Chapter 5

Before the door was even closed behind the two men Ironside started to make a plan.
There was a payphone in the restaurant, but it was high on the wall – too high for him to get to it. Ironside's mind was racing. Hinderegger had mentioned that he had been notified of their arrival by phone; that way he had been able to receive them in the restaurant. Consequently he hadn't been waiting in the restaurant. From this followed that he could not have gotten a phone call to this phone. There had to be another one. At this time of the day Swiss people, who were famous for their diligence, were working. So Hinderegger had probably done that too. But where? In a top modern restaurant of this size there had to be an office somewhere.

With his strong arms Ironside pulled his body towards a second door which led to a hallway and to the toilets, the kitchen and... the manager's office, as a plate on the door announced helpfully.
Ironside opened the door. Same as the restaurant the office was no more than four or five years old. Immediately Ironside discovered the phone on the desk of glass and steel. He knew that in Switzerland the directory assistance was 11. He dialed quickly. He asked for the number of the Kommandant of the cantonal police of Bern, Zgraggen. He had talked to him in the Bundeshaus and therefore he knew that he spoke some English.

A secretary tried to get rid of him, "You can't just speak to the Kommandant without an appointment. Mr. Zgraggen is a busy man!"

Angrily Ironside pulled the Dictaphone out of his pocket. "Listen to this, Ma'am, will you?" he barked and played the tape, '...I'm a master at handling a knife. I need you as my insurance policy, kid. You will come with me out of here. And if your buddy doesn't behave I will cut your throat...'

"Will you connect me to the Kommandant now, Ma'am?!"

"Yes Sir, of course, Sir, just a second..."

"Zgraggen speaking."

The people of Bern may have their weaknesses as everybody else, but they hadn't made an idiot their police Kommandant. Zgraggen understood immediately what Ironside wanted him to do.

Ed Brown was in a rather uncomfortable position. The cable car rolled quite a bit in the storm. Therefore he never knew if or when Hinderegger's knife would scratch his throat – or worse. He knew though that Ironside would move heaven and earth to help him. Never ever had he let him down.
What would he do? Hinderegger might still need him to reach his car, which was most likely parked near the valley station, where they had left Mrs. Dupont's van. But what then? After that, Ed would only be a burden and a danger for him. If Hinderegger wanted to kill him he would do it then.
Ironside would assume that by now they were in the cableway. Maybe he had even seen or heard the departure of the cabin. Ed hoped that the Chief would somehow try to stop the cable car to give him a chance to get out of Hinderegger's grip.

Therefore he was prepared when the cable car suddenly came to a stop – unlike Hinderegger, who lost his balance and started to swear in a very colorful Berner dialect, "Gopfridschtutz namal, was zum Gugger..."

Immediately Ed used his confusion to his advantage. He grabbed Hinderegger's brawny arm with the knife and pulled it away from his throat. The man was too strong for Ed's liking. Thus he swung his knee up and kicked him between his legs. Finally he was able to squirm free and turn the hand with the knife into Hinderegger's back. The knife fell out of his hand. Ed pushed the criminal towards the wall of the cable car. Both men were breathing heavily now. Like a symbol for the inverse situation the cable car went into motion... upwards.

At the mountain station they were expected by the Chief who was sitting in the snow. Reproachfully he asked, "What in blazes have you done with my wheelchair? It's flaming cold on the ground!"

Ed grinned. "It's called elementary experience, I think." He took a deep breath and Ironside sensed that he was shuddering, but not from cold. "Thank you, Chief."

Brown steered the prisoner towards the wall of the station.
Ironside handed him over an electric cable which he had found in the restaurant.
"Thought you would need this," he said dryly.

With the cable the Sergeant tied Hinderegger not too gently to a banister. He went back to the cable car, picked up the knife and gave it to his boss. It would help him guard the prisoner.

Right then the cable car started to move downwards – out of schedule - which meant that a second cabin started upwards down in the valley. "I suppose that's the police arriving. I would appreciate it if you could fetch my wheelchair for me."

Obediently Ed nodded. For him it was no problem to climb down, pick up the Chief's mobile base and bring it back. He helped the Chief back into it.

Ironside dusted his suit and Ed straightened his tie. Perfectly calm they expected their Swiss colleagues.

They handed over Hinderegger together with the knife, the Dictaphone, the second "Charme d'Or disc" and the necessary explanations to the local police officers, who promised to forward them to Zgraggen personally.

"Chief, how do you reckon it will be possible to spare Mrs. Dupont that scandal she wanted to avoid so badly?"

"The Swiss police aren't as chatty as ours. The newspapers won't get every detail. Probably there will just be a short note about a trial of an hotelier threatening a foreign guest – you. Mrs. Dupont has enough connections to keep her business out of the headlines."

He pulled a handful of Charme d'Or discs out of his pocket. "Try one."

Ed was stunned. "You mugged these?"

"There was an open box on Hinderegger's desk when I called the police. Nobody will know how many discs there were in it."

Ed shook his head. "You know that I hate chocolate!"

"This is Swiss chocolate we are talking about, my friend!"

Ed frowned. Since his stomach was growling fiercely he accepted one and tried it. He wasn't impressed though. "Come on, they are no better, just different!"

Ironside was still chuckling when they reached Bern.

Ironside and Ed spent another night at the Duponts' villa.

In the morning, they had to pass Mrs. Dupont's office to get to the dining room.

She seemed to be at work already, for they heard her voice. Ed, who was pushing the wheelchair, stopped abruptly and signed his boss to be quiet. He didn't understand her dialect accurately, but some words struck him as odd. "Brunner... Lohn bis Ende Jahr... Kündigung..." He shook his head in disbelief. "Sir, if I understand this correctly, then Mrs. Dupont wants to fire Brunner, the truck driver!"

Ironside didn't hesitate a second. He turned towards the office door and opened it without even knocking. "Excuse my intruding," he said, and it was obvious that he wasn't sorry at all.

Quickly Mrs. Dupont ended the call with her personal manager.

Ironside went on, "Unfortunately our German isn't quite perfect..."

Our German, thought Ed. He had to hide his grin behind a coughing spell.

"We didn't understand you correctly, did we? Is it impossible that you tricked us into helping you get back over a quarter of a million worth of chocolate and then you fire a driver who isn't at fault at all?"

She seemed to hesitate a second, then she said, "Oh, that's a misunderstanding. Of course we will keep Brunner." Under Ironside's steely glare she reconsidered, "At second thought... he may even need a pay rise."

Contentedly Ironside nodded. "It's Christmas, after all, isn't it?"

"Yes, Mr. Ironside, it's Christmas. And you may be interested to hear that my elderly mother-in-law is very happy that you brought us our Charme d'Or discs back. She would love to have you here as our guests over the holidays."

Of course Ironside wanted to get home, since "crime didn't stop over Christmas," as he liked to point out every year.

After breakfast Ed packed their suitcases. "Chief, why won't you consider staying? This is a Swiss woman we are talking about."

Ironside couldn't miss his friend's teasing. "They are not better, just different. I'm not interested!"

On the way to the airport the snowy landscape lay in full sunlight. It looked like a fairyland. "I wouldn't mind staying a little longer," remarked Ed unnecessarily.

"Don't worry, Ed, you'll come back – and without me marrying a chocolatière whose charme consists mainly of money."

Ed smiled. "You know what I consider the best thing we achieved here? That Brunner kept his job."

Ironside nodded thoughtfully. "Christmas is more than chocolate and nice illumination. It's discovering that you have a heart... and more."

Author's note

I am very thankful to Lemonpig and others who helped me improve my English over the past few years, at least a little.

You readers and reviewers gave me a lot of joy.

It was nice staying with you, and I got to know some extremely nice people.

I will miss you.

Mounty.