Putting the pieces together

'I ask you again: where were you five nights ago?' Elanor asked, looking at Mr Pospishil over the table.

It looked like the man would not respond again but suddenly, Mr Pospishil's face lit up.

'Oh, I was at work,' he said,' I was at the Flux Tec building until the early morning, in fact. You can check my time record. After work I picked up my uncle from the bar. I think he told you he was there?'

Elanor nodded. 'He did, actually, yes.'

She sent a message to Harry, asking him to verify all this.

'Mr Pospishil,' Elanor continued, 'can you tell me who this is?'

With this, she showed him a picture of the so-called Mr Spencer, who was just this moment surrounded by Tanja and her helpers somewhere in the desert west of Katastropolis.

Mr Pospishil squinted at the screen and obviously thought hard about it. To Elanor's surprise he actually nodded. 'He seems kind of familiar. Is he a famous actor or something? I can never remember the names. Was he the one in Rabbitman Versus the Green Baboon? That was pretty good, actually. We got two days off work when they filmed the scenes on the facade of the FluxTec headquarters. Did you know that Valentine only allowed it because he got a few seconds of screentime himself?'

Elanor blinked, then slowly shook her head. 'No, uh, I didn't and I don't think that's the same man... if you remember anything just let me know, right? Well... uh... I don't think you can afford to pay a couple of thugs for a kidnapping anyway...'

It took her a few seconds to collect herself, while Mr Pospishil finally took a bite of his stale sandwich. He had obviously eased up a bit.

'So... you like making films in your free time, right?'

The man cautiously nodded, while swallowing. 'Nothing illegal about that, right?'

'And you went to record Mr Morgenstern in his house to make a film which you later published, as we know,' Elanor said.

He shrugged and said cautiously, 'He was a very interesting man.'

'And this didn't have anything to do with your uncle, Mr Wong, at all?' Elanor wanted to know.

Mr Pospishil coughed and looked down into his coffee, which was cold by now.

'Mr Pospishil,' Elanor said, 'are we right in the assumption that it was your plan – and probably your uncle's – to destroy Mr Morgenstern's prized blue orchids out of envy?'

Mr Pospishil snorted, 'He was a cheater!'

'It is not my concern here whether Mr Morgenstern acted dishonestly in a flower breeding competition,' Elanor answered. 'The man is dead and his daughter has been kidnapped and if you cooperate maybe the judge will take that into account. Did you, or did you not steal Brutus to break into the Morgenstern house without anyone noticing?'

To Elanor's surprise Mr Pospishil chuckled weakly. 'You really think any employee could simply take a prototype from Flux Tec and use it for themselves?'

'So, you tell me your superiors knew about it?' she said, furrowing her brow.

There suddenly was panic in the man's face and he almost screeched, 'I never said that! No! I didn't!'

Elanor narrowed her eyes, 'Mr Pospishil, have any of your superiors been involved in this?'

'I didn't say anything,' Mr Pospishil answered and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Elanor sighed. 'Now, don't be ridiculous. What are you afraid of? You are at a police station. This is a secure interrogation room.'

'Ha!' he exclaimed. 'You have no idea what anyone can or can't do.'

Elanor leaned back in her chair and stared at Mr Pospishil. Suddenly she remembered what the Duchess of Juno had said the evening before.

'You have no idea what the blue crystal is for, right? So you did not want to have it. Someone else did, someone who knew about the value of the crystal to FluxTec,' Elanor observed. 'Say, do you usually show around your latest films at work?'

Mr Pospishil grunted.

'I will take that as a yes,' Elanor decided. 'So, somebody noticed the crystal in your footage and decided that... what? Maybe it would give them a large bonus or a promotion if they would get it?'

Mr Pospishil snorted.

'Not quite, I see... anyway. You didn't steal Brutus, as you said. Actually...' Elanor said, as she stood up and started pacing up and down the room, 'actually you were instructed to use him, am I right? And that's why you were, as you said, at the office during the time in question. Also, that's why you said earlier 'they' wanted the crystal. But who, who wanted it?'

Mr Pospishil's head had slumped down on the table. He didn't even look at Elanor, who went on pacing.

Tavaron

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