Five

by Ursula P Archer

  ‘Will do.’ He hung up.

  A pair of garden shears. Beatrice pictured the monstrosity with steel blades which Achim had always used to trim the boxwood hedge.

  ‘Are you not feeling well?’ The concern in Florin’s voice made her smile involuntarily.

  ‘I’m fine. It seems our Owner started to mutilate his victim while he was still alive. One of the ears was probably cut off before the man died.’

  ‘Shit,’ whispered Florin hoarsely.

  ‘Yep. Drasche is sending everything over now. Including the clues about the next stage.’ Realising that she had started to arrange the pens on her desk so they were all parallel and aligned, she gave them an impatient shove before standing up and switching on the espresso machine. Caffeine was a better option than indulging in OCD-like behaviour. ‘I wish we had Reichenau in the team instead of that narcissistic fool.’ Beatrice quickly tipped the rest of the coffee beans from the packet into the grinder, causing about a quarter of it to spill out and tumble down onto the floor. ‘Wow, I’m really on form today.’

  ‘Don’t be so hard on yourself,’ said Florin. ‘And go easier on Kossar too. We barely know him – perhaps he really knows his stuff.’

  ‘Maybe.’ She cleared up the scattered beans and threw them in the bin. ‘I’ll do my best to be objective, okay? But don’t forget he was holding us up from doing our job earlier.’

  The coffee eventually helped to reunite her with her concentration. She drank the cup quickly in the knowledge that she would no longer be able to enjoy it once Drasche’s photos arrived.

  She went through the existing files one more time. Hands. And now ears. Was that purely arbitrary, or was there some symbolism behind it? Had the victim touched something forbidden? Heard something he wasn’t supposed to hear? She tried to stop her mind going off at a tangent. Getting to the bottom of questions like those was Kossar’s job, not hers.

  A few minutes later, Drasche’s photos arrived in her inbox. The first data files showed the ears: blood-soaked lobes, one more advanced in the decomposition process than the other. Then the letters.

  The first was word-processed, as the previous ones had been, and again started with the same words.

  Congratulations – you’ve found it!

  We’re still playing the same game; you should be getting familiar with it by now. What do you think of this container? I’d like to know if you draw the correct conclusions from its contents. You may well manage to, but it’s unlikely to help you any further.

  How are things going with your boss? And the media? Are people getting impatient yet that you haven’t come up with anything?

  Come on, police! Try harder.

  TFTH

  The noises from the street outside forced their way in through the closed window, while someone wearing high-heeled shoes could be heard walking along the corridor. Clackclackclack. Beatrice waited to see whether Florin would say anything, and when he didn’t she cleared her throat. ‘He’s trying to provoke us.’

  ‘Well, as far as I’m concerned he’s doing a very good job of it.’ He put his cup down a little too firmly; some of it lapped over the edge and formed a brown lake next to the telephone. ‘Come on, police,’ he whispered.

  Just in time, Beatrice managed to save a pile of interrogation minutes from the spilled coffee. ‘He seems to have some personal battle with us. We should go back through all the old files and look for someone who might feel they’ve been mistreated by the police, someone who blames us for their life being ruined.’

  Florin grimaced. ‘Well, there’ll be no shortage of candidates there.’

  ‘But, you know, sometimes it goes beyond the normal level.’

  Suddenly Bechner rushed in without knocking, ignoring Beatrice and addressing Florin. ‘Do you have a minute to speak about the statements from the Papenberg relatives?’

  ‘No. Later.’

  He waited until Bechner had pulled the door shut behind him, clearly affronted. ‘Do you think he’s doing this because of us? Torturing and killing people just to get material for his puzzles, to make life difficult for us?’

  ‘No, I don’t think that’s his motive. But humiliating us and boosting his own ego is clearly important to him. Why else would he write letters like this to us?’

  Beatrice clicked on the print icon. With a whirring sound, two copies of the latest cache note peeled out of the printer. Then she opened the next data file from the attachment in Drasche’s email.

  Once again, the puzzle was composed in Nora Papenberg’s handwriting. Erratic at first, almost illegible, but halfway through it looked as though the writer had got a hold of herself.

  Even after the first read-through, Beatrice could tell it was going to be exceptionally difficult this time.

  Stage Four

  You’re looking for a key figure. His quota is over 2,000. He never concedes defeat – or so he claims – he has a loud voice and he refuses to tolerate any contradiction. His eyes may be green or blue, but you’ll have to find that out for yourself. He makes a living by selling things which, as he himself says, no one needs. He’s good at it, too. He has two sons, one of whom is called Felix. Find the man’s place of birth and translate it into numbers, just like you did last time. Multiply the value of the first and last letters together, then times the result by 22. Add 193 and add the resulting sum to the northern coordinates from Stage Three. Multiply the tenfold value of the penultimate letter with its sevenfold value and subtract the ninefold value of the same letter from the result. Subtract the resulting sum from the eastern coordinates of Stage Three. We’ll see each other there.

  ‘Good God! Someone who sells things no one needs – great. And to top it all off, every other kid in this city is called Felix.’ She was just about to reach for the printed copies when the phone rang.

  ‘Wenninger,’ Florin answered. ‘Really? Where?’ His lips mouthed the word ‘car’ at Beatrice. ‘I understand. Okay, thanks.’ He hung up.

  ‘They’ve found Beil’s car, on a forest track near Hallwang. There’s a lot of blood in it, but no sign of Beil himself. Drasche and Ebner are already on their way.’ Florin’s expression was unreadable, but Beatrice suspected he was thinking the same thing she was. The Owner had made it clear he wouldn’t stop at two victims.

  ‘Do you know what I think?’ she asked softly.

  ‘Hmm?’

  ‘If Beil had admitted on Sunday that he knew Nora Papenberg, if he had explained to us how he knew her, then he wouldn’t be missing now.’

  ‘There are too many “if”s there for my liking.’

  Yes, thought Beatrice, unfortunately there were. But if she disregarded her suspicions and ignored her instincts, then the case just gaped in front of her like a black hole. A hiding place for which there were no coordinates.

  ‘When I read the last message through again,’ said Florin, ‘it sounds to me as though Stage Four is close to the final destination. For the first time, we’re searching for someone who the Owner admits is important – not a singer, not a loser, but a key figure.’

  ‘True.’ Assuming there was any kind of concept behind the puzzles.

  There was no way around it; they wouldn’t get any further without Kossar’s help.

  ‘It’s fine with me, but have you asked the children whether they’d like to?’

  ‘Of course, Mama. They always love seeing you, you know that.’

  They would hurtle around her mother’s restaurant like eager young pups, serving the odd salad here and there just like Beatrice had as a child. There was no reason to feel guilty.

  Jakob was beaming with excitement; he had packed his apron and was rummaging around in the drawer for a wooden spoon, which he was adamant he wanted to take with him. There was excitement in Mina’s expression too, but something else besides. Beatrice sat down next to her on the bed. ‘Everything okay, sweetie?’

  ‘Sure. I don’t mind that you’re offloading us on Oma.’

  ‘That I’m – what?’r />
  ‘Offloading us. I like going to Oma’s – there’s always lots of people there, and they’re all nice to us.’

  It wasn’t hard to work out where the new word had come from. Beatrice took a deep breath and tried to keep smiling. No hostile comments around the children; that was the agreement, and she would keep her word even if Achim clearly couldn’t. ‘Offloading you is something completely different,’ she explained. ‘I’m taking you to Oma’s because I have to work late for the next few days and I want you to be looked after.’

  Mina shrugged. ‘Like I said, it’s okay.’

  Beatrice tucked away everything they might possibly need in their bags and tried to suppress the thought that all she ever seemed to do was pack her children’s things. Her mobile rang, making her worry that her mother had already changed her mind, but then she read Florin’s name on the display.

  ‘We’re making progress – the results of the DNA analysis are back. The body parts really do belong to Herbert Liebscher. I’m going to visit his ex-wife this evening – Stefan might come with me …’

  ‘If you can wait half an hour, I’ll come. I’ll hurry – I’m just taking the kids to my mother’s first.’

  ‘Good.’ His voice sounded flat. ‘Then I’ll have a brief break and walk around the block. Or have a bite to eat. See you in a bit.’

  One last quick glance at the clock. Did they have everything?

  ‘Mina, Jakob, put your shoes on please. We’re going!’

  Getting the children away from the apartment felt like the right thing to do. The air in Mooserhof was filled with the aroma of home-cooked food and, most importantly, was free from any thoughts of dismembered corpses.

  They met at the car pool pick-up station. ‘I spoke to Liebscher’s ex-wife on the phone. We’re driving to her place first, then his apartment – we’ve got a search warrant from the Department of Public Prosecutions,’ explained Florin as he held the car door open for Beatrice. ‘Stefan managed to get hold of the spare key Liebscher kept at the school.’

  ‘Is Stefan not coming?’

  ‘He’s slept the least out of all of us these last few days. He’s about to drop, even though he won’t admit it. I sent him home.’

  The woman who opened the door of the terraced house to them was pale and, although the evening was one of the warmest of the year so far, wrapped up in a cardigan.

  ‘Romana Liebscher,’ she introduced herself. ‘Please come in.’ Beatrice and Florin followed her into a small living room with pale yellow walls; a little run down, but neat and tidy. In front of the corner sofa was a coffee table from IKEA. They sat down.

  ‘I have no idea what to say … I didn’t even know that Herbert was missing. And now he’s—’ She exhaled noisily. ‘What happened?’

  ‘We’re not entirely sure yet, but we’re doing everything we can to find out.’ No one could give vague answers with as much conviction as Florin, thought Beatrice.

  ‘How often had you been in contact recently?’ Beatrice asked, in an attempt to delay questions which would inevitably lead to vacuum-packed body parts.

  The woman’s hands wandered over to a tea-light holder shaped like a wooden boat and began to fiddle with it, turning it over and over. Right, left, right. ‘Hardly at all. I’ve been in a new relationship for years now. Herbert and Dietmar don’t exactly get on—’ She looked up, clearly struck by the sudden awareness that she could have just made her life partner a suspect. ‘But they never really argued,’ she added hastily.

  ‘I understand what you mean.’ Florin’s smile had the desired soothing effect, and Beatrice willingly left the remainder of the usual catalogue of questions to him: when had she last seen him, did he have any enemies, debts, shady acquaintances …?

  The answers Liebscher’s ex-wife gave painted the picture of a nondescript life without any particular highlights. A teacher who enjoyed his job, sometimes doing extra tutoring to bring in some extra money, and who went hiking or mountain biking in his free time. He had no debts and was neither loved nor hated by his pupils.

  ‘Why did you decide to get divorced?’ asked Beatrice. The answer was no surprise: tedium, monotony. They had grown apart, and then Romana Liebscher had met another man.

  ‘We’ve been divorced for three years and have seen each other perhaps five times since, the last time was eight or nine months ago,’ she said. ‘It sounds terrible, but I can’t tell you anything about him. Not even whether he had a girlfriend.’ Now, and to her own relief it seemed, she burst into tears.

  They gave her the time she needed to gather her composure.

  ‘Will I have to identify him?’ she whispered.

  ‘No, that won’t be necessary.’ Florin’s answer came a little too quickly and firmly. The woman looked up.

  She’s not stupid, thought Beatrice. She’s realised it would be better not to ask for details.

  ‘It’s a complicated case, and we can’t allow the details to make their way into the public eye yet,’ explained Florin. ‘But I promise we’ll let you know when we find out who did this, and the circumstances.’

  ‘Could you not at least tell me how it happened? Was he shot … or beaten up? Did he go quickly?’

  Beatrice thought about the ear. The garden shears.

  ‘I’m sorry.’ She filled those two words with genuine sympathy. ‘At the moment we don’t yet know. But you would be helping us very much with our investigations if you could look at these photos for us.’

  Without holding out any great hope, Beatrice fetched the pictures of Nora Papenberg from her bag. But Nora’s face was completely unknown to Romana Liebscher.

  A sombre mood dominated the car journey to Herbert Liebscher’s apartment, even though Florin was constantly searching the radio for a station playing upbeat tunes. It was already getting dark outside. Beatrice looked at her watch; it was after eight. They would have a quick look around the apartment and search for contact details of any friends or acquaintances. Take the computer with them, if there was one. Speak to the neighbours.

  The apartment was on the second floor, and there was no lift. As they opened the door, they were met by the smell of kitchen waste in urgent need of disposal.

  ‘I’ll go in first, if that’s okay with you,’ said Florin. A quick glance through the few rooms was enough to clarify that they were alone.

  Liebscher had clearly been content with a modest amount of space. A living room, a bedroom, a kitchen with a small table, and a compact bathroom. On the kitchen table stood a full ashtray and the crockery from Liebscher’s last breakfast – the half-eaten marmalade on toast had developed mould, while the remains of his coffee had dried up in the mug to form a congealed black layer. Beatrice was overcome by the same sadness she had felt at the sight of Nora Papenberg’s unfinished bar of chocolate. She turned away, gave the stinking bin a wide berth and went into the bedroom.

  An unmade bed. Wide enough to fit one person com fortably, but too narrow for two. A neat and tidy computer workstation, on which, alongside the keyboard and mouse, there were three piles of books. A bookcase, predominantly stocked with biographies, but with a few travel books and novels too – all the usual bestsellers. Amongst them, Beatrice spotted a small wooden box, like a mini treasure chest. With her gloved fingers, she picked it up off the shelf and opened the lid.

  Coins. They were all in transparent plastic coating and displayed a variety of motifs – a ship, a wolf’s head, a logo—

  ‘Florin!’ Beatrice held one of the coins up into the light to make sure, but there was no doubt – there was the logo, and it was on the plastic coating too. ‘He was a cacher. Liebscher went geocaching!’

  Geocoinclub: TFTC was inscribed on the copper-coloured coin, with a little stick man, hiking, depicted beneath in white enamel. Engraved on the edge, Beatrice found a combination of letters and numbers, a kind of code. On the other side, the stick man again, followed by another inscription: Track at Geocaching.com.

  ‘This is great.’ Squinting, Fl
orin looked at the coin and then placed it back in the treasure chest. ‘Now we might finally be able to make some progress.’

  Hopefully they would, as Stefan’s online research still hadn’t borne any fruit. He was reading through the geocaching forums on a daily basis and had made contact with a number of their members, but so far without success. There were no clues about anyone having left abnormal objects – like dead animals or excrement, perhaps – behind in caches before. No one had heard of any incidents like that. ‘The geocaching scene is incredibly clean and environ mentally aware,’ Stefan had declared, not without a certain degree of pride.

  Beatrice searched through the desk, then went into the living room where there was another bookcase. There was also a sofa suite with a garish brown–green pattern, and in front of it a glass coffee table from which no one had wiped away the water rings. Opposite it was a dusty old-fashioned tube TV left on standby mode.

  She didn’t see it right away, but her eyes were drawn back to the spot almost involuntarily. She stopped and stared.

  TFTH

  Someone had written the four letters on the TV screen, swirled through the dust.

  ‘Florin? Look at this!’ Beatrice pulled her camera out of her bag and shot five pictures in close-up, then another six from different distances and angles, before grabbing her phone and calling Drasche on his home number.

  She heard the TV on in the background as he answered.

  ‘We’re in Liebscher’s apartment and we’ve got the computer, but you should come here too. It seems like the Owner has been here.’

  After a short conversation with Drasche (‘Don’t touch anything else and get the hell out of there!’) Beatrice retreated to a quiet corner of the apartment and leant on the wall between the kitchen and the bathroom.

  Maybe she was about to make a huge mistake. Or maybe it was exactly the right move. But she would only know afterwards. Hoffmann himself had said that she should exhaust all the possibilities, and Kossar hadn’t made a single suggestion. She was fed up of waiting. The Owner’s messages had been sent to her personally, so it was time to react personally.