to.

A fifth officer joined them then in plainclothes. He was more polite than the others, and he ignored Olivia while he honed in on Joachim, and sat very close to him, to unnerve him.

“Why are you traveling under an alias?” was his first question.

“I’m not. Joachim von Hartmann is my true name.”

“No, it’s not,” he accused, never taking his eyes off Joachim’s for a second. “Isn’t your name Javier von Hartmann? Why the fake first name?” Joachim knew his guess had been right then. And this would only be the beginning.

    “Javier von Hartmann is my brother. My identical twin brother. I haven’t seen him in twenty-five years.” The officer looked surprised by that but tried not to let it show. He glanced over his shoulder at one of the others and then back at Joachim. Olivia was staring at Joachim.

“If that’s true, do you know where your brother is now?”

“No, I don’t. I’ve heard rumors from time to time when I inquire, that he’s in Colombia now, and has been there for many years. The last time I spoke to him was twenty-three years ago. My mother and I moved to Paris when I was seventeen. My brother stayed in Buenos Aires to finish school, fell in with bad associations, and disappeared. No one I know has seen him in more than twenty years. I saw him the last time when I was seventeen and spoke to him for the last time at nineteen.” Joachim was fighting back tears as he said it, which he didn’t want Olivia and the officers to see. Losing Javier had been the heartbreak of his life, and now his brother was still causing trouble for him.

The man in plainclothes pulled a large photograph out of a file then and threw it on the table in front of Joachim. It looked like a photograph of Joachim in prison garb, with a heavy beard. But it was the same face. Olivia could see it too, and she was shocked.

“Is this you?”

“No, it’s not,” Joachim said in a hoarse voice.

“If what you say is true, are you aware that Javier is a member of one of the most powerful drug cartels in South America? He has escaped from prison twice. Our agents have died at his hands.”

“I’m not aware of it, and I’m sad to hear it, but I’m not surprised. I think he was pulled into whatever he’s doing by some very bad people, and he’s one of them now. Neither my mother nor I have heard from him in all these years.”

    “How do you know—and how do I know that this photograph isn’t you? It’s a great story, about an identical twin. Maybe that’s you,” he said with his face an inch away from Joachim’s.