Snow Light

by Danielle Zinn

  “It certainly wasn’t just a forgotten dinner invitation. If someone really waits for thirty years, or rather hopes for thirty years that you come back, then he must have fucked up big time,” Collins replied.

  Thomas cringed every time he heard swear words, but he was not in the mood to argue right now. “That is if the motive is related to his past. He might also have upset someone within the last two years he’s been living in Turtleville. We just don’t know yet.”

  Collins went to the interrogation room to try her luck again with Karel Belka, and left Thomas with a stack of papers containing the names of all the patients who Lawson had operated on — so Thomas could check their backgrounds in the database.

  He hated this kind of work, but it was part of the job, and he found it unfair to leave the entire research to Collins, though, she was miles ahead of him with handling their ever-changing databases and cross-referencing systems. His preferential method of gathering information was being out in the field talking to people face to face. But in order to do so, he had to find out their names first… and that information was there at his desk.

  Three hours later, and eyes watering from staring at the screen, Thomas decided to have a quick lunch break when his phone vibrated. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked into the smiling face of Kate on the display.

  “What did she do this time?” he asked with a sense of foreboding.

  She laughed. “Hello, Nathaniel. Don’t worry, Sky is an angel today. She came to my room first thing this morning to apologise for missing my art class yesterday. She said I can save my lecture as she has already heard it all from you.”

  “Gosh, I’m so sorry,” he replied, rubbing his tired eyes.

  She laughed again. He liked her warm, hearty laughter and imagined her nonchalant movements, and hoped the sparkle had returned to her eyes.

  “How’s your investigation going?”

  “We’ve got a suspect, but there are still some loose ends that need to be tied up before anything can be made public, so there is still quite a bit of work to be done. I’m sorry I can’t give you any details.”

  “Oh, no, sorry. I didn’t want to sound curious. Anyway, the reason why I’m calling is… Erm… I’m not really sure how to put this…”

  “It’s okay. Just say your thoughts out loud,” Thomas encouraged her.

  She took a deep breath. “See, maybe this is nothing, and I don’t want to produce any unnecessary work for you…”

  “It certainly is important; otherwise, you would not have called me in the first place. Go on. This call stays between you and me.”

  “Okay, but I emphasise that I don’t want to get anybody in trouble. I’m just telling you a fact.”

  “Point taken.”

  “Right, my colleagues and I had seen the old man from the cabin loitering around school premises. As I said, I’m really not sure if this is of any importance…”

  “It certainly is!” Thomas cut in. “When was that?”

  “The first time we noticed, it was around the beginning of autumn. He either sat at the bus shelter outside or on the wall next to the gym, or was leaning on the fence. He just stared at the school. Not every day but maybe twice a week.”

  “Did he speak to any of the teachers or parents or children?” Thomas asked, taking notes.

  “No, not that I’m aware of. He never spoke to me, and in his defence, the children never complained about him either.”

  “Just because they didn’t complain doesn’t mean they weren’t bothered by him.”

  “Some of my colleagues approached him, but whenever they did, he left without a word. We didn’t see him in the last three weeks though. He just didn’t come anymore.”

  “Might have been due to the weather. You said you didn’t want to get anybody in trouble. You certainly can’t get him into more trouble than he already is. So, who else did you have in mind?”

  “You know this is really awkward,” she replied, obviously looking for the right words. “But the wife of our mayor is a teacher here as well, and she must have told her husband because he came by. Twice. The first time was at the end of October. I was on my way home and happened to walk by when he told the old man off. I thought he was quite harsh on him, but then again, he feels responsible for the safety of the children. The second time was about two weeks later. I remember it was during an art lesson, and we had the window open.”

  Toxic paint smells, Thomas thought.

  “The entire class heard how the mayor bawled at the poor old guy, using words that eleven-year-olds shouldn’t hear. He threatened burning down he man’s cabin if he ever saw him near the school again, and told him if he ever found out he’d touched a child, he would kill him. Then, he grabbed the man by the collar and pushed him backwards into the fence to reinforce his point.”

  Thomas could not quite picture the mayor as a potential killer, but he had enough work experience to know that threats like these had to be taken seriously, especially in a murder investigation. “He didn’t really set a paramount example for the kids, did he? What was the hermit’s reply?”

  “That was the weird thing; he didn’t reply. The entire time he did not utter a single word. He didn’t shout for help, he didn’t argue back. Nothing. Like he couldn’t talk.”

  “Why do you think he came to the school? Did he know any of the children or staff? Sky told me that he turned around and walked away whenever someone approached him.”

  “Yes, that was my impression as well. I have no idea what he could have wanted here. But if he was somehow related to someone, he would have said so, wouldn’t he? Maybe he went to this school in his childhood and the building revived memories.”

  “No, as far as we know, he was born and raised in Stony Creek and went to school there.”

  “Oh. Well, that was the only reason we could think of.”

  “No worries. That’s what I’m here for.”

  She chuckled, and he heard the school bell ring in the background.

  “I’m sorry. I have to go.”

  “Of course. Thank you very much for your call. You’re a talented observer.”

  “My pleasure. Maybe you don’t have to tell the mayor exactly where you got that piece of information from?”

  “Certainly. As I said, this call stays between us. Are you on for a run this afternoon?”

  “No, sorry, I have to go to St Anna Hospital and visit a friend who broke her leg while skiing,” she replied quietly.

  “Oh dear. Well, take care, and I’ll talk to you later.”

  “You too. See you.”

  Thomas closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He held his phone tightly as if this would keep Kate’s voice and presence there in the room with him. He imagined them both running in the sunshine along a winter’s road, only stopping here and there to pick up some snow and throw it at each other. He would help her brush the white powder off her hood and shoulders, taking in the fruity scent of her perfume and watching her hair glisten in the sunshine.

  When the door burst open his daydream stopped.

  Collins was back from interrogating Karel Belka. “You look like the cat that got the cream,” she said. He realised he must have looked extremely stupid smiling at his phone like a schoolboy, so he shook his head and leaned back. “How did it go?”

  “After a good night’s sleep, he suddenly remembered some details which actually check out. He refuelled the car at exactly five forty-three p.m., video surveillance proves that. Then they parked the car at the junction at around six-fifteen to six-twenty. There was no other car there, and the snowdrifts on their way to the cabin were about half a foot high. We had his brother on the phone, and none of the boys could remember seeing any footprints in there; either because nobody had been there or because the traces had already been filled in again by the storm. If the murderer had come that early in the evening, he must have talked to Lawson for quite a while before luring him outside and killing him. The light in the cabin was on, but the
y didn’t look inside when walking by, and because of the storm, they didn’t hear any voices. They said they could barely understand each other. When they saw that the tree trunk was empty and the drugs were gone, they went back to their car, again having seen nobody.”

  “Hmm. This doesn’t bring us any closer to the killer’s time of arrival. Anyway, put it on the whiteboard please, and what Kelly told us this morning as well. I scanned that stack of Lawson’s patient charts,” he said, pointing towards a pile near the window. “But I’m none the wiser. Apparently, he helped a lot of underprivileged Bohemian children; some were from orphanages or children’s homes and some from really poor families.”

  “How did he help them?” Collins asked.

  “Most of the kids didn’t have health insurance, and he offered them free operations in Bohemia. Back then, he was also a pioneer in the field of organ transplantation at St Anna Hospital.”

  “Explains his donations and affinity to those charities.”

  “Indeed. But still, it didn’t get me an inch closer to a motive for killing him. I spoke to a couple of people, and all you hear is praise and compliments. It seems he never messed anything up. Whatever he touched was brilliant. Anyway, I got a call from Kate Adams, she’s a teacher at Sky’s school in Turtleville. She said Lawson was seen loitering around school premises in the weeks before he was killed. He didn’t speak to anyone, nobody knows what he wanted there, and neither kids nor parents ever complained. But the mayor told him off twice and threatened him quite a bit. I want to have a word with him.” Thomas got up and put on his parka.

  “Okay, while you’re there, ask Myers why he double-crossed us,” Collins said without looking up.

  “You just don’t like him, do you?”

  “He’s a slimy c—”

  “Careful!” Thomas cut in, looking at her sternly.

  “Co-worker was the word I was going to say if you’d just let me!”

  And with that, she turned towards the unworked files of Lawson’s patients.

  17

  THOMAS found the mayor at the butcher’s tiny lunchroom adjacent to the shop and opposite the town hall of Turtleville. They offered a different meal every day, always consisting of meat.

  It was clear to see that the mayor was one of their most faithful customers. He was enormous, shirt buttons bulging at the navel and tummy hanging over the belt of his trousers.

  Thick dark hair on his hands formed a carpet all the way to his scruffy fingernails, and his greasy skin was sweating out the fat of the meat that he ate in big portions.

  A long skin flap underneath his chin was swinging from left to right with every move, reminding Thomas of a rooster. But the one thing he always found really hard not to stare at when talking to the mayor was the big brown birthmark next to his nose. It was actually more like a wart.

  When Thomas entered the lunchroom, the mayor was busy entertaining a group of roofers who had taken a break from chopping ice off the gutters. The man clearly enjoyed being the centre of attention.

  That day’s meal was sausages with potato salad, and Thomas ordered one portion, taking his plate to one of the bar tables. Although the food was always excellent, it would take him days to get the smell — a mixture of smoke, fat, and detergent — out of his jacket.

  When the roofers left, the mayor walked over to Thomas’s table.

  “Good afternoon, Detective Inspector. How is the investigation going? People keep asking me whether our placid village is still safe, and as their mayor, I have a certain responsibility.”

  He had a raspy voice; but, even worse than that was his nasty cough, combined with a hawking and moving up and down of whatever it was he found between his nose and throat. Thomas did not really want to know. But it spoilt his appetite for good.

  “We’re making some progress each day. You can tell the people that the village is safe. They shouldn’t go alone to the forest in the dark, but otherwise, they’re fine. What can you tell me about Mr Lawson? You do know that the hermit’s real name was William Lawson, don’t you?”

  “Yes, our former chief constable told me. What can I tell you? A pain in the neck, he was.” He hawked again. “Scurrying around the village, never talking to anybody. I’m just wondering where he got the money from to buy the cabin. Not that it was very expensive, but have you seen him?”

  “Who did he buy it from?” Thomas asked, putting some potato salad on his fork.

  “Vincent Dobson. He owns the fencing—”

  “Yes, thank you, I know who he is. Did you know that Lawson was a surgeon at St Anna Hospital in the seventies and eighties? And that he left the area at the end of the eighties?”

  The mayor shook his head. “I might look old, but I’m not that old! I was still with the army at that time and barely ever home. First time I met him was about two years ago when he moved here. If I’m honest with you, I didn’t want a vagabond like him living in my village, but Robert Myers, our chief constable at that time, reassured me he would have an eye on him and keep law and order in our streets.”

  Myers and Dobson, Thomas thought, recurring names.

  He made a note to speak to both of them later.

  “Speaking of honesty, sir, I heard that you threatened Mr Lawson outside school a couple of weeks ago… twice even. The first time you just told him off, but the second time you made your point clear by shoving him into a fence and yelling at him. You’re aware that you are a role model for the children?”

  The mayor snorted and leaned his heavy body on the tiny table. Thomas briefly wondered whether his half-eaten sausage could be catapulted right into the mayor’s mouth but pushed that thought aside quickly.

  “Just gave him a wake-up call. After all, I’m responsible for the safety of the children. He was loitering around the school for a couple of weeks, my wife told me; I had to do something.”

  “Why didn’t you talk to me?” Thomas asked, keeping his eyes locked on him.

  “I thought about it, but then I met Myers first and told him.”

  “And? Did he talk to Lawson?”

  “I believe he did, because after that, he wasn’t seen there anymore.”

  “When you gave him this ‘wake-up call’, you threatened him with violence and burning down his cabin.”

  “Listen, yes, I didn’t like him, and I wished he would have left Turtleville, and maybe I overreacted a little on that day, but I would never wish death upon any of my citizens, and I’ve never been to his cabin where he was killed.”

  “How do you know he was killed at his cabin?”

  “I don’t know it, I just guessed. I mean where else did he go?” the mayor squeaked.

  Thomas gave him a long, hard look. “One last question, sir, if I may. Where were you two nights ago?”

  Now it was the mayor who scrutinized Thomas.

  “I was at home.”

  “With your wife, I believe?”

  “No, on my own. She had visited her sister and because of the snowstorm decided to spend the night there. Doesn’t look good for me, does it?”

  Thomas smiled at him. “Thank you, sir.”

  It was two o’clock, and Thomas decided it was time to pay a visit to Robert Myers. He did not really want to believe that a guardian of the law could somehow be involved in this mess, but years in the force had taught him that nearly everything was possible.

  He reached Myers’s house just as Myers was attempting to drive out. Thomas flashed his lights, and the man stopped his car at the end of the driveway.

  “Hello. I hope I’m not marring your plans, but I need a few minutes of your time, please!” Thomas shouted.

  Myers drove back up the driveway and got out of the car. He looked like he had aged ten years within the last twenty-four hours. Several cuts on his face marked a failed attempt to shave his beard stubble, and dark circles around his eyes were proof of a restless night.

  When they shook hands, Thomas noticed a tremble in the other man’s hand.

  Mye
rs squinted against the sun. “How can I help you?”

  “I’d like to talk to you. Maybe we can go inside?”

  Wordlessly, Myers turned around and shuffled to the front door of a white detached house, surrounded by a large garden covered in snow.

  They walked through several doors and dimly lit hallways. Inside the house the air felt cooler than it did outside, and Thomas pulled up his jacket collar.

  In a small room littered with various housework items, bikes, and garden chairs, they finally came to a stop. Myers pushed a stool towards Thomas, who looked at him questioningly.

  “Once a week, my wife plays bridge with her friends, and I’m just a gatecrasher.”

  “Actually, I’m wondering what game you’re playing here?” Thomas said, not mincing matters.

  Myers narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

  “You know damn well what I mean!” Thomas hissed. “You double-cross my colleague and me in our investigation and you withhold information. You knew that Lawson was loitering around school premises, for example, but what is even worse than that is you spoke to Alexander Kelly without telling us!”

  “I didn’t know that the mayor’s little argument with Lawson was of any importance. I had long forgotten about that. And regarding Kelly I would have told you.”

  “Right, and when would that have been? You spoke to him yesterday, and I want to know why.”

  “He hunts a lot in the forest like Lawson did; I thought they might have spoken to each other. Kelly is as weird as Lawson. I hoped he might have seen something that night.”

  “And did he?” Thomas snapped.

  “No. He was alone at home.”

  “What a great alibi!”

  “I’m wondering who you’re still trying to find! To me, it is clear that a drug deal went wrong, and Lawson was collateral damage. He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Case closed!” Myers replied coolly.