“Please excuse me for making you suffer because of my mood. All right, I’ll let you in on it before you hear a completely wrong version from Stephan. Anna Pohl had cleared her article with Sven and Stephan, but when we heard that some guys were looking to get out of it, we created a supplement to the article. Next to the article, there’s now a set of photographs of all the clients, along with their names and professions. All of this appears under the heading Police Investigating Extent to Which Business Relationships with Paulsen Exceed Normal Limits. The search for the right formulation made us sweat quite a bit, but in the end everything was legally watertight. Anna was good enough to send Tannhäuser a preview of the article. The whole thing ended with a cross-examination by Stephan about whether I’d spoken to Anna.”
“And?”
“I denied it.”
Astonished, Daniel raised an eyebrow. “Do you think it’s a good idea to lie to Stephan? How would Anna have gotten the names, if not from you?”
She glared at him. “I didn’t lie. He said he preferred not to ask if I’d exchanged e-mails with Anna or not.”
“And because of that you have a guilty conscience?”
“Yes.”
“I bet Stephan’s satisfied with the result; otherwise he’d have insisted. And this use of weasel words is of course typical of Stephan, Sven, and Dirk. Welcome to the club. If he had been angry, he would certainly have displayed signs of that.”
“You think so?”
“Absolutely, and I’m also sure he knows you’re struggling with this.”
“Bastard.”
Daniel was satisfied that her mood had improved dramatically, and the rest of the drive was considerably more pleasant. When Sandra had left the country road and was turning into the entrance to the clinic grounds, she furrowed her brow at the sight of the mansion-like building, which stood next to a lake. “Very idyllic. I’m sure he feels right at home here.”
Daniel looked at the stone wall. “Take a close look. The security measures are pretty serious. Motion sensors, halogen spotlights—and there’s well-hidden NATO razor wire in that row of bushes.”
Only after their identification and vehicle had been carefully examined were they allowed to drive along the gravel road. On their way to the main building, Daniel drew Sandra’s attention to further security measures. There was a well-hidden security checkpoint behind the main portal.
A gray-haired man dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt received them inside the clinic. “It’s nice you were able to accommodate us. Wegener, Klaus Wegener, the head of this facility. Let’s have a brief talk before you speak with Mr. Paulsen.”
The office furnishings were sober and would have fit in better in a newly constructed building, but the chairs in the conference room were more comfortable than they looked. Sandra had mentioned already, in connection with greeting Wegener, that Daniel was a doctor, and subsequently a fairly open discussion took place, though Daniel considered it a complete waste of time, since he was opposed to portraying Paulsen as mentally ill. With a forced smile, Daniel said, “Mental illnesses are not my area of specialization. Basically my knowledge of the area is limited to what I learned at school. I wouldn’t be able to distinguish a real nervous breakdown from a fake one.”
His words got through, but instead of taking offense, Wegener remained polite. “In this case it was very simple. When he was admitted, the patient was in an apathetic state; his pulse and respiration had been greatly reduced, and his blood pressure was extremely low. It ought to be extremely difficult to fake that. He currently displays hardly any interest in his environment; he has essentially ‘shut down.’ Any imprisonment would be irresponsible given his condition.”
Daniel pointed to a file folder with Paulsen’s name. “You’re familiar with the better part of the investigation file. For that reason, it should be clear to you that I have limited sympathy for him.” When Wegener showed signs of objecting, Daniel raised a hand. “I understand that for you he’s a patient. I’m here for one reason only: to help the public prosecutor’s office put him in prison.”
“As a physician, however, you should take into account that—”
Daniel had had enough. He wasn’t prepared to spend more time discussing the matter. Resolutely, he stood. “Don’t give me that. I found the corpse of one of the children who died because of Paulsen and was present when another child was freed. Do you know how many other children suffered because of him? According to dependable estimates from the authorities, up to two hundred. There’s no excuse for that. I’m not interested in how messed up his childhood was or in whether the neurotransmitters in his brain react too slowly.”
Wegener calmly returned Daniel’s look. “I understand you take the matter personally because you nearly died as a result of your injury.”
With both hands on the desk, Daniel bent forward. “Wrong. It has nothing to do with that. He was on the other side of the law; I don’t blame him for that, though I do blame him for endangering my partner and colleagues. I want him to be convicted of the whole package and for him not to spend the next few months in a nice, comfortable environment.” Daniel rapped his knuckles on the file folder. “If you’ve taken a good look at that, you know how cleverly the entire business model was organized. To be honest, it was purely a coincidence that we . . .” Daniel grinned at Sandra. “That my partner got on Paulsen’s trail. Anyone who seriously wants to tell me Paulsen didn’t know what he was doing every step of the way is going to hit a granite wall.”
There was a lengthy silence; then Wegener nodded. “All right. I respect your point of view and must admit that despite your history with Paulsen, you seem surprisingly calm. I’m curious to see how Paulsen will react to your conversation. Would you both like to talk to him?”
Before Sandra could answer, Daniel shook his head. “No. I’ll take care of it alone.”
Sandra didn’t react to this enthusiastically, but she refrained from arguing.
“All right. I’ll make the preparations.”
After Wegener had made a brief phone call, Daniel took the opportunity to get the answer to a question that had been occupying him since his conversation with the prosecutor. “Who actually took the initiative with regard to arranging this? Was that you, or was it Paulsen?”
Wegener obviously didn’t like the question. “It was Paulsen, actually. That was his only statement to me and my colleagues. His exact words were as follows: ‘The only man I would talk with will not be interested in meeting. But there are a number of things to clear up.’ When he was asked who he meant, he named you. However, he doesn’t know you’re here; he generally expects another attempt at a conversation.”
Daniel thought of Natascha’s reaction when he had told her of the possibility of a meeting. At first, the prosecutor had insisted on a protective escort for Daniel in connection with any visit to Paulsen, but he had been able to talk her out of that relatively quickly. If he thought about the criminal’s actions up to this point, however, Natascha’s fears were justified, and probably the prosecutor would have had Daniel arrested if she had the slightest idea of what he was planning—if Paulsen played along in the truest sense of the words.
The corridor could have been inside an expensive hotel. Only the electronically controlled locks on the doors and the characteristic smell of disinfectant betrayed the true nature of the institution. When Wegener showed him the door of the conference room and explained that he and Sandra would watch the conversation from the next room by means of a one-way mirror, it was time for Daniel to make his last preparations. He checked the small recorder Sandra had gotten him and grinned at her. “No matter what happens, the same rule applies as always: trust me. I know exactly what I’m doing.” In order not to give Sandra the opportunity to ask any questions, he quickly turned to Wegener. “Will you make a video recording of this conversation?”
“No, that wouldn’t be possible without Paulsen’s consent. Is that a problem?”
“No. As far as I
know, a sound recording will suffice.”
Sandra’s eyes widened in surprise as she watched his final preparations. He winked at her. If all went as planned, some problems would be solved in a few moments. “Keep in mind: just let me do this.”
Her expression showed the beginnings of comprehension. “You are . . .”
“. . . completely fit again,” he said, ending a sentence Sandra would surely have ended differently, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “See you soon.”
“Just a second,” Sandra said. “Watch out for yourself, soldier,” she whispered in English.
Her unreserved trust and understanding made him smile. He saluted casually. “Whatever you command.”
Wegener was visibly irritated when he followed Sandra into the room next door, but Daniel wasn’t going to explain his behavior. The good man, with his two doctorate degrees and his extra psychiatric training, would see soon enough that reality wasn’t always in accordance with the textbooks.
Given these preparations, it wasn’t difficult for him, with an unburdened smile, to open the door to the room where Paulsen was already waiting for him.
At first, he was inclined to agree with Wegener a little. Paulsen’s posture was that of a man who had lost everything. His shouders were slumped, and he seemed able to keep himself upright only with difficulty, but when he slowly raised his head and recognized Daniel, something blazed in Paulsen’s eyes that convinced Daniel that his theory was correct. “What a pleasant surprise. I thought in view of our last encounter, you’d still be in the hospital, or worse.”
“A clear case of overconfidence. A little scratch like that isn’t worth talking about. Actually, I liked our last encounter better: you were wearing handcuffs in police custody.”
“That’s how things sometimes go. And now?”
The room was fairly small and drab and had only a table and two chairs. The carpet and wallpaper were painted in indeterminate beige tones that probably served some deeper psychological purpose. Daniel stepped over to the table and set down the recorder, which he had switched on. “No doubt it’s clear to you that this is not a friendly visit.” As specified by Natascha’s instructions, he reeled off a standard text including the date and their names and nodded slightly when Paulsen agreed to the recording of the conversation.
“Don’t you want to sit down?” Paulsen asked.
“Actually, I was sitting down long enough on the drive over, but all right—if it might accelerate things . . .” Daniel tested the weight and stability of the table while he was adjusting the position of his chair. He grinned at Paulsen. “And now? What was it you had in mind? I’d prefer you confessed to all the crimes without digressions and that I left and had a pleasant afternoon.”
“With your little policewoman?”
Without having intended to, Paulsen had given him a key word for which he had already been waiting. Even if it meant he would have to listen to some critical words later, he would do anything to make Sandra disappear from Paulsen’s radar. “Wrong again. My work for the LKA has come to its end. I’m making an exception today for your sake. Otherwise I’m once again working with my regular partner.” He congratulated himself on having said “partner,” a word with an ambiguous meaning.
His words had the desired effect. Paulsen looked confused. “I thought there was something going on between you and the policewoman.”
“Only a little interim diversion before my normal job starts back up. Where’s this going? I wasn’t planning on discussing my private life here.”
“That’s too bad. I find it very interesting.”
“And I find it to be a waste of time. I’d been counting on at least hearing a story about your extremely domineering father, who you can blame this all on.”
Enraged, Paulsen glared at Daniel. “I had everything until you ruined it—and yes, my father’s largely at fault. It was for his sake that I took on that mission in Kosovo back then. It was hell—violence and weapons everywhere. When I came back after six months, I was a completely different human being. For my business partners, violence was a normal means of getting one’s way, and my bodyguards were men of the same caliber.”
It seemed to Daniel that the floodgates were open, and he asked himself if he might have been wrong about Paulsen, after all. “No one forced you to take part in the violence. Only a man who resists group pressure is really strong.”
“Theory. Nothing but damned theory. It was survival of the fittest there, and I wanted to be on the side of the strong. First, I only watched, and then—” Paulsen broke off.
“And then the excitement you got from watching wasn’t enough anymore, and you went hands-on yourself? With women? Children? Men? Let me guess: when it was a matter of breaking resistance, that’s when it turned you on the most, right?”
Paulsen’s expression betrayed to Daniel that he had hit the bull’s-eye, but the recording device could only record and reproduce Paulsen’s hectic breathing. “You appear to be someone speaking from experience,” he finally said to Daniel.
“True. But my experience comes from the satisfaction of taking creatures like you out of circulation. Are you seriously going to tell me you didn’t know it was wrong and evil to do what you did to your victims? For you it was about power—power not limited to your own perverse games but exerted via a business model you created. It wasn’t money but power exerted through extortion that was of primary importance in that regard. Unfortunately, we will most likely never know how you exploited your knowledge, but I assume you demanded various favors in exchange for your silence.”
Paulsen smiled and leaned back. “That’s a really nice theory, but that’s all it is. Nicely reasoned, and if you were right, that would mean we were more similar than I thought.”
“Similar?” Daniel repeated with a scornful grin. “From the beginning my understanding was that you envied me and wanted to destroy me for that reason.” Again a fire glowed in Paulsen’s eyes, showing Daniel he was on the right track. “I’m everything you’ll never be and possess everything you’ll never have.” He laughed. “Everything’s been said. Every further minute is a waste of time. If you’d like to relieve your conscience, I’ll stay; otherwise, that’s it as far as I’m concerned. I have better things to do than listen to this crap. It makes me sick when guys like you give everyone else the blame instead of standing by the messes you’ve made.” Daniel pushed his chair back and made as if to get up. Now he would see whether his suspicion had been correct. Although he had counted on this, he jerked back when Paulsen’s fist crashed down on the recorder and smashed it to pieces. Before Daniel was standing, the tabletop struck him painfully in the stomach, right over the healing surgical scar. The impact drove the air out of him, and he just managed to stop his instinctive defensive move. Without resisting, he allowed Paulsen to drag him off the chair and spin him around. When he recognized the object in Paulsen’s hand, he cursed, but nevertheless he didn’t resist when Paulsen pressed against him from behind and laid an arm around his throat, at the same time holding the shiv against his throat. The sharp pain made Daniel gasp, but he forced himself to remain calm. The sharpened metal edge was too far away from his jugular to hurt him seriously, and he had some ideas about how he could free himself from the unpleasant grip.
“Your analysis was correct. Breaking resistance and taking the victor’s prize is a lot of fun. Laws only exist for brainless idiots with no money. I’ll enjoy every second with you. And believe this: I’ll easily deal with the consequences. Certifiable insanity and . . . the Latin term wouldn’t mean anything to you anyway, but it will be effective in court. I’ve researched every detail and know exactly what to say and when. But nevertheless you’re now going to pay for every minute I’ve had to spend here.” Paulsen’s left hand slid across Daniel’s body and stopped only when he encountered the Sig under Daniel’s sweatshirt. “Well, what a coincidence.” He released the snap-fastener and pulled the pistol out of the holster. With the gun in his hand, he retrea
ted from Daniel. “Come on, turn around.”
Slowly, Daniel followed the instruction and wiped some blood from his neck. His gaze swept to the mirror, and he hoped Sandra would interpret his hand signal correctly and not interfere. It must be clear to her that Paulsen was behaving exactly as he had expected. “Do you really want to commit another murder?”
“Manslaughter, under extreme emotional distress, and I’m not responsible due to my mental illness,” Paulsen said.
“Wrong. Obviously base motives and complete legal culpability. Also, I can’t believe you’re going to be satisfied with simply shooting me to death. Didn’t your plans look different a minute ago?” Calmly, Daniel observed the effect of his words.
Paulsen’s jaw muscles worked until he produced a kind of grin. “Nice idea. I’ll be able to cover that with mental illness, too.”
“Are you sure? It sounds to me as if you knew exactly what you were doing.”
“But only the two of us know that. Some days ago, I manipulated the microphone carrying sound to the neighboring room so it only transmits intermittently. Really bad luck for you.”
“How long did it take you to make that shiv, by the way? Nice work.”
“Days. Thanks for asking. It was worth it. I simply hoped you would visit me sometime and wanted to be prepared.”
“I’m not a lawyer, but that sounds like premeditation.”
“Who cares? I’m much more interested in who you really are. Come on, spit it out. That will give you a few more minutes before we get down to business.” When Daniel was silent, Paulsen laughed. “A last attempt to play the hero? Fine with me; I don’t care much about the answer. How does it feel to always lose to someone better? You don’t seem to be particularly capable of learning. Now turn around. This is going to be a pleasure.”
Nemesis: Innocence Sold Page 45
