When Gunnar Martinson's Franchise Robots Go Crazy E-Book

Veronika Bellone

• Herausgeber: BoD - Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Krimi
• Serie: The Swiss Franchise Detectives
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 131

Beschreibung

In this second volume of the new franchise crime series - The Swiss Franchise Detectives - Lars Van de Velde is called to the Zug headquarter of the Happy People, a fitness franchise. It relies heavily on robotics and artificial intelligence, but is being blackmailed. Obviously, not all franchisees act in accordance with the system. During his investigations, with his assistant Morita Miramoto, in Berlin and Hamburg (Germany) as well as Unterägeri and Zug (Switzerland), Lars has to experience first-hand how robots can help, but also endanger human lives. The main protagonists Loretta Lombardi and Lars Van de Velde are always on the case when black sheep appear in the franchise economy. The multicultural investigators and their colorful team of assistants solve mysterious cases and fight for the good in franchising - with wit, humor and physical commitment. An entertaining crime-franchise.

Leseprobe

Preface

In this second volume of the new franchise crime series The Swiss Franchise Detectives Lars Van de Velde is called to the Zug headquarters of the Happy People fitness franchise. It relies heavily on robotics and artificial intelligence, but is being blackmailed. Obviously, not all franchisees act in accordance with the system. During his investigations in Berlin and Hamburg (Germany) as well as Unterägeri and Zug (Switzerland) Lars has to experience first-hand how robots can help, but also endanger human lives.

Loretta Lombardi, not averse to all things Italian and sensual, and Lars Van de Velde, an Amsterdam born cycling and Japan enthusiast, are partners of the Swiss detective agency Lombardi International Franchise Investigations AG, in Zug. Both detectives fight for the good in franchising, track down black sheep and solve mysterious cases. More than once, they have to make use of their fighting skills.

Table of Contents

Preface

Kapitel 1

Kapitel 2

Kapitel 3

Kapitel 4

Kapitel 5

Kapitel 6

Kapitel 7

Kapitel 8

Kapitel 9

Kapitel 10

Kapitel 11

Kapitel 12

Kapitel 13

Kapitel 14

Kapitel 15

Kapitel 16

Kapitel 17

Kapitel 18

Kapitel 19

Kapitel 20

Kapitel 21

Kapitel 22

Kapitel 23

Kapitel 24

Kapitel 25

Kapitel 26

Kapitel 27

Kapitel 28

Kapitel 29

Kapitel 30

Kapitel 31

Epilogue

About the authors

Review

German edition

Licensing

1

When Liliane woke up on that sunny spring Saturday, she knew it would be a beautiful day. Finally, after such a long time, she would meet her best girlfriends again. But she had no idea what turn the day would take and how much it would change her life forever. Now it was time for her morning toilet, although her personal time out was more reminiscent of a physical culture program. She took a lot of time for this every day. It also helped her to organize herself mentally on a daily basis. When she came out of the bathroom later, the fresh smell of coffee was already wafting through the large rooms of the apartment on Lake Zug. Reto, her husband, took advantage of the unexpected heat wave and prepared her a sumptuous breakfast on the balcony for the first time in the year. He waved to her. As she approached, she noticed the smell of the fresh baked goods. Her mouth immediately watered.

“Reto, you are such an angel and the best husband I could ever wish for!” Liliane sat down at the table and drank the freshly squeezed orange juice. She didn't lack anything. Reto had cooked fresh eggs and also thought of her favorite jam, lemon-ginger. This was accompanied by fresh croissants from the old town bakery. He was currently pouring Prosecco into heavy crystal glasses. She watched him in silence. He was slightly shorter than her, even when sitting. She saw his hair slowly thinning and his scalp increasingly shining through. Soon a shiny circle would appear that would give him something settled. Their age difference, she was ten years younger, was also reflected in his increasing waist size. Physically he became increasingly rounder, softer and more feminine. He concealed his emerging physical weaknesses through his activities, his ingenuity and his unconditional loyalty and devotion to her.

“Do you want to wrap me in a cotton-soft, permanent dream from which I never wake up?” she asked him, smiling. “First you spoil me all night long. Now this wonderful breakfast. Life can be so beautiful.” She enjoyed his attention and his devotion. She admired how intensely he loved her. He would do anything for her, she knew that for sure. She, on the other hand, was infinitely grateful for it, but incapable of his love to reply. She would never be able to love him the way he loved her. She looked into the distance, lost in thought. The balcony offered a wide view over Lake Zug. It was at the back of her old town apartment, at the top of the house. She often sat here and dreamed when she was alone. Dark dreams, with dark angels passing like clouds in her mind's eye. Sometimes they stayed, even for long periods of time. Reto then tried to cheer up his wife, to encourage her, to do something good for her. But he often spent nights working in his IT office, in the Zug office center, near the train station. Liliane then stayed to herself, alone in her dark inner world. How different she had imagined her life to be before. This often gave her deep thoughts about it. So far, she has always managed to emerge from it, even if it became more difficult and took longer each time. She tried to accept what couldn't be changed, at least most of the time. The spring sun was shining and the splendor of the flowers was overwhelming. It was warm in the canton of Zug, far too warm for the time of year. That's why Liliane chose a light dress for her trip. A yellow one with small floral motifs that went well with her long, curly red hair. In the afternoon she said goodbye with a quick kiss to her husband, who had encouraged her to meet her best girlfriends. She got on her yellow Pedelec, which was parked behind the house, and cycled directly along the lakeshore to a small restaurant with a boat dock. Her girl friends were already waiting there eagerly for her. Their greetings were stormy. Liliane immediately felt years younger and more alive. Like her girlfriends, she began to make childish jokes. Everyone was talking non-stop, mostly at the same time, eating small snacks and drinking Aperol Spritz. Liliane hadn't felt this well for a long time. She had completely forgotten and perhaps even missed these stories and conversations in recent years.

After the sudden death of her parents, she withdrew from all her friends and into her dark inner world, in which she lived for a long time. Suddenly there was bright light and sunshine, color and happiness among her friends. She didn't know if she could allow this closeness and the intense feelings again. She didn't trust them. But all the stories from her childhood and youth were probably part of her. She had completely suppressed all of it recently. She grew up in a sheltered place in the small village of Oberägeri, right next to beautiful Lake Ägeri. Her father worked for the community and was known and respected throughout the valley. He drove a yellow Citroen 2CV. A yellow that she really liked. As a child she was deeply impressed by her father. He was the authority figure for her. She tried to achieve a similar position, but in vain. At school, the boys teased her because of her red hair. She accepted this patiently, just like her red-haired mother. She loved her mother more than anyone else. She was the real center of the family. Also, the absolute master of the bakery. Little Liliane was able to use her cookies as exchange currency at school and in return she got everything a child's heart could desire, even a ride on her school friend Valentin's Pony moped. In her childhood days, Liliane actually learned from her mother everything she needed to influence boys, and later men. Then childhood and youth were suddenly over. Liliane moved abroad to study in Hamburg. It was difficult for her to separate from her home village. Her wishes and dreams helped her. They seemed to come true faster than expected. She fell in love, head over heels, for the first time into a fellow student. They both moved into a small apartment in the Winterhude district of Hamburg, near his parents.

At the end of their studies, they went on a trip around the world that ended in Japan. Here they got engaged under cherry blossoms. Here they also discovered a new business idea that should have meant their future. They wanted to be the first to bring it to Germany. But then everything turned out completely different. Out of nowhere, a huge argument developed between them and, unexpectedly, her fiancé broke up with her. From one day to the next, all her plans for the future were dashed. Without an explanation. She never spoke about it to anyone. Especially not with her girlfriends on such a beautiful evening on Lake Zug.

The evening had actually come much quicker than expected. The group agreed to meet up again and left the restaurant one after the other. Liliane was the last to leave, as she had invited everyone and was picking up the bill. She suddenly had to stop on the narrow path to the exit. A couple was walking towards her, hugging each other. She recognized the man immediately. A pain shot through her, like a stab in the solar plexus. As if a knife were stuck in her stomach and spun around its own axis several times. She remained rooted to the spot. Right in front of both of them. She bent slightly. Looked at him. He ignored her and seemed completely fixated on his partner. More casually, he asked her to let her walk past with a demanding gesture of his hand. Liliane saw the smile of the beautiful woman at his side. And in an instant, they were gone. She stood there for a while. Just like that. Frozen and unable to move. She couldn't turn around or move on. Her stomach ached, her temples throbbed and she felt nauseated. She also had a slight flicker in front of her eyes, as if there wasn't enough blood in her head. All her feelings were the same as when he suddenly separated from her, so long ago. Maybe even worse. Later, Liliane didn't know whether she had said goodbye to her girlfriends or how she got home. She was so happy that Reto was waiting for her there. She stopped pretending and let her feelings run wild. She poured her heart out to him and told him for the first time what she had been keeping quiet for all these years. She told him about her sudden encounter with her former fiancé in the restaurant. About the deep pain of the past that had resurfaced. Several times she switched from serious concern, to deep sadness and childlike helplessness, to open hysteria. “I could kill him!” she finally moaned, “for all the pain, suffering and wounds he has caused me.” Anger and fury were written on her face. “Someone really needs to punish him! Painfully and persistently.” Reto knew about her depressive falls and feared her very much. Liliane could be so euphoric, so infectiously positive and life-affirming. Then everything was possible and the sky had no limits. At her peak, she overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles. That's how he met her. That's how he loved her. But when her depressive episodes began, there was only one direction to go, downwards. She could suddenly fall into a deep hole. Everything around her went black in fast motion. These phases came unpredictably. Just like that day. They were usually intense, long and difficult. Dullness spread throughout the apartment. Filled it with darkness. Nothing was worth anything anymore. Neither her own life, nor her relationship with Reto or with her friends. Reto suffered with her. Every time more. Over the years he couldn’t find a suitable way to help her out of this fatal vicious circle and became increasingly helpless. That's why he had been using avoidance for a long time, without knowing exactly what would trigger her depression. Over the last few months, he had made every effort to make their life together and their relationship positive, joyful and lively. To this day he had been successful with it. Now, out of the blue, a black phase would set in and all his efforts would again be in vain. This time, however, there was a concrete cause of her suffering. One she had never spoken to him about before. It was probably the original source of her years of dark thoughts and the slow death in their relationship.

2

Lars Van de Velde stood at the open window and looked calmly into the dawn. He had been in Switzerland for five years now. Moved here to become a partner in the Zug detective agency Lombardi - International Franchise Investigations AG. A lot of things were still foreign to him. But not this view from the window. He enjoyed it every morning as much as possible. At this early hour, the Rigi and the Pilatus were only vaguely visible as mountains. Lake Zug lay dozing outside the window. No boat was on the way. Only the wind occasionally caused the waves to lap at the boat docks, which sounded like they were at the sea. Especially when that wind called Bise came along. Just a few ducks took turns chasing each other. Their loud chattering made Lars happy. He enjoyed his first green tea of the day. He liked the silence when no one was in the office yet. No excited chatter, no strange thoughts and no different opinions. The day was able to unfold, very slowly. Lars watched the waking day closely. He had also carefully selected the tea. A Hon-Yuu Sencha, from the small island of Yakushima. A first flush, from tea bushes that had grown in the open air, without any shade from trees. The tea ceremony was his morning ritual, his Zen. With it he gathered and centered himself and awakened his body, his mind and his soul. Lars loved this gentle awakening and the clarity that followed.

He inherited the Japanese philosophy of life from his parents, more precisely from his mother. She was born as Himari Kobayashi in Kyoto, Japan, and met Daan Van de Velde at a bicycle trade fair in Tokyo when she was 21. Lars' father Daan was a Dutch native from Amsterdam and the third-generation owner of a bicycle factory. It was love at first sight when he met Himari, whose name in German translation was Sunshine. It described her very appropriately. Six months later they both got married in Amsterdam because Lars had announced his arrival. His brother Finn followed two years later. Lars, with his adult height of one meter eighty, a rather stocky build, blue eyes and dark blonde short hair, was supposed to take after his father and looked very Dutch. His mother's Japanese moved inward. It showed in the way he thought and acted as well as in his preferences, values and his special way of living. He also acquired Japanese language skills as a child.

The loud office telephone suddenly tore Lars out of his thoughts. A Zug phone number appeared on the display.

“Lombardi International Franchise Investigations, Van de Velde on the line.” A male voice answered, trying to speak standard German, but with a slightly Nordic accent.

“Good morning Mr. Van de Velde. This is Gunnar Martinson, from the Happy People. We are an internationally active fitness and wellness company. I am the founder and managing director. I'm glad you're here so early. Do you have a moment?”

“Yes, how can I help you?”