Eternal by Craig Russell

Author:Craig Russell
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2011-09-29T19:58:23.691000+00:00

10.

Thirteen Days After the First Murder: Wednesday, 31 August 2005.

9.10 a.m.: Police Presidium, Hamburg

Fabel had been at his desk since seven-thirty. He had again gone through the BKA files that Ullrich had lent him and had taken out the sketch pad from his desk and plotted out as much as he could from the information at his disposal.

He phoned Bertholdt Müller-Voigt’s office. After he explained who he was, Fabel was told that the Environment Senator was working from home, which he often did, as yet another visible commitment to reducing his travel kilometres and therefore his impact on the environment. His secretary said she could, however, get right back to Fabel with an appointment for that day.

Fabel made another call. Henk Hermann had got Fabel the number for Ingrid Fischmann, the journalist.

‘Hello, Frau Fischmann? This is Principal Chief Commissar Jan Fabel of the Polizei Hamburg. I work for the Murder Commission, and I am currently investigating the murder of Hans-Joachim Hauser. I wondered if it would be possible to meet. I think you could help me with some background information …’

‘Oh … I see …’ The woman’s voice at the other end sounded a lot younger and lacked the authority that Fabel had somehow expected. ‘Okay … how about three p.m. at my office?’

‘That’s fine. Thank you, Frau Fischmann. I have the address.’

Within a few minutes of hanging up from Ingrid Fischmann, Bertholdt Müller-Voigt’s secretary phoned back saying that the Senator could fit Fabel in if he could make his way directly to Herr Müller-Voigt’s house. She gave Fabel an address near Stade in the Altes Land, outside Hamburg and on the south side of the Elbe. He doesn’t mind me clocking up the kilometres, thought Fabel as he hung up.

Müller-Voigt’s house was a huge modern home that had ‘expensive architect’ written in every angle and detail, and Fabel reflected on how the former left-wing environmentalist firebrand seemed to have embraced conspicuous consumption with great enthusiasm. As he approached the front door, however, Fabel noticed that what had appeared to be blue marble tiling along the whole front elevation was, in fact, a façade made up entirely of solar panels.

Müller-Voigt answered the door. As Fabel remembered him from Lex’s restaurant, he was a smallish but fit-looking man with broad shoulders and a tanned face broken by a broad, white-toothed smile.

‘Herr Chief Commissar, please … do come in.’

Fabel had heard of Müller-Voigt’s charm: his primary weapon, apparently, with women and political opponents alike. It was well known that he could turn it off whenever necessary. He could be an aggressive and highly outspoken opponent. The politician showed Fabel into a vast living room with a pine-lined double-height vaulted ceiling. He offered Fabel a drink, which the detective declined.

‘What can I do for you, Herr Fabel?’ asked Müller-Voigt, sitting down on a large corner sofa and indicating that Fabel should do likewise.

‘I’m sure you’ve heard of the deaths of Hans-Joachim Hauser and Gunter Griebel?’ asked Fabel.

‘God, yes. Terrible, terrible business.’

‘You knew Herr Hauser rather well, I believe.

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