The Doomsday Conspiracy   ::   Sheldon Sidney

If he remembered correctly, all-day tour buses left from only two major cities. Zurich and Geneva. Robert opened a desk drawer and took out the bulky Telefonbuch. I should look under M, for miracle, Robert thought. There were more than half a dozen tour companies listed. SUNSHINE TOURS, SWISSTOUR, TOUR SERVICE, TOURALPINO, TOURISM A REISEN … He would have to check each of them. He copied down the addresses of all the companies and drove to the offices of the nearest one listed: Tour Service.

There were two clerks behind the counter, taking care of tourists. When one of them was free, Robert said, “Excuse me. My wife was on one of your tours last Sunday and she left her purse on the bus. I think she got excited because of seeing that weather balloon that crashed near Uetendorf.”

The clerk frowned, “Es tut mir viel leid. You must be mistaken. Our tours do not go near Uetendorf.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Strike one.

The next stop promised to be more fruitful.

“Do your tours go to Uetendorf?”

“Oh, ja.” The clerk smiled. “Our tours go everywhere in Switzerland. They are the most scenic. We have a tour to Zermatt, the Tell Special. There is also the Glacier Express and the Palm Express. The Great Circle Tour leaves in fifteen …”

“Did you have a tour Sunday that stopped to watch that weather balloon that crashed? I know my wife was late getting back to the hotel and …”

The clerk behind the counter said, indignantly, “We take great pride in the fact that our tours are never late. We make no unscheduled stops.”

“Then one of your buses didn’t stop to look at that weather balloon?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Thank you.” Strike two.

The third office Robert visited was located at Bahnhofplatz, and the sign outside said SUNSHINE TOURS. Robert walked up to the counter. “Good afternoon. I wanted to ask you about one of your tour buses. I heard that a weather balloon crashed near Uetendorf and that your driver stopped for half an hour so the passengers could look at it.”

“No, no. He only stopped for fifteen minutes. We have very strict schedules.”

Home run!

“What was your interest in this, did you say?”

Robert pulled out one of the identification cards that had been given him. “I’m a reporter,” Robert said earnestly, “and I’m doing a story for Travel & Leisure magazine on how efficient the buses in Switzerland are, compared with other countries. I wonder if I might interview your driver?”

“That would make a very interesting article.