Читать книгу Secret doors - Dirk Lützelberger - Страница 7

Chapter 2

Chief Inspector Gwen Fisher thought back to her last birthday with mixed feelings. Only a few months earlier, she had lost her husband on his own birthday. They had tried to save him and get him to hospital in time, but fate was not kind to them. He died the same night. In the weeks that followed, she got to work, not to be caught by her grief. With success, as Gwen initially believed, and together with her colleague Superintendent Stefan Schick, she solved the tricky case of a serial killer. After the successful conclusion of the case, Gwen and Stefan had formed a delicate bond and now spent more time together. She smiled as she remembered her last birthday.

It was 01 February 2013, when they all met in Gwen’s family home in Felm to toast. Gwen, the kingpin, successively toasted her son Phil, her partner Stefan, the forensic scientist and long-time friend Dr. Michael Peters and last but not least her mother Beth. The group was small, but they were her favorite people, whom Gwen liked to be with. She closed her eyes and relived in her mind the most beautiful moment of the celebration.

"But Mom, you have to explain one thing to me" said Phil, looking at Gwen expectantly at the time.

"Well, what is it, sweetheart?" Gwen asked.

"You’ve always promised to spend more time with me Why would it work out this time?" Phil followed up.

Gwen thought for a moment and then said very seriously, "First you have to part occasionally with your computer and have time for me. Can you do that?"

Phil nodded affirmatively after a short break.

"And then someone will help me to carry out my plan" Gwen heard herself say and still tasted the kiss she exchanged with Stefan at that time.

Dreaming, Gwen lingered in her thoughts until the present caught up with her and Phil came home rumbling.

By now it was Sunday, 07 July 2013, and summer found ways into the hearts of the people of Kiel and the summer holidays were in full swing. Phil enjoyed the days off and had met his school friend Benoît for the first time this year for a swim. They had cycled to the Falckenstein lido, which could be reached in just under forty minutes. It had become warmer these days and the boys had the feeling to enjoy their freedom.

"Hi, Mom, I’m back!"

"You can’t miss it" mumbled Gwen.

"Benoît and I have thought about something. Since the weather is supposed to stay the same for the next days, we have great plans for the coming weekend. You’ll never guess. Guess what?"

Gwen sat up and thought. On the weekends, as it was customary among the Fishers for generations, at least one day should be dedicated to the family. They had always done so, even when Paul was alive. Gwen painfully remembered the time with her beloved husband and hardly noticed that Phil was standing in front of her and still waiting for an answer.

"Come on, tell me, what’s the great idea?" she asked Phil.

"We wanted to go on a bicycle tour to the high ropes course together to test our head for heights. You and Stefan are coming, right?"

"We should discuss this with Grandma and Stefan first."

"Nah, it’s nothing for grandma, but it would be great if Stefan came along" he replied.

Before Gwen could answer, the front door opened, and Stefan stood in the room. Gwen jumped up joyfully and greeted her colleague and meanwhile, very good friend. She had previously avoided introducing him as 'her' friend, as Paul’s death was less than a year ago. She wanted to wait for an appropriate period of mourning, but what was 'appropriate' or 'usual'. She pushed the thought aside and gave Stefan a big kiss on the cheek.

"We were just talking about you, Stefan" Gwen gallantly passed the conversation over.

"Uh-huh, and what was that about? I hope it was something positive."

"Phil already has us booked for next weekend. You know, our family Sundays. He wants us all to go to the high rope course to face our fears of heights." Gwen giggled. "Without Beth, of course, she won’t be able to make it. So? What do you think?"

Stefan only had to think about it for a moment and agreed, "Of course, that’s a great idea!"

As quickly as Phil had come, he nodded and disappeared outside again. "I’ll take Benoît to rove around the neighborhood."

"All right, big boy, but don’t forget dinner later."

The door already fell crashing into the lock and Gwen pulled the still standing Stefan to her on the couch.

"Nice of you to drop by" she smiled at him in love and stroked his ear.

"Yeah, I thought we’d spend Sunday night together and see the murder mystery on TV."

"As if we didn’t have enough detective stories that week" said Gwen and poked him into his side.

"No kidding, but it’s also nice to just consume these totally far-fetched stories."

"Exactly, the murderer is usually the gardener, and in the end, there is always some distant brother-in-law, cousin, or missing brother who happened to have a motive, opportunity, and means to commit the murder. Throughout the whole movie there is always a story told, where the killer never appears in it … and is captured, as in real life." Gwen twisted the corners of her mouth into a gloating smile and rejoiced when Stefan responded to her sarcasm.

"You’re right, almost like our last case."

"The scam?" Gwen wanted to make sure.

"Yeah, sure. Weeks of analysis of accounts, interviews with friends and relatives, research among colleagues, and everything else to later connect the son, who was currently spending a semester abroad for 'work and travel', with the crime."

"Stories of how life writes them. Now come over here, my hero." Gwen grinned boldly, knocked Stefan over on the couch and curled up tight beside him.

Gwen felt Stefan’s warmth on her back and pressed herself against him even more. She let her hips circle and felt how Stefan enjoyed the situation. He wrapped his arm around Gwen and held her tightly. While Gwen felt the emerging excitement behind her back, she closed her eyes to enjoy the situation.

She noticed her eyes becoming moist and a single tear collected in the corner of her eye. She squinted her eyes, swallowed once but could not keep the situation under control. She released herself from the embrace and sat up.

"What’s wrong?" Stefan asked in a soft voice and stroked her back and through her hair.

"Not now, please!" she replied curtly and gently took his hand.

"You know what’s going on, Stefan. It just keeps coming back up. There’s nothing I can do about it." She tried to keep her composure and hold back the tears, but she could feel her resistance getting weaker.

"I miss Paul so much, but I’m also very happy with you. Please don’t misunderstand me. I like you so much, but I’ve been married to Paul all these years. We have a son together. I thought I could easily overcome the situation by getting back to work and showing successes. But that only worked in the beginning. On my birthday I thought I had made it and overcome the loss. You were there, you were all there. You gave me stability and made me forget the terrible situation, but then it caught up with me again."

She slumped down and the next tears rose in her eyes. Gwen could feel the levees starting to break.

"What can I do for you, my dear. Please tell me!" Stefan tried to calm Gwen down.

"There’s not much you can do. I need time. I don’t know." Her tears began to flow.

"I feel so helpless. I want to be there for you, help you." Stefan left Gwen to her feelings. He was powerless and had never lost anyone close to him before and therefore could not feel what this meant. Gwen sobbed and cried. She let her emotions run free. After what felt like an eternity, Gwen came back to her breath and was able to say a few words between her sobs.

"Just … give me … time." Stefan nodded wordlessly and stroked her back again.

This time, Gwen was able to endure the caresses. She had calmed down a bit and started to think more clearly again.

"I could do with some time off" Gwen expressed her wishes.

"That sounds great" Stefan replied without sounding euphoric. He didn’t feel very comfortable in the situation and didn’t want to strain her unnecessarily by acting wrong.

"What do you suggest?" he asked cautiously. "What would do you good?"

Gwen was thinking. Get away! Far away! But what about Phil? What if her mother got worse? She’s not that young either! You should be able to get home quickly, and not drive so far away. But with a plane you can get home quite quickly from anywhere. But not from New Zealand, you stupid cow! Yeah, but it’d be okay if they go by car. Or we could drive just the two of us. That would be nice too, but Phil would be sad. Why can’t I find a good solution here? Paul would have known what to do. But he’s not here, and … I miss him so much.

Gwen took a deep breath in and out, trying to get the thoughts that were buzzing around in her head like flies into something orderly. Away! Not that far! Three of you! That sounded reasonable!

"I want to get out of here. With you and Phil together, but not that far away. I think a change of scenery would do me good."

"That’s a great idea. We’re on summer vacation and we could take time off over my 40^th birthday. I had thought about that, but now that you brought it up, it makes total sense to me. Does it for you?"

Gwen looked at Stefan and tenderly took his cheeks in her hands. Then she pulled his face up to hers. She nodded and kissed him tenderly. She closed her reddened eyes and enjoyed the moment. After a while she released his face again. Stefan would have liked to enjoy the situation even longer and still felt the warmth of her kiss.

Gwen let herself fall to the back rest of the couch and imagined how she would like to spend her vacation.

She dreamed of white beaches, palm trees and warm water. But all the beautiful places that would offer something like that were either too far away or too expensive to spend a holiday there. She categorically ruled out the alternatives around the corner at the North and Baltic Sea. After all, she could have that just about every day. In northern direction there was only Denmark or maybe Sweden. But here there was no sun guarantee. It seemed to amount to a compromise. Instead of going to the sea and lying lazily on the beach, it would of course be a good idea to do something for your fitness and go hiking in the mountains. Maybe in the Austrian Alps. There was no guarantee of sunshine either, but at least the probability of rain was much lower than to the north. Gwen made friends with the idea and tried to put her ideas into words.

"We could render the mountains uncertain. I think some sport would do our fitness good and we could go hiking in Austria. What do you think?"

"Okay" Stefan replied hesitantly. "But will you get enough relaxation and variety there?" he asked back.

"If we choose a nice place and spend a few days just loafing around there, we’ll manage" she replied, partly in Austrian slang, and giggled.

Stefan raised his thumb to signal that he agreed.

"This is how we do it. Next step is to see the travel agency tomorrow and book, so that we don’t change our mind. And we’ll talk to Phil when he gets home."

"You’re right!" Gwen confirmed Stefan’s intentions and relaxed inside. She was happy to have found a way to get some distance and switch off.

♦♦♦

Phil was torn between the joy of the upcoming holiday and frustration that he could no longer realize his plans with Benoît. In the end, however, the prospect of spending some time together with his mother and Stefan prevailed. Phil was very pragmatic about this. Just like his mother. If it was not one solution, it was another. There was always a way. Gwen had always taught him that way, passing on both her sunny disposition and optimism to Phil. Phil had gone straight to Benoît the next day to tell him the news. He didn’t know exactly where the holiday was going or what they were going to do, but it was going to be hiking in the mountains. That much virtually certain.

Gwen and Stefan had to work. After all, it was a normal weekday and even though it was school holidays, Gwen couldn’t watch Phil all day. At times Beth stepped in to check on things and to provide Phil with lunch. Beth had always been a family person and helped out whenever she could. Gwen liked to have her mother by her side, as she was not only a support in the difficult times since Paul’s death, but in her unobtrusive way she was always a welcome guest. In spite of her seventy-three years, Beth was still very fit and agile, which was certainly due to her interested and open nature, which led to her being taken along to all sorts of family activities. However, Beth and her daughter had quickly agreed on the phone last night that it was not a good idea for 'Granny' to be climbing mountains or hiking in the mountains. Beth wished, she should have a good time with Stefan and Phil and report back afterwards.

Gwen and Stefan went to the travel agency of their choice after work to get extensive advice and finally book. The decision was made quickly. The Austrian Alps were already set by Gwen’s ideas and the desire to hike and relax could also be realized there very well. They booked a beautiful wooden cottage in a small holiday resort, which invited to ski in winter and to go hiking in summer. Around the holiday resort there were enough possibilities to explore the mountains and the Altausser lake was just perfect for cycling.

Gwen was comfortable with her decision and the days were numbered before they could leave. It would only be two more weeks to work. Her boss at the LKA had looked a bit critical for a moment when she approached him with the wish to take vacation near-term, but since he had noticed in the last weeks how much Gwen was backed down, he knew that this would be a necessary step to get back the old Gwen, the happy Gwen. Also, the relationship with Stefan had not remained hidden from him and so he was not surprised when a short time later Stefan came to him with the same wish and applied for leave just as quickly.

Back home, both of them settled into Gwen’s living room to toast their holiday plans. Phil returned home a little later and joined the two of them, who immediately reported the news and described the holiday destination. Phil was thrilled and immediately pulled out his cell phone to google the place. He liked what he saw very much, and he also looked at the geocaches that would be hidden at that location. Then he smirked.

"If I would find even one single geocache, I would have one country point for Austria in my statistics! So Benoît has to prepare himself for the worst, if he wants to catch up with me. I would have found the southernmost cache right away, because Benoît had only been in Munich so far and had successfully searched for geocaches there. I have to text him right away." Phil kept babbling to himself as he disappeared into his room on the second floor. Gwen and Stefan just looked at each other speechless and smiled.

"I think we’ve hit the jackpot" said Gwen.

"Yes, I’m happy if Phil is happy there too, but this is primarily about you. So, you can relax and unwind."

"As always, you’re right."

"What is it with these geocaches?" Stefan wondered.

"This started a few years ago. It was the best way to get kids out of the house, if you ask me." She winked at him. "The geocaches are listed in a huge database on the Internet. The exact location is given by GPS coordinates and many of the caches also tell a story or hold secrets. So, a Sunday stroll becomes an interesting undertaking. One looks for a way where the son tries to find his geocaches to get points in the mentioned statistics, and he is motivated to come out into the fresh air. Of course, he has to take his mobile phone with him and stares at it all the time to find the right way to the cache. You can’t expect him to be more communicative, but at least he gets comes out of his room and doesn’t always stick to his computer."

"I understand. And through statistics he compares himself to his friends?"

"Right. At least that’s how I understood it. That’s why he’s so eager to find the southernmost, northernmost, westernmost or easternmost cache. It also keeps track of when he found the most caches in a day, how many different countries he found them in, and how difficult they were." Gwen thought about it, then she went on. "Once he was trying to find an extremely difficult geocache. It was called, 'You can see me!' That should have been warning enough, because when we arrived at the listed location, we were standing in front of a several hundred-year-old oak tree. At a height of at least ten yards you could see a box that was attached to a crotch. Since we were neither equipped with a ladder nor with a climbing harness, Phil wanted to climb the tree just like that. I’m sure you can imagine the discussion that caused."

Stefan nodded understandingly. "I can imagine that very well. Let’s see what caches he wants to visit this time and how dangerous it will be. Don’t worry, I’ll support you in your discussions."

♦♦♦

The last two weeks flew by and finally the big day was there to start the much-needed holiday. In the past time Gwen had to reminisce about Paul and their journeys together. She became very sad and tried to distract herself with her work, but only partly succeeded. Her thoughts went around in circles. Eventually, she told herself that everyone was grieving in their own way and that she was not the type of person to wrap herself in black clothes for a year and refrain from laughing.

Packing had always been a horror for Gwen. Had she thought of everything? What if something was missing, or her clothes didn’t go with the weather? But she wouldn’t let that spoil her holiday. Not before it even started. She laid out her clothes that made the most sense when combined and with which she would be prepared for all weathers. When she looked at the piles of clothes on her bed and the floor, she began to doubt whether she would be able to fit all of them into her suitcase. She took a deep breath and went to her son in his room.

Phil had already finished packing. He was only fifteen years old, but already very advanced in some things, Gwen thought proudly. She had left him his own suitcase to pack, and now all the stuff had already found their place in it. She could hardly believe it.

"Have you finished packing yet, Phil?" Gwen asked incredulously.

"Sure Mom. All in. Shoes, clothes, for hot and cold days. I also remembered to pack the toothbrush, too." Phil smiled at his mother. "Do you need any more help?"

Gwen wondered if she wanted to lower her guard, but she gave way and nodded hesitantly. Without another word, Gwen turned around and disappeared into the bedroom. Phil followed her triumphantly.

"Well, let’s see …" Phil began by inspecting the stacks. "That doesn’t look so bad, considering you’re going away for three months." Gwen just looked at him ashamed but said nothing. "I think if you’ve got half of each pile, that’s enough to put in a suitcase. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do." Phil turned around and disappeared into his room smiling. He could hardly hold back his laughter.

Gwen thought about her smart-aleck son and looked again at the piles of clothes only to realize that he was probably right. She started to sort the stacks again and put at least half of the clothes back in the closet. How she hated that! More and more she began to doubt if she still had enough and if she was prepared for all eventualities. Finally, she fell on the bed and watched the result. There were significantly fewer stacks and she had the feeling that she would be very well prepared with that too. It would fit, she told herself and stuffed everything into the suitcase. Surprisingly, it even closed, which hadn’t always been the case in recent years. How often had she got into a fight with Paul when it came to pack the suitcases? But these were now all just memories that would fade away more and more.

It is the 'here' and 'now', and so she tried to experience every day anew. The doorbell rang. Phil sprinted down the stairs and greeted Stefan, who entered the porch together with the taxi driver.

"Are you guys finished?" he asked Phil, who nodded and turned around to get his suitcase. "Because we’re ready to go."

Groaning, Gwen also came down the stairs and put her suitcase by the apartment door. The taxi driver immediately loaded Gwen’s suitcase and waited for the boys. Two minutes later everything was stowed, and they could leave for Kiel central station. By bus they would be at Hamburg airport in ninety minutes, where the plane would take them directly to Salzburg. Phil and Stefan were already sitting in the taxi when Gwen, still with a feeling of having forgotten something, closed the door and locked it. It was as if it took a load off her mind when she finally sat in the taxi and they took off. Who would have thought that packing a suitcase could be so exhausting?