Chapter 238: Found It?

“Director, how did the operation in Lucerne turn out?”

As soon as I hung up the phone, Secretary Kang Inhan asked curiously about the outcome.

“Antonio and the head of the French gang were captured, but both sides suffered heavy casualties.”

“So they put up fierce resistance?”

“Apparently. Branch Chief Harrison said he’s heading over immediately, but it’ll take quite a while to clean up the scene.”

Secretary Kang Inhan instantly saw through my intentions.

He understood that I wanted to use this lull to question Kwak Cheolhun and Vitor Gabriel. Knowing what I was thinking and pretending otherwise would have amounted to dereliction of duty.

“Agent Hong Jongsu, the Director wants to speak with Kwak Cheolhun and Vitor Gabriel.”

“Understood. Director Cha, please follow me.”

When we opened the door to a bedroom on the second floor, we found Kwak Cheolhun and Vitor Gabriel asleep.

Agent Hong Jongsu walked over to Kwak Cheolhun and shook him awake. Kwak Cheolhun struggled to open his eyes and muttered,

“...What happened?”

“Director Cha wants to speak with you.”

“I’m so tired... Can’t we talk later?”

“We haven’t slept a wink all night either.”

Realizing there was no getting out of it, Kwak Cheolhun sat up on the bed with a weary expression.

The first thing I did was apologize to him.

“Mr. Kwak Cheolhun, circumstances took an unexpected turn, so I had no choice but to wake you.”

“Did something happen?”

As expected, Kwak Cheolhun immediately showed keen interest.

“The Swiss government doesn’t know that you and Vitor Gabriel were being held here. That’s why we originally planned to move you to a hotel. But since the two of you remained here, the Swiss authorities may find out about everything.”

“Will there be a problem if the Swiss government finds out?”

In truth, it wouldn’t cause any serious problems.

Nevertheless, I had brought this up solely to instill a sense of caution in Kwak Cheolhun.

“The fact that Commander Kwak Taesu fled North Korea and was granted asylum in our country is a top-level secret. Not even the U.S. government knows about it.”

“You’re saying that if I meet representatives of the Swiss authorities, I should keep my mouth shut?”

“That’s exactly what I want.”

“Even if they put a knife to my throat, I’ll keep it secret.”

Thinking myself fortunate, I continued my conversation with Kwak Cheolhun.

“Please do. CIA and FIS agents arrested Antonio in Lucerne and are already on their way here. Before they arrive, I’d like to ask you a few things I’m curious about.”

“I’ll answer everything I can, as far as I know.”

“What is your relationship with Vitor Gabriel, who’s lying in the bed next to you?”

“We’re friends. We attend the same university.”

“What country is he from?”

“I heard he’s from Colombia.”

“Just as I thought. How did Antonio manage to capture you?”

Kwak Cheolhun squeezed his eyes shut, as though trying to reconstruct the events in his memory.

All we could do was wait for him to speak.

After a while, he finally gathered his thoughts, opened his eyes, and answered my question.

“While Vitor Gabriel and I were studying for our university exams, my father contacted me and told me to go into hiding immediately. While I was hurriedly packing my things, Vitor asked what had happened. I told him that circumstances had come up and I needed to go far away. He kept pressing me for the reason, but I didn’t tell him anything.”

“You handled that well.”

“While I was hiding at my father’s mountain house, he contacted me and suggested that we meet in Interlaken.”

“Did you tell him that you were hiding at Commander Kwak Taesu’s mountain house?”

“No. All he knew was that my father had a mountain house in Interlaken.”

In other words, Vitor Gabriel had pinpointed Kwak Cheolhun’s whereabouts.

“I see. Continue.”

“I lied and said I was somewhere else, but Vitor Gabriel was persistent and said he would come to my mountain house himself. In the end, I had no choice but to agree to meet him.”

“I see. And what happened after that?”

“I met him in downtown Interlaken, and while we were talking, he made me an enticing offer.”

“What kind of offer?”

“He said his father owned a villa on the shore of Lake Thun and suggested that I stay there.”

‘So the mountain house Vitor Gabriel mentioned was this place. In that case...’

“Mr. Kwak Cheolhun, do you know who Vitor Gabriel’s father is?”

“I never asked, so I don’t know.”

I would have to postpone figuring out the connection between the drug lord Gabriel and Vitor Gabriel until later.

“I understand. Continue.”

“After I agreed, we went to get something to eat, but on the way, a car behind us crashed into us. While we were dealing with the accident, the people from that car kidnapped us.”

“You mean they deliberately caused the accident in order to kidnap the two of you?”

“That’s what I think. When we regained consciousness, we were in a basement.”

“So that’s what happened. What happened next?”

“The thugs took all our personal belongings.”

At that moment, the reason Kwak Cheolhun’s cell phone had been turned off became clear.

“They didn’t touch me, but they started torturing Vitor Gabriel.”

“What were they questioning him about while torturing him?”

“They tortured him in Spanish, so I couldn’t understand anything.”

That was unfortunate, but there was nothing to be done about it.

“I see. Did the thugs really not touch you at all?”

“Antonio didn’t, but his subordinates did.”

Antonio’s subordinates had clearly tortured Kwak Cheolhun in order to rob him.

Unable to withstand the torture, he let slip that he had 50,000 Swiss francs.

The thugs extracted the password to the front door of the mountain house from him and took the suitcase containing the 50,000 francs.

Thanks to those robbers, we had managed to discover the location of Antonio’s base.

“You don’t need to tell me what happened after that.”

Just then, Vitor Gabriel woke up in the bed beside him.

Thinking the timing was perfect, I addressed him in English.

“Did our noise wake you?”

Instead of answering, Vitor Gabriel gave a slight nod.

“I apologize for that.”

“...It’s all right.”

With a pained expression, Vitor Gabriel struggled to sit up on the bed and answered in a weak voice.

“CIA and FIS agents successfully arrested Antonio and are bringing him here now.”

“Whew, that’s a relief.”

“Mr. Kwak Cheolhun told me what happened here. I have a question for you. May I ask?”

“Go ahead.”

“Your father is the drug lord Gabriel, isn’t he?”

“...!”

Vitor Gabriel’s eyes widened, genuinely shocked by what he had heard.

Realizing that suspicion might fall on Kwak Cheolhun, I hurriedly covered for him.

“Ah, Kwak Cheolhun only mentioned that your father’s villa is located by Lake Thun.”

“So... you simply figured it out?”

“Tell me plainly. Did I guess correctly, Vitor Gabriel?”

“Well, either way, you’re right.”

Vitor Gabriel answered in a grumbling tone.

I had nothing to say to that, so I ignored his tone and continued.

“Kwak Cheolhun told me that Antonio tortured you brutally. Can you tell me why he tortured you?”

“My father made an astronomical amount of money from drug trafficking.”

“I’m well aware of that.”

“Then this will be easier to explain. My father hid some of the money he made from selling drugs in Switzerland. But then he heard rumors that the Swiss government was planning to revise its banking secrecy laws.”

Back in 1934, the Swiss government had enacted a law obligating all banks to maintain the secrecy of their clients’ accounts.

It contained provisions imposing severe penalties on bank executives, employees, or representatives of regulatory authorities for disclosing banking secrets.

Thanks to the institution of banking secrecy, Swiss banks successfully attracted astronomical sums of money from wealthy people all over the world.

However, there was a problem: some of the money they attracted was illegal.

The international community repeatedly raised concerns that Swiss banking secrecy was being used for tax evasion or serving as a free pass for criminals.

Yielding to international pressure, the Swiss government decided to relax its banking secrecy laws.

That was what Vitor Gabriel was talking about now.

“And what did Mr. Gabriel do in that situation?”

“My father withdrew absolutely all the money from his accounts and used about ten percent of it to buy diamonds.”

I couldn’t believe my ears.

Gabriel had kept more than 50 billion dollars in Swiss banks.

Ten percent of 50 billion was 5 billion dollars.

How could I not be astonished that he had bought 5 billion dollars’ worth of diamonds?

“Can I believe what you’re telling me, Vitor Gabriel?”

“That’s what I heard.”

If he said so, I had no choice but to believe him.

“And what did Gabriel do with the rest of the money?”

“My father hid the remaining money and the diamonds somewhere in Switzerland. Antonio kidnapped me because he wanted to take the money and diamonds by force.”

“Ah, so that’s what happened.”

“But I don’t know where my father hid the money and diamonds either.”

I had been planning to find the money and diamonds Gabriel had hidden in Switzerland and split them up.

And now Vitor Gabriel was claiming that he had no idea where they were hidden.

At that moment, I thought Vitor Gabriel was lying, and I fixed him with a menacing stare.

Whether it was the effect of the herbal medicine that suppressed an opponent’s will or something else, Vitor Gabriel began trembling all over like a leaf.

“You really don’t know?”

“......”

Vitor Gabriel merely nodded silently, still trembling from head to toe.

I was immediately overwhelmed by a profound sense of disappointment.

Of course I was. Forty-five billion dollars and five billion dollars’ worth of diamonds had practically vanished into thin air!

At that moment, Secretary Kang Inhan, burning with curiosity, addressed me in Korean.

“Director, wouldn’t you need an enormous space to hide 45 billion dollars?”

“If we assume one box can hold 5 million dollars, then 45 billion dollars would require 9,000 boxes. For reference, a twenty-foot container can hold about 1,000 boxes of instant noodles.”

“Ah, now I understand what you mean.”

Following Secretary Kang Inhan, Security Team Leader Jeong Gwangseok addressed me.

“Director, is there any chance Gabriel hid the 45 billion dollars and the diamonds right here?”

Thinking that was entirely possible, I shifted my gaze toward Saho, who was lying on the floor.

As though he had read my mind, the cat instantly sprang to his feet and darted out the door.

After briefly watching him leave, I continued my conversation with Vitor Gabriel.

“When did Gabriel withdraw the money from the bank?”

“I heard it was seven years ago.”

“I see. And when did he buy this mountain house?”

“I came here on vacation when I was twelve, so it must have been more than ten years ago.”

After that, I asked Vitor Gabriel a few more minor questions.

He cooperated fully and sincerely answered every question he knew the answer to.

Just as I was about to end the conversation, Saho ran into the room and sank his teeth into my trouser leg.

“Found it?”

Without letting go of my trouser leg, Saho nodded affirmatively.

“Lead the way, quickly.”

After going down to the basement, Saho entered the adjacent room—the very room where Kwak Cheolhun and Vitor Gabriel had been held.

We followed him inside, only to find ourselves utterly bewildered.

And no wonder. The room was completely empty.

“Saho, there’s nothing here.”

Saho shook his head vigorously and began insistently tapping the floor with his front paw.

“You mean the money and diamonds are under the floor?”

The cat nodded energetically, confirming my guess.