“Sky, it doesn’t work that way. You knew it was wrong and still you did it. So, for the next two days, I want you to go straight home after your last lesson and stay inside. Do you understand me?”
“Two days!?”
“You heard me.”
“So, I can go outside again now.”
“No, it’s homework time now. Pick up your clothes and go upstairs.”
“So, it’s three days!”
“I believe you’ve had enough fresh air for today. And this arrangement isn’t open for discussion.”
She jumped up and stormed past him. “You’re so unfair!” She kicked a glove towards him and Thomas caught it without flinching. For a split second Sky seemed impressed.
He got up and followed her to the stairs, where she glared at him.
“Just so you know, I won’t stay in here for two days!”
Her temper and stubbornness had cost him quite a bit of energy in recent months, and while he aged with every argument, it seemed David got younger with every business trip.
“Sky, that’s enough! Go to your room. March!”
She sat down on one of the stairs, arms folded, looking up at him. “You’re not my dad.”
The first time she had said that to him had hurt, but he had soon learnt the rules of the game.
“No, I’m not. But you know that’s actually a great idea. Why not call your dad, tell him you’re upset, and let him sort it out?”
Sky got up and stomped to her door, yelling her opinion about his suggestion. “You’re mean and unfair!” And the door banged shut.
Thomas ran his fingers through his hair. He would let her cool down for a while.
His phone showed two missed calls from Collins, and he returned them from his office.
“Hi. Sorry I didn’t pick up earlier on. What have you got?”
She told him that one of the receipts was from a supermarket and the other from a snack bar in Carls Bath, Bohemia. She had asked for footage from the security cameras and sent pictures of Lawson to both places, but nobody could remember having seen him.
Regarding the victim, she had found some old newspaper articles all full of praise for the charitable doctor. It seemed like everybody loved him… at least thirty years earlier they did.
She had spoken to the bank, as well. The old bank statements from Lawson looked fine to her. He had saved a lot of money before going to Africa, and while he was there he had not taken much out of his account — just enough to pay for everyday things. The only regular money transfers he had kept were donations to various charities involved with orphans, child protection, as well as organ donation and its research. Two years earlier, the remaining money — about sixty-thousand euros — was withdrawn in one lump sum; and half a year later, Lawson had opened up an account in the name of Ethan Wright at a different bank in St Anna, and paid in thirty-thousand euros in cash.
“The only thing that struck me as weird,” Collins said, “was that as soon as he set up the new account he started transferring money to charity again.”
“Once a doctor, always a doctor. They feel they have an obligation to society. But it seems like there is thirty-thousand euros still stashed away somewhere.”
“I doubt he spent it in your village,” Collins replied sarcastically.
He told her about his conversation with Vincent Dobson — avid fencer turned serious businessman. “Unfortunately, his company produces the parts of the epee that are still missing.” Thomas continued, “I’ll go back to Lawson’s cabin. I wanted to have another look anyway, now that we know who he really was. We didn’t find a wallet or any ID the first time around. I’ll meet you at the office in about an hour. In the meantime, if he really was everybody’s darling, could you try and find out names of his friends or acquaintances? And please check Dobson’s alibi.”
“Sir, all of this doesn’t really make any sense. Don’t you agree?”
She was right.
Thomas needed some fresh air, so he put on his running shoes and hoped that the snow-ploughing service had kept its promise of keeping the road to the cabin clear.
“Sky, I’ll be gone for about half an hour, and I’m taking Barney with me,” he shouted upstairs.
“Whatever!”
Their friendship was still a tad too much on the frosty side for his liking.
13
THOMAS jogged across the market square, Barney on a leash at his side. Bits of police cordon had become entangled with a spruce next to the pyramid — which was peacefully turning around as if nothing had happened.
On the junction to Screen Mountain, he found a perfectly even and solid road of snow leading all the way up to the cabin. Thomas unclipped the leash, and Barney bounced ahead with joy, tongue hanging out of his mouth. Scooping up some snow, Thomas crushed it into a ball and waited until the dog had come back to him, dancing around his feet. He pretended to throw the ball, but Barney’s eyes burnt into his hand. He was not to be fooled. When Thomas finally threw it, the spaniel sailed after his toy, jumping into the air and crushing it in his mouth, not understanding how this solid object could turn into pieces so quickly.
Thomas tried to arrange their findings about the case in his mind.
A seventy-eight-year-old man, who had been a surgeon in the area but left thirty years earlier, had come back to live alone in the forest under a false name, and got murdered with an epee. He did not have a car and avoided all shops in the village; yet, he somehow, and for some reason, went to a supermarket and snack bar in Bohemia. Money was missing. Bohemian youths had appeared at the crime scene shortly before the body was discovered.
Everybody he had questioned so far had an alibi. Nobody had identified the victim as William Lawson — not even a former police constable who had met him many times. No one seemed to know him well. No family, no relatives.
“Why did you change your name? What were you hiding from us? Who are you?” Thomas mumbled to himself.
It didn’t really make sense. He knew they had to dig deeper into the victim’s past — especially at the time when Lawson worked in the area. It seemed unlikely that someone from Africa had followed him all the way to Turtleville to kill him. They certainly could have done that a lot less spectacularly in Nigeria.
Suddenly, he came face to face with a brightly dressed figure emerging from behind a snow bank. Thomas was walking with his head down and was so immersed in thought that he had not even heard Barney barking. He flinched and found himself in the arms of Kate Adams, Sky’s teacher.
For a brief moment he felt her heartbeat against his chest, even through the thick clothing they were both wearing, and he gazed down at her. She pulled back equally startled and took her headphones out, music blaring. He had not seen her in a while, and to his surprise, her face looked pale and fragile, and her clear blue eyes had lost their sparkle.
“Oh God, I’m so sorry! I… I was so deep in thought I didn’t even hear you coming. Are you okay?” Her running clothes seemed too big for her, and Thomas, with his height and broad shoulders, could have easily made her disappear in his arms… if she would let him.
“Hi! I’m fine. No worries. How are you? Out for a run?” she replied with a forced smile.
“Yes. I’m working on a case, and need some fresh air to sort out my ideas. You look tired. Are you sure you’re okay? Shall I take you home?” he looked at her worriedly.
“No, no. I’m all right, thanks. Just needed some fresh air myself. The weeks leading up to Christmas are generally a nightmare. Tests, extracurricular activities, nativity play, skiing competitions…” She rolled her eyes. “All hell breaks loose. And even at this rather small school, there are never enough teachers to cope with the amount of work. Anyway, how’s Sky? Did you find her?”
“Oh dear, my apologies. I forgot to call you back. She went skiing; I picked her up from the lift. Sorry for that, as well. I guess I’m a terrible guardian, and we don’t really reduce your workload…” He pulled a face.
Kate laughed, b
ut her face seemed pained. “You’re not! She really admires you.”
“Right now, I’m probably the last person on earth she wants to see. I grounded her for two days. Didn’t go down too well.”
“Don’t worry, they are a bit tricky at that age. And Sky is an especially determined young person.” Kate took a deep breath. “I better go back home and mark some more tests. Otherwise, I’ll never get done before Christmas. And it’s getting dark soon.”
“You know that the guy who lived at the old cabin was killed, don’t you?” Thomas asked, nodding towards the forest.
“Yes, I heard it on the grapevine. And you’re the man who is solving the mystery?” she said with a smile.
“I’m working on it. You go for a run or walk fairly regularly like me… have you noticed anything out of the ordinary recently? People you have never seen out here before? Cars?”
She gazed into the distance, thinking. After a while, though, she slowly shook her head. “No, I’m sorry, just some cross-country skiers. But I can’t even tell you who they were; they all look the same to me with their anoraks pulled up, scarves, and hats. Hmm… no nothing unusual. Is it safe for me to go running and walking here until the murderer is caught?” She looked up at him seriously.
“I think during the day, as long as it is light and skiers are around, you’re perfectly safe. I would advise you, though, to steer clear of the area around the cabin. But here on the road you should be fine.”
“Thank you, Officer.” She blinked at him.
“Please, call me Nathaniel.”
“Kate.” They formally shook hands and laughed.
“See you at the bake sale?” She gave him a shy hug.
Thomas smiled sheepishly. “Oh yeah, the bake sale! Sure, I’ll be there. Take care.”
Kate waved at him and walked slowly back towards the village. He watched her disappear behind the mountains of snow.
Next to him, Barney was nervously moving from one paw to the other.
“Are you getting cold feet as we get closer to the cabin, buddy?” He fondled the spaniel’s ears and picked him up. Thomas knew that dogs his age should not stay outside on snowy ground for too long. The salt and cold ironically burnt their paws.
He carried the wriggling bundle to the cabin, unlocked the door, and let him down in the tiny hallway. Curiously, Barney started sniffing around. There were not many things the dog could eat, chew at, break, or damage, so Thomas was not too worried.
The stale air was even worse than it had been the day before, but other than that, the rooms looked the same. Forensics had put everything back in its respective place.
Thomas went through the limited places where a person might stash away thirty-thousand euros or a wallet, but again he found nothing. He even searched for loose floorboards, but as worn as the cabin appeared from the outside, the walls and floor were solid.
It was four o’clock in the afternoon and slowly getting dark. The sun had set behind the forest, and looking out of the window, he saw the lift at Cannonball Mountain switching on its floodlights, illuminating the two ski tracks that now looked like scars burnt into the mountain.
Thomas felt for his own scar at his temple, and decided it was time to leave when he heard a clattering noise from the living room.
While chasing a poor mouse, Barney had pushed over the only decoration in the entire cabin. A potted plant in a too-big flowerpot. Dirt and fertilizer were strewn all over the place. The dog was unimpressed by the mess he had produced and kept running across it, increasing the chaos.
Thomas quickly put the unruly animal back on the leash and tied him to the bedpost, all the while threatening him with obedience school as soon as winter was over.
When Thomas bent down to scoop the earth and fertilizer back into the fallen pot he realised his hands were not touching fertilizer at all.
He picked some of it up and rubbed it between his fingers, but in the dim light of the cabin, Thomas could not make out what he was actually holding. He remembered the torch hanging at the entry, and shining its light on the fake fertilizer, he took a close-up picture with his phone for Collins before asking her to call him back immediately.
It did not even take a minute for his phone to spring to life.
“Looks like you’re having a good time on your own,” Collins greeted him.
“Is this…” He held out his cupped hand, filled with the white substance, in front of the camera. “What I think it is… drugs?”
“Yes, I would say so.”
“Can you specify what type, over the camera?” he asked impatiently.
“How could I?”
“I thought you were an expert.” Thomas regretted his words the moment they left his lips. “Sorry,” he mumbled, seeing her glare at him. “I’ll bag it and have it analysed. I found it in the flowerpot at the cabin. There was some plastic at the bottom as well. Could you let the lab know that I need them to check this for fingerprints as soon as possible, please?”
She nodded, and the screen went black.
“Thank you.”
With a spoon, Thomas scooped the drugs into an evidence bag and put the ripped piece of plastic into another one.
Barney watched him with his head tipped down to one side, and Thomas looked guiltily at the dog, “Don’t tell anyone we have used these bags for scooping up your poo, understand?”
By the time they left, it was dark outside, and the temperature had dropped by at least five degrees. Thomas pulled up the collar of his parka and braced himself against the biting Ore Mountain cold.
He closed the door and switched on the torch when suddenly Barney ripped at his leash, and he stumbled after him gripping his precious cargo in the other hand.
The dog pulled him towards the chopping block and dug enthusiastically in the snow. “Come on! Let’s go home, Barney! You did very well in the cabin. There might be an extra portion of dinner waiting for you today.”
But the dog ignored him.
“Barney!” Thomas pulled slightly on the leash. “Yes, I know he killed some bunnies, and God knows what other animals there. Come on now.”
The bouncing beam of the torch revealed the bloody patch next to the chopping block that Thomas had already seen the day before. Barney looked up at him and barked. “Okay, for God’s sake, let’s take another bag.” Thomas put his foot on the leash and fished a third evidence bag from his pocket. “And put some bloody snow in it. There, happy now?”
After the third bend, Thomas finally saw the glow of Turtleville below him, and his muscles relaxed. He wondered how someone could possibly want to live in this dark forest on his own. Lawson certainly did not have a clean slate.
Back in the village, Thomas saw Allison trudging a few yards in front of him. She was a short, stout lady, and the best cook and cake baker Thomas had ever met. Now, walking wrapped up against the cold along the deserted street, she looked like a lost penguin. He quickly caught up and softly put his hand on her shoulder.
“Hello, neighbour! How are you?”
“Oh, hi there,” she said, looking up at him.
Thomas was more than one foot taller than she was, but he resisted the urge to bend down.
“I’m on my way to the hairdresser. Where are you two coming from?”
He had put the evidence bags inside his parka. “We’ve just been for a walk. I think I need to ask you a favour. I have to go back to the police station right now and —”
“No problem, my dear,” Allison cut in. “I have spaghetti for dinner. Sky is more than welcome to come over.”
“Thank you. I should warn you, though, she might not be in the best of moods today.” He pulled an apologetic face.
“Don’t worry. There is nothing chocolate cake can’t fix.”
Back at home, Sky’s clothes were still strewn over the floor, and the fire had burnt down. Thomas put it back on, and Barney immediately claimed the place in front of it for himself.
Thomas quickly went upstairs and knocked
on Sky’s door.
“Leave me alone!” was the answer he received.
“I will in a minute,” Thomas said, poking his head inside.
Sky sat in her chair, her back facing him, but he could see her defiant face reflected in the window.
“I have to go to St Anna again, and I might be gone for a while. I spoke to Allison. You can go over for dinner. I’ve even heard something about a chocolate cake.”
She raised her eyebrows for a moment. “When will you be back?”
“I think it’ll be late. Sky, you can watch some telly at Richie’s, okay? But I want you to be in bed by nine. And you listen to what Allison and Richard tell you. I don’t want to hear any more complaints today.”
“Why do you have to go back now?”
“We’ve got something that needs to be investigated. Ann Collins is waiting for me. I have to go. See you later.” Thomas waited, but when no reply came, he closed the door and hurried to the car.
On his way to the station, Collins called to say that she had already informed the lab that a fingerprint test had to be done and that she would meet him there.
14
THE lab was in the basement of the police station, and their head of laboratory was on duty that evening. He was a very quiet and introverted man with a lisp, and every time Thomas met with him he realised that, except for the man’s name, he knew nothing else about him.
The evidence bag with the piece of plastic wrapping was handed over first.
“The drugs were kept in there. Someone opened the bag and poured them into the flowerpot. Fortunately for us, that person was rather slapdash and left the wrapping with greasy fingerprints behind.” Thomas pointed at the visible print.
The head of laboratory just nodded and took the evidence bag over to his work space.
Thomas followed him. “Can you tell me what kind of drug that is?”
The man put some of the white substance under his microscope. “Crystal meth,” he replied without looking up.
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