The Paderborn Connection

by William A. Newton

  “No, I can’t say I recognise her Michael.”

  “Do you have people from the Royal Medical Corps stationed here?”

  “Some, certainly but an awful lot are serving overseas at the moment of course.”

  “Is it possible you could pass that photo around, see if any doctors or nurses recognise her? Captain Austen obviously knew her fairly well and if she is a major somebody here might know her,” said Mick.

  “The next item I want you to look at is this small loose leaf folder we found in his hotel room. As you can see it’s mainly a list of letter and numbers. Do you recognise it at all?”

  “Yes, I remember seeing Phil writing in it once but I never took much notice to be honest.”

  “Do the numbers and letters mean anything to you?”

  Andrew Jordan studied them for a few minutes and said

  “Well, all of the numbers are either single or double digit numbers between one and thirty one followed by a single or double digit number between one and twelve so they have to be dates. The letters are in groups of two or three so they could be initials of people. There is no Q, X or Z, quite a few D’s, S’s, J’s which are common first letters of English, or indeed European, names. If we can find his address book we might be able to match some of them up.”

  Mick decided that Andrew must be right, he himself had thought it was all in some sort of Code used only by the Army, he had missed the obvious conclusion that Andrew had reached so quickly.

  Just then the Corporal from the gatehouse arrived with their lunch.

  “How many people do you think you have seen passing in and out of the camp since you came here two years ago Corporal?” asked Andrew.

  “Sir?” He said somewhat puzzled by the question.

  “Have you ever seen this woman, possibly in uniform” he said showing the Corporal the photo of the Major. The Corporal studied the photo,

  “Don’t think so Sir, I think I would have remembered her.”

  “How well did you know Captain Austen Andrew, I’m thinking more about his private life, his friends, his social life and so on. Did he have a lady friend?”

  “To be honest I didn’t really know him that well, we certainly never socialised together. I am based here and Captain Austen was based a few miles north at the garrison in Bielefeld not far from where he lived.”

  “We spoke frequently on the phone of course but there was never much small talk, it was almost always about work.”

  “Do you know what he was working on recently?” asked Mick

  “Somebody was selling army stores at a market in one of the less affluent areas of town, almost certainly stolen. I think he had a couple of suspects in mind but as I said to Brigadier Fredericks, nothing that warranted somebody going to England to kill him for.”

  “Can we go his office in Bielefeld on the way to his flat to see if there is anything of interest?”

  “I’ll just need to make a phone call,” said Andrew reaching for the receiver.

  “Afternoon Sir, Lieutenant Jordan here. I have the Detective Inspector from England about Captain Austen’s murder with me. We are coming over to his flat later this afternoon, is it possible we could call in and see you, say about four? The Inspector is looking for some clue in Captain Austen’s work or social life to indicate a motive.”

  “Certainly Andrew, four o’clock it is.”

  “I just need to make a couple of calls myself Andrew, if I may.”

  “Well whilst you do that I’ll pop over and see if there is anybody free at the medical Centre to look at the photo of the woman.”

  “Here, take a couple more with you and see if you can pin them up in a staffroom or somewhere similar with a note underneath saying “do you know this woman?”

  Andrew smiled and said, “leave it with me Michael.”

  *

  Mick rang the station and spoke to Bob.

  “Have you managed to look at the CCTV recordings yet Bob?”

  “Matt and I are doing it now. We have a good picture of the victim walking away from the accountants where he parked but he appears to be on his own. Nothing yet from the four cameras nearest to the restaurant showing the woman.

  Phillip Austen’s son Christopher came in this afternoon and formally identified the body so that’s another box ticked.”

  “How’s it going over there?” said Bob.

  “Ok, Lieutenant Jordan seems bright enough, we’re just about to go to the flat now. Give me a ring if anything comes up. You can contact me on my mobile if you need me. Cheers.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  They left Sennelager barracks at three thirty and drove the short distance to Bielefeld a few miles north. Andrew pulled into the car park and they walked to the security post.

  “Afternoon Sir,” said the Corporal at the window.

  “We’ve come to see Captain Wright, he is expecting us. This is Detective Inspector Joyce from England if you could book him in please.”

  They were waved through by the Corporal and made their way to Captain Wright’s office.

  “Afternoon Sir,” said Andrew Jordan, “this is Detective Inspector Michael Joyce from the Hertfordshire Police.”

  “Pleased to meet you Inspector, please sit down. How’s your investigation going?”

  “Well we know when, where and how Captain Austen was murdered, we know where he spent his last few hours and we have a description and a photo of the woman he had his last meal with, the waiter says that Captain Austen called her ‘major’.”

  He handed over the photo of the woman

  “We’re not sure if she is British. We are going on the description provided by a Chinese waiter.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t recognise her, but somebody must know her.”

  “Possibly, if she’s based in Germany, not necessarily if she lives in the U.K.”

  “True,” said Captain Wright.

  “Would I be right in assuming that you have contacts in the U.S. Military Police?” asked Mick.

  “One or two certainly,” replied Captain Wright. “I could pass a photo of your major to them to see if anybody knows her. I think I’ll just tell them the British Police are anxious to speak to her, without going into detail. If she is a major in their Medical Corps the largest US Military hospital in Germany is the Landstuhl Regional Medical centre near Ramstein Air base about one hundred and fifty miles south of Dusseldorf, I know a couple of officers there. Andrew, can you speak to Larry Gardner or Dick Nelson, arrange to send them a few copies of the photo, give them a few days and then chase it up.”

  Mick glanced down at his notes and said “I have spoken to Mrs Austen and learnt a little about their separation and impending divorce. I have also received information from an Inspector in The Surrey Police who lives in the same road as Ann Austen that Phillip Austen was investing heavily in the stock market, by heavily he says it was far more than his salary from the army would cover.

  I hope, by going to his flat with Lieutenant Jordan and the German Police, to discover more about his financial situation, where was this new found wealth coming from? Who were his friends and acquaintances, particularly outside the army? Is there anything in his flat to link him to this major? Basically anything that could point to a motive and, of course, his murderer. Do you have any thoughts on the source of this money Captain?”

  “I’ve not heard anything but we have to accept that if, and I stress if, this money were the proceeds of activity that was not strictly legal, he was hardly likely to advertise that fact. Let’s hope you turn something up at the flat. I believe you wanted to see his office?”

  “Yes please,” said Mick.

  The three of them got up and walked along the corridor, stopping at a door with a nameplate indicating that this was indeed Captain Austen’s office. Captain Wright produced a set of keys, chose one and opened the door, standing aside and motioning Mick to go in.

  “I’ll leave you two to search as much as you like, Lieutenant Jordan will keep
a record of anything you are particularly interested in. I’m afraid I can’t let you take anything away but if you require Photostat copies of anything, I don’t have any objection to that.”

  “Thank you Captain. There would be useful.”

  Mick and Andrew Jordan went through the desk drawers and put some papers to one side to be photo-copied after Andrew had made a list.

  “Did he keep his laptop here or at home do you suppose?”

  “Most of us keep them with us at all times so his might be in the flat if he didn’t have it in the U.K,” replied Andrew.

  “Well it wasn’t in his hotel room or his hire car. If the restaurant rendezvous was social he is unlikely to have had it with him that night,” said Mick.

  “I don’t think there’s much more we can do here, I’ll just take in this list of documents and get copies for you. We’d better get to the flat.”

  *

  They drove to the residential area of Gadderbaum, a collection of low rise modern apartments with neat areas of well-tended grass, just a short distance away and parked in the resident’s car-park.

  “That’s Phil Austen’s car said Andrew indicating a fairly new white Volvo. And those two gentlemen standing chatting must be the letting agent and the German policeman, I think I’ve spoken with him before.”

  They walked towards them and Andrew called out “Guten tag.”

  They responded and the letting agent said in fairly good English, “My name is Karl Fromm, I’m the letting Agent, I have the keys to let us in.”

  Andrew spoke to the Policeman in passable German and explained that only the three of them could go into the flat as it was to be considered a potential crime scene.

  The letting Agent started to protest but the German Policeman assured him that he could check the flat over once they had finished and taken away anything of relevance to their enquiry. This seemed to satisfy the agent and he let them in.

  The flat was well looked after, clean and tidy, nothing obviously disturbed or out of place. It was let as a furnished flat, the furniture was fairly modern and in good condition. There was a large television with a Sky box and a DVD player, also a good quality radio and CD player with quite a large selection of C.D.s including a lot of classical music and modern jazz.

  The layout consisted of a large open plan lounge, kitchen and dining area. There were two bedrooms, one with a made-up double bed, wardrobe and chest of drawers and the other one a smaller room with a single un-made bed, a small wardrobe and two cupboards. Stacked in the corner of this second bedroom were several boxes.

  “Right,” said Mick “we’re looking for any bank or credit card statements, and documentation to do with financial transactions of any kind, particularly insurance policies, share certificates and such like. Any document with an address, whether official looking or handwritten, in fact anything that gives us some clue to Captain Phillip Austen’s lifestyle. I would particularly like to find his laptop and his car keys. I’ll start here in the lounge if you’d start in the main bedroom Andrew. We’ll tackle the second bedroom and those boxes together.”

  Andrew quickly explained to the German Policeman what they were intending to do. He didn’t look particularly interested and sat down in the armchair where he proceeded to make a long phone call, to his wife, Andrew said.

  Mick looked through the cupboards in the lounge area and found nothing of any interest. He went through the kitchen cupboards and in the cutlery drawer found a set of car keys. “Bingo,” he said out loud, causing the German policemen to look up. He checked the fridge and freezer, which were both well stocked, but contained nothing out of the ordinary. He looked under the chairs, on top of the curtain pelmet and anywhere something might be hidden out of sight. He joined Andrew in the main bedroom.

  “Any joy?” said Mick.

  Andrew pointed to some documents on the bed,

  “I found those, mainly bills, documents for the car and insurance for the flat contents, that sort of thing. Hold on, I think I have something here,” he said pulling out a folder full of papers from the top shelf of the wardrobe.

  The folder contained a copy of Phillip Austen’s will together with a life insurance policy. A cursory look at the will showed that he had left everything to be divided between his two sons. These were added to the other items on the bed.

  As Andrew finished searching the cupboards and wardrobe checking the pockets of the trousers and coats, Mick bent down and looked under the bed. “Double bingo,” he said.

  “Sorry?” said a puzzled looking Andrew.

  “His laptop,” said Mick pulling it out and placing it on the bed.

  “I’ll have a look in the bathroom whilst you finish in here, see if there are any signs of a lady visitor.”

  “Check if the toilet seat is up or down, “said Andrew laughing.

  “You’ve been watching too many detective stories on the telly,” replied Mick.

  “No signs of the fairer sex in there, did you find anything in the bedroom?”

  Andrew shook his head. They both went into the second bedroom and went through the cupboards first, then the wardrobe and looked under the bed.

  “Right then, what have we got in these boxes,” said Andrew as he picked the first one up and put it on the bed.

  The box contained folders of share certificates and transaction details from Kenneth Taberner, Financial Advisor, which at a quick glance showed that Phillip Austen had purchased shares to the value of about two hundred and thirty thousand pounds over the previous three years.

  The second box contained bank statements going back for five years, paying in books, cheque books and an envelope containing about three thousand euros. “That’s interesting” said Andrew who was looking through the cheque books, “he had accounts at three different banks.”

  “And a Building Society in the U.K. “said Mick picking up the pass book. They put all of the documents they were taking away, along with the laptop, into two of the cardboard boxes.

  *

  They started towards the flat entrance door when Mick said, “Have you looked in that cupboard Andrew?”

  Andrew opened the door and saw that the cupboard contained an ironing board and a vacuum cleaner. In the corner behind the ironing board were four cardboard tubes about eighteen inches long by two inches in diameter that had been posted to the flat. They had been opened and appeared to contain rolled up prints or pictures.

  “We’ll take those I think,” said Mick.

  They put them into one of the boxes.

  They went outside and the letting agent was there waiting for them. Andrew stood talking to the German policeman making sure he had no problems with what they taking away. He wasn’t really interested but just asked that a list be sent to him and he wanted an assurance that the German police would be kept informed of any developments. He said that they might have a word with one or two of the neighbours and did he want to be present.

  He said not and Andrew bade him farewell and he got into his Volkswagen and drove off.

  “We’ve got everything we need Herr Fromm,” said Mick “so the flats all yours. There’s some food in the kitchen which won’t smell too good in this heat, you might want to do something about that. I assume you have procedures for storing personal possessions until they are claimed by the next of kin?”

  “Yes of course Inspector and the flat will be cleaned and ready for letting to new tenants within a week. I have here the information you requested, a copy of the rental agreement and a copy of his payment record which gives the bank details.”

  “Thanks very much Herr Fromm, if I may say so you’re very efficient.”

  Karl Fromm smiled and said “I believe we’re famous for it.”

  *

  Mick took the car keys out of his pocket and walked towards the Volvo.

  “Will somebody be taking the car?” asked Herr Fromm.

  “The Military police will collect it in the next few days,” said Andrew.

&nbs
p; Mick opened the door and they both looked inside,

  “Don’t touch anything Andrew, there will be fingerprints in there. Does your relationship with the Police here extend to getting fingerprints?”

  “I’m sure we can sort something out Michael.” They opened the boot but there was nothing of interest in there. Just as they were locking the car, an elderly woman came out of the flat next to Phillip Austen’s.

  “Guten tag,” said Andrew “we are colleagues of Herr Austen, come to collect some of the documents he kept at the flat.”

  “What has happened to Phillip,” she said “I’ve not seen him for a while. He should have returned from his trip last Thursday.”

  “I’m afraid he won’t be coming back, unfortunately he died whilst in England,” said Andrew.

  The old lady blanched and Mick took her arm to stop her falling.

  “Shall we go inside, you need to sit down.”

  Andrew and Mick took her into the flat and helped her into a chair, Mick went into the kitchen and fetched her glass of water.

  “How did he die?” she asked. Andrew told her that he had died suddenly after enjoying a meal with a friend on the Saturday night.

  “Did you know him well?”

  “We have been neighbours since he moved in about four years ago. I didn’t really know him well. We exchanged greetings if we passed in the street, that sort of thing. I sometimes took parcels in for him if he was at work. Actually I have a parcel for him at the moment, I’m not sure what to do with it now.”

  “Can we see it please?” said Andrew.

  She stood up, steadied herself and went into her spare bedroom, the flat seemed to be identical to her neighbour’s. She returned with the parcel, a cardboard tube identical to the ones they had found in his flat.

  “This is to do with our work, I think I’d better take it with me.”

  They made sure the old lady was all right and returned to their car. Mick reached over to the back seat and took out the photo of the major from his buff folder.