The Trap by Melanie Raabe

Author:Melanie Raabe
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Mystery, Literary, Thrillers & Suspense, Thriller & Suspense, Literary Fiction, Suspense, Literature & Fiction
ISBN: 1509810676
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2016-07-03T19:00:00+00:00

20

Victor Lenzen looks at me with bowed head and says nothing. I stare back. I’m going to stand my ground, no matter what happens.

We’re sitting down again. I had asked him—with raised gun—to return to his seat.

“Where were you living twelve years ago?” I ask. Lenzen lets out a tormented noise, but says nothing.

“Where were you living twelve years ago?”

I don’t raise my voice, I don’t shout; I simply ask, the way I’ve learned.

“Do you know Anna Michaelis?”

It is disconcerting looking somebody in the eyes for a long time. Lenzen’s eyes are very pale—gray, almost white. But the gray contains some tiny speckles of green and brown, and is edged with a black circle. Lenzen’s eyes look like an eclipse of the sun.

“Do you know Anna Michaelis?” Silence.

“Where were you on 23 August 2002?” Silence.

“Where were you on 23 August 2002?”

Nothing—just a frown. As if the date reminds him of something that is only now coming back to him.

“I don’t know,” he says faintly. He’s talking. Good.

“Why are you lying to me, Herr Lenzen?”

In a film, I would release the safety catch at this point to drive my words home.

“Where were you living twelve years ago?” I repeat. “Talk, damn it!”

“In Munich,” says Lenzen.

“Do you know Anna Michaelis?”

“No.”

“Why are you lying, Herr Lenzen? There’s no point.”

“I’m not lying.”

“Why did you kill Anna Michaelis?”

“I’ve never killed anyone.”

“Have you killed other women?”

“I’ve never killed anyone.”

“What are you?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“What are you? Are you a rapist? A robber and murderer? Did you know Anna?”

“Anna,” Lenzen says, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “No.”

It does something to me, hearing him speak Anna’s name out loud like that—the name she was so proud of being able to read backward as well as forward. I tremble. I see Anna lying in a pool of blood, although blood gave her the creeps, and I know that I’m not going to let Lenzen go: Victor Lenzen will confess or die.

“Do you know an Anna Michaelis?”

“No, I don’t know any Anna Michaelis.”

“Where were you on 23 August 2002?” Silence again.

“Where were you on 23 August 2002?”

“I…“ He hesitates. “I’m not sure.”

That annoys me. He knows perfectly well where he was on 23 August 2002. He knows perfectly well what I’m driving at. The cat’s been out of the bag for ages. So what’s all this about?

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, unable to conceal my impatience.

“Frau Conrads, please listen to me. Please. Do me a favor.” I’m sick of him. I’m supposed to be breaking him and instead I’m the one who’s being worn down. I can’t bear his look anymore, his voice, his lies. I no longer believe he’s going to confess.

“All right then,” I say.

“I didn’t know you’d lost your sister,” says Lenzen, and his hypocrisy makes my gun hand tremble.

Lost. The way he says that—as if no one were to blame. I feel like hitting him again, but harder and more than once.

He sees it in my eyes and holds up his hands beseechingly.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.