Chapter 63 - Interrogation Under Alpine Skies
The sub-zero winds howling off Lake Zürich battered the reinforced glass of the private security annex, but inside, the atmosphere was stifling and dead silent.
Dr. Heinrich Klaus sat rigidly at a polished steel interrogation table, his immaculate silver hair slightly disheveled, his hands locked tightly together to conceal their trembling. Standing across from him in the shadows of the dimly lit room was Arthur, flanked by two local Swiss security operatives clad in tactical black.
The heavy steel door swung open, and Evelyn walked in.
She wore a long, tailored camel-hair overcoat, her breath pluming softly in the chilled air of the unheated holding room. She didn't sit down immediately. Instead, she paced slowly around the table, her heels clicking rhythmically against the concrete floor, her piercing gaze locked onto the terrified scientist.
"Heinrich," Evelyn began softly, her voice smooth as polished glass. "Ten years. You sat at our executive tables, drank our coffee, and shared our vision for healing humanity. And yet, the moment Julian Thorne dangled a bag of dirty offshore gold in front of your face, you traded your integrity for a lifetime behind bars."
Klaus swallowed hard, forcing a tight, defensive smirk to his lips. "You have no proof, Madam Chair. This is corporate paranoia. I demand to speak with my legal counsel immediately—"
Arthur stepped forward, slamming a heavy leather-bound file onto the steel table right in front of Klaus. The folder snapped open, revealing crystal-clear cryptographic logs, bank transfer slips routed through Cayman Island shell companies, and high-resolution CCTV stills of Klaus meeting a known Vanguard operative in a secluded café in downtown Zurich late last night.
The smirk vanished from Klaus’s face instantly, replaced by a mask of pale, shivering dread.
"You were saying about legal counsel?" Evelyn asked, leaning down so her face was inches from his, her eyes burning with an intensity that made the older man shrink back in his chair. "You can call any lawyer you like, Heinrich. But let me make one thing crystal clear before you do: you are facing forty counts of industrial espionage, treason against a federally protected medical entity, and conspiracy to commit international fraud."
Klaus slumped forward, his defenses completely shattered. "Thorne... he threatened my family," he whispered hoarsely, his voice breaking. "They have my daughter in Geneva. If I didn't hand over the genetic sequencing keys, they said—"
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"Save the theatrical sob story for a federal judge," Evelyn interrupted, straightening up with an expression of pure, unadulterated contempt. "Julian Thorne doesn't care about your family, Heinrich. He cares about survival. And right now, you are nothing more than a loose end he expects to snap."
She turned toward the door, throwing a final command over her shoulder to Arthur. "Process him, strip his security credentials permanently, and hand him over to Interpol. Let’s see how much protection Julian Thorne can buy his little pawn from inside a maximum-security prison cell."
