A Walk Among the Dead

by Fanning, Fred

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The doctor believed Silke Mencken had been in a drug-induced coma long enough. She provided her with a second drug to pull her out. The doctor and the nurses worked quickly and then left her to come out slowly. Deputy Inspector Willy Brendt was also there. After Silke was awake, he stepped into the hall and used a nearby pay phone to call Maggie.

  “Hello, Maggie this is Willy. You asked me to let you when Silke Mencken was out of her coma. The doctor is bringing her out of her coma this morning and you should be able to speak to her this afternoon.”

  “Thank you very much, Willy. What time would you suggest I come by?”

  “I would give her a few hours, say 4:00 pm.”

  “Thank you, I will come by then.”

  Maggie was grateful for this opportunity. She had a lot of questions for Silke Mencken and she only hoped she could get some answers. Maggie had to figure out if her kidnapping had something to do with the murder of Hans von Manntoell.

  Later that morning, Maggie received a forensic report from the evidence taken from Silke Mencken. She held bags that contained dirt and gravel from Silke’s wounds and a substance found in the hair. Crime scene technicians also took samples from the location where her body was found. According to the report, there was barely any material from Silke’s time in the alley. The bulk of it came from a different, unknown location. It was thought that the rock came from nearby quarries used in various projects around the area.

  Maggie walked down to the lab to speak to the senior technician.

  “Is Stephen Schultz around?” The smell of alcohol in the lab always made her nose twitch.

  “Just a minute, Inspector, let me get him for you,” said Ingrid.

  “Thanks, Ingrid.”

  “Maggie it is good to see you. What can I do for you?” asked Stephen.

  “I was reading your report on Silke Mencken. Is there a way you could narrow down which quarry this material came from?”

  “Well, I could send someone to each of the quarries to get samples and compare those with the samples we have.”

  “Will that get us closer?

  “I think it will. It won’t be a hundred percent, but will be very close.”

  “Let’s do it then.”

  “We’ll get the team right on it.”

  Maggie walked back to her office and grabbed her coat. She wanted to take one more look at the shooting location for Werner Albrecht. She asked for a uniformed officer to join her. Police Officer Erich Hammer met her at the car.

  “Hammer, good to see you, how are you?

  “Doing well, Deputy Inspector. How are you?”

  “Busy, I don’t know where to turn.”

  “We’re going to Rehkitzsteig 9 in Dahlem?”

  “Yes, I want to take one more look at the crime scene for the Albrecht case.”

  “I’ll drive straight there.”

  “Thank you, Hammer.”

  While she was out, Johann called her. He left a voicemail: “Maggie this is Johann. I am back in Germany. I will be with my aunt in Helmstedt today and catch a train to Berlin tomorrow morning. I have some information, but not much. See you tomorrow.”

  At the crime scene, Maggie had Hammer stop the car about 50 yards from the actual scene. She sat in the police car looking at the site in total. She tried to see how the crime unfolded in her mind’s eye. She imagined Albrecht walking out of his house. She thought he would have stopped to light his cigarette about 10 yards down the sidewalk. He usually stopped to light his cigarettes. If he did that, he would have been a target for approximately 10 seconds. That would have been the best time to shoot him.

  “Hammer, look through the report and see if the responding officer noted a cigarette near Albrecht?” She got out of the car and walked across the street to the sidewalk.

  She was trying to find a good angle for a shot. She knelt down to get the right height she thought the shooter’s head would be sitting in a vehicle. She moved back away from and towards the scene. She then crossed to the same side of the street that Albrecht was on and did the same thing. She then walked back to the car and sat.

  “Deputy Inspector, the responding officer, didn’t note a cigarette; however, the forensic team found a cigarette nearby. The group later identified it as a Camel non-filter that was the same brand as a pack of cigarettes in Albrecht’s pocket. They also found his lighter in the gutter.”

  “Thanks, that makes sense. Remove that map from the report and come with me.”

  Maggie walked with Hammer to the street light. She looked at the map, then drew a cone on the map that represented the direction the light would shine. It turned out that Albrecht would have had the street light to his front as he stopped, making him a well-lit target. She now had to work out the shooter’s position.

  “Hammer, go stand where the blood was on the sidewalk as if you were Albrecht.”

  As Officer Hammer stood there, Maggie walked back over the spots she had walked through moments before. She found the angle and distance across the street and in front of him, about 35 yards from where Albrecht’s body was found. She thought this was where the shooter would have been, probably in a vehicle.

  “Hammer, get on the radio and see if we can get a forensic tech out here quickly,” said Maggie.

  “Got it, Deputy Inspector.”

  Hammer returned to the police car and spoke with dispatch on the radio. After several minutes of exchange, he walked back to Maggie.

  “Techs on the way. They are a little bewildered about your request.”

  “Let me run this by you, Hammer. Let’s unfold this map on the car hood.”

  “I have some tape in the trunk.”

  “Perfect. Tape all four corners. Now here we have Albrecht’s position. We have the street light that lines him up as a perfect target. I think Albrecht stopped to light a cigarette as he always does here. That gave the shooter about ten seconds to acquire him and fire.”

  “Deputy Inspector, that sounds very likely. Where was the shooter?”

  “I think the shooter was in a vehicle right here where the street light has been broken.” She used her pencil to place an X on the spot.”

  “Excellent.”

  “I want the forensic tech to go over this area with a fine-tooth comb. I also want you to help them.”

  “Glad to help.” He smiled as he thought of the other work this would get him out of. She and Officer Hammer stared at the map for several minutes. Just then, Ute Albrecht came out of the house to speak with them. She brought two cups of coffee.

  “I thought you both could use a hot cup of coffee.”

  “Ute you didn’t have to.”

  “Oh, I want to.”

  “Thanks for the coffee, I was sorry to hear about the Inspector,” said Hammer.

  “Thank you, he seems to be doing better.”

  “That is wonderful news,” said Hammer.

  “I won’t keep you two, just drop the cups off at the gate when you leave I will come out and get them later,” said Ute.

  “Thanks again Ute,” said Maggie.

  “Me too,” said Hammer. The coffee felt good and warmed them both up. They continued to look at the map and occasionally looked up at the actual scene. Within fifteen minutes, a Volkswagen van pulled up behind the police car. After they had greeted each other, Maggie motioned for them to join her.

  “Stephen come take a look at this map,” said Maggie.

  “Yes, Deputy Inspector. Wow, you two have been busy out here.”

  “Yes, we have. We think the shooter was in a vehicle here. Can you go over this area and see if there is any evidence left behind?”

  “Hammer here can help.”

  “Yes, glad to help,” said Hammer.

  “Let me get my kit,” said Stephen.

  Officer Hammer walked back to the rear of the van with Stephen. Maggie walked around the crime scene one more time. She then returned to the police car and called for another car to come and pick he
r up. She folded the map and placed it in her folder. Minutes later another police car pulled up to Hammer’s car.

  “Hammer and Stephen, I am leaving now. Good hunting.” Both men waved as she got into the police car.

  “Sergeant Otto, thanks for coming to get me.”

  “My pleasure.”

  “Otto, I would like to start here and see which route is the best one out of this neighborhood. Let’s drive around for a while.”

  “I see Deputy Inspector we’re looking for an escape route the killer may have taken to help them figure out what route was taken for their escape.”

  After a few minutes of driving the neighborhood, they’d come up with two possible escape routes that the killer could have taken. They both smiled and shook their heads yes. This new information would help them understand how the shooter escaped without being seen.

  She pointed to a pocket of street lines on the map. “Otto, as I look at this, any other route takes them through this neighborhood exposed to more witnesses.”

  “I agree with you.”

  “Which route would you take to leave this crime scene quickly without gaining the attention?”

  “I would take the shortest route getting me out of here quicker without speeding or gaining attention.”

  “I agree, that would be the Dünkelbergsteig route.”

  “Let’s get back to the station.”

  “I’ll take us right there.”

  Once at the station, Maggie had just enough time to get her car and head to the clinic to question Silke Mencken. She parked her car and grabbed a hot tea as she walked up the stairs to the fourth floor. A few yards down the hall was Silke Mencken’s room.

  “Officer, how are you this evening?” Maggie showed the police officer her badge.

  “Fine, Deputy Inspector, how are you?”

  “Well, thank you.”

  Maggie walked past the officer and into the room. Silke was resting in her bed watching television.

  “Good afternoon Fräulein Mencken. I am Deputy Inspector Maggie Hoffmann. I am not investigating your incident, but I think you have some information about a case I am working on.”

  “Hi, it is very nice to meet you, but please call me Silke.”

  “Silke, I would like to ask you a few questions.”

  “I will try my best to answer them.”

  “What is the last thing you remember?”

  “Waking up in this bed.”

  “What do you remember before that?”

  “I remember walking over to the building where the flat of Hans von Manntoell was burned.”

  “Do you remember anything in between those two events?”

  “Sorry, I don’t.”

  “Why did you go to the flat?”

  “I received a lead from an editor that it may have been more than a robbery and murder.”

  “Did you find any evidence that it was more than that?”

  “I didn’t have time. I had just gotten started when something occurred.”

  “Would you mind closing your eyes and relaxing?”

  “Not at all.”

  “Please, remember back to the time you were walking up to the building. Now tell me what you see.”

  “I see the building. I see the name on a buzzer. Frau Hogarth is the name.”

  “What did you do next?”

  “I buzzed her.”

  “What happened next?”

  “She buzzed me in.”

  “What did you do next?”

  “I went in and told her I forgot my key. She yelled something back.”

  “What happened next?”

  “…I woke up in this bed.”

  “Can you try again?”

  “I woke up in this bed?”

  “That’s enough for now. I would like to come and speak with you again later.”

  “I want to tell you everything I can to help you figure this out.”

  On the way out, Maggie stopped at the nurse’s station and asked about Silke’s condition. The nurse paged the doctor and she called the nurse’s station.

  “Hello, doctor thank you for calling me.”

  “What can I do for you?”

  “I am curious about Silke’s head injury. She has lost some memory. Will she get it back?”

  “That’s hard to say. She has a severe head injury that may have damaged her memory.”

  “I was afraid of that. I will check back with you later. If we can’t get information from her, we probably won’t be able to figure out what actually happened to her.”

  “I suggest giving her more time.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Freda Stern had Johann von Manntoell followed while he was in New York and was curious about his meeting with the Theosophical Society. She received a fax from the private detective outlining the trip. She poured herself a cup of hot coffee and sat at the dining room table to read the fax. As she read, she sipped the coffee and enjoyed both the strong flavor and aroma. It took about 15 minutes to read all of it.

  She set the pages down on the table and pulled her left leg up to her chest, resting it on the chair. She wondered what all this meant. She couldn’t figure it out. There didn’t seem to be any connection between the Society in New York and the Berlin Society that Reinhardt talked about. So what did Johann find? Why did he go from New York to the National Archives? This just added more questions. The detective bribed a clerk at the archives and was able to get the same copies that Johann had gotten, but what did they mean? She determined that the best thing to do was to show this to Reinhardt to see if this information was new or similar with what Reinhardt had found in the East German Police files.

  Freda also decided that she would ask the private investigator to speak to the director of the Theosophical Society in New York to see if he could get any idea of what Johann might have gotten. Freda drove to Reinhardt’s house to speak with him. At his front door, she rang the bell.

  “Reinhardt, how are you?”

  “Good Freda how are you?”

  “I received a fax from the private investigator in New York and wanted to speak to you about it.”

  “Sure come in, please.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Let’s take a seat in the sunroom and enjoy the light.” This was a small square room off the kitchen with windows on three sides. The tile floor retained the heat coming through the windows. The room was furnished with wicker furniture with a large ceiling fan to move the air.

  “Sounds good.”

  “Here is the fax from New York. It doesn’t say what Johann found out from the Director of the Theosophical Society. The investigator doesn’t know why Johann then went to the National Archives.”

  “Give me a minute to read through these documents. Get yourself a cup of tea.”

  Reinhardt took a seat near the largest window where he had plenty of sunlight to read by. As he read, Freda walked into the kitchen, got a cup of hot tea, and returned to a chair across from Reinhardt. Freda sat back and enjoyed the sunlight on her face with her eyes closed.

  “Freda, the information Johann got from the National Archives was in the East German file. He hasn’t learned anything new. I agree that something that the Director of the Theosophical Society in New York said sent him to the archives, but what?”

  “I suggest that the investigator in New York speak to the director.”

  “That doesn’t seem too risky, go ahead.”

  “Reinhardt, I think Johann knows about the treasure and may be attempting to retrieve it.”

  “I understand, but I am not sure I agree with you.”

  “He seems to be moving in the right direction, but he hasn’t learned anything. As far as I know, the documents in the East German Police file are the only set. There isn’t a second set for him to find.”

  “Well, can I, at least, have the phone in his hotel room bugged?”

  “Sure, that sounds like a good idea.”

  “Can I also continue to have him fol
lowed?”

  “Sure, I think that is a good idea too.”

  “Great, I will take care of both of those. I’ll see you later.”

  “Relax, Freda, we remain in control.”

  The weather outside was still frigid, causing Freda to rush to her car. She decided to drive out to the farmhouse to check on Kurt. She drove down the cobblestone streets with shadows of trees on the street. The streets gave way to paved roads through the country with green meadows. Even in the fall, the meadows were still green. She saw Kurt’s car in the driveway. She parked and saw Kurt at the door.

  “Freda, good to see you.”

  “Good to see you too, Kurt.”

  “How are you doing?”

  “I feel bitter. I didn’t really like Günter, but we had worked together for so long.”

  “I am sorry it came to that. You do know that he was out of control, don’t you?”

  “Sure I do, but I feel sorry for betraying someone so close.”

  “I need to change the subject. I need the phone in Johann’s hotel room bugged. Is that something you can do or get someone to do?”

  “I can do that myself. It would be best if I could get the hotel room next to his. The access would make it easier, but it is a little risky.”

  “That is a splendid idea. That would help us keep track of him as well.”

  “I can take care of it today.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Well, I better go so you can get started on the new aspects of this endeavor.”

  Kurt took a hot shower and dressed. He had more energy now and was excited about this new work. He drove to the home of an old East German Police forensic technician. He purchased the microphones, cords and recording devices he needed to bug Johann’s hotel room. He also got an old suitcase to put the equipment in. He drove back to Berlin to the Apartment-Hotel-Dahlem. He parked on the street and walked into the front door with his bag.

  “Good afternoon, may I help you?”

  “I would like a room for about a week.”