by B C Schiller
‘Of course. I knew you’d come.’ Moses pulled a large bunch of wildflowers from a bucket. ‘Simple and beautiful, like you always ask for.’
‘These flowers are hardy,’ Levi said. ‘They grow on the roadside, are trampled on and still come into flower again and again. That is real toughness.’
‘Never give up. Keep on flowering, like God wants it.’
‘Don’t talk to me about God,’ Levi said. ‘He didn’t help me five years ago.’
‘God is not your employee, Levi, He only shows you the way, but it is you who has to walk it. You took the wrong road back then, and fate punished you,’ Moses said.
‘Maybe you’re right. I’ll be observing the Sabbath again this week for the first time in a long while. With Rebecca. Maybe it will be good for our marriage.’
‘See, Levi, now you seem to be on the right path.’ Moses nodded approvingly.
‘I hope so. Till next time.’ Levi raised his hand in farewell and left the shop.
His mobile rang but he didn’t recognise the number.
‘I’m on duty for another hour. Can we meet afterwards at my house? I don’t want to make a fuss at the clinic,’ Emma Kern said, notably cool.
‘Yes, that should be possible.’
‘The lies have to stop now. See you in an hour.’ Emma told him her address and ended the call.
Levi, bunch of flowers under one arm, crossed the Karmelitermarkt and turned into a side street, where the Saab was parked. He drove off along Praterstrasse towards Praterstern.
Here the atmosphere changed and was no longer calm and peaceful. Despite a visible police presence, this was the city’s main drug-dealing area. Rival gangs clashed frequently, often using weapons to fight it out.
Five years ago, while attempting to make an arrest, Levi had been caught in crossfire between rival Albanian and Russian mafia gangs, battling for control of the local cocaine market. A stray bullet had hit him as he was crossing the bleak and windswept space, bang in the middle of the Lisa Manz case. And all of a sudden, he himself had come face to face with his own mortality. The bullet had hit an artery and he’d lost a lot of blood. His chances of survival had been slim but he’d battled on and returned to life. He hadn’t given up. Just like those wildflowers. Now, in bright daylight, everything appeared peaceful and non-threatening. Young people were hanging out on the benches, pensioners were feeding the pigeons.
He placed the flowers at the foot of a concrete wall and walked on quickly. This was his weekly ritual and not even Rebecca knew about it.
An hour later he was walking towards the terraced house where Emma Kern lived.
‘You haven’t changed,’ Emma said as she opened the door.
‘We’ve never met before,’ Levi answered with a puzzled look.
‘I read in the papers about the Lisa Manz case and saw a photo of you at the time,’ Emma continued, trying to conceal her nervousness.
‘What would you like to tell me?’ Levi said, cutting to the chase as he sat down on the sofa in the cluttered sitting room.
He stole a few glances around while waiting for an answer. Dozens of glass horses in all possible postures and sizes stood on little casual tables. A strange huffing and whistling came from the room next door, as if from bellows.
‘Yes, there’s something you should know,’ Emma finally managed after a long silence. ‘I was on duty that night.’
‘The night of Lisa Manz’s disappearance?’ Levi said in confirmation. ‘Please go on.’
‘Lisa was totally beside herself when she came back from the therapy session. She wouldn’t stop crying and said over and over that she wanted to kill herself. I felt so sorry for her.’
‘Did you inform her therapist?’
‘No, but I had my reasons.’ Emma picked up one of the glass horses and held it against the light. ‘A lovely piece of work. Bohemian crystal. I often show it to my son – he likes it.’
‘So what happened then?’
‘I didn’t lock the doors like I usually did so she could escape.’
‘What? Lisa escaped all on her own? How was that possible?’
‘Somebody helped her,’ Emma said.
‘Do you know who?’
‘No, sorry. I was busy in the staffroom at the time with a patient who was upset but I did see two people through the window.’
‘And when you returned you noticed that Lisa had gone,’ Levi said.
‘Yes.’
‘The police weren’t called until three days later,’ Levi remembered from the case file. ‘When did you inform your superiors?’
‘The next day, but the management wanted to keep the whole thing as quiet as possible.’ Emma fell silent. Levi pricked up his ears, realising that the strange sounds had stopped next door.
‘Excuse me, please,’ Emma said, getting up quickly. She opened the door and went into the next room. Levi rose and peered in. A young man was lying on a high hospital bed, only his arms and his head free of the blankets that enveloped him. A plastic mask sat on his face, connected to a breathing apparatus. The balloon was deflating and inflating rhythmically – the source of the hissing sound Levi had heard through the wall.
‘This is my son, Florian,’ Emma said when she noticed Levi standing behind her. ‘He has locked-in syndrome.’ She stroked the boy’s forehead. ‘It was a simple car accident. He only had a slight concussion. Two days later he collapsed – a blood clot on the brain. I’ve been looking after him since then, along with my sister.’
‘I am so sorry,’ Levi said.
‘The bed and the machines cost thousands of euros,’ Emma said, ‘more than I could earn in ten years. The insurance company hasn’t helped so far. The board of the clinic made me an offer and I took it.’
‘So you were told to make a false statement,’ Levi concluded. ‘But why?’
‘The members of the board went to look for Lisa themselves,’ Emma said. ‘They wanted to find her without involving the police. In return for my statement they supplied me with the bed and the machines – for free.’
‘I can understand why you did it,’ Levi said. He had already decided not to tell anyone about Emma’s false statement.
‘Really?’ Emma’s voice trembled.
‘Yes, but one last question. Who was it who made you that offer?’
‘It was Nils Wagner.’
38
‘The snake mirror came from a customer in Burgenland,’ Frederick told Olivia. They were sitting in Frederick’s office. Dozens of files lay spread across the desk, but Frederick couldn’t find the name of the person who had sold him the mirror.
‘It wasn’t me who took the mirror in,’ he said shrugging, ‘and it’s all a very long time ago.’
‘Do you have an address maybe?’
‘I’ll have another look in the archive.’ Frederick went over to a shabby old trunk.
‘You think it’s in there?’ Olivia asked, puzzled. The trunk was full to the brim with notes, bills and envelopes.
‘There is a certain system to it,’ Frederick explained and winked at her. Then he knelt down and rummaged around before eventually pulling out a creased sheet of paper.
‘Voilà!’ he exclaimed. ‘Here’s the address.’ Then he looked at the note more closely. ‘It is a little faded, I’m afraid – it’s quite old.’
‘What a shame,’ murmured the disappointed Olivia.
‘I can definitely make out the word “Burgenland” though – why don’t you head there?’ Frederick said. ‘A nice little trip to Lake Neusiedel. Might be lovely.’
‘I don’t have the time,’ Olivia said regretfully. It would have been too easy if I’d found the owner straight away, she thought ruefully.
She took a photo of the mirror and said goodbye to Frederick. Again she tried contacting Levi but only got through to his voicemail. With a sigh she dialled the number of the person looking after her father.
‘How is my father?’ she asked.
‘I’ve finally had a goo
d talk with him,’ the woman said.
‘What about? Has something happened?’ Olivia became anxious again.
‘This can’t go on. Your father has to go into a home.’
‘What are you saying?’ Olivia was getting angry.
‘You understand me perfectly well, Frau Doctor.’ The woman’s voice was icy.
It was pointless trying to discuss this any further on the phone. ‘I’ll come over now so we can talk about it.’
A short time later she was standing in the large flat and looking down on two huge suitcases dappled with hotel stickers from bygone times. They were Flora and Leopold’s luggage, which had been stored in the attic ever since the two of them had come back from Brazil.
‘What are the bags doing here?’ Olivia asked. The woman who looked after her father came in from the kitchen, a dishcloth in her hand.
‘Your father’s packed already. He’s agreed to move into a home. Today,’ the woman said, folding her arms in front of her chest.
‘What on earth did he do?’
‘He took all the milk and juice cartons from the fridge and emptied them on the floor, then got undressed and lay down in the puddle. “A bath for me and my Flora”, he said.’
‘Is that really so bad?’ Olivia asked.
‘It took me hours to clean him up in the shower and to sort out the kitchen,’ the woman complained.
‘And where is he now?’ Olivia was finding it difficult to keep her composure, although she had to admit the woman was probably right, and her anger subsided. She knew how difficult Leopold could be when he suffered one of his episodes, but was it really necessary to scold the old man so much that he was willing to go into a home?
‘He’s in his study.’
Olivia went along the corridor and opened the door to find her father sitting on a pile of books, tears pouring down his face. He was holding the crudely repaired plant pot with the broken stem of Flora’s orchid. When he saw Olivia, he turned his back on her. ‘I don’t want to go. You want to get rid of me. I am to disappear from your life,’ he whispered.
‘What absolute nonsense! I will never leave you alone and I will always stay with you. You can go and unpack those suitcases right now.’ Olivia had to swallow hard.
‘But the angry woman said I have to go into a home; it can’t go on like this,’ Leopold said.
‘It can’t go on like this,’ Olivia whispered. The words echoed around her mind, and she felt a burning pain in her head. She remembered the evening of her daughter’s birthday party.
After their bath, Olivia and Juli dressed up for the occasion.
‘What’s the matter with Papa?’
‘Wait a moment, darling,’ Olivia said and took her daughter to her room.
Worried, she went looking for Michael and found him still lying on the sofa in the sitting room.
‘Come on, pull yourself together. It’s Juli’s birthday. Did you get the present? Is it wrapped in pink paper? She’ll be so excited when she sees the Barbie,’ Olivia whispered.
‘No, I didn’t do it,’ an exhausted Michael said.
‘Why not? Where is it? I’ll wrap it. There’s still time.’
‘I’m sorry. I spent the money gambling and all our savings are gone too. I was so very close to winning but it wasn’t to be. I’m sorry – I’m such a loser.’
‘It can’t go on like this, Michael. I can’t stand it any more!’
How much she regretted having said that. How she’d love to go back in time and change everything. But it was too late.
39
Nils Wagner put the receiver back and reflected on the phone call. He’d just talked to a porter at the clinic, and what the man had told him was unsettling.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked the man sitting in front of Nils’s desk.
Nils had met up with him to explore the next steps. Earlier he’d shredded all of Leopold Hofmann’s incriminating material against him and for a short time had felt able to relax. The other man was now looking at him expectantly.
‘That ex-policeman Levi Kant is still stirring up the old case.’
‘Nothing new about that,’ the man replied, raising his eyebrows. ‘What makes you so nervous about it?’
‘He’s been to see Emma Kern,’ Nils said. ‘One of the porters here overheard her phone conversation with him.’
‘She won’t say anything, will she?’ the man questioned nervously. ‘Why is he questioning her again after all this time?’
‘He probably read the patient file and found something.’
‘How can he have? How did he get hold of the confidential file? They’re covered by data protection laws!’ The man was getting angry.
‘Kant is very persistent,’ Nils said with a resigned smile. ‘And he’s not working alone. A psychiatrist is helping him. I’ve put her under a bit of pressure, but she’s equally stubborn. She probably stole the file from our archive.’
‘You could take her to court for that.’
‘No, we can’t prove it and it would make too much noise, but she’ll be stopped soon. The board will take action against her. I’m working on it.’
‘Who is this woman anyway?’ The man sounded irritated.
‘Olivia Hofmann,’ Nils answered. ‘She’s a very good psychiatrist.’
‘Hofmann? Don’t tell me she’s Leopold Hofmann’s daughter? The renowned psychiatrist?’
‘Exactly. She had an accident recently and was in hospital.’
‘So she’s no danger to us at the moment?’
‘Yes, she is. She discharged herself.’
‘Damn. Sounds like she won’t give up.’
‘Our past is catching up with us.’ Nils drummed his fingers nervously on his thighs.
‘Rubbish. It’s all Lisa’s fault. She was evil – always playing these little games. That’s why she needed to be controlled and punished. The problem was, you allowed yourself to be taken in by her sweet little face.’
‘No, it wasn’t like that,’ Nils said, remembering back to the fragile young girl with the large eyes. Why had it all turned out this way? Why did Lisa have to be referred to his clinic? And why had he developed such strong feelings for her? He wished he could turn back the clock and do everything differently, but it was too late now. Once you’re in league with the devil, he won’t let you go. You sink deeper and deeper into the mire. Until you drown.
‘How is it that Olivia is still allowed to work as a psychiatrist?’ The man’s words pulled him back from the darkness. ‘I thought you were going to suspend her?’
‘Her office is closed. I checked that.’
‘Didn’t you say that her husband and daughter disappeared years ago? It might be a good idea to remind the board about that. Maybe she has something to do with her family’s disappearance?’
‘Would you really go that far?’ Nils asked. ‘It would ruin her life altogether to suggest something like that.’
‘Of course. Before she ruins ours,’ the man answered coldly.
‘So what’s our next step?’ Nils asked. He was exhausted, at the end of his tether. He’d love to go to the police and tell them everything.
‘I’ll see to it that the unauthorised actions of this ex-copper are put a stop to by the head of police, and you see to it that Olivia Hofmann stops snooping around.’
‘I’ve already talked to the head of police, but it doesn’t seem to have had any effect.’
‘Because you don’t know how to put people under pressure, Nils,’ the other man said condescendingly. ‘I’ll take that in hand now.’
‘Just don’t forget this Kant is a real terrier after the truth.’
‘What are you talking about? Kant is no threat to us. He’s as good as dead already,’ Richard Manz said, rising from his chair, his thin lips curled into the semblance of a smile.
40
Levi was standing in front of his filing cabinet, fidgeting. From the living room he could hear Rebecca’s voice as she patiently told one of her pupils
about Chopin’s life. He smiled. Rebecca was very good at making her lessons even more interesting by telling her students these stories.
As the first of Chopin’s études began to drift into the room, Levi gave himself a kick and opened the cabinet. He’d been through all but one of the files. With a sigh he took out the one labelled ‘Non-relevant witness statements’ and sat down at his desk.
Lovely music playing in the background, he went through the notes. A few days after Lisa had disappeared from the clinic there’d been a missing person appeal in the media. More than a dozen people had contacted them, claiming to have seen Lisa. Most of the statements had turned out to be false trails, but one of them had caught Levi’s interest. A witness had seen a blonde girl walking from Ruster Bay on Lake Neusiedel towards the station. The description of the girl fitted Lisa, and the local police had found the girl before she caught the train to Vienna.
‘What’s your name?’
‘My name is Birgit Stöger.’
‘And where do you live?’
‘In Vienna. Tenth District.’
‘What are you doing here?’
‘I’ve been to visit my friend Nils.’
Levi frowned and thought hard. According to the statement the girl had had a striking resemblance to Lisa Manz. And then there was this friend Nils.
Levi took his mobile and dialled the number listed in the file for Birgit Stöger. He just hoped it was still working. He was lucky. She answered immediately.
‘I need some information,’ Levi said, after he’d introduced himself as a policeman.
‘What’s this about?’ Birgit asked reluctantly.
‘Five years ago, you were in Ruster Bay with your friend Nils.’
‘Yes,’ Birgit answered haltingly.
‘What is Nils’s surname?’
‘It was five years ago. I can’t remember,’ the young woman replied.
‘You can’t remember your friend’s surname?’ Levi said.
‘He wasn’t my friend, only an acquaintance.’
‘Now listen to me. This is concerning a murder. If you won’t tell me this guy’s surname, then you’re obstructing the inquiry. Understand? I could always ask you to come to the police station.’