by Brian Peters
She sounded relieved when she thanked him.
Currie hoped that he was right.
****
Currie’s phone rang later that afternoon.
“Hello, Currie here.”
“Herr Currie. Captain Frumholz, Lüdenscheid Polizei. Your man Lambert tells me that you are a very unhappy man!” Frumholz chuckled loudly down the phone.
Currie took a few seconds to realise that Frumholz was trying to wind him up. A man after his own heart he thought.
“I’m always unhappy when I’m dealing with foreigners, particularly Germans!” Currie said.
“Ah, the war has been over a long time, Herr Currie, and it’s not my fault that we beat you in the World Cup!”
“I think you’ve got that the wrong way round, Frumholz! We beat you fair and square, as I remember!”
“Oh, so you did!”
Currie was already beginning to like this man.
Frumholz continued. “ Anyway, down to business. It was very interesting to receive the samples from your dead body. We have identified the man. He was a petty criminal named Ullrich Menken, a small time drug dealer who is known to us. He’s been in and out of prison a few times for short sentences, mainly for possession rather than dealing. But I have much more interesting news than that, although it may not please you. Researching the history of the car, we discovered that it was purchased here in Lüdenscheid from a local Mercedes dealer.”
“We already knew that, Captain Frumholz.”
“But did you know that the salesman suspected that the man who purchased it, named Lomax, was an Englishman who didn’t appear to speak any German? The man with him was known by sight to the salesman but not by name. And this man Lomax paid in cash, the whole amount, and drove it away the same day. Very unusual, wouldn’t you say? Also, the address that Lomax gave exists but he was not registered as living there, and the occupant of the apartment has no knowledge of anyone named Lomax. I think the ball is now back in your court, Herr Currie?”
“Hmm, I’m not sure that I like the outcome. That’s excellent work, Captain. I’ll get to work on the Lomax information straight away. What about the other man with Lomax? Any information on him?”
“We are working on it, but we’ve drawn a blank so far. I’ll let you know as soon as we find out anything further. Now I must go. Auf Wiederhören Herr Currie. Have a nice day,” he said, chuckling again.
“Hang on, Frumholz. Surely the man who bought the car, Lomax, must have filled in some sort of form when he did so? Is it possible to e.mail me something? A full name, a sample of his handwriting and any other details would be helpful.”
“Yes, of course. I’ll see to it right away. I’ll get someone to contact the garage. Tschuss!”
Currie called Lambert in.
“We know that the owner of the car is a man called Lomax, but we didn’t know that apparently he’s British and he gave a false address. Find out everything about all the people with that name, Lambert, and quickly.”
“All the people? There could be hundreds of them, sir.”
Currie just glared at him and picked up another book to throw.
“It’s not that common a name, Lambert, shouldn’t be too difficult. On second thoughts it might be easier if we wait for more information from Frumholz. He’s e.mailing me something later. Hang on for a couple of hours.”
Lambert got to work as soon as the e.mail came through, and it didn’t take him long to find what he was looking for.
“I found three named Lomax in the county. You won’t like this sir. One of them is a match and lives in Monks Eleigh. His name is Luke Simon Lomax.”
“What! Right under our noses? Anything on the data base?”
“Nothing untoward at all. He’s never been in any trouble as far as we know. Apparently he’s listed on the Internet as a supplier of parts for classic and vintage cars. Seems that he runs the business from home. He’s married to an Asil Lomax, nee Daniels, no children.”
“Ah, and there was a special compartment in the Mercedes made to carry drugs. Interesting.”
Currie nodded his head and thought for a moment, tapping his pencil on the desk.
“The car business is a cover, possibly. I presume you have an address for him?” Lambert referred to his notebook and nodded.
“He actually lives not far from where the body was found.” Currie picked up his jacket from the back of his chair. “ A break at last, Lambert. We may well have found our murderer. Let’s go then!”
Currie looked at his watch, it was just gone 6 p.m. He let Lambert drive. They arrived at the house in Monks Eleigh at a quarter to seven. A black BMW 316 cabriolet was parked in the drive.
“Looks promising, Lambert. Maybe someone’s at home. Well, nice big house all right. Just the sort of house that a drug dealer would occupy, I reckon. So someone knows that he’s involved in criminal activities and that someone is probably German, otherwise the body wouldn’t have been dumped here. And according to Miss Brodie, the car containing the body wasn’t in the car park until gone nine on the previous evening. Which means that given the time of death, the man was killed elsewhere and driven there. Lomax would hardly have killed him and left his body so close to home, though, would he?” Lambert thought about it, and said: “Maybe they had an argument in the car park and Lomax killed him there? The body had been dead for the right amount of time.”
Currie didn’t comment and got out of the car.
“Go round to the back of the house Lambert, I’ll try the front door.”
Ringing the bell and hammering on the door produced no results. Lambert came back round to the front of the house.
“Doesn’t seem to be anyone about inside. Do we break in?”
“No. We better get a warrant first. There’s a burglar alarm fitted, look, security lights all over the place. But I’ll be very surprised if Lomax is still here or even in the country. Find out from DVLA what other car or cars they own and when we get back we’ll do a search of ferries and airports to see if they’ve flown already.” Currie pointed to the BMW. “ Have you made a note of that registration number?”
Lambert nodded an affirmative. “Good, then tomorrow we’ll search the house.”
“Why don’t we ask the neighbours if they know anything while we’re here?”
Currie thought for a moment. “The nearest house is a couple of hundred yards away and the Lomax house is quite secluded; it’s doubtful if they would have been able to see anything. Yeah, OK, good idea.”
Currie drove down to the nearest house. “You go, Lambert. I’ll wait in the car.” Lambert got out and knocked on the door. An elderly well-dressed white-haired lady opened it. Lambert showed her his police warrant card and said: “Sorry to trouble you, Mrs.--?”
“Miss. Miss Eldridge. What can I do for you, young man?”
“I wonder if you could tell me if you know where your neighbours Mr. and Mrs. Lomax are likely to be? They’re not at home and we just want a word with them.”
“No, I’m sorry, I really don’t know them very well. They keep themselves very much to themselves. I do know that they have a relation in the village, a Mrs. Wade. She lives with her daughter. That’s the Elms, the big white house on the corner.” She stepped out of her front door and walked a few paces down the drive, followed by Lambert. She pointed further down the road. “There, that’s the one.”
Lambert thanked her and returned to the car. “White house on the corner. A relation lives there apparently.”
Currie pulled up outside and they both walked up to the front door. Currie said: “Right, I’ll see to it this time. You go round the back.”
Marjorie Wade opened the door. Currie said: “Mrs. Wade? Police. May I have a few words with you?”
Mrs. Wade’s hand flew to her mouth. “Has something happened?” she said.
“No need to be alarmed Mrs Wade, just a few questions. I don’t suppose Mr. and Mrs. Lomax are with
you?”
“No! No they’re not, they’re away on business. Look, you better come in.”
As she ushered him into the lounge she stopped short and cried out: “Oh my god!”
Lambert was peering into the room through the French windows.
“It’s all right, Mrs. Wade, it’s one of my men.”
Marjorie Wade fanned her face with her hand and sat down, her heart pumping.
Currie signalled Lambert to go round to the front where he let him in.
They both sat down on the settee.
“Now Mrs. Wade, can you tell me when you last saw either of the Lomaxe’s?”
“Well, it was in the early hours the morning before last. Or was it just before midnight? Yes, about midnight. I’d already gone to bed you see. They were in a terrible hurry; they said they’d had an urgent business matter to attend to. My daughter got up and drove them to the airport, to save the car parking. And they said they didn’t know how long they might be away.”
“Didn’t you think it odd that something could crop up so suddenly?”
“Well, yes, I did! At the time I hardly had a moment to think anything. Luke often has urgent things to do with the cars he’s working on. Some of his customers are very demanding, you know.”
“Did he often go abroad?”
“No, not at all, only once a year on holiday. Look Mr. Currie, what is this all about? Are they in any sort of trouble?” Marjorie Wade was agitated now, looking from Currie and then to Lambert. Currie ignored the question.
“Have you heard from them since they left?”
“Oh yes! Asil phoned to say that they’d decided to stay a few days after Luke had done his bit of business.”
“Did she say where they were?”
Lambert poised his pencil over his notebook.
“Well no, actually, she didn’t now you come to mention it. Now let me think. She said they were going to hire a car and drive around for a bit.” Lambert put his pencil away again, frowned and shook his head.
Currie could see that the woman was quite genuine and wouldn’t be able to help any more than she already had.
“Mrs. Wade, as you probably know, there has been an as yet unexplained death in the village and we think that Mr. and Mrs Lomax may have some valuable information that could help us with our inquiries, nothing more than that. If they do contact you, please let us know. It’s very important. Did they drive to the airport?”
“Well, yes, actually. I already told you that my daughter drove them in Asil’s, that’s Mrs Lomax’s car. She returned it the next morning and put it back on the drive. She walked back, it’s not far down the road, and it’s the big….”
“Yes, yes we know, we’ve just come from there. Is your daughter at home, Mrs Wade?”
“Oh no. She works, you see. She won’t be home just yet. Can I get her to give you a call?”
He gave her his card. “Yes, and it is urgent. Now I don’t think we need trouble you any further for the moment, Mrs. Wade. Thank you, you’ve been very helpful.”
When they were seated back in the car Currie said: “ I don’t think the daughter is going to be able to add much. By the sound of it, the Lomaxe’s were not giving away too much. She may have gleaned some useful information from them on the way to the airport though. Nothing much more we can do here, Lambert. Better get back to the office and call it a day.”
Belynda Wade rang Currie the next morning. As he surmised, she wasn’t able to give him anything worthwhile. She could of course be hiding something. But if she was, there was nothing much he could do about it for the time being.
CHAPTER 6
The time passed slowly for Asil and Luke the next day, the day that Herr Schülte had agreed to meet them. They explored the old town, lingered a long time over lunch sitting outside a restaurant in the main shopping area, watching children playing in the multiple fountains in the centre of the large square in front of the town hall. They visited the local history museum, walked around the restored part of the old town and then enjoyed coffee and cream cakes in the Tschibo shop. The tourist information office gave them a bus route to get them to Von der Mark Strasse on the outskirts of the town. They tried hard not to think about the likelihood of the police waiting for them when they eventually returned to the hotel.
They arrived at the apartment building at exactly five o’clock. Asil knocked on Herr Schülte’s office door. It was opened just a crack, then opened fully to reveal to their great surprise, Herr Kohler.
“Come in,” he said. They were both dumbstruck but entered as asked. Kohler shook Luke’s hand and kissed Asil on both cheeks. It wasn’t exactly a warm greeting though. He was looking serious and offered them both a seat on the only two chairs in the cramped office while he stood with his back to the window. There was no sign of Herr Schülte. The office stank of stale cigarette smoke. Kohler turned round and opened the window and remained standing with his back to it. He said curtly: “You had better tell me what has happened to bring you here unannounced.”
Luke said: “You mean to tell us that you don’t know?”
“All I know is that Herr Schülte rang me to tell me that you had been here looking for me. That is all.” He was obviously not pleased at their presence in Lüdenscheid.
Asil and Luke looked at each other; neither knew quite where to start. Luke said: “You haven’t been honest with us, Herr Kohler. You’ve lied to us. Why did you pretend that you lived here in this apartment?”
Kohler paused before answering.
“Ah. Because I needed you to buy the car for me. All of the circumstances were difficult to explain to you at that time. It was very complicated.”
“And we couldn’t find your telephone number for the house you said you owned in Werdohl, either.”
“That’s because the house is in my wife’s name. Her name before she married me, Elke Jückel. The phone is registered to her, I can give you the number and you can phone her if you like.”
Luke sighed and looked back at Asil, as if not entirely convinced.
Asil asked icily: “Where is your car at the moment, Herr Kohler?”
It was Kohler’s time to sigh now. He seemed slightly annoyed by this interrogation.
“It was stolen a month ago, in Hagen, not far from here. I was there on business. I left it in a multi-story car park in the centre of the town. The police have been unable to trace it. When I reported it missing I had a problem convincing the police that you had loaned me the car on a permanent basis. They wanted to contact you but I managed to persuade them that you were in England on business. I have a hire car at the moment. Have they contacted you, is that why you are here?”
Asil turned to Luke and said: “I think we better tell Herr Kohler what has happened.”
Luke nodded agreement, paused and said: “I’ll tell him, Asil”
He took a deep breath before continuing.
“Herr Kohler, the day before yesterday, or rather in the middle of the night, I had a phone call from someone asking for help. Asil and I drove to the rendezvous point in the village only to find your car, the car I purchased on your behalf, parked out of sight of the road. With a dead body in the driving seat.” Luke paused again and looked hard at Kohler to observe his reaction. Kohler stood up straight wide eyed and said ”Du lieber zeit! Das ist nicht möglich!” He looked from one to the other, obviously shocked. “Do you know how he died?”
“Of course we don’t know exactly. He had been murdered though. Knowing the car is registered to me, we flew here before the police could trace it back to me. We thought that you might be able to explain exactly what’s going on.”
Kohler thought for several seconds, then said: “Where are you staying?”
“The Stadt Lüdenscheid hotel in the town.”
“Then you must phone them and cancel immediately. Use this phone. The police will track you there. How did you get here, have you driven?”
Asil
said: “No, we came by bus.”
”Good. In that case, don’t phone the hotel. I’ll drive you there so that you can collect your luggage and cancel your booking. We better leave right away. We’ll have to find somewhere for you to stay while we sort something out.”
“Why? Are we in some sort of danger?”
“You are. Just do as I say.”
Asil and Luke looked at each other, both utterly bewildered and even more apprehensive than they were before they arrived. Neither of them knew whether they could trust this man. Where was this escapade going to lead them next? If what he said was true about the police tracing them to the hotel, they had no other choice but to go along with him. Luke was genuinely frightened. He hadn’t forgotten the gun that Kohler had concealed in the old Mercedes. Kohler hurried them out to his car before they could protest and started off for the Stadt Lüdenscheid.
Asil’s mind was in turmoil. This man, to whom she had been so attracted on their first meeting, was possibly a criminal and possibly even quite ruthless. Lies fell from him like autumn leaves after a frost. Worse, he had reminded her so much of the father who had been taken away from her when she was just eight years old. Her feelings were now so confused. Did he mean them harm? She didn’t know what they were going to do.
After collecting their belongings from the hotel and paying their account, Kohler drove them out into the countryside a few miles from the city, down a forest track near a large reservoir, the Verse Tal Sperre Asil noted. They stopped at a log cabin, formerly a hunting lodge, in a secluded position deep in the woods. Inside it was fully furnished and stocked with a freezer full of food, and a fridge containing wine and beer.
There were two small bedrooms each with a three-quarter bed. The main living room had a wood burning stove and two comfortable settees plus a TV and stereo system. A basic kitchen occupied one end, furnished with a table and four chairs.
Kohler said: “You should be comfortable here for a while. The kitchen area has a washing machine and a microwave and there’s a shower off one of the bedrooms. Let me know if there’s anything you require and I’ll fetch it for you. Now I must leave you for a couple of hours. When I come back we must talk. I will put you fully in the picture, I promise, but until then, do not venture too far away. I don’t want it known that you’re staying here just yet. And don’t use your mobile phones, they can be traced.”