The Body on the Beach

by Anna Johannsen

  ‘And let’s not forget about the cook. She did, after all, admit to almost having been raped by Bohlen.’

  ‘Yes. Although I can’t see why Rosa Behrens would take her revenge a whole two years later. I know she and I used to be friends and I could be biased, but even so I don’t find her suspicious. She didn’t need to tell us about the attempted rape. We’d never have found out.’

  ‘Who knows? Maybe she was afraid her boss had boasted to his friends about it and one of them would tell us. If we’d heard from someone else, she’d have looked suspicious. As far as we know, Bohlen could have tried again and gone further, in which case her story would be a clever tactic.’

  Lena had to admit that Johann’s train of thought made sense, but still her gut feeling told her otherwise. At no point during the interview with Rosa had she got the impression that her former school friend was lying to her.

  ‘We’ll bear her in mind,’ Lena said. ‘I’ll try Anna Bauer next. Do you have her number?’

  A woman’s voice answered after the fifth ring. ‘Yes?’

  ‘Am I speaking with Anna Bauer?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘My name is Detective Inspector Lena Lorenzen of CID Kiel. You’ll have heard about the death of your former employer, Hein Bohlen?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I’m investigating his death and have a few questions to ask you.’ Before Anna Bauer could say ‘Yes’ again, Lena continued. ‘How long have you been back in Germany?’

  ‘How do I know you’re really from the police? You could be—’

  ‘I’m going to hang up and send you a photo of my police pass. If that’s not enough for you, I’ll give you the phone number of the CID in Kiel. You can call them and have them confirm my details. I’ll call you back in a minute.’

  Lena hung up and sent the photo. She waited a minute and then rang back.

  ‘Can we talk now?’ asked Lena without further ado.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘So how long have you been back in Germany?’

  ‘About three weeks.’

  ‘Where were you on the twenty-ninth of May?’

  There was a pause before Anna Bauer asked, ‘Was that the Tuesday?’

  ‘Yes, it was.’ Lena could tell that the woman was trying to gain time and was interested to hear her reply.

  ‘I think . . . yes, I think I was on Föhr, visiting a friend.’

  ‘I need the name and address.’

  ‘Can I text it through to you? I’ll have to look it up.’

  ‘Sure. Where are you right now?’

  ‘In Flensburg. I’m flying back to Mallorca in a week.’

  ‘You left the home on Amrum very suddenly. Why?’

  There was another silence before Anna Bauer cleared her throat and replied, ‘I wanted a change. It was always my dream to live in Mallorca.’

  ‘But why leave so suddenly? You didn’t start your new job until three months after you’d left Amrum. Were there problems at work?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Frau Bauer, I’d appreciate it if you answered in a little more detail. You had no problems at work or with your boss?’

  ‘Like I already said.’ Her voice sounded annoyed, but Lena also picked up uncertainty.

  ‘How was your relationship with Hein Bohlen?’

  ‘Fine.’

  ‘You were having an affair?’ Lena decided not to beat about the bush, in the hope of drawing Anna Bauer out.

  ‘Who said that?’ She sounded indignant.

  ‘We have several witness statements suggesting a love affair with Herr Bohlen.’

  ‘That’s nonsense!’

  ‘Was it just a fling?’

  ‘Even if – how is that any of your business?’ snarled Anna Bauer.

  ‘How long did your affair last?’ Lena asked calmly.

  ‘Not long. And it wasn’t love, it was purely sex. And it’s none of your business.’

  ‘How long?’

  ‘A year, perhaps,’ Anna Bauer said after a long pause. ‘It meant absolutely nothing.’

  ‘Did you see Herr Bohlen on your recent visit?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Did you only visit Föhr or did you come to Amrum too?’

  ‘I didn’t go to Amrum and I didn’t see him. All right?’

  ‘Frau Bauer, I must ask you to remain in Flensburg for the next few days. I’m sending one of our colleagues to take your statement. He’ll be in touch later on today.’

  ‘If you must,’ Anna Bauer muttered.

  ‘Yes, we must. We’ll be in touch.’

  Anna Bauer hung up without another word. Lena glanced at Johann, climbed out of the car and walked out of earshot before calling Ben. She quickly explained what she needed and Ben promised to take Anna’s statement the following day at the latest.

  ‘Unofficially?’

  ‘No, you’ll get an official order from Warnke, but I won’t be talking to him until this evening. But you can make a start in the meantime.’

  ‘OK!’ Ben waited for more.

  ‘I don’t believe her. You’ll have to put pressure on her. I need the real reason for her resignation.’

  ‘I got it the first time, Lena.’

  ‘Thanks again for all your help, Ben. I’d hate to ask someone I didn’t know.’

  Ben sighed. Clearly, he’d hoped for something more personal. ‘I’ll be in touch, Lena. Look after yourself.’

  Lena got back in the car and told Johann she’d asked a colleague to interview Anna Bauer. ‘I told him to pressure her.’

  Johann raised his eyebrows but said nothing. ‘Back to the home?’

  ‘Yes, we need another word with Isabel Müller. And I’ve got a few more questions for her boss too.’

  14

  ‘You wanted to talk to me again?’ asked Isabel Müller on greeting the two detectives.

  Johann nodded. ‘Is there anywhere we can talk in private?’

  ‘The kids are all outdoors. We can sit in the dining room. I only have half an hour, though.’

  ‘That’ll be plenty,’ Lena said and led the way.

  Once they were all seated, Isabel Müller pulled a scrap of paper from her pocket and handed it to Johann. ‘I was going to call you today in any case. One of the children has a thing for licence plates – he writes down the number of any plate he sees. I only remembered after our conversation before. I think this has to be the number of the black limousine I mentioned.’

  Lena read the Hamburg licence number and raised her eyebrows. ‘That’s not a kid’s handwriting.’

  ‘No, of course not. I copied it from his secret book. I’d appreciate it if Jonas – that’s the boy’s name – didn’t find out that I went through his things.’

  Johann noted down the registration number and returned the scrap of paper. ‘We’ll check it out.’

  Lena leaned forward. ‘I’d like to talk some more about your relationship with Hein Bohlen. We’ve heard evidence that he has molested women sexually in the past. Did he ever get too close to you?’

  ‘Molested women sexually? Who?’ Isabel Müller looked at Johann and Lena expectantly. When they didn’t reply, she continued, ‘No, I already told you: we had a good working relationship but no contact outside of work.’ She paused. ‘Oh, I see – you’re looking for a motive. I’m sorry, I can’t help you there.’

  ‘Could you please describe your relationship with Hein Bohlen in a little more detail?’ asked Lena. ‘Did you ever get the feeling he was getting closer than was strictly necessary?’

  ‘If you mean did he ever come on to me, then no, neither verbally nor physically. He was polite but kept his distance – a normal sort of distance, I mean. We never touched apart from shaking hands. And if you mean did he ever flirt with me – no, I’d have noticed.’

  ‘Did any of your colleagues ever mention anything to that effect?’

  Isabel Müller shook her head. ‘As you know, I haven’t been working here long. I’ve never met my predecessor or spoken with her
. I’m on good terms with my other colleagues but they’re all locals. I think it takes a while before people here . . .’ She broke off. ‘And things are pretty chaotic on the island right now. No wonder, with you people here looking for a murderer. Folk are frightened.’

  ‘You were in a home yourself as a child?’ Lena’s question came out of the blue.

  Isabel Müller seemed thrown for a moment but recovered quickly. ‘Yes, I was in a home for a while as a child.’

  ‘With your younger brother?’

  Isabel Müller stiffened, then she glared at Lena. ‘Leave Florian out of it!’

  ‘I’m sorry, Frau Müller, but this is a murder investigation and we need to look at everything. How was your relationship with your brother?’

  ‘That’s personal,’ she said, calm again. ‘He never came to Amrum and had nothing to do with Herr Bohlen. I refuse to talk about him. You know very well that he took his own life.’

  ‘Yes, we know. You and your brother were close?’

  ‘Yes, of course.’ She rose. ‘I have work to do. Is there anything else?’

  ‘Not for now,’ Lena said. ‘Is Frau Bohlen available?’

  Two minutes later, Johann knocked at the door of Sabine Bohlen’s office. She called them in.

  She gave them a tired smile. ‘What else can I do for you? I thought you had finished with the interviews.’

  Lena and her young colleague seated themselves in front of her desk.

  ‘Thank you for taking the time to talk to us again. New facts are emerging all the time, and we’ll keep coming back until the case is solved.’

  Frau Bohlen put down her pen. ‘I understand, but . . .’ She didn’t finish the sentence.

  ‘We’ve been talking to Anna Bauer. She’s been working on Mallorca for a while but is currently on leave in Germany. Have you seen Frau Bauer on Amrum during the last three weeks?’

  ‘No, of course I haven’t. I’d have told you.’

  ‘Why? We never asked you,’ Lena asked quickly, so as not to give Frau Bohlen much time to think. ‘Why would you have told us?’

  Flustered, Sabine Bohlen looked down at her hands. ‘I guess because it would have been important, wouldn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, it would have. You knew Frau Bauer was having an affair with your husband?’

  Sabine Bohlen swallowed. ‘An affair? What are you talking about?’

  ‘You heard me. They had a secret relationship. Did you know?’

  ‘Nonsense – a relationship! Do you even know what that means? You’re talking about sex – meaningless physical interactions. You can’t call that a relationship!’

  ‘You knew they were having sex?’ asked Lena.

  ‘I wouldn’t put it past that little bitch.’ Her voice sounded tense and her hands trembled slightly. She stared into the distance, her cheeks flushed.

  Johann cleared his throat. ‘I know what you mean, Frau Bohlen. We merely wondered if this – let’s call it a fling – was known to anyone else?’

  ‘How should I know?’ muttered Sabine Bohlen. ‘He never told me.’

  ‘But you suspected it?’ asked Johann cautiously.

  Sabine Bohlen gave a resigned shrug.

  Lena leaned forward. ‘I’m afraid I can’t spare you from hearing what else we found out in the course of our investigation so far. Your husband molested at least one other woman – attempted rape, you could even call it.’

  Sabine Bohlen stared at Lena in shock. ‘What on earth? That’s an outrageous accusation! My husband would never have done anything like that. It’s an outright lie! I’ll sue you if you spread this any further.’ She stumbled to her feet, knocking her chair to the ground. ‘I want you to leave this minute.’

  Lena stood up. ‘Please calm yourself. We’re leaving for now, but we’ll have to continue this conversation tomorrow.’

  Johann held out his hand to the woman. ‘Goodbye, Frau Bohlen.’

  She automatically reached for Johann’s hand but said nothing. The two detectives left the office and returned to their car.

  Lena snapped at Johann when she noticed his look. ‘Yes, that was necessary. We can’t give her any special kid-glove treatment – she’s as much under suspicion as the rest of them.’

  Johann shrugged and said, ‘I still don’t have to like it, do I?’

  Lena rolled her eyes and muttered, ‘Sensitive little flower . . .’

  They drove back to the house in silence. Johann retreated to his room to work on his report, while Lena sat down at the kitchen table to search the Internet for the phone details of Isabel Müller’s last employer.

  After being transferred twice, she finally had Isabel’s former line manager from children’s social services on the phone.

  ‘To whom am I speaking?’ asked a calm voice.

  ‘Good afternoon. This is Frau Rosenbach from the German Pension Fund, North. I’m looking at the file of Frau Isabel Müller, who worked for you up until six months ago.’

  ‘Yes? And how may I help?’

  ‘I don’t have any new contact details for Frau Müller. Something must have gone wrong at our end when she switched jobs. But she definitely no longer works for you, is that right?’

  The woman at the other end of the line gave a dry laugh. ‘No, that’s quite correct. Frau Müller left us all of a sudden – at least, she handed in her resignation. As for where she went next, I can’t tell you, I’m afraid.’

  ‘That must be why we’re missing some data – because she left so suddenly. Young people are always in such a rush, aren’t they?’

  ‘ “In a rush” is putting it mildly. Her resignation came out of nowhere. She was there when I went on holiday and gone when I came back. I was given no time to find a replacement – not much fun, I can tell you. Never mind, you don’t want to hear all that. I’m sorry I can’t be of help. Would you like me to put you through to Personnel? They might be able to tell you more.’

  ‘Yes, please.’

  When the next voice answered, Lena apologised and said she had the wrong number.

  The next call was to the Münster branch of the Pension Insurance Fund. Lena claimed she had worked for a health insurance company.

  ‘Good afternoon. I’m sorry to bother you with this, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m calling about Sabine Bohlen, née Lauer. I’m missing some documentation from 2005, from the clinic Frau Bohlen was attending. It cropped up during an internal audit and I got the short straw. Is there any chance you might have a copy of the documents in your own files?’

  ‘Frau . . . ?’

  ‘Hansen. Hannah Hansen.’ She gave an embarrassed laugh. ‘My father had a thing for matching first and last names.’

  ‘Frau Hansen, you know very well we can’t give out any information over the phone. Data protection laws and all that.’

  ‘Of course, Herr Block. I’ve already been instructed about our data protection laws about five times today. I’m really just after a very small hint as to which clinic I’m supposed to be looking for and then I can fix the problem myself.’

  ‘Then I’d suggest you ask your client. She should be able to tell you right away.’

  ‘I’d love to, but she was involved in an accident and is lying in a coma – that’s why I got her file out in the first place. Her husband was no help, and to be honest, I don’t want to bother him with a petty matter. He’s got enough on his plate right now.’

  The man on the phone groaned theatrically. ‘You know perfectly well I’m not allowed to—’

  ‘Oh, please, Herr Block!’ begged Lena. ‘I’d truly—’

  ‘Hang on, I’ll go and check.’

  Two minutes later, Lena had the name of the clinic and was thanking Herr Block profusely.

  Next, she called Leon. He picked up with his usual lack of greeting.

  ‘You all right?’ asked Lena.

  ‘So far.’

  ‘Sorry to bother you again. How did you get on with Herbert Bergendorf?’

  ‘Working on it
. His computer is extremely clean.’

  ‘Extremely? But you still found something?’

  ‘Working on it, like I said. You do realise it’s not that easy to hack someone’s computer?’

  Lena knew that hacking into a personal computer depended on a great deal of luck. A Trojan horse was sent to the intended victim via email and the user then had to open the email for it to take effect. Only then would Leon have a chance of accessing the hard drive.

  ‘I really appreciate what you’re doing for me, Leon. Honestly. I’m sorry I’m so pushy at the moment. It’s just that time’s running out and I’ve got virtually nothing.’

  ‘All right, stop rabbiting on. I’m in. Believe it or not, the posh gentleman’s got Tor on his laptop.’

  Lena knew he was talking about the free computer software enabling the user to browse the Internet anonymously, as well as access the Dark Web.

  ‘Well, what do you know – Herr Bergendorf’s on the Dark Web. Who’d have thought?’

  ‘Means I can’t trace what he’s been up to. But I’ve got my eye on him now. I’ll see when he logs on and then we’ll know a bit more. I reckon he’s got something going on. And before you ask – yes, I want to find out. Like I told you, I’m in. But you’ll just have to wait.’

  Lena hadn’t heard this many sentences in a row from Leon in a long time. Clearly, he viewed Bergendorf’s squeaky-clean laptop as a personal challenge.

  ‘Next time he logs on, I’ll get the data sent through automatically and then we’ll see.’

  ‘Thanks, Leon. That sounds great. Just one more thing.’

  Leon said nothing. At first Lena thought he’d hung up, but then she heard him groan with annoyance. She told him the name of the clinic Johann’s colleague from Oldenburg had given them – the clinic Florian Müller had been treated in – and asked him to look for his patient file.

  ‘That’ll take a while – two, three days. Will you still need it by then?’

  ‘Yes, it might be important.’

  ‘Let’s hope so,’ he said and hung up.

  Lena shut her laptop down and walked over to Johann’s door. She knocked and he asked her to come in.