The Wages of Sin: A Kidnap, a Crucifixion, a Murderer on the Loose
Page 34
‘Things were different in those days,’ Dühnfort replied. ‘The priest was a prominent member of the village. After his death, he could no longer be prosecuted. Why go shouting it from the rooftops? She made the pictures disappear and then called the doctor.’
‘She didn’t think about his victims?’ Agnes asked.
‘She believed that their suffering would end with his death.’
Agnes lay back on the picnic blanket and closed her eyes. Dühnfort looked at her. She was wearing a dark blue bathing suit. Her skin was tanned and her short blond hair was now neatly trimmed. He didn’t know how things would pan out between them. He could sense that Agnes was keeping her distance and he suspected that she was in no state to begin a new relationship. She first had to come to terms with her husband’s treachery, and then with Münch’s attack. I’ll wait, he thought.
‘I can’t stop thinking about Melli,’ Agnes said with her eyes closed. ‘She was such a cheerful, light-hearted person. I didn’t know her long, but I miss her a lot. Her parents cleared out the house yesterday, which seemed wrong to me, somehow.’ She shook her head and sat up. ‘But perhaps the only way to endure such things is if you somehow let life carry on.’ She pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. ‘Maybe they’ll sell the house. Then there’ll be strangers living in it . . .’ She looked across the lake.
Dühnfort didn’t know how to tell her. She might see it as an impertinence. He’d been round at Melli’s parents’ house a few days earlier and had told them in person what he’d read in Münch’s diary. They wanted to know, but he still spared them the worst of it. After that, they didn’t want to be on their own. Mrs Berger suddenly came up with a day full of activities. She produced coffee and cake, brought out the photo albums and told him what they were planning to do with the house.
‘They’re renting it out,’ Dühnfort said.
‘Oh. So fast.’
‘You’ll have a new neighbour.’
‘Nice people, hopefully,’ Agnes said.
‘Singular,’ Dühnfort said. ‘A new neighbour.’ His heart was in his mouth.
‘You’ve rented it?’ she asked, surprised.
‘Not yet, but I can have it if I want. I have to vacate my flat on the first of October.’
‘And? Will you?’
‘That depends a bit on you,’ he said. ‘It might be too close for you.’
Agnes went to push her hair out of her face as usual, but there was nothing there. She smiled awkwardly. ‘That night with you was wonderful,’ she said. ‘I like you, but I don’t know what you’re hoping for. At the moment . . . I just need more time.’
As he’d thought.
‘But that shouldn’t stop you from renting the house,’ she said and lay back again. She closed her eyes. He had no idea what was going on inside her head. A few minutes passed in silence. Then she suddenly said, ‘There’s something else I don’t understand. You said that Anselm had been planning his crimes for months. But Melli was abducted two days after she lashed out at the funeral. So she couldn’t have been on the list. Why did he start with her?’
Dühnfort didn’t answer. He had read the files on Münch’s computer. He knew how Münch’s attention had been drawn to Melli. He knew that Münch had seen Agnes’s intervention as a sign. A sign that she belonged to him and a sign that he had to begin with Melli. But he would never tell Agnes that.
‘Why?’ Agnes asked again and sat up.
‘I don’t know,’ Dühnfort said and turned away. He searched for something in the picnic basket. ‘And to finish, an espresso,’ he said and took out a silver Thermos.
Credits
The author and publisher wish to credit the following copyright holders from whose works brief extracts have been reproduced in this novel:
Auet, Walter A., singable translation of ‘Vereinsamt’ (‘Lone’) by Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm (1884), 2010 edition published by Lieder.net, © Walter A. Auet.
Winter, K., translation of ‘Mondnacht’ by Eichendorff, Joseph Freiherr von (1837), 2010 edition published by G. Henle Verlag, © K. Winter.
A. J. Holman Company and The Castle Press (1931), Works of Martin Luther, Vol. V, © A. J. Holman Company.
Dubiei, Brigitte, translation of ‘Der Zauberlehrling’ by Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von (1797), ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’, © Brigitte Dubiei.
Acknowledgements
Writing is not a solitary process. Without the expertise and support of others, this book wouldn’t exist. My particular thanks go out to Siegfried Wenzl, Detective Chief Superintendent of the homicide division of the Munich police, who advised me on all aspects of police work, served as test reader and is now my first fan.
I would like to thank the anaesthetist Dr Claudia Emmerich, who took out of my criminal’s hands the chloroform that I had originally given him and replaced it with a more reliable sedative. I am also thankful to the psychotherapist Bernadette Jägercollet, who pulled me out of a crisis on the issue of suppression. Nor do I want to forget, in these acknowledgements, the World Wide Web, which aided my research enormously.
To my husband and children: thank you for your patience and understanding. They needed both during my writing crises, as well as in the euphoric periods. It is not easy to sit at breakfast with a person who talks about non-existent people or, worse, talks to them. Incidentally, the idea for the goat’s head came from my son. Thanks, Max.
After years of work, The Wages of Sin was finished and looking for a publisher. Even with that, I found support, for which I am grateful. First from the Montségur Author Forum and then from my agent Gudrun Hebel, who made my wildest dreams come true and submitted my novel to Ullstein. And last but not least, thank you to my editor, Carlos Westerkamp, whose enthusiasm and commitment to my manuscript have decisively contributed to the fact that you are now holding The Wages of Sin in your hand.
About the Author
Bestselling author Inge Löhnig won critical and popular acclaim in her native Germany with her crime series featuring Detective Konstantin Dühnfort, which has sold over 300,000 copies. Inge lives with her family near Munich.
www.inge-loehnig.de
First published in Germany in 2008 by Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH, Berlin
This ebook edition published in 2016 by Manilla Publishing
80–81 Wimpole St, London, W1G 9RE
www.manillabooks.com
Copyright © Inge Löhnig, 2008
English translation © Sharmila Cohen for Parkbench Publishing Services 2016
Cover image: Photocase
The moral right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-7865-8001-6
This e-book was produced by IDSUK (Data Connection) Ltd
Manilla Publishing is an imprint of Bonnier Zaffre, a Bonnier Publishing company
www.bonnierzaffre.co.uk
www.bonnierpublishing.co.uk
Table of Contents
Title Page
Contents
Thursday, 8th May
Friday, 9th May
Saturday, 10th May
Sunday, 11th May
Monday, 12th May
Tuesday, 13th May
Wednesday, 14th May
Thursday, 15th May
Friday, 16th May
Saturday, 24th May
Sunday, 25th May
Monday, 26th May
Wednesday, 28th May
Friday, 30th May
Monday, 2nd June
Tuesday, 3rd June
Wednesday, 11th June
Thursday, 12th June
Friday, 13th June
Saturday, 14th June
Sunday, 15th June
Friday, 20th June
Sunday, 22nd June
Credits
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Copyright