The Reluctant Samaritan

by Brian Peters

  They had only been in bed for fifteen minutes when the phone rang. Luke put the bedside light on and gave Asil a quizzical look before answering it. A voice said: “This is urgent, Mr. Lomax. Please come immediately… “ The reception was bad and the voice muffled. Luke had to strain to make out what was being said.

  “What? Who is this?”

  “Come quickly. The car park at the Monks Retreat place, just up the road. Please, hurry!”

  The phone went dead. Luke looked wide-eyed at Asil. “I don’t know who that was, but he sounded pretty desperate. He wants me to meet him straight away in the car park at Monks Retreat. He’s in some sort of trouble, and he knew my name. I better go, Asil. Could be a customer of mine. Maybe they’ve had an accident.” Asil sensed that something more sinister was in progress.

  “You’re not going alone, Luke.” She was already out of bed and pulling on jeans and a sweater before Luke could protest. Luke dressed quickly and they went out into the clear moonlit night. They took Asil’s BMW as it was already standing in the drive and shot round to the Monks Retreat complex.

  There was no car to be seen. They edged the car slowly round to the car park at the back of the restaurant. A silver Mercedes 320 was parked at an angle facing them, the nearside door was open. Luke recognised the number plate in the headlights. German, with the number plate containing the letters MK before the digits. He gasped and said: “I’m sure that that’s the Mercedes I purchased in Germany. It must be Mr. Kohler.”

  The adrenaline was flowing now and his heart was beating fit to burst. Luke pulled up alongside. To his horror he saw that a man was slumped, head against the steering wheel, his left arm dangling.

  “Oh my god!” Luke backed the car away so that Asil couldn’t see into the car. He got out and told Asil to stay where she was. He walked cautiously over to the Mercedes. The man’s head was turned away from him. He felt for a pulse in the man’s neck but there was nothing discernible. The body was stone cold. Luke gently eased the head away from the steering wheel. He looked hard at the grey face. It wasn’t Kohler.

  Asil had thankfully stayed in the car, her hands clamped to the side of her face in horror; her eyes open wide, trying to comprehend what was happening. Luke cast his eyes around, fearful that the killer might still be in the vicinity. Getting quickly back into the BMW beside Asil, he said: “Whoever it is he’s dead.”

  “We must ring the police, Luke. Is it Mr Kohler?”

  Luke was as white as a sheet, his brain racing. “No. I have no idea who it is. But this is the car that I bought in Germany and it’s registered in my name, Asil. We can’t call the police just yet. I need time to think about this.”

  Asil started the BMW and they headed back home.

  “Did you touch anything, Luke? The door handle? You didn’t leave any finger prints?”

  Luke tried to focus his mind on exactly the order of events.

  “No, I …I don’t think so. The door was already open. No, definitely not. I just raised the man’s head to see if it was Kohler. Oh God, Asil, what have I got us into?”

  As they approached the house Asil screamed. “Luke, Look!”

  A car was pulling away from the front of the house; it was the same dark Audi that they’d seen earlier, lights extinguished again. They realised now that this was no peeping tom. They both rushed up to the front door. It was still locked. There was no apparent outward sign of a break in. Once inside they scoured the house looking for any sign of a forced entry but found none. Luke poured himself a whisky, his hands shaking. Asil sat in an armchair, hands clasped tightly together in her lap, shivering. “You better pour me one of those too. What ever is going on, Luke?”

  “That was definitely the car I bought in Germany. It wont take the police long to discover that. And I’ve no idea who that was on the phone. That call was to get us away from the house I’ll bet. If we hadn’t been back here so quickly I think whoever it was in that Audi would have broken in. But why? And what’s the connection?”

  “What are we going to do, Luke?”

  “I don’t know. That man has been dead for some time, he was stone cold. It couldn’t have been him who phoned. It must have been the killer. Possibly the man in the Audi?”

  “My God! He was outside our house! Luke. I’m really frightened now.”

  “I’ve never really trusted Kohler. What if that man was shot with Kohler’s gun, the one he had in the car when we first met him?”

  Luke thought of the consequences if the police called, knowing that the car was registered in his name. Hopefully no one would discover the car until the restaurant and shop opened at around nine in the morning.

  “Asil, I’ve got to get away before the police come.” He looked at his watch. 11.40. “I’ve got to find Kohler. Look, I’m going to get you to drive me to Stansted Airport right now. You can be back here by four in the morning. Tell the police if they call that I’ve gone abroad on business. I’ll pack me an overnight bag.” Asil didn’t argue, she knew it would be futile. She was terrified of the thought of coming back to the house on her own though. “I’ll go and stay with Aunt Marjorie when I get back from dropping you off, should I?”

  Luke thought for a moment.

  “Hang on a minute Asil, let me think. No, on second thoughts you better come with me. We’ll work something out on the way to Stansted.”

  Asil packed two toilet bags plus a small suitcase with a change of clothes for them both, not knowing how long they would need to be away. She got both their passports and checked that Luke had credit and debit cards with him.

  Luke was impatient. “Come on Asil, let’s go!”

  “Luke, we better not leave the car at the airport. We don’t know how long we’ll be gone. Let’s see if Belynda will drive us and bring the car back here.”

  “It’s nearly midnight, Asil. Are you sure Belynda will do it?”

  “Belynda‘s always up for a bit of excitement. Aunt Marjorie will be in bed though.” It didn’t take Luke long to think about it.

  “Good. Let’s try it.”

  He drove the short distance round to Mrs. Wades, Asil’s former guardian, and rang the bell several times. A light came on upstairs and Marjorie Wade opened the bedroom window and peered out. She came down in her dressing gown. Opening the door, a worried look on her face, she asked Asil whatever was the matter.

  “It’s all right Auntie. Sorry for the panic, but we have to leave for Stansted airport unexpectedly and right away. It’s to do with Luke’s business. I wonder if Belynda could drive us so we don’t have to park the car there?”

  “What, at this time of night? It’s gone midnight!”

  Mrs. Wade’s daughter Belynda was already half way down the stairs, still dressed, wondering what all the commotion was about. She’d been listening to the conversation and said: “Yes, of course Asil! How exciting! Give me a minute to get my coat and bag and I’ll be with you.”

  Marjorie Wade was convinced that something more serious was going on. “Are you sure you’re not in any sort of trouble, Asil?”

  “Auntie, we’ll phone you as soon as we get off the plane, I promise, OK?”

  Fortunately Belynda reappeared before her aunt could ask any more questions. The three of them hurried out to the car and drove away, leaving a worried Marjorie Wade at the front door, staring after the car’s rear lights receding in the distance.

  ****

  “Well, Topper, how did it go?” asked Kennet. Topper wasn’t a big man. Five foot eight, slim of waist but broad shouldered, an almost permanent smirk hovered on his thin lips. His head seemed almost permanently lowered, the result of having almost no neck. Dark deep-set eyes gave him a menacing air. Topper smiled. “Piece of cake. Didn’t suspect a thing. You should’ve seen the surprise on his face as the blade went in. Whoosh! He stood for a couple of seconds looking sort of puzzled then sank down to his knees. Pretty to watch it was Arland.” Topper chuckled, nodding his head slowly,
savouring the moment.

  ”You’re sick, Topper, you really are to be sure. Where?”

  “We stopped somewhere in the country. He wanted a piss. Very accommodating, was Mr Menkel. When he turned to get back to the car I was right there in front of him. Whoosh! Like lightening, right in the heart…”

  “Yes, thank you Topper, you already said, I get the picture.”

  “I got him back in the car and dumped it where you said. Frank picked me up in the Audi. Oh, the couple came back to the house just as we were going to take a look inside so we left. Sorry.”

  “Please tell me that they didn’t get the car number, Topper.”

  “Stolen plates. Anyway we had the lights turned off.”

  Kennet tapped a pencil on the desk for several moments, staring at Topper and nodding slowly, absorbing what he had been told.

  “What about the car. Fingerprints?”

  “No chance. I wiped everything clean. I replaced his shirt and jacket with ones I took with me and burnt his old ones. Not a spot of blood anywhere. I put him in the drivers seat and left the door and the boot open. I rang Lomax so that he’d find the body, but they came back to the house before we could get in.”

  “They? Who were ‘they’?”

  “Him and his wife. If he’d have been alone we could have taken him out. Too risky to do the both of ‘em. She might have screamed, attracted attention.”

  Kennet didn’t take his eyes off Topper as he thought over the information, looking for possible flaws, hoping not to find any. Finally he said: “If I haven’t heard anything untoward in the next week I’ll pay you the rest of the money. Well done, Topper. OK, you can go now. You may have to go back and sort Lomax out. I’ll call you.”

  Topper sat still for a few seconds, the smile gone.

  “Like old times. Eh? Seven days, Arland. I’ll be back. I’ll want more than this if I ‘ave to do Lomax, right?”

  Kennet scowled at him and waved him out of the door.

  Franz Seifert was having his breakfast when his phone rang. He noted that it was a call from England, the one he’d been waiting for.

  “Well Herr Kennet? Have you got some news for me?”

  “It’s done, Seifert. Just as you asked, every last detail.”

  “Every last detail? What about the Englishman, Lomax?”

  “Ah. No. He’s gone; him and his wife left last night. I don’t know where. He must have panicked when he found the body.”

  Seifert remained silent for a few seconds. “That is not good news, Kennet.” He paused for a few seconds. “All right, keep an eye on the house in case they return. And keep me informed. I want to know if the police get suspicious.”

  “My man is very professional, Seifert. He doesn’t make mistakes.”

  “He didn’t get Lomax, Kennet.”

  He paused, waiting for a response. None came.

  “ Very well. I hope that you are right. We will talk again soon. You must find out where Lomax has gone. I need him eliminated for my sake. And for yours, Kennet.”

  He hung up and dialled a contact he had in the Polizei in Lüdenscheid.

  ****

  “Sir?”

  “What is it, Lambert? I haven’t finished my coffee, man.”

  “Suspicious death, sir. Body found in a car in Monks Eleigh, just reported.”

  “Suspicious death? In Monks Eleigh? What is the world coming to, Lambert.” He took a sip of his coffee, grimaced at the lukewarm tasteless liquid and put the plastic cup down again. “ Who found it?”

  Lambert looked at his notes. “A Miss Brodie, works at the Monks Retreat café in the village.”

  “Better get a team there then. Organise it and I’ll see you there.”

  Andrew Currie picked up his mobile, put his jacket back on, thought better of draining the last of his coffee and set off for his car.

  He had only been at the scene for ten minutes when the team arrived and set about cordoning off the section of the car park that contained the Mercedes and the body.

  Currie sat in the café opposite the young manageress; a white-faced nineteen-year-old Miss Brodie.

  He smiled at her reassuringly. “Now tell me how you came across the scene Miss Brodie”

  “I came in to open up as I usually do. Just after 8.30 it was. I unlocked the front door, switched all the lights on, went down the stairs to the back, we’re on two levels here you see, and unlocked the door that leads out to the rear car park. That’s when I saw that car with its door and boot open. I went outside and saw a man in the passenger seat. Well, I thought it was the passenger seat, I didn’t realise it was a left-hand drive car. I thought maybe he was waiting for us to open, to deliver something. I thought perhaps he’d gone to sleep…..When I looked inside the car…”

  She put her hand to her mouth, closed her eyes and shuddered.

  “In your own time, Miss Brodie.”

  She paused and took a deep breath.

  “ At first I thought he was asleep, as I said. When I shook him on the shoulder…I could tell he was dead. His eyes were open and he was, well, a horrible grey colour.” She was shaking now and wringing her hands. “I’m sorry, I’ve never seen a dead body before.”

  “It’s alright Miss Brodie. It’s natural to feel this way after a shock. Take your time and try to think. Did you touch anything at all? The car door, the body?”

  “No, no I didn’t, I’m pretty sure. I ran straight in, locked all the doors and phoned 999.”

  “Did you recognise the man?”

  “No, I didn’t really look at his face for long but I don’t think I’ve seen him before.”

  Currie studied his notebook for a few seconds then looked up and smiled.

  “You didn’t see anybody leave when you arrived? No other car in the car park?”

  “No, nobody. I didn’t pass any cars on the way in either, it’s very quiet on the road here in the morning.”

  “OK. That’s fine for now Miss Brodie, thank you. That’s all I need to know at the moment. You better tell your boss that you’ll be closed for business today, or at least until we’ve finished here. Will you give me the details of the proprietor and I‘ll contact whoever it is later when we’ve got some more information. I wonder if you would be good enough to stay around for a while, you can send the rest of the staff home. My colleague, Lambert, will need to take a few more details from you. I’ll send him to you in a couple of minutes. He’ll probably ask you to make him a cup of tea. Charge him for it,” he said smiling at her. Miss Brodie was pleased to have something to do and smiled weakly back at him.

  When the car had been thoroughly checked and finger printed and the body had been cursorily examined, it was removed and the car taken to the police headquarters at Martlesham for further examination. Currie joined Lambert in the restaurant.

  “So, one knife wound to the heart. What are your thoughts, Lambert?”

  “Well sir, obviously a passenger committed the crime, probably sitting in the front seat I would say. German registered, it doesn’t appear to be a taxi. Nothing found on the body at all. Not a single thing found in his pockets, so we don’t even know what nationality he is. And no documentation in the car either, not a service book or anything.”

  Currie made notes as Lambert was talking.

  “OK, there’s no more we can do here. We’ll have to wait for the autopsy report. Once the vehicle is back at the station workshop we can see what information it throws up. I’ll see you back at the office. As soon as you get back, find out where it came from and to whom it’s registered. Do you speak German, Lambert?”

  “No, sir, sorry.”

  “Just as well for you that most Germans speak English, then, eh?”

  It was nearly midday. Currie was beginning to feel hungry. “Is Miss Brodie still here?”

  “Yes sir, you asked her to stay on, remember?”

  “Good. Ask her to make me a plate of cheese and pickle sa
ndwiches and a pot of tea, will you Lambert?”

  “Yes sir. Will you be paying or is it go on expenses sir?”

  Currie gave him a withering look and waved him away.

  ****

  Asil and Luke got out of the car at the drop-off area at the airport; Belynda said goodbye and headed back to Suffolk straight away. The airport was almost deserted. They hurried into the booking area. The first flight from Stansted to Düsseldorf was at 7.25 that morning, arriving in Düsseldorf at 9.35. They were able to grab a couple of hours sleep on a bench in the airport before boarding the plane.

  Belynda drove the BMW home, locked it and let herself in. I’ll drop it back to Asil’s in the morning she thought. Not surprisingly her mother was still up, drinking tea in the living room.

  “Well?” she asked Belynda.

  “Well what, Mum?”

  “What’s up? Surely they told you something! They’re in trouble, aren’t they! I know it.”

  “Mum, they’re not in any trouble. It’s just a business trip and apparently Asil decided to go with Luke at the last moment. They didn’t want to leave the car at the airport in case they decided to make it a bit of a leisure trip as well. They’re not sure how long they’ll be gone. They said they’d ring you tomorrow. Now go to bed, Mum. That’s where I’m going, so I’ll say goodnight.”

  Marjorie Wade was not convinced. She muttered to herself: “I know that girl too well. They’re in some sort of trouble, I know they are.”

  ****

  The train from Düsseldorf airport took them the short journey to the main railway station. They caught the first train out for Lüdenscheid. It arrived there at the Bahnhof at one o’clock. A taxi got them to Von der Mark Strasse, Kohler’s address, at 1.30. They were both apprehensive, not knowing what Kohler’s reaction would be. Was he the murderer? Whatever, they had to find out. They took the stairs and found Kohler’s apartment only to find that there was no one in.