Goldstein by volker Kutscher

Author:volker Kutscher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sandstone Press Ltd
Published: 2018-05-07T16:00:00+00:00

58

Rath hadn’t been down this way in a long time, certainly not this early in the morning. He didn’t encounter many colleagues, but the officers he had worked most closely with in Vice were both dead, and he hadn’t had much to do with the rest. He had been with the squad only two months but, even so, seemed to have made a lasting impression on the division chief.

‘Inspector Rath,’ Werner Lanke said, offering a hand. ‘What a surprise! You were never this early back in the day.’ He gestured towards Kirie. ‘You must be working like a dog.’

Werner Lanke laughed at his own joke and Kirie wagged her tail, realising they were speaking about her. Rath managed a friendly grin. He had to remain civil, even if he and Lanke were linked only in mutual antipathy.

Krumme Lanke, after the lake, was an accurate nickname. The man had such a pronounced stoop that, over time, his official six foot three had become more like five foot eleven. There was something vulture-like about him, an impression intensified by his prominent nose and piercing eyes that peered over reading glasses.

‘A good thing I’ve caught you, Sir.’

‘I don’t know that it is. I’m in a hurry.’

‘Just two minutes?’

‘Alright then.’ Lanke sat down again. ‘To what do I owe this honour?’

‘I’m looking for a female witness . . .’

‘If you’re referring to Fräulein Lübbe, she isn’t here yet.’

Jutta Lübbe was Lanke’s secretary. Rath’s stock of dutiful smiles was dwindling. ‘The woman’s name is Marion Bosetzky,’ he said. ‘She became a Vice informant two years ago.’

‘I see.’

‘She was a nude dancer in an illegal nightclub until her employers learned of her sideline.’

‘You’re well informed.’

‘The alpha and omega of police work.’

‘What would you like me to do about it?’

‘I need as much information as possible on her, and I’d like to speak with her go-between. Who recruited her, is she still deployed? That sort of thing.’

Rath realised that it was a mistake to ask someone like Werner Lanke for help. The superintendent savoured his power even more in view of Rath’s helplessness.

‘You’re talking about things that are subject to strict confidentiality. E Division internal affairs, and I . . .’

‘I’m talking about an investigation in which Fräulein Bosetzky could be an important witness.’

‘If it’s so important Superintendent Gennat will put in a request to examine the files, as one division chief to another.’ Lanke stood and reached for his coat. ‘Now, please excuse me. I don’t want to keep Prosecutor Rosanski waiting.’

Lanke threw on his hat and black coat, looking even more like a vulture. A vulture with a hat. Rath followed him into the corridor, where Lanke made a point of locking the door, as if to show Rath how little he trusted him. He briefly tipped his hat and stooped down the corridor towards the atrium and his car.

Erika Voss was already there by the time Rath entered his office. She gazed in surprise, first at him then at Kirie. The dog wagged her tail.

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