Читать книгу Secret doors - Dirk Lützelberger - Страница 10

Chapter 5

The plans for the next days were quickly put together last evening.

Gwen was looking forward to a wellness day at the nearby Vital Resort. The reception of her accommodation helped with the reservation and they compiled an all-round carefree package for Gwen. It was planned to explore the sauna landscape with its five saunas and the hot springs resort extensively. In addition, a wellness package consisting of body peeling and a massage was also included. The men joined the visit to the thermal baths but left the wellness treatment exclusively to Gwen. This was not for men, they said and reaped only a shake of the head from Gwen.

Stefan organized the boat tour on the Altausseer lake for the next day. With a picnic basket, which he had organized through their reception, they set off to explore the Altausseer lake by solar boat. The weather played along and the twenty-seven degrees Celsius were easily bearable with a little breeze on the lake. On the opposite bank of the lake they finished their trip and had a picnic at the hunting lodge on the meadows. Nobody really wanted to think about the way back, when they were all lying on the blankets with fat bellies, looking up at the sky and the water. Stefan watched Gwen very closely and he thought she had relaxed a bit. Either it was the spa day or today’s trip that made her think of something else. But he also knew that it would take some time until she had overcome her nadir.

Stefan gave them the choice of returning to their car by boat or on foot, to go back to their accommodation. In the meantime, Phil had already figured out another geocache which was supposed to be hidden at the lakeside. So, he took the adults’ choice off and they got up to walk. About midway to their parking lot, Phil found what he had been looking for.

Spurred on by his success, he had set his mind on making the next day a geocache hike.

"This is where we turned the other day, to get to the ziplining. This time we have to continue towards the clearing" Phil shouted excitedly, jumped up from the bench and ran ahead.

"We’ve been on the road for several hours now, and maybe we should start thinking about the way back" Gwen interjected and massaged her thighs and calves.

"Now let’s go to the clearing so Phil can retrieve his Travelbug, which is said to be hidden there. He had already planned this for the other day when we turned off for the ziplining. After that, I suggest we head back."

Gwen nodded in agreement and moaned as she rose from the bench and started moving. With every step she took, she felt the sore muscles in her calves. With all that desk work, she was no longer used to the physical exertion.

Phil had already run ahead a bit excitedly, but then stopped to wait for them.

"Come on, I still want to find the Travelbug" Phil yelled to them.

"What is this, anyway?" Gwen admitted to having no idea what he and Stefan were actually talking about.

"Mom, it’s simple. I’ll explain it to you again. In some geocaches there are not only things to swap and a logbook in which you can sign in, but sometimes also small coins or other items with pendants or a minted identifier. You can look them up on the internet and read about the assignments these little guys are supposed to do. Some of them just want to explore the world and are happy if you carry them with you for a long time and just put them back into another cache far away. Others, for example, only want to see churches in Germany and still others want to explore all the castles in the world. The one I expect in the next cache wants to go back to Germany and we can do him that favor, can’t we?

"But then you have to go back to Kiel and find a geocache in which it fits. Some of the ones we had found in the last few days were only very small" Gwen said when they caught up with Phil.

"Yeah, sure, I’ll do that!"

"Same as the other promises you make to clean your room or unload the dishwasher or take out the garbage?"

"What are you so funny all of a sudden, Mom?"

Stefan sensed that the mood was about to change, took Gwen’s hand and pulled her uphill. "You and I will take care of this when we get home. Please don’t worry, Gwen. Now, let’s find the clearing and make the final climb to find this Travelbug. Then we’ll head for the valley. I’m getting awfully hungry, aren’t you?"

Gwen said nothing and tried to put on a face as friendly as possible.

When they reached the clearing, they stopped for a short time to get their bearings. Phil started his geocaching app to find out the exact distance and direction. With a few simple movements and magic circles of his mobile phone, he had calibrated the compass and was now waiting for the exact GPS signal. Stefan looked at Gwen and winked at her. Then Phil walked off slowly and watched the compass needle on his phone very closely. It was only one hundred and eighty-one yards away and they would leave the clearing and turn back into the forest, that was clear as daylight. The needle swayed a bit but kept pointing towards the forest. Ninety-two more yards and Phil slowed down. Gwen and Stefan followed him at some distance and talked about the evening program ahead of them. Forty-three more yards as he came around the bend and looked up from his cell phone. He saw the gradient. And he saw something else that left him standing there rooted to the ground.

Gwen, too, took a deep breath when she saw her son standing there petrified. She quickly grasped the situation and realized that the person in the ditch needed help – if it wasn’t already too late.

She sprinted off and gave Stefan a harsh instruction, "Try to call an ambulance!"

In her head the images of Paul’s birthday party were replayed. How they celebrated, toasted and how Paul collapsed. When Michael Peters, the medical examiner, immediately went to the scene and tried to help Paul. How they called the ambulance and took Paul to the hospital. And finally, how all attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful and Paul died that night. Gwen felt like she was walking in slow motion and the images in her head seemed surreal. As if the images were hovering over her as she walked here in the woods in the mountains to the person in the ditch and she was watching everything as an outsider. She was right in the middle of it. As if in a trance she reached the ditch and knelt down next to the motionless body.

"Hello" she shook it, "can you hear me?" She turned the person on their side. It was cold and stiff. She looked into a disfigured and dirty face but put her ear to its nose and watched the chest. There was no sign of breathing. No sign of life. Gwen sat resignedly beside the dead.

"What about the ambulance? Did you reach anybody? I think all we need is the police and a hearse" she said to Stefan as he approached her. Then she noticed Phil still staring at the scene. She had to give him a task to distract him.

"Phil, can you find out where we are and how far it is to the nearest house?"

Stefan pointed to his mobile phone, "No reception at all, Gwen. We’ll have to find another way to call the police."

"I don’t have cell phone reception either, mom, but I know where we are thanks to GPS. Is he alive?

She shook her head, "No, but let me think about it for a minute."

The images in her head started again. Gwen closed her eyes and took a deep breath in and out. Her thoughts had returned to the here and now.

"Stefan, you stay here and guard the site. I’ll go with Phil to the village and call the police. Phil, can you remember the position from here too, so we can find our way back?"

"Sure, already done!"

Gwen gave Stefan one more kiss and hugged him goodbye. "We’ll hurry and be back soon" she promised.

"You’ve changed" he whispered in Gwen’s ear as they released the hug.

Gwen looked at him with alert eyes. "Yes, I feel I can be useful, too, right now."

"Then go! The quicker you’ll be back!"

She waved at Stefan and took Phil by the hand. Then she let him guide her, because he knew the way with his smartphone.

After a good hour’s walk, they reached the next village. In the meantime, they had telephone reception again and considered calling the police directly. But they rejected this idea, because the dead man would not run away anymore. Stefan guarded the area so that other pedestrians would not cause any damage here either. However, it was very unlikely that other pedestrians would take the same route, because otherwise someone else would have found the dead body earlier. But since he was already cold and stiff by now, Gwen thought, he must have died a few days ago and since then no one had walked this path anymore. Nevertheless, they thought to inform the police, because then they would surely be able to drive back to the place of discovery in the police car. So, they saved themselves a lot of walking and Phil would play an important role, because he knew the coordinates exactly. He could then guide the police officers. It was important for Phil to have a sense of achievement and Gwen also felt like working on the investigation despite her vacation. But she thought that Stefan would not like that and rejected the idea.

They reached the trivial police station. Behind the counter sat a small, pot-bellied older man with grey-white hair. They have to work here quite a long time before they can retire, Gwen quipped inwardly when she addressed the policeman.

"Hello, good man. We need your help, please." The man stood up and looked at Gwen and Phil very closely.

"Young lady, how can we help you? Has your dog run away?" he replied.

Gwen was perplexed and wanted to rebuke him, but then decided to keep her identity and rank to herself for the time being.

"You won’t believe this, but we found a dead man in your beautiful alpine village. My…", Gwen was looking for the proper term to describe her relationship status with Stefan. "My companion waited up at the site and we walked down the valley to inform the police. My son has the exact coordinates stored on his mobile and can lead you to the site." Gwen made eye contact with Phil and hinted him to tell the policeman the location. Phil took his smartphone and opened the navigation system to show the policeman the marked location.

"Hmm, that’s up by the 'Loser'. And you’re sure he’s dead?"

Gwen looked at him in disbelief and just nodded silently. This man didn’t even think she could tell the difference between a dead and a living person.

The policeman turned around leisurely, as if he wanted to say demonstratively that they didn’t have to hurry anymore when a man was killed. He seemed to be looking for something and sorted several sheets into different trays. From time to time he shook his head. Gwen thought only of Stefan and looked at her watch. Meanwhile almost one and a half hours had passed, and the dawn would set in sometime, so she decided to get some more speed in here.

"Good man, my friend is waiting up there, and if we don’t want to get there first in the dark, we’d better take to our heels." Did she just say, 'my friend'? Gwen smiled.

"You’re in a hurry. He’s not going anywhere. I’m just looking for the procedural instructions for such a case, because we haven’t had anything like this in our 'one-horse town' yet, Madame! Gwen reflected on how snappish someone can get, and by now she didn’t care what the guy thought of her. She took out her ID from her pocket and slammed it on the counter.

"My name is Gwen Fisher and I live in Germany. I’m Chief Inspector at the State Office of Criminal Investigations and I know what to do." Phil stared at his mother in disbelief. He had never seen her so angry. At least not outside his youth room, when it came to clean up. "Please call a colleague for help and an ambulance. Grab a walkie-talkie and the car keys and let’s get going!"

The policeman flinched as Gwen started with her instructions and examined her ID. Without rushing, he picked up the phone, dialed a number and informed his colleagues that he would close the police station to pursue a reported incident involving a dead man. He could be reached by radio on the way. He gave the approximate location and said goodbye. He then obviously radioed the nearest hospital and also informed his colleagues about the plan of action and the location. They would meet there.

"Are we going alone?" Gwen asked stunned.

"We are not as abundantly staffed here as they probably are in town. Come on, I’ll drive." With these words, the policeman grabbed the car keys off the counter, and they left the station. By radio he informed his colleagues that they were now on their way.

After what felt like an eternity, they reached the place where the dead man was found. Stefan had made himself comfortable with the corpse, if one could even say so. He sat in the ditch and watched the surroundings. When he saw the patrol car coming up the slope, he stood up and gave them signs to come to him. The pot-bellied policeman got out and came towards Stefan. Gwen and Phil followed him.

"I am District Inspector Wedelmaier. I am the security guard on duty at the police station where your colleague reported this 'incident'. On the way here, she had already told me about her holiday here in Austria and that we are practically colleagues. Did you touch or change anything here? You will understand that I have to ask this as a matter of form?

Stefan nodded and extended his hand to his Austrian colleague. "I am Superintendent Schick of the LKA in Northern Germany. We are happy to be able to help you and 'no', I haven’t changed anything" he said with a smile.

"You won’t have to help us. We have all the means to clear up this case ourselves" Wedelmaier replied coolly, stepping towards the dead man. With his hands in his pockets, he eyed the corpse without coming even one step too close to it.

Stefan looked questioningly at Gwen, who just shrugged her shoulders and pinched her mouth.

Phil first noticed the approaching ambulance and ordered it to stop. Two young, blond, well-trained men got out, took their emergency cases and quickly went to the officer. The three obviously knew each other very well, Gwen noticed, because without introducing themselves, they only shook hands briefly.

After a few minutes the crew of the ambulance had realized the obvious. The man was dead.

Stefan whispered to Gwen, "If the man is dead and the cause of death is not obvious, shouldn’t we be careful and assume the worst?

Gwen replied nodding, "Yes, that’s how we would handle it in Kiel, but obviously these alpine policemen have a different approach."

"The colleagues take the dead man with them and take him to the forensic department in Salzburg to determine the cause of death. We still need their contact information and a statement on how you found the dead man. Then the matter is settled, and you can continue your vacation."

Phil, Stefan and Gwen made all their statements to the District Inspector and he made a cursory note of a few key words. He finally wanted to call it a day, and the dead man had spoiled his evening sufficiently. He didn’t want to bother with the smart alecks from Germany any longer. The body had been transported away in the meantime, and when the three had finished their statements, Wedelmaier asked as kindly as he could whether he could take the three down into the valley with him or take them somewhere else. Since it was already dawning and the way back would otherwise drag on into the darkness, they accepted gratefully. Wedelmaier dropped the family off at their hut in the settlement at the bottom of the 'Loser', thanked them formally but not heartily for their cooperation and disappeared into the darkness.

"What was that performance?" Gwen asked incredulously.

"Other countries, other mores" Stefan returned with a smile.

Phil looked at them both with amusement, because he too had understood that in Germany, due to the many regulations, there would certainly have been a different procedure to deal with the situation. But this would now be a problem for the Austrian authorities.

♦♦♦

The District Inspector was sitting in his small office and playing a game on his mobile phone when it rang. He interrupted the game, recognized the number and took the call.

"Wedelmaier. What have you figured out?"

"Mr. District Inspector. This is Luisa Steiner from the Salzburg Forensic Department. I have the results of the investigation for you."

Luisa Steiner was in her early thirties, petite with short blonde hair. It was her first job after her graduation and as a newcomer to forensic medicine she was given the honor of passing on examination results by telephone. Her superiors wrote the reports or signed them but delegated the phone calls to her younger team members. In this case it hit Luisa, who nervously played with her tongue on her small gap in her teeth while waiting for the reaction.

"Report!"

The District Inspector was obviously already impatient and no longer wanted to be tortured, or he was simply a rude and unpleasant contemporary. Luisa had so much knowledge of human nature that she was able to assess the mood without a doubt even on the phone. She came straight to the point.

"First, I can report that we have been able to determine the identity of the deceased. We ran his fingerprints against international databases and got a hit because he had a new passport. After all, biometric features have been stored for several years as additional means of identification. We were able to match his face and fingerprints very quickly and we got his name. It is Andreas Schörff. He spent his holidays here with us in Austria. He was an independent security consultant from Germany. Schörff had a sister. Perhaps in the meantime you could locate her contact information?"

"Later! Very good so far …" she was interrupted by Wedelmaier, who wanted to close this case as quickly as possible, "… any injuries, or was it a natural death?

"I was just coming to that, District Inspector. Apart from some abrasions and cuts on his face, palms of his hands and knees, we found no signs of external violence. It appears he was jogging when he fell. He may had been dizzy or had a stroke or heart attack. However, without further investigation, we won’t be able to decide here. But I wanted to inform you as soon as possible so that you have some initial clues for your report. I will get back to you as soon as we have completed our investigations. Maybe the autopsy will give us more clues about how he died."

Wedelmaier noticed that the conversation was over and replied, "Do that, Miss!" He disconnected the call.

Now came the part he hated the most. He had to write his report. Why was he always on duty when there was such an extraordinary occurrence? His boss wouldn’t let him rest until the report was written and the case closed. He was always so meticulous and close on his heels because he didn’t like things being left open for a long time or being put off.

Wedelmaier typed on his old typewriter. His two index fingers searched letter by letter and hit the respective keys. His superiors were of the opinion that so few cases occurred here that neither a connection to the data network of the police and gendarmerie nor the purchase of a computer was worthwhile. For the three or four reports a year it was reasonable to use the good old typewriter.

After filling out the accident form, which he thought was the most appropriate, with the information available, he pulled out the piece of paper between the rollers and examined the paper and its two copies. Wedelmaier put it aside and picked up his mobile phone to continue his game. He would have to wait until the forensic department from Salzburg would contact him again to report on the circumstances of the death. Until then, he would not have to worry about any investigations and even in the case of a natural death, the case would be filed away very quickly.

The day was drawing to a close and the District Inspector was about to clear up when the telephone rang again. Hastily Wedelmaier picked up the phone and barked into the receiver.

"What can you tell me?"

"Pardon? Wedelmaier, how dare you? Can’t you speak properly?"

The Chief Inspector! That’s all he needed. Karl Oberstohner was happy to inquire about the status of the investigations, as far as he knew. Apart from that, he left this branch of the police force, where very seldom something exciting happened, to one side. Wedelmaier wondered how his superior could have gotten wind of it so quickly. He had planned to inform him the next day about the new and immediately closed incident, but somehow, he already knew about it. Wedelmaier decided to be ingenuous, because Oberstohner did not like a game of hide-and-seek at all. Hopefully his end of work would not suffer from it. The Chief Inspector was a small, stocky man, in his early fifties with dark hair. No one could fool him so easily and he was very demanding.

"Chief Inspector Oberstohner, good to hear from you. I would have contacted you first thing tomorrow."

"Stop the pleasantries and tell me about the dead jogger! Why didn’t you want to tell me about it until tomorrow?"

"Well, the point is. I’m still waiting for more test results and I thought that these would be given to me now. I didn’t expect you one the line."

"I already know most of it. A young lady from forensic medicine in Salzburg has already brought me up to speed. A lively girl. Knows how to behave!"

Wedelmaier left this remark uncommented. There was no point in contradicting his superior. Anyway, he was always right and had the predominance. Until his retirement, Wedelmaier did not want to let anything scorch.

"That’s good, Chief Inspector, then you already know. Investigations are still underway to determine the cause of death."

"Right. What have you found out about the sister so far?"

Oh dear, the sister! He forgot all about her while he was playing on his smart phone.

"Yes, the sister. Well, when we know the circumstances of the death, I’ll inform her."

"Have you contacted German authorities to locate the sister?"

Wedelmaier realized that this would not have a happy ending. A structure made up of even more small fibs would certainly collapse very soon. He decided to stay close to the truth.

"Not yet. Ha ha. There was still so much paperwork to be done here. The report and stuff. You know. Right? Hehe." The District Inspector tried to defuse the situation with a little artificial laughter, but it didn’t have the desired effect.

"Wedelmaier! You lazy dog! Don’t tell me that it would have been too much to ask for contact with the German authorities already today and to have the sister’s place of residence determined. That can’t be true. I’ll be with you tomorrow morning at 10:00 am! I expect results then!"

Wedelmaier held the telephone receiver at the outstretched arm away from his ear, as the volume of the Chief Inspector increased with every word. Then the line was dead.

♦♦♦

The evening drew to a close and together they had discussed the exciting events of the day. Gwen, Stefan and Phil sat in their apartment with a bottle of wine and a coke and enjoyed themselves.

"You should have seen his eyes when I told him I was from Germany and a colleague. He finally realized that I’m not the kind of person you can treat roughly."

"The policeman then moved at all" Phil interjected. "Otherwise he was just sitting at his desk. I don’t think he gets out in the fresh air much."

"Not much really seems to happen here" agreed Stefan Phil. "You’d hardly believe it, but after you went off to get help, not a soul passed by up here. They probably wouldn’t have found the body for weeks or even months if no one had bothered to hike up the mountain."

"Surely, the right season has not yet begun" Gwen said to consider.

"Well" replied Stefan, "the travel agency already said that it was actually a beautiful winter sports resort, but that it was also well attended in the summer months. Maybe not every visitor wants to hike the 'Loser', that might be true, but it’s funny that nobody came by during the whole hours."

"What was strange was that they hadn’t secured any traces when the police finally arrived" Gwen changed the subject.

"Well, that’s understandable, Gwen. Think about it, no crime happened. A dead jogger in the woods. No obvious sign of violence. Just a few scrapes from his fall. We wouldn’t have had the full forensic evidence program in Germany.

"You’re probably right. But maybe he was chased and died of exhaustion."

"You really do have a vivid imagination, Mom" Phil interjected, "And who would have chased him?"

"Maybe a wild animal, an attack dog or something similar."

Stefan tried to nip the horror stories in the bud. "Stop it, both of you. We should stick to the facts and they speak a clear language. A dead jogger probably died of overstraining, as there were no external signs of violent death. Period! The local police will confirm that."

"That sounds reasonable, and we should check back with the station tomorrow to see if they need more information from us, or if we can help in any other way."

Stefan looked at Gwen in disbelief. "You want to put your manpower here on your vacation? Gwen, the boys here can manage on their own and there’s nothing for us to help."

"How can you know that? We should at least ask once. Our vacation will be over in a few days and we have to go back to our daily routine. I think a change of pace is in order, don’t you?" Gwen put her head to one side and looked at Stefan with her bright green eyes. She stroked one of her red curls from her face and assessed him seductively.

"I’m glad to see you so euphoric, but we wanted to relax here and not get involved in a criminal case that isn’t one."

Without saying anything, Gwen nestled herself against Stefan’s chest and purred like a cat.

"You can’t just twist me around your finger, Gwen. Let’s be realistic."

Abruptly Gwen pushed away from Stefan and sat upright him again. "You’re always so sensible, so structured, so planned. Can’t you just give in to your heart and do what you feel like doing? Paul always stood by me and we did all sorts of things together." A tear came in the corner of her eye, but Gwen didn’t let on.

"Paul always supported me. He stood by me, even if sometimes it had certainly been nonsensical things. But we stuck together and did things together. I thought I could count on you. As my partner in business and in life?" A tear ran down her cheek. Stefan caught it tenderly with his index finger.

"But of course, you can count on me. I just have no appreciation of getting involved in local law enforcement anymore. But if you think we should try and make you feel better, I’m game." His warm hand gently guided her head to his chest. Gwen let it happen.

"Then the three of us will go back tomorrow to the policeman and rough him up properly?" Phil reassured himself.

"Except to 'rough him up', we will see him again tomorrow" Stefan corrected him.

Phil finished his Coke. "Great, I’m happy and I’m going to bed so that I’m well rested for the ascertainments tomorrow" Phil remarked teasingly.

Gwen looked at Phil and noticed again how similar her son became to her. "Good night, big boy!"

♦♦♦

The District Inspector had left the police station the night before, right after his boss had called. He no longer saw any point in alerting the German authorities the evening before for a case that would be closed the next morning. Returning to Germany and informing the relatives could be arranged by the following authorities. He would not have to worry about that as a small policeman. Alois Wedelmaier was at the police station at 08:00 am as usual and thus had another two hours to write the report for his boss.

The phone rang. It was almost as if it was waiting for him.

"District Inspector Wedelmaier, good morning. How can I help you?"

"Mr. District Inspector. This is Luisa Steiner from the Salzburg Forensic Department. I have the final results of the investigation for you."

"Very good, Mrs. Steiner, what do you have for us?"

Luisa Steiner paused for a moment, because somehow the conversation on the last evening went quite differently, she thought. But maybe he had just had a busy day and therefore sounded much ruder than today. She wiped the thoughts away and summarized the results of the examination.

"As reported yesterday, there were no external signs of extreme violence that could have caused his death. Minor abrasions and cuts to his hands, knees and face were sustained from his fall. We also carried out x-ray and MRI examinations to determine whether there were any internal injuries. Unfortunately, negative. The lividity in the chest area and on the shoulder prove that death occurred, and the body was not moved afterwards. The way the colleagues from the emergency service described the case to me, our investigations coincide with the information that the body was lying in a ditch."

Wedelmaier noticed how he was getting impatient again. Couldn’t the girl get to the point faster? Did she have to confront him with the details that only explained that it was a sports accident? He was about to interrupt her when he bit his tongue. She would probably also inform his superior, and if he became unfriendly now, it would be another reason for the Chief Inspector. With him he was already under observation after the call from yesterday afternoon anyway and didn’t want to get in hot water again.

So Wedelmaier heard himself say, "That’s all very interesting, Mrs. Steiner, what else did you find out?"

"In fact, these were not all investigations. I was saving the most unusual for last.

Wedelmaier vacillated between curiosity and dislike. On the one hand, he naturally wanted to know all the details in order to write his report, and on the other hand it did bode ill if 'unusual' things came up during the investigation. Probably his report would have to be a bit longer.

"Don’t keep me in suspense, Mrs. Steiner. What were the unusual results?", he asked as kindly as possible.

"We have done a series of drug tests and blood work. The man had a whole cocktail of substances in his body. But in order. He had nearly a thousand euros in cash on him. And he had traces of heroin on his hands. But these were only concentrations just above the detection limit. The money found on him, for example, was contaminated. Perhaps we would be able to detect drugs on your hands as well if you had the counterfeit money in your hands."

Wedelmaier kept his temper and let this allusion pass. The young lady certainly did not suspect him of bribery and did not accuse him of anything. It was surely just the talk of a young, aspiring forensic scientist.

"It could happen to any of us, I’m sure you’re right. But you said you found more drugs?"

"I spoke of other substances. No drugs, Mr. Wedelmaier. Just to be on the safe side, we will conduct a hair analysis to detect or rule out drug misuse. You will receive the results in a few days. But the blood tests were much more revealing.

We found Moxifloxacin, Refecoxib, Lumiracoxib and Diclofenac in high doses. Moxifloxacin is a fourth-generation gyrase inhibitor, whereas Refecoxib is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug which belongs to the group of COX-2 inhibitors. Lumiracoxib is actually the same. It is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug used to treat rheumatic diseases. Diclofenac, on the other hand, belongs to the group of non-opioid analgesics, but also inhibits cyclooxygenases, although not selectively.

Wedelmaier had already lost the thread of the conversation some time ago and Mrs. Steiner’s words, which reached him through the telephone, resembled a cloud of sounds that made no sense to him. "If I may interrupt briefly, Mrs. Steiner? What exactly does that mean for our dead man?"

"Excuse me. I’ve gotten too deep into my gobbledygook. This is an antibiotic and several painkillers."

Wedelmaier rolled his eyes and nervously tapped his desk pad with a pencil.

"There are several things unusual about this find. First of all, there are concentrations that are not possible with proper ingestion."

"Maybe he wanted to kill himself" Wedelmaier interjected.

"They won’t kill yourselves so easily. But let me continue to summarize. Already in 2004, the drug Refecoxib was taken off the market after a negative long-term study. In the study, the incidence of heart attacks, angina pectoris and strokes increased. At that time, the company did not want to take any risks and no longer wanted to sell the drug.

The same applies to Lumiracoxib. Lumiracoxib was also withdrawn from the market in 2007 after serious side effects were reported.

Furthermore, due to an unfavorable benefit-risk ratio, Moxifloxacin was only approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2008 for exceptional cases where other antibiotics may or cannot be used.

Diclofenac still exists today. It’s available only on prescription and helps with mild to moderate pain."

"Yes, but where did mister …", Wedelmaier leafed through his notes on the desk, "… Schörff got all those drugs?"

"That is a good question and certainly something for the police" Luisa replied whimsical.

"Maybe, but what did Mr. Schörff die of?"

"He had full-blown myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. His sports activities caused cardiac arrhythmia and eventually led to a heart attack. Death must have occurred some thirty-six hours ago."

"Could it be because of these myo … thingies that he took the antibiotic?"

"Rather unlikely, because cardiac insufficiency is caused by viruses that antibiotics can’t fight."

"And the painkillers?"

"Also unlikely, because such an illness often goes unnoticed because it does not cause pain. If symptoms occur, they are more like a flu-like infection. But it is strange that he had so many different drugs in his body in such high doses. And some drugs were already off the market."

"Very strange indeed" Wedelmaier admitted. "Please send me the full report."

"Gladly. To what e-mail address?"

In such moments he had always cursed his superior. They pinched and scraped, and they didn't grant the internet access. And that in the information age! Wedelmaier was inwardly very agitated, but he didn’t say a word to the young forensic scientist.

With calm and carefully chosen words he answered, "Mrs. Steiner, unfortunately I can’t give you an e-mail address, but I could give you a fax number."

After a short break she replied, "With pleasure, no problem. I’m sure I’ll be able to find one here."

After they exchanged the number, the District Inspector thanked her and hung up. Only a few minutes later the report reached him by fax. Once again, he scanned the pages and noted down some important points. Then he started to add them to his report with a grumpy attitude. It could have been such a clear and simple incident with a small memo, but then a spoke was put is his wheels. He still had a lot to do, so he set to work.

At 10:00 am sharp, the Chief Inspector showed up at the station.

"Good morning, Wedelmaier, what have you brought together?"

"Good morning, Chief Inspector. I can give you my final report."

"Let’s hear it!"

"I have written everything in this paper here for you."

He handed over the three pages of his report, as well as the forensic report to his superior, who quickly skimmed it.

"I’m glad to see you’ve come so far. After all, this now seems to be an incident that we should follow up intensively. Where was he visiting in Austria? Who did he meet? Does he have any relatives here? What was his concern for his stay? Many questions that you should pursue in the next few days. Once you have fully completed the initial investigations, we can pass on the information to the relevant authorities in Germany. And finally take care of the request for information to the German authorities to inform the sister."

"You are absolutely right, Chief Inspector. I shall begin at once to compile the missing answers."

As quickly as the Chief Inspector had appeared, as quickly he had disappeared again. While he was turning on his heel, he said a fleeting, "Thank you, servus" and disappeared.

Wedelmaier let himself sink back into his chair and sighed, "These are going to be long days."

♦♦♦

"I wonder if we can’t help there after all."

Gwen just didn’t give up, Stefan thought, but that’s what he loved about his colleague. Once she got something into her head to do, she would follow the theory, the idea or the conception until it either turned out that she was barking up the wrong tree or she had achieved her goal. Stefan had never seen anyone in his environment show such persistence before. He had accepted his fate the night before, when he had quickly realized that he could not talk Gwen out of her plan. So, he hoped inwardly for a refusal when they entered the police station.

"Hello, Mr. District Inspector" Gwen greeted him.

Wedelmaier looked up in amazement from his typewriter when he heard the familiar voice again. He was stunned for a few seconds and froze when he saw the two colleagues with their son coming in the door. But then he stirred and greeted them.

"The colleagues from Germany. What else can I do for you? I thought you were enjoying your vacation."

Before Stefan could say anything else, Gwen went like a bull at a gate.

"Last night, we were wondering if we could help with the investigation. It looked like you were running this place by yourself, and we wanted to help you out a little."

Wedelmaier was furious, because nobody would make him out to be a small policeman who had to be 'helped'. But then he thought of something better. He could even take pleasure om the situation, if he did it right. The colleagues came from Germany, what if he simply gave them the case? Then he would have very little to do with it and could close the case quickly. This would certainly impress the Chief Inspector.

"In fact, I could use a little help, but you’re on vacation here and I don’t want to burden you with investigations." He didn’t want to bother with prefaces and tried to achieve his goal in small steps.

"It doesn’t matter, Mr. District Inspector. We are happy to help. Right, Stefan?"

Stefan nodded politely, knowing well that the expected turn of events would not come about here.

"Well, if you really want to help?" One more small step.

"Yes, we’d love to. What can we do? What do you already have?"

Stefan resigned. The dam had burst, and Gwen had got her own way. They could weigh in here, not to say, 'have to'. Now there was no turning back.

Alois Wedelmaier brought the colleagues from Germany up to date. He summarized the forensic medicine report in a few words. He mentioned the sister who lived in Germany and also the request for information which he had made to the German authorities a few minutes ago. Finally, he read out the name and address: "Andreas Schörff, Schulstraße 27 in Gettorf." He waited for the reaction.

"Gettorf? It’s around the corner from us!" Gwen was all excited. "The case would probably end up on our desk anyway, since it’s in the catchment area of the State Office of Criminal Investigation in Kiel, where we both work."

"I’m glad to hear that. Should I make them a copy of the file so they can take the information back to Germany? You might as well go straight to the sister. Maybe she lives nearby. At the very least you could then investigate the drug abuse, that’s what I would call it. I would then close the file here in Austria and inform my superior, if that’s okay?"

"Of course, this is okay for us. Stefan, what do you think?"

"The case would come to us anyway, to question the strange circumstances of his death. Then we might as well take it with us, and you can get acquainted with it on the way back."

Gwen and Wedelmaier nodded almost synchronously.

"And remember to inform the Salzburg Forensic Department, so that the hair analysis results can be sent directly to my mother in Kiel" Phil wisely remarked.

Gwen and Stefan couldn’t stop laughing, because Phil wanted to help to 'rough up'. The District Inspector looked at all three of them irritated and joined to laugh.

Back at the resort, Gwen went over the file. It wasn’t much so far. It described how the District Inspector was informed of the incident by Gwen. Her address details were included in the report, as well as the time and place where Mr. Schörff was found. After comparing his fingerprints, his identity was quickly proved. So far, everything pointed to an athlete who may have died from overexertion or other unfortunate circumstances. It was clear that the cause of death could be ruled out as external force. As usual, the forensic report swarmed with technical terms and neither Gwen nor Stefan were able to translate and understand the details. The District Inspector had shared his recollection of the report with them, but Gwen felt uncomfortable relying on the testimony of an amateur. So, it was soon clear that they needed professional help. Gwen didn’t want to wait until they were back in Kiel and at work and had picked up the phone to call her longtime friend and colleague in forensic medicine, Dr. Michael Peters. Dr. Peters was able like no other to describe even complicated matters in simple words.

Gwen activated the hands-free function of her mobile phone so that Stefan and Phil could listen in. Gwen read the medical examiner’s report aloud slowly. With all the foreign words and technical terms, she felt like a beginner trying to read his first words. Michael supported her, because he could deduce the right words from the context. After Gwen finished the full report, the forensic expert summarized the most important findings colloquially.

"Your dead jogger, Mr. Schörff, suffered from heart muscle inflammation. The drugs he had in his body were not suitable to fight this disease. That means, the question arises why he had taken the drugs. It is conceivable that he had a disease and wanted to cure it with the drugs. Normally, 'one' medicine would have been sufficient. It would have worked in a much lower dosage and …", he used a dramatic paused to increase the tension, "… he would have taken drugs that were also approved in Germany."

Stefan and Gwen looked at each other. They were at a loss. What was the meaning of all that? Why was someone taking partially unapproved drugs in high doses? And where did he get them from? Was the overdose perhaps just an accident, or was he pursuing a goal by taking it?

"Michael, Mr. Schörff was a sportsman. Could it be that these drugs had been taken to improve performance" asked Stefan, to give a new direction to the exploration of the options?

"No, Stefan. The substances are completely unsuitable to increase performance or, if necessary, to build up muscles. As an athlete he would have known that. I’d like to go one step further and say that the drugs may even have been responsible for his heart muscle inflammation."

"How?" Phil asked incredulously.

"For example, if you have an infection and need to take antibiotics, you should always refrain from doing sports. Neither strength nor endurance sports! Everything together is too strenuous for the body. To fight an inflammation and to show performance in sports. One effect could indeed be heart muscle inflammation. If you then continue to exercise instead of taking it easy, your heart may eventually conk out and you may suffer a heart attack."

Stefan nodded in agreement and confirmed to Dr. Peters, "I have read about that too."

Gwen kept thinking out loud. "This is all very mysterious. If he really was suffering from an infection and had received the medication from a doctor, wouldn’t the doctor have told him about the risks? But why the painkillers? And why in high doses?"

"Please give me a minute I want to look something up" Michael asked his colleagues for patience.

"None of this makes any sense" Phil started.

"No, you got that right. We can’t figure it out so far either. Or do you have another brilliant idea, Gwen?"

Gwen shook her head thoughtfully as Dr. Peters spoke again.

"I checked for side effects and drug interactions. You won’t believe it."

"Now don’t put us on the rack" Gwen told her boyfriend to get to the point.

"One of the drugs was taken off the market because of cardiac arrhythmia after long-term use. It cannot be ruled out, that the heart also suffers a heart attack. Furthermore, the probability of a heart attack increases when the antibiotic and one of the painkillers are taken at the same time. At the high doses in which he took the medication, I believe that the probability of a heart attack is close to one hundred percent. Of course, it is impossible to say with certainty that this will happen, or even when, but the risk is considerable. The painkillers must have also alleviated the symptoms of heart failure, if he had any at all."

"Maybe he didn’t do the drugs on purpose" Phil interjected, and the adults remained silent.

They looked at each other with irritation and tried to process the new aspect and bring it in line with what they had heard before.

Stefan was the first to grasp the idea and tried to put it into context. "If he didn’t know what he was ingesting, it would explain why he had such a high concentration in his body. It would also be a plausible explanation why he had taken this specific mixture. However, it does not explain why someone wanted to administer this mixture to him and where the unauthorized drugs came from."

Dr. Peters agreed with Stefan. "That is absolutely right. I get the feeling that you’re onto something bigger and Gwen can’t wait to get back to Kiel?"

Stefan looked at Gwen, who was all smiles.

"You seem to be right, Michael" Stefan admitted with a simper.

"Then I’ll see you in a few days. Enjoy the time that remains. I look forward to seeing you." Michael hung up.

Stefan looked at Gwen and noticed that her sadness was gone. "This wasn’t the plan, but it seems to me you’re looking forward to the task." He took her hand and grabbed Phil’s too. "I’m looking forward to working with you." All three laughed.

Anyway, the next day the vacation was over, and Gwen couldn’t wait to get back home to do some initial research. She was already planning the first days after her return from vacation when her phone rang. The phone number was a local number that she didn’t know. It was Chief Inspector Karl Oberstohner. He had phoned Alois Wedelmaier and learned that he had handed over the case to his German colleagues. They would take care of everything else. He could hardly believe that he had actually managed to get the job done again, passing it on from his desk to others. So, he called Gwen to get the confirmation at first hand and to wish her good luck. He promised her to support her if any questions should arise or if further investigations in Austria were necessary. The results of the hair analysis would of course be sent to her as soon as they were available.

Gwen thanked him and hung up. She would still have to pack her bags, but this time she was looking forward to it. She was going home and got a new case.