by B C Schiller
42
LISA’S DIARY
The student turns up in my room in the middle of the night. Suddenly he’s standing next to my bed, looking at me in a strange way. I wince.
‘Quiet!’ he says and puts a hand to my mouth. ‘You want to get out of here, don’t you?’
‘Yes,’ I breathe when he takes his hand away, ‘that’s what I want. What Nils is doing to me is disgusting. He wants more and more.’ And then I tell him everything. I want the student to listen to me.
‘OK, OK,’ he interrupts. ‘I understand – that’s why I’m here. Get dressed,’ he tells me.
‘Where are you taking me?’
‘To a safe place. Nobody will look for you there. Then we’ll see,’ he whispers. ‘Hurry up.’
I throw on my clothes, grab my rucksack.
‘You can’t take that rucksack.’
‘But I need it.’
‘OK, if you must.’
We sneak out of my room into the corridor. The student knows where the surveillance cameras are, and we stick close to the walls. I can see the reception desk through the glass door. A nurse is reading a newspaper.
‘Wait,’ he whispers. It’s strange but the door’s open – normally it’s locked. He seems relieved. Now only the nurse is in our way. We duck behind a laundry trolley and wait. The student grabs my hand. I feel more hopeful.
Finally, the nurse gets up and disappears into another room. The student rushes through the foyer and bends down over the reception desk. I follow him and see that he’s looking for something. Silently the large entrance doors open. My way to freedom.
‘Run, take the steps. Wait in the car park,’ he whispers and turns back to the desk. ‘I have to reactivate the lock on the door.’
I run down the steps, my heart pounding like mad. There are still people who actually want to help me. I’m not alone in the world.
The car park is dark, and I crouch, slipping from car to car all the way to the entrance. The porter has nodded off and in the shadow of his cabin I can avoid the cameras. Then I’m out of the grounds of the clinic altogether. I wait for what seems an eternity until finally the student turns up. He simply went through the main entrance.
‘My nightshift is over,’ he says and pulls a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He takes one out and offers it to me.
‘Here, have one, it’ll calm you down,’ he says.
He lights it for me and I inhale, which makes me cough. He laughs and pats my shoulder. I turn round once more and see the nurse by the window. Did she see us? Who cares now in any case?
‘Come on.’ He pulls me along behind him.
Silently we walk the night streets. I feel happy and protected for the first time. I take the student’s arm and feel safe. The area is getting darker and most of the windows are barred and boarded, shops seem empty. We stop in front of an old grey house.
‘Here we are,’ says the student and kicks the door open. It’s cold and very dark inside. He takes my hand and leads me to a set of steps.
‘We’ll go down to the cellar,’ he says. ‘Don’t be afraid.’
‘I’m not afraid as long as you’re with me,’ I whisper, grabbing his hand even tighter.
‘Good, good.’ He leads me through a maze of cellar rooms. ‘Nearly there.’
Then he stops in front of a wooden partition.
‘Well, this is it. It’s not very comfortable, but you’ll be safe here for a while.’
‘It’s so dark,’ I say. I’m growing anxious.
‘There’s no light,’ says the student, ‘but I’ve brought a mattress and some blankets for you.’
‘Why are you so good to me?’ I ask and turn away, so he doesn’t see my tears.
‘You should have a chance for a normal life.’
Then he grabs my shoulders, turns me around and shines the torch in my face.
‘You’ll have to be really brave now, Lisa.’
43
Simon stopped the car in a car park near Ruster Bay and leaned over to Olivia.
‘I can rely on your absolute discretion, can’t I?’
‘I want to get out.’ Olivia rattled the door handle, but the door remained locked.
‘The child lock is activated,’ Simon said. ‘When is my next appointment with you?’ he asked. ‘We have a doctor–patient relationship now, don’t we?’
‘Yes. Call me about an appointment,’ Olivia replied nervously. The door clicked as it unlocked, and she opened it hastily and climbed out. Leaning against the car, she took a deep breath. How should she deal with this? Simon was right – she was bound by medical confidentiality. Had he really been telling the truth? His behaviour had been more than strange. Simon wasn’t the charming young man she’d seen before. He also had a dark side.
‘Is this the place you wanted to go to?’ Simon’s voice came from behind her.
Olivia turned to see him leaning against the car too, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. The last rays of sun were illuminating the reeds on the bank, swaying in the breeze. Olivia looked around. There were only a few cars. Suddenly she saw Levi’s white convertible. With the hood up, it looked different, which was why she’d not spotted it straight away.
‘Yes, this is the right place. You can go back now. I’m expected here.’
‘As you wish.’ Simon sounded disappointed, but then he went back to the driver’s side and got in. ‘Look after yourself, Olivia,’ he called through the open window.
‘Thank you so much for bringing me here,’ Olivia said. ‘And do show your friend the scratch.’
‘I’ll tell Tesi.’ Simon waved again, and then the four-wheel drive disappeared in the light of the sinking sun.
Olivia set off along the small wooden walkway towards the bungalow. The wind rose and the reeds were now rustling menacingly in the breeze. She could hear two voices inside, muffled by the sounds around her. Creeping closer, she listened carefully.
‘I loved Lisa and gave her the precious pendant, which was a family heirloom. My grandmother would never have forgiven me for that, but the things you do for love . . .’ It was Nils’s voice, there was no doubt about it. Suddenly everything made sense.
‘What is this love you keep referring to? You abused Lisa, and when the girl wanted to report you to the police, you killed her. But you’ll be called to account for that now.’ Amid the rustling and the wind, she recognised Levi’s distinct voice.
‘I adored her. I wanted to start a new life with her.’
‘With a fourteen-year-old girl? You’re talking rubbish. You only used her to feed your dirty fantasies.’
‘Of course our love was impossible. I knew that.’ Nils’s voice now sounded resigned. ‘But here, in this house, we at least had an illusion of happiness.’
‘I cannot even begin to imagine that a young girl would feel that kind of love.’
‘And what do you know about love?’ Nils hissed contemptuously. ‘Of course, it was slightly different for me than it was for Lisa. I knew our love was forbidden and tried to suppress it, but my feelings for her were too strong.’
‘And that’s why you killed her,’ Olivia heard Levi say.
‘Stop saying that!’ Nils shrieked, his voice cracking. It sounded as if he was about to have a nervous breakdown. ‘It was horrendous when she died.’
‘Was that a confession?’ Levi asked, but Nils kept silent.
As silently as she could, Olivia tiptoed along the wooden walls of the bungalow to gain a view inside.
‘You killed Lisa. It’s time to confess.’ Levi’s voice sounded hard and determined, as if there was no way he’d be tolerating any contradiction.
‘Shut up or I’ll kill you.’
Olivia froze and held her breath. In panic she pondered how she could possibly help Levi. While she was looking around for a weapon, a shot rang out through the evening air. A few storks flew up in panic.
‘Levi, what happened?’ cried Olivia, running along the decking now to the terrace. The large glass doors were
wide open, but she was blinded by the sun and all she could see was the silhouette of a man sitting on the floor, his legs spread wide, his back to the wall. A handgun lay on the floor next to him.
‘Oh my God!’ She dropped her bag and ran into the living room, stopping short in front of the person on the floor. The man’s face was gone. Brain tissue and splinters of bone were spread all over the wall behind him. Olivia retched, then jumped when a hand fell on her shoulder.
‘Don’t look at him, Olivia.’
With a choked cry, she whirled around to face Levi. ‘Oh my God, I’m so happy it isn’t you,’ she whispered, flinging her arms around him. ‘I heard you talking and then the shot. I was so afraid.’
‘It’s over.’ Levi pushed her gently out onto the terrace.
‘Is it Nils?’ Olivia asked, glancing back into the living room over Levi’s shoulder.
‘Yes. Nils Wagner has just shot himself in front of me,’ Levi said softly, then took out his mobile and dialled a number.
‘Hello, Reiter, Levi here. It looks like Lisa Manz’s murderer has just shot himself.’ He ended the call and went outside to Olivia.
‘You’re not allowed to go inside. It’s a crime scene now.’
‘Tell me what happened,’ Olivia asked quietly.
By the time Inspector Reiter and the local police arrived, Levi had already told Olivia about the secret room in the bungalow. The young girl who had run from the house had been picked up in the village and taken to the police station. Numb with shock and exhaustion, Olivia sat on the terrace with a cup of tea a policewoman brought to her. She watched indifferently as two men carried Nils’s body away in a metal coffin.
‘Frau Doctor Hofmann. Did you actually hear Nils Wagner confess to the murder of Lisa Manz?’ Inspector Reiter stood in front of her, holding an old-fashioned notebook.
‘Yes, I think so. It all happened very quickly. Nils kept saying how much he’d loved Lisa, but that it had been a forbidden love. Her death had been a terrible shock for him.’ Olivia tried to remember the exact words of the dialogue she’d overheard, but only came up with fragments.
‘Her death had been terrible for him? Are you quite sure?’ Reiter asked as he perched in front of her on the wooden planks. ‘That sounds like a confession.’
‘I just don’t know any more, but I think so.’ Olivia found it hard to express herself. She didn’t want to talk or think any more, just sleep.
‘Thank you,’ Reiter said, closing his notebook. ‘I reckon we’ve finally solved the Lisa Manz case.’
44
LISA’S DIARY
I’m waiting in the dark. It’s raining outside and I can hear the monotonous dripping on the cobblestones in the backyard. Something dark scurries past me. A rat.
‘I’ve brought you something to eat.’ The student turns up, and I sigh with relief.
‘I want to get out of here,’ I say, sniffing noisily. ‘I need to get outside.’
‘That’s not possible just yet. The police are looking for you. They even showed your photo on TV.’ The student is stressed.
When the light from the torch falls on his face, I see red patches on his cheeks.
‘I didn’t think they’d conduct a nationwide search – the whole of Austria is looking for you. I’m getting nervous,’ he mumbles. ‘It was a stupid idea to get you out of the clinic.’
‘But you saved me. I’ll be grateful to you for the rest of my life!’
‘No one must ever know that it was me who helped you. Do you understand?’
‘Sure. Can you just hold me now? That’ll give me the strength to stay here and wait.’
‘All right. Come here.’ The student spreads his arms and embraces me. I feel his warm body, raise my head and kiss him on the lips.
‘What if we fall in love with each other?’
At the same moment I hear a sound from the back of the cellar. It’s a slow tapping noise, enhanced by the ceiling and echoing all around us. The noise gets louder and louder and grows gradually more threatening. I cling even tighter to the student.
‘What’s that? Please don’t leave me – I’m so frightened!’
‘It’s just some stray cats. They’re hunting mice,’ he reassures me.
‘But it sounded like steps. Maybe there’s someone else in the cellar?’
‘And who would that be? The house is condemned. Nobody lives here. Don’t worry.’ The student gives me a fleeting kiss on the forehead. ‘I have to go now.’
‘Please stay a little while longer,’ I implore him but he shakes his head.
‘I’ll be back tomorrow,’ he says as a goodbye. ‘Try to sleep.’
The light from his torch dances over the walls like a will-o’-the-wisp. Thick darkness is sinking down on me like a suffocating pillow. I find it hard to breathe. My heart is pounding as if it’s about to burst. I’m nearly blind with fear and try and scribble in my diary to calm myself.
I wake in the middle of the night and sit bolt upright on my mattress. Again I hear the tapping. It’s more like a pattering. In panic I grab the pendant the doctor gave me.
Rather than reassuring me it seems to have the opposite effect. Frantically I tear the leather strap from my neck and shove it in my rucksack. This amulet attracts evil, and I regret not having thrown it away.
The pattering doesn’t stop. Instead, it’s coming closer. And it’s not a cat. Somebody’s sneaking towards the wooden partition.
45
Olivia sat in a vegan restaurant in the Second District and waited for Levi. All the papers had headlined with the news of Nils Wagner’s suicide. A renowned psychiatrist who had abused underage girls in a holiday cottage was a big story, even more so during the silly season of the summer months. Olivia had refused to talk to the press but gave one exclusive interview to her journalist friend, Anna, in which she detailed her side of the story. That Nils had had a fatal preference for very young girls was considered fact, but Olivia still could not see Nils as a cold-blooded murderer. Since the events in the Burgenland, she’d only talked to Levi briefly on the phone. He’d gone off on a long holiday with Rebecca. Today they’d arranged to meet for lunch to discuss the whole affair.
‘Nice to see you,’ Olivia heard Levi call from behind her. She’d been lost in her thoughts and not noticed him coming in.
‘Hi, Levi,’ Olivia said, getting up to give him a friendly peck on the cheek. He was tanned and looked decidedly relaxed. The deep furrows on his forehead had disappeared, and she realised he was quite good-looking.
‘How was your holiday?’ she asked after they’d ordered.
‘I have a feeling that things between Rebecca and me will get back to how they were before,’ Levi said carefully, ‘but it’ll take a while. We’d grown quite estranged and I only really noticed it over the course of this holiday. Anyway, how about you? How’s your father?’ he asked, trying to change the subject.
‘Papa has a full-time person to take care of him now. I see him in the evenings.’
‘Isn’t that still quite demanding? Shuttling between your two flats every day?’
‘I’ve moved in with him,’ Olivia said, chewing on a piece of tofu.
‘Oh,’ Levi said, with a grimace. ‘Of course, it’s a big flat. You can have your own space.’
‘It’s not forever,’ Olivia replied, ‘but I’ve had to scale back my expenses in order to afford someone to look after him and the medication.’
‘Don’t overdo it,’ Levi warned her.
‘It’s fine. So how about your cabinet with all the files?’
‘I took it to the dump, and the files all went into the shredder.’
‘Right. You know, one thing still bothers me,’ Olivia said.
‘And what’s that?’ Levi leaned across the table.
‘Why did Jonathan tell me in his last session that Lisa had come back?’
‘Do you still think that Lisa could have faked her own death to escape Nils and her father?’
‘I’m just th
inking aloud but it is possible. I can’t imagine Nils killing the object of his desire and then setting fire to her.’
Levi frowned. ‘I did discuss that with Reiter. There’s the dental evidence, although someone could have tampered with it. If not her, then who was the dead girl?’
‘One of the nameless girls, maybe, like the one you met in Nils’s house?’
‘Possibly, but then who was the person Jonathan claimed to have seen?’
‘Well, he could have been mistaken.’
‘But he took a photo. I saw it. It could have been Lisa.’
‘Shame we never found Jonathan’s mobile.’
‘But I still have a copy.’ Olivia remembered the photo that had been sent to her anonymously. All of a sudden she couldn’t bear to sit still any longer. ‘Come on, let’s go to my flat and we’ll have a look at it.’
They paid the bill and went out to Levi’s car. A short while later they arrived at Olivia’s father’s flat.
‘Go on through to the living room. I’ll just say hello to my father,’ she said. Just as she said this, the door to Leopold’s room opened and the old man came out.
‘Olivia, Michael, how nice to see you. Where is my little Juli?’ he asked, then looked at Levi searchingly. ‘The beard suits you, Michael.’
‘Papa, this is Levi, a friend of mine.’
‘Michael won’t like that,’ Leopold replied. The day nurse came through from the kitchen.
‘Your father is well today, nearly his old self. Come on, Leopold, it’s time for your afternoon nap,’ she said gently, taking the old man’s arm to lead him back to his room.
‘A difficult situation for you,’ Levi said, once they were finally parked in front of Olivia’s laptop in the living room.
‘I take it as it comes,’ Olivia said, although she didn’t look very happy. ‘Here’s the photo anyway.’
The image of the person was blurry and not easy to identify.
‘Can you enlarge it?’ Levi asked.
‘Yup.’ Olivia zoomed the image closer, but it only became more blurred.
‘It’s just not good enough,’ Levi said in resigned tones, ‘but maybe someone can help us with it.’ He got his mobile out and punched in a number. A male voice answered, and Levi described the problem. He gave Olivia the email address, and she sent the picture.