by Ales Matko
''And this tranquilizer was stolen, you say?'' Klauder asked. ''Do you have any idea who might have stolen it? Is your office unlocked when you're away?''
''Of course not, detective. I always lock it when I leave. The thief is probably one of the guards. They come seeking help for various injuries and ailments quite regularly, and some try to steal medicine from my cabinet. Most of them are drug addicts.''
''No surprise there,'' Klauder said. ''What about the maids?''
''What about them?''
''I noticed one of them was assisting you. Is she the only one that does this?''
''It’s her and Alejandra. Oh, and I'm also training a third girl, but she's been sick for quite some time now.''
''Could one of them have taken the etorphine?''
The doctor seemed taken aback by the question.
''In theory, they could have,'' he conceded. ''But again, I imagine it was one of the men just trying to get high and not really knowing what they took. Toying around with etorphine is a dangerous business.''
''There is one more thing I wanted to run by you, doctor. Have you heard what happened to the butler?''
Feboj shook his head. Yet when he heard what had transpired he seemed more morose than shocked.
''He didn't confess to the kidnapping of Ana-Maria, or to anything else that's happened recently for that matter,'' Klauder said. ''Yet there was something interesting that I learned about him, and it concerns you. We understand he was accused some time ago of harassing children, but the case was dropped because he had an alibi that you confirmed. Were you really together at the time or was there something else going on?''
Feboj sighed.
''Well, detective, I guess there is no point denying it. I lied. You see, Jago is - or rather, was - a dear friend of mine. And when he came to me that day he swore it was all just a misunderstanding and he needed me to cover for him. And so I did, believing there really was nothing to it. But if it's true that you found those pictures in his apartment, then it's clear what was really going on. He obviously wasn't the friend I thought he was.''
''Were there any other incidents similar to the one at the playground?'' Beatra asked.
''If there had been, I wouldn't have helped him to begin with. So ...'' Feboj hesitated. ''Are you going to expose me now?''
Klauder and Beatra looked at each other.
''It was an honest mistake, I suppose,'' the detective said with as much sincerity as he could muster. ''I think we can keep this between us for now. But I do have another question, if I may. Were you present at the dinner table the night Ana-Maria disappeared?''
''It's funny you should ask,'' Feboj said. ''I'm a bit of a loner and I rarely join the others for dinner, but on that particular evening, I was there. ''
''What about yesterday? Where were you in the afternoon?''
''I was on duty in the office until evening. I can give you a whole list of people who can confirm this ... Now if you'll excuse me, gentlemen, I have a patient who requires my attention.''
Klauder and Beatra stepped out into the hallway and watched as the doctor locked his door and headed off down the corridor in the direction of his office. For a few moments they stood in silence, but as soon as the physician was safely out of earshot, Klauder pulled Beatra aside.
''I don’t think it's just a concidence that a strong tranquilizer was stolen. Maybe whoever took it needed to sedate someone and to keep that person sedated over a long period. A little girl, perhaps, who needed to be kept quiet.''
Beatra bit his lip.
''So you don't actually think she was kidnapped for some sort of ritual sacrifice the way Benjamine was?''
''We haven't found her body, have we?''
''Not yet.''
Klauder’s eyes narrowed.
''One of the maids, perhaps. Just think about it, inspector. Ignes and Alejandra. They were both on duty the night Ana-Maria disappeared, right? One put her to bed, and the other brought her a hot water bottle. And then there's the third one, the one who's sick. Now, I'm not excluding the possibility that the etorphine could have been stolen by one of the guards, but we can't look into that until it's safe to go outside and visit the shanty town.''
''So that leaves us where exactly?''
''I think we need to search the rooms of all three of the maids who would have been in a position to steal the etorphine.''
With Beatra's consent, Klauder quickly arranged to have one of the servants take them to the room of the first maid, who was sick with fever. Her name was Sophia, and unless she was a phenomenal actress, she was indeed ill with a high fever and could barely speak. By this time, however, the investigators were in no mood to treat anyone with kid gloves, and after a brief chat with her, they gave the room a thorough search that turned up nothing.
''Sorry to have bothered you, señora,'' Klauder said as they were leaving. ''Do get better now.''
Their next stop was Ignes’ quarters, which, to Klauder's considerable displeasure, again required climbing stairs. When they arrived only to find her apartment empty, the panting detective could scarcely contain his irritation.
''Maybe this wasn't such a great idea,'' he wheezed. ''All the rooms have been … searched more than once.''
''Yes, but we need to have a look anyway,'' Beatra said, hoping to reassure him that the herculean climb had not been in vain. ''Maybe they missed something.''
Once again, however, they had to admit defeat. Ignes' apartment was neat and orderly and also modestly furnished, so there wasn't much to investigate to begin with, and nothing incriminating to be found.
Finally, there was their third and final target, Alejandra, and finding her room locked, Klauder and Beatra requested the key from one of the servants.
Alejandra lived in a small apartment which consisted of a main living area with a bed and some cupboards, and a second room not much larger than a closet and full of moth-eaten clothes and moldy books.
''You start on the main room and I’ll look here,'' Klauder said as he turned on a light switch and began going though all the maid's belongings, sneezing and coughing from the dust. Meanwhille, the inspector was flipping over everything that could be flipped in the next room, poking through desk drawers, looking under the matress, even peeking inside shoes. Just as he was preparing to throw in the towel, he heard Klauder gasp.
''Inspector, come over here! I think I found something!''
He immediately dropped the shoes he was sniffing and rushed into the storage room.
''What did you find?''
''See for yourself.''
Klauder, who by this time was sweating profusely, pointed to the middle of the mess he had made, where a small knob was jutting out from underneath all those wrinkled clothes, tattered books, and threadbare suitcases.
''A hidden chamber,'' Klauder said, looking tensely at his partner.
He slowly reached for the handle and opened the hidden compartment. What they found was a deep drawer containing a collection of old scarves.
''Well, I'm glad we didn't sell tickets,'' Beatra grumbled. ''Looks like it's back to square one.''
''Not so fast, inspector. Does this part not seem a little shallow to you? Just look at where the closet starts.''
Klauder paused for a moment or two, then did his best to crouch down and knock on the bottom.
''It’s hollow,'' Beatra observed.
''Let’s see if we can get this open.''
Sure enough, the compartment had a false bottom leading to yet another opening. But once again, all the suspense ended in disappointment, for this secret compartment, too, was unoccupied by Ana-Maria or any other little girls. It was, however, not entirely empty.
''There's something down there,'' Klauder murmured as if talking to himself, and then, with considerable effort, he reached down to the bottom and began feeling around. Suddenly, his eyes opened wide. ''A vial! Two vials!''
''Looks like we struck etorphine.''
''Yes, and that's not all,'' Kl
auder said. ''There's something else down here.''
Reaching as far down as his girth permitted, Klauder pulled out what looked like a long piece of cloth. It did not take long for the two of them to realise what they had just found.
''¡Puta madre!'' Beatra exclaimed. ''A child's pajamas!''
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
''Ana-Maria is four, correct? And small for her age? She could easily have fit into that hidden space. And if properly sedated, she wouldn't have made a sound or been discovered by anyone searching through here.''
Beatra could not help but admire his cohort's gift for deductive reasoning. He patted Klauder on the back and hastily sent for Elsa, a momentary look of satisfaction flashing across his face. When Elsa entered the room and was told what the investigators had turned up, his face went from its usual simmering red to pale.
''Those are Ana-Maria’s!'' he stammered, pointing at the purple pajamas. ''Her favorites!''
He immediately ordered Marcus to arrest Alejandra and bring her to him at once. Then he turned to the detective. ''But where is she then, señor Klauder?''
''I cannot say for the time being,'' the detective replied. ''All I can be sure of for now is that she was almost certainly held here, sedated with the etorphine stolen from the doctor’s office. Anything other than that I dare not say at this point, but then again, I don’t really have to, as we will know more when the maid is questioned.''
It did not take long for the skinny brunette with the ponytail and dark eyebrows to be brought in. Marcus literally kicked her into the apartment, where she fell on the floor, and from there gazed up at her interrogators: first Beatra, then Klauder, and finally the small man with the big mustache and demonic flames in his eyes.
Elsa roared like an animal and jumped on her as if he intended to slit her throat.
''Talk now or I'll kill you! Do you hear me? I will take you apart piece by piece in a way you never dreamed possible if your mouth doesn't start moving! Where is she? Where did you put her?''
''Please, señor!'' Klauder shouted as he and Beatra jumped to the maid’s defense, trying to prevent her from being choked to death. ''Control yourself, I beg you! How do you expect the poor girl to tell us anything if you suffocate her?''
Elsa finally let go, revealing the fresh red marks on the girl's willowy neck.
''I need you to calm down, señor,'' Klauder said. ''Can you do that?''
''I am calm!'' Elsa growled.
Klauder turned to the maid, still lying on the floor coughing.
''Señora, we found the pajamas, as well as the tranquilizer,'' he said. ''There's no point in denying your involvement. We know for a fact you abducted Ana-Maria. Now, for the sake of your own physical well-being I suggest you start talking, as I doubt we'll be able to stop señor Elsa a second time.''
''You’re goddamn right about that, detective!''
Alejandra was clearly still in shock, but she somehow pulled herself together enough to speak.
''Pajamas?''
''Ana-Maria’s pajamas,'' Beatra said. ''In the closet.''
''I will rip that fucking tongue out of your mouth if you don’t start singing!'' Elsa seethed.
''I ... I did take her,'' Alejandra said in a near-whisper. ''The hidden compartment ...''
''Yes, yes, we found that already,'' Beatra snapped, beginning to lose his patience. ''But what we want to know is where you took the girl after that!''
Suddenly it seemed as if the poor woman had lost her gift of speech. She kept opening her mouth, but no words came out.
''¡Perra!'' Elsa fulminated, rushing toward the maid. ''I will make you squeal!''
''No!'' she cried, nestling up to a nearby chest of drawers. ''Please, don’t kill me, señor! Please ...''
''Then tell us, por Dios,'' Klauder beseeched, ''where is the girl?''
''Please ...'' she begged, tears streaming down her delicate face like raindrops on an opaque window. ''I will tell you ... She's ... She's in the storage room.''
An intense silence fell across the room, punctuated only by the girl's sobbing.
''Are you telling us the truth, señora?'' Klauder demanded. ''Did you not actually take her somewhere else?''
Alejandra shook her head. ''I swear, she's in there.''
''She is most certainly not there,'' the inspector said sternly.
''But she is there, she has to be,'' Alejandra protested. ''I took her from her bed Friday evening when I was done bringing the hot-water bottles upstairs. Then I carried her to my room and drugged her, hid her here, and ...''
''And she went along willingly?''
''No, she ...'' Alejandra was sobbing to the point that she could hardly speak. ''She was already weak from ...'' Her speech trailed off into an unintelligible mumble that quickly got on Klauder's nerves.
''Please stop sobbing, señora, we cannot understand a word you are saying!''
Alejandra wiped her face with her hands and sat up. ''It was Pierre. He put something in her food that evening. It was ... He forced me to do it! He didn't even tell me why. He just said if I didn't go along with it he would ...''
Suddenly, Elsa rushed off, followed by the ubiquitous Marcus.
''Why did you do it, señora?'' Klauder asked as the inspector was cuffing her hands. ''Why would you kidnap Ana-Maria and murder the other boy? And what about those cryptic messages?''
''I didn't do that!'' she cried. ''I could never kill someone, let alone a child!''
''Then why try to shoot me? I assume it was to put a stop to the investigation, was it not?''
''I didn't shoot at you or anyone else, for the love of God!''
''Did he do it then? Was Pierre the shooter?''
''I don’t know, but I swear it wasn't me! ¡Juro por Dios, no estoy mintiendo!''
Klauder stared blankly at the wall, as if it were a ship somewhere on the distant horizon. ''So let me get this straight. What you’re saying is, you were only involved in Ana-Maria’s kidnapping, nothing else?''
''¡Sí! I've only been keeping her sedated and giving her water in the evenings when she starts to come to. Oh God,'' Alejandra cried, collapsing to the floor once again, ''what have I done?''
Klauder returned from his reverie and looked at Beatra.
''I think she's telling the truth,'' he said.
''Was it the chef, then? Did he spearhead all of this? If so, what was his motive? And did he take the girl somewhere else?''
Klauder shrugged. ''I'm afraid I don't know, inspector. But I suspect we'll find out soon enough. In fact, I daresay we may have just cracked the case, as I have little doubt we will shortly have the pleasure of Pierre's company.''
When Elsa returned, however, he brought with him only an entourage of bodyguards. Chef Pierre was not among them.
''What is this?'' Beatra asked, certain there must have been some mistake. ''Where is Pierre?''
''He tried to escape by jumping out of his window as we were apprehending him,'' Elsa replied bitterly. ''Apparently he forgot he lived on the fourth floor.''
Klauder was sure he had misunderstood.
''I’m sorry, are you saying the man is dead? The one person who might have been able to tell us where your daughter is, and you pushed him out the window!''
''I didn’t push him out of the window! He jumped of his own volition!''
Klauder was outraged.
''¡Por todos los santos, señor! Do you even want your daughter to be found?''
''Forget Pierre! Fuck Pierre!'' Elsa ranted, pointing at the maid who was still crouched in the corner. ''We have her and that’s what matters!''
''But she doesn’t know where the girl is!'' Beatra fumed. ''Pierre almost certainly moved her somewhere else.''
''Bullshit!'' Elsa erupted. ''That is complete and utter bullshit!''
And with that he lunged at Alejandra and pulled her up by her hair as she screamed, clinging to the cupboard for dear life.
''No, señor! Por favor!''
''Señor Elsa, don’t!''
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But before Klauder and Beatra could intervene, the guards seized them and threw them out into the hallway.
''You've done a fine job,'' Marcus said, pushing the door closed with the butt of his rifle. ''We'll take it from here.''
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The investigators were in Pierre’s room. For a few seconds they peered out through the broken glass into the abyss. The Frenchman’s body could still be seen lying down there in the snow, as apparently no one had bothered to remove it yet. A cold breeze was coming in.
''I guess this is where he exited,'' Klauder remarked.
''Wait, detective!'' screeched Beatra all of a suden and grabbed Klauder's arm. ''The air outside! The toxin!''
In all the commotion they had managed to completely forget about the poison gas. They quickly ran back into the corridor, and the inspector slammed the door to the apartment behind them.
''Do you think we breathed any of that stuff?''
''How should I know? A la mierda! To hell with this case, inspector! To hell with it! Why did I ever agree to stick my nose into this mess?''
''I don't know, detective, but what I do know is we'd better see the doctor as quickly as possible. Come on, his office is this way!''
They ran down the hallway and through the mansion until they reached Feboj's office. To their great relief, they found him in, but the physician seemed annoyed at having to deal with them and did not even ask them to come in when he came to the door.
''Don't be silly,'' he said as if talking to children. ''You most definitely have not been contaminated. If you had been, you would know by now, believe me.''
''We need to be tested!'' Klauder exclaimed, certain that his face had already begun melting. ''My stomach is starting to feel funny already!''
''Stop yelling, detective. If your stomach is upset then I suggest you be more careful about the food you swipe from the kitchen. Trust me, you're fine.''
''But you haven't even ...''
Feboj stepped back and closed the door. His confidence had been reassuring, but it took some time for cool heads to prevail. Only after it was clear that they were not displaying any of the symptoms they had observed in the stricken guard were they able to turn their attention back to the matter at hand.