Detective Diaries - Podcast - Investigation in Switzerland

TRANSCRIPT

Swiss Alps Investigation

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[MUSIC]

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Somewhere between the Alpine villages and midline train stations,

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I'm on the trail of a runaway in the Swiss Alps.

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The mountains are high and the temperatures are low,

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and Harry is proud of his new ski jacket.

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I'm Adina Loliceru, and come and listen to me uncover clues,

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missed connections and the story of tracking someone down

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in one of the most remote areas of Switzerland.

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Switzerland is a country known for precision,

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neutrality and silence.

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In the remote backdrop of towering mountains and quiet lakes,

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people can disappear, and that's why we're here,

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to find an absconder from back home.

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We're on the trail, but tracking someone here isn't so simple.

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I'm Harry Watts, and come and listen to us talk in sub-zero temperatures

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about being on the hunt for someone who thought they got away with it all.

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[MUSIC]

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Milano Malpensa Airport.

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We finally made it.

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After hours waiting in line in the airport,

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the sun is shining on our faces.

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It's so warm in here, the air is different from London.

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Most travelers are probably heading for the Malpensa Express

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towards the city center, maybe to look at the Duomo

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or for a shopping spree.

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But we headed to the auto-nolage, the car rentals.

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We picked up an innocuous fiat, so we go undetected.

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In this line of work, you don't take trains.

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Trains are too unreliable and in discrete.

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While no one is looking for a visitor from the UK,

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a rental car gives us the one thing,

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an investigator needs most, untraceable mobility.

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We have a small SUV ideal and discrete,

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where we are going, it's a four hour drive through the Alps,

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and we have all had little sleep, so we will share the driving.

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Next time you'll hear from me, we will already be in the Swiss Alps.

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[MUSIC]

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We finally made it.

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The drive from Ilano was a climb through increasing layers of grey rock

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and deep green pines until we hit a matter valley to a village.

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I would describe it as a strange liminal place.

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It's at 1,449 meters above sea level,

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and it's a village that exists almost entirely

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as a waiting room for the ski resort.

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This is as far as our car can go, where we have an Airbnb

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to use as our base.

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The town is a mix of traditional valley timber houses,

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dark wood barns and sun-bleached stables,

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sitting right next to massive modern parking terminals.

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It's actually quite contrasting.

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It feels like a storybook village that's been forced to accommodate

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a giant logistical machine.

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Even looking out of the window of our Airbnb,

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you can see the mountains and the train going up is exactly like in a fairy tale.

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There is also only a couple of places to it

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and a very small supermarket, not a lot of people.

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So we really have to keep our head high and make sure we don't

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bring too much attention to us.

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The air is thin, cold, and smells like damp earth and large trees.

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Towering directly above me is the Tashhorn,

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a 4,491 meter pyramid of rock that makes you feel

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very small and very visible.

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Every 20 minutes, a shuttle train

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leaves from here to take tourists to the shadow of the Matterhorn,

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as I said, we can actually see it out of our window.

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Somewhere on one of those trains,

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or perhaps tucked away in one of those quiet shallots,

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is what and who we seek.

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And I really hope we will find it.

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In a village this small, everyone notices a new face.

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I just hope we find the truth before the truth finds us.

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Our work involves an Anglo-Swiss corporation,

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but the subject matter I can't talk about

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because that, of course, remains confidential.

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What I can tell you though, is some of the work

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we have been doing today.

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After mapping out a plan, me and my two colleagues

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went to the property of the person we are meant to find.

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But unfortunately, or fortunately,

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depending on how you look at it, he was not there.

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He would have been boring if it was that straight forward, right?

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Luckily, we also know what car he is driving,

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and as he lives in a small village,

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we decided to scour through all the parking terminals

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to see if his car can be spotted.

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Guess, what?

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We didn't find it.

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But from speaking to local residents here,

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we now have a good idea on where he's gone to.

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We are off to chase those leads and do some digging,

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so more of the story awaits.

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(gentle music)

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I am freezing cold standing outside,

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watching over a house, and there's nothing else,

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apart from snow and very high mountains.

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Oh, actually, wait, I think I can see someone

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skiing down the mountain, but that's about it.

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It's getting darker now.

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The sun didn't set yet, but soon it will.

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And I'm just waiting for this person

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to come out of the house, but probably, it's too cold outside.

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Fortunately, I'm here not alone.

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I'm with my colleague, Harry,

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unless he's frozen to death.

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I'm still here, just about, I think.

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It is cold, isn't it?

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Yeah, definitely, but I'm glad, when you have good company.

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Yes, yes.

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Good company, and actually, this warm cup of tea,

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coffee in your case is making all the difference.

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You could probably hear one of the trains

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going in the background there.

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Yeah, I mean, what we're doing here,

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we're kind of watching aren't we,

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but it's not just house sitting, a lot of times,

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it's using a bit of technology as well.

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So, you know, we've got a trail camera looking at the road,

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just watching one of those cars there.

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And so, yeah, it is cold, it's not pleasant,

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but I've got a lovely ski jacket, you know,

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and I've been boasting about this

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is entirely probably bored pants off,

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obviously listening to it,

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you're complaining about it, we're enjoying it.

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But yeah, it's difficult, isn't it?

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I mean, we've had a bit of a mixed result so far.

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Language is probably the main thing.

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Yeah, definitely, I did find that,

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obviously English is not the main language here.

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And even though you would say maybe German is a lot spoken,

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I was quite fortunate for Italian

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to be the one of the main languages spoken here.

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There have been a couple of people that only spoke German,

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but I was, I think, fortunate to have most people

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understanding Italian, which,

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I feel like speaking with someone that is not English

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is maybe different.

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You're right, I'm struggling.

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But it's quite nice because the mannerisms

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and asking questions, photographs, they are helpful,

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but I find you're able to really get into grips with someone.

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I mean, is that difference, isn't it?

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Like, I'm thinking about the waiter versus the postman.

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You were having a great conversation

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with the waiter last night, weren't you?

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Yeah, definitely, it definitely helps saying that

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we've been to the same places and the language, similarities,

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and it was also helpful to be a woman

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and maybe use some flirtatious language as well.

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I think he was very appreciative of

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some of the way you're using it.

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But I mean, compared that to the postman,

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we were dealing with a postman earlier.

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Wouldn't give us a time of day.

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Asked him a couple of questions,

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generic things to you speaking English, no, no, no,

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and asking him, look at the photos, didn't want to deal with us at all.

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OK, yeah, he's got probably plenty of parcels to deal with,

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there's not that many people here.

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I was hoping for a bit more time with him, but...

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You definitely find that people

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that speak only German are the unfriendlier ones.

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Mm-hmm.

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It can vary.

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I mean, I do know there's a few languages that are spoken here,

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but yeah, it's either one case or the other.

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Someone's going to be very open with you,

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talk to you, or then you compare them,

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as I say, to Mr. Postman,

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or a lot of the door knocking we've been doing

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when you get no answers at all.

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Now, OK, someone may not know, and that's genuine,

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but you hope for a little bit more information.

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Compare that to back home, normally when you knock on someone's door

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and tell them all the right things

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and get the information you want to need,

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it's a very quick and pleasant conversation.

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Oh, here's a little bit different,

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so I'm going to leave you to do all the talking.

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Yes.

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So do you think we're likely to get this case done

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this first time we're here, or do you think we will have to come back?

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Mm-hmm.

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It's always one of these things.

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I think the problem with this case is that we're actually working

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with very limited time.

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Now, that is because this issue could potentially be quite acute,

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but also the basis of limitations on what client can say and sign off on.

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So realistically, there's going to be a part two to this.

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There's going to be another exercise.

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And what we can do is use all the information we've learnt.

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I remember you saying before, he's moved on from the previous address,

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which we found out, and he's somewhere else now, hopefully here, obviously.

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But if there's not, we're going to need to put more eyes on.

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And what that means is we come with a longer time span, more technology, more ideas.

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And we can actually do a bit more prep work back home as well.

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Because a lot of times you are walking into this with, I think, in this case,

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only a few days notice.

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And perhaps you don't actually have all the pieces you need before you go out and do something.

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You are definitely right.

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And a lot of the times when you have to do this type of things abroad,

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you don't have all the pieces.

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And probably most of the time, the first time we get to this new country,

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we first have to put the pieces together, see what everything is at.

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Is there new information that is going to come up that the client perhaps wasn't aware of?

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Because it's not where the client lives.

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So it's usually hard for the client to know all the details.

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So true.

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Yeah, most of the time you have a great plan.

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You come out somewhere and you find a bit of information that completely blows the water out

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of any one, of what the client information provided you.

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oh look, Here comes that train in again.

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So yeah, it's always a learning exercise, I would say, first attempt.

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So yeah, second time, I think we're going to do that because there's actually more to find out here.

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The fact that he's moved, the fact that there seems to be more foot here,

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I think that vehicle's up for question as well.

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So yeah, I think again, with the time constraints we're going to need to do this again, learn some more.

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So if you're interested to hear more, just one second, my tongue is frozen.

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Keep listening to hear more about our next stages of this investigation.

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And if you think you know where this case is going, send us an email to popcast@private-detectives.co.uk

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or leave us a comment and you might find that it's you who uncovers the truth.

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Unfortunately, our time in Switzerland has ended, but I suspect we will be back there very soon.

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We are now back in Milano Airport and to the contrary of how you might think,

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I much prefer the cold-thin air in the mountains,

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rather than sitting on a comfy chair in the Alta Mariney lounge.

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If you want to hear more of my voice, listen to my interview episodes on Detective Diaries.

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Until then, guardate vil espalle, porque qualcuno vi potrebbe investigare.

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Until next time, stay curious and keep seeking the truth.

Podcast

'Swiss Alps Investigation'

TRANSCRIPT

Swiss Alps Investigation

"searching the world for answers"