Hidden Depths

by Ally Rose

  Rutger liked Hanne. He knew she had a keen interest in forensic science and found her mind as detailed as his own. ‘Hanne. Let me know what I’ve missed.’

  ‘You don’t miss much, Rutger,’ Glockner told him, ‘but you’re right, Drais offers us a different perspective.’

  ‘The dental records positively identified Gwisdek, Schukrafft and Plaumann,’ Rutger announced.

  ‘So, our Marine Boy is a confirmed serial killer,’ Kruger announced. That would mean there were only four men that he had failed to catch from the paedophile ring – four men too many who got away. Kruger carried misplaced guilt about the case and in an unusual paradox, found he was feeling grateful to Marine Boy.

  Hanne was keen to tap into Rutger’s meticulous mind, knowing he was blessed with an exceptional memory. ‘Rutger, I want to understand about homicidal drowning so don’t spare me any details,’ she said.

  Rutger was happy to oblige. ‘All three men suffered several blows to the head, although it could be the constant buffeting of the water which creates head banging, and this commonly produces post-mortem injuries that sometimes make for diagnostic confusion. Horst, for instance, had bruising to the front and the back of the head, sharp incisions close to the scalp, possibly indicating some sort of hair scalping and his ear lobes were hacked with a knife. There were rope marks around the wrists and feet and we believe his eyes were gouged by a sharp object – there was damage to the socket bones.’

  Hanne was curious. ‘So, do you know if any of them were alive when they entered the water?’

  ‘If a body is alive when entering the water, a white froth or foam is usually found in the airways. The lungs over-inflate and become heavy with fluid and the middle ears show haemorrhaging, plus foreign bodies are found in the airways and stomach.’

  ‘Such as?’

  ‘Sand, silt or weed, which would suggest rapid death by drowning. Do you know, there’s no universal diagnostic lab tests for drowning?’

  Hanne looked surprised. ‘You’re kidding!’

  Rutger shook his head. ‘Fortunately, the autopsy findings are usually consistent with the circumstances of the corroborative evidence, such as why the victim entered the water, why were they unable to survive, etc, etc, which usually gives us the answers. So, to finally answer your question, I believe all three men were alive when they entered the water.’

  ‘They’ve been down there 12 years, if Lotte Holler is correct,’ noted Hanne. ‘Rutger, how decomposed are the bodies?’

  ‘Well, the normal changes of decomposition of a body in water are delayed in cold, deep water and here at the lake it’s cold most of the year, and around 15 metres is deep and dark enough to keep the bodies from turning too skeletal. If the fish hadn’t nibbled them they’d be quite well preserved. Bodies recovered in the water show signs of anserine cutis and adipocere which protects against decomposition,’ Rutger explained.

  ‘Korfsmeier! Layman’s talk please,’ Kruger said.

  Rutger nodded. ‘Sorry… The bodies have goose skin, skin maceration and the fatty layer beneath the skin has transformed into a soap-like substance. Corpses normally tend to float upwards once the natural gases explode but as two of the bodies were tied to the door handle and the third was entombed by a tree, there was no chance of that.’

  Kruger grimaced and said wryly, ‘Is that all?’ His flippancy was an attempt to lighten the gruesome sights he had to deal with but Kruger trusted Rutger and was eager to hear the minutiae about the corpse. Rutger was not only a good forensic officer, he also had imagination.

  ‘Rutger, can I look at the DNA evidence you’ve collected?’

  Rutger showed Hanne the evidence collected in labelled DNA bags. There were three watches: a sports watch, a gold Rolex and a practical watch with a brown leather strap; a size nine aqua shoe; some boat rope, and a silver crucifix on a chain.

  ‘Well, Marine Boy’s no thief!’ Stefan jested. ‘He didn’t steal the Rolex, which would have been worth 1,000 marks back in 1992.’

  Hanne spoke her thoughts aloud. ‘We’ve found no mobile phones. Didn’t you tell me Harald Plaumann’s wife received a text message on the night he disappeared?’

  Kruger’s eyes lit up. ‘That’s right Drais, she did. A convenient texted confession, so if the mobile wasn’t lost in the depths someone must have it, and it’s likely that that someone sent the text to Plaumann’s wife.’

  ‘Marine Boy!’ Glockner declared.

  Hanne spoke again. ‘I noticed the links of the silver chain are not open or broken.’

  Rutger was intrigued. ‘Meaning?’

  ‘Maybe it didn’t belong to the victim or the assailant and just happened to be in the car but neither man was wearing it,’ Hanne said.

  ‘You’re right, Drais,’ Kruger said. ‘It would probably have broken in a struggle.’

  ‘Doesn’t matter if someone wore it or not, is it significant?’ Glockner questioned.

  Following a gut feeling, Hanne said, ‘Let’s go back to thinking about the evidence in the cars.’

  For a little while she was lost in her thoughts, digesting all the evidence. Eventually she announced: ‘I think Gwisdek was the first to be murdered.’

  ‘But does it matter who was killed first? It’s the end result that counts and three men are dead,’ said Glockner. ‘Anyway, how can you be sure?’

  ‘I can’t, but he was the only one with shreds of clothes on. I think Marine Boy got into his stride later on, repeating patterns with the others, tying them up, making them strip or playing music but at some point Plaumann got free, which would account for the struggle that followed and the gouging of his eyes.’

  Rutger liked Hanne’s logic and added, ‘Marine Boy had to be in the front of the car and Plaumann had to be in the back from the angle the crucifix went in.’ Hanne agreed. ‘I think Marine Boy drove Plaumann’s car into the water to drown his dazed or semi-conscious victim as he’d done with the others but Plaumann mounted a surprise attack from behind. The crucifix must have been hanging in the car on the rear view mirror and Marine Boy somehow managed to grab it. So, Plaumann must have been blinded and in agony before he ran out of time to untie his legs and escape. Marine Boy swam to the surface leaving a clue behind: his aqua shoe.’

  ‘The psychotic kid escaped to strike again – a sodding shame for Lotte Holler that he survived,’ Kruger announced.

  Hanne thought it best not remind her boss that Marine Boy may well have been psychotic at the time of the killings but could have recovered and be quite normal all these years later.

  ‘What I find strange is the hair: a few balding patches where there should be hair, with all three victims,’ Hanne told them.

  ‘Maybe Marine Boy wanted a trophy from his victims?’ queried Glockner.

  Hanne was adamant. ‘No! An abused person does not want a trophy from their abuser, it would repulse them to have any keepsakes or reminders. Marine Boy would have cut his victims’ hair for some other reason.’

  ‘Or just for fun?’ Glockner mused.

  Hanne found his remarks irritating but held back her opinions.

  ‘Oh, yeah. It’s a fucking funny crime scene,’ quipped Kruger.

  ‘There’s something else,’ Hanne began. ‘Marine Boy is true to his nickname. The way he tied the rope around all his victims securely in a figure of eight, isn’t that the best way to moor a boat?’

  Rutger smiled. ‘Yes, Hanne, it’s called a Flemish knot, you tie a boat in a figure of eight to secure it to the mooring. Seems your Marine Boy knows about boats.’

  ‘Yeah, and we’re looking for Flemish knots and a Marine Boy in an area of 100 lakes!’ Kruger grimaced. ‘OK, let’s inform the relatives before the press get hold of the names. I gave an interview earlier and they’ll be panting for more.’

  ‘Drais, now we’ve tracked them down, go with Glockner to break the news to Plaumann’s wife in Schonefeld and onto Leipzig afterwards, to Schukrafft’s mother’s old place. If I remember rightly she died no
t long after her son went missing but maybe there are neighbours that remember them. Try to see if there’s anyone at Gwisdek’s old home too, and let’s hope someone will shed some light on the victims.’

  ‘No problem, boss,’ said Glockner. ‘I’ll need to liaise with the Schonefeld and Leipzig police, don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.’

  ‘We’re here at the lake with the co-operation of the Kopenick police, so why should the Schonefeld and Leipzig police be any different?’ Kruger stated. ‘Besides, it’s good to step on a few toes, it gets the wrong people out of the way!’

  Chapter Twenty-five: Confessions

  INGRID AND ANGELE TOOK turns to look after Peonie whilst Martha continued working in Berlin. She planned to give up her job before their second baby was due in the middle of September. This week it was Ingrid’s turn. Peonie would be tired from her morning at the village kindergarten and hopefully fast asleep at some point in the afternoon, Klaus was up at the golf club and didn’t plan to return for lunch and Axel was at school. Ingrid was hoping for an opportune moment to catch Felix alone and have a long, overdue talk with her nephew.

  Felix tried to find time to see Peonie during his working day and often came for lunch at his Tante’s cottage. Before he went back to work at the boathouse he would put Peonie to bed in the spare bedroom for her afternoon nap. As he came back into the living room, a television news bulletin shattered his peace with some breaking news.

  A male reporter was reporting live from Muggelsee where in the background a haulage truck was pulling a car out of the water. Felix turned white. Ingrid came in from the kitchen and saw not only Felix’s ashen face but how he was frozen to the spot, as he had been when Susanne had died. She was suddenly afraid for him and time seemed suspended as they listened to the television report.

  ‘Here on the banks of Muggelsee, three cars have been pulled out of the water. Each car contains a body. With me is the investigating officer, Chief Detective Inspector Oskar Kruger.’

  At the south jetty of Muggelsee, Kruger was dressed in forensic clothing, in stark contrast to the smart reporter in his suit.

  Kruger was succinct and to the point. ‘Three bodies in their cars have been recovered at various points around the lake. The names of the victims are known to us but we can’t release this information until the relatives have been informed.’

  The reporter asked. ‘Were the three men on a missing list?’

  Kruger thought about the paedophile list. ‘I believe so,’ he replied.

  ‘What led you to carry out a search of this lake?’ the reporter asked.

  ‘We received information relating to another case that led us here. We had to close the boating lanes but they will reopen in due course after police scuba divers have concluded their underwater search,’ Kruger explained.

  ‘Does the evidence you’ve found so far indicate murder?’

  Kruger looked annoyed at this question. ‘Well, it’s not suicide.’

  Ingrid switched off the television with the remote control.

  ‘Hey! I was watching that,’ Felix said, raising his voice.

  ‘Don’t you dare get angry at me, my lad.’

  Felix grabbed his coat, ready to leave.

  ‘No!’ Ingrid barked. ‘You are not leaving until we’ve talked.’

  ‘Shush, you’ll wake Peonie.’

  ‘Felix, it’s me. You can tell me anything.’

  Felix looked in her eyes, knowing she was telling the truth. How long could he carry this burden alone? But wasn’t telling her a selfish act? Ingrid would then have to deal with the nightmares and her safety too would be compromised. But Tante knows anyway, Felix told himself, and there’s no hiding it from her. He would only be confirming her worst fears. He slumped into a chair.

  ‘Young man, it’s time you told me what’s going on.’

  ‘What can I say?’

  ‘The truth, Felix. Please, tell me the truth.’

  ‘I’ve tried to carry this burden alone, and I’m going to be a father again. God! I really want another child but this is such bad timing.’

  ‘Felix, I know you. You haven’t been yourself these last few weeks and you’ve started obsessively washing your hands again. Don’t fob me off with, “It’s just my eczema”. I’m sure Martha is getting suspicious, too.’

  ‘Both you and my dear wife worry too much,’ he told her, in a final attempt to stave off her questions.

  ‘Felix! On your birthday I watched you go outside and throw up behind a tree.’

  ‘You did?’

  ‘Yes, I was worried. It was after the news report about The Lady of the Lake waking up from her coma, wasn’t it? And at your birthday party, you really didn’t like Onkel Bernd giving you a Herbertz knife. Why? And seeing how you’ve reacted to the news coming from Muggelsee today, I have the feeling they’re all somehow connected…’

  Felix was tired of lying and tired of keeping secrets. If he couldn’t tell his beloved Tante, who else could he tell? Ingrid was the woman who reminded him of his mother in many ways, the woman who had given him a home and loved him as if he was her own son. It was true, he had been washing his hands excessively of late because his nerves were getting the better of him. He’d been finding it hard to relax, worried every time he turned on the news and he was drinking, albeit surreptitiously, more than usual.

  ‘If I tell you, then you’ll be collaborating with me,’ he said.

  ‘I don’t give a damn!’

  ‘Tante, you promised. No questions.’

  ‘Felix! You’re in trouble. Please.’

  Felix could not resist his beloved Tante a moment longer. ‘I’ll put your life in danger, as an accessory to murder.’

  Ingrid’s face dropped a million miles. ‘I knew it. I just knew it.’ She took Felix in her arms as they sobbed together. Once their tears had abated, they both found the courage to speak.

  ‘With these hands of mine,’ Felix began, ‘I’ve loved my wife and daughter – and I’ve also killed three men and nearly killed a woman. I can’t quite believe I am a murderer, that I was capable of it. At the time I thought I was going mad but it all seemed so clear to me, I just had to do it. I’m sorry I’ve let you down.’

  ‘Why didn’t you talk to me or Onkel Klaus?’

  ‘It was part of being a man, something I had to do on my own.’

  ‘So, the coma lady and the three bodies discovered today at Muggelsee, they’re all connected to you?’ Ingrid asked, horrified but somehow not surprised.

  Felix nodded. ‘The three men were wardens at Torgau. They all abused Susi and me and the coma victim was their go-between and collaborator.’

  ‘I see. Did you kill these men in the autumn of 1992?’

  Felix nodded and lowered his head in shame.

  ‘I remember exactly when it was. You came home with bruises and rope burns around your neck. I told you my secret then, about my shame regarding Sofie, and you half told me your secrets. Felix, I’ve waited a long time for you to confide in me and I won’t judge you, just as you didn’t judge me about Sofie,’ Ingrid promised.

  Felix looked Ingrid in the eye. ‘OK, Tante, I’m ready. I’ll tell you the whole truth. One of them, Horst, turned up at the golf club at the end of the summer. He recognised me, said he would come after Axel. I didn’t plan to kill him, just to frighten him away, but then he told me he’d contacted his paedophile friends. I couldn’t have that so I attacked him, tied him to the car door and drove his car into the lake at Muggelsee.’

  ‘Did you use Klaus’s gun?’ Ingrid asked.

  ‘Only to gain control. I never wanted to shoot anyone but I hit him over the head with the gun, stunning him.’

  ‘Then you drove him into the water and swam to safety.’

  ‘Yes, Tante. How can you keep this a secret?’

  ‘The truth has versions. My version is that I’ve been your collaborator for a long time,’ Ingrid confessed. ‘Did anyone see you?’

  ‘If they did, no one has t
urned me in so far. I wore a disguise – that old wig you bought for me, and a balaclava.’

  ‘That’s good. How did you know where to find the others?’

  ‘Horst kept a diary, with all the names and addresses of his sick friends.’

  Ingrid was concerned. ‘Where’s this diary?’

  ‘It’s hidden in a safe place.’

  ‘Felix! It’s evidence, get rid of it!’

  ‘No. You never know when I may have to use it again.’

  Ingrid realised at that moment that if it was necessary, Felix would repeat his crimes. ‘Surely you won’t have to. Anyway, after Horst, who was next?’

  ‘I stalked a second man using the same methods, and he ended up at the bottom of Muggelsee without too much trouble, but the third man… That’s when I got the rope burns around my neck. I nearly drowned in the car with him.’

  Ingrid began to cry.

  Felix felt ashamed. ‘Look what I’ve done to you. I should go away.’

  ‘No! That’s what Sofie did and it broke my heart. I’m not crying because I’m ashamed of you,’ Ingrid said, wiping away her tears. ‘I’m crying because I nearly lost you at the bottom of some lake. We would never have known.’

  ‘Just as you never knew when Sofie died.’

  ‘Yes,’ Ingrid said, softly.

  ‘Shall I go on?’

  Ingrid nodded, trying to compose herself.

  ‘The last one, their go-between, Lotte Holler, the one the press call the Lady of the Lake, she used to take Susi and me from our beds and lead us to the three men, Horst, Gunther and Harald. They called themselves the three Musketeers. One for all and all for one, that was their sick motto.’

  Ingrid was outraged. ‘The bastards! You should have killed that woman too.’

  ‘Tante, I couldn’t go through with it.’

  ‘Was it because she was a woman?’

  ‘No. Lotte Holler would have ended up at the bottom of the lake just like the others, which is where they all deserved to be so I could keep my family safe from the paedophiles, but she told me she was pregnant and I couldn’t go through with it. I know she lost her baby but at least I didn’t knowingly kill her baby.’