A Walk Among the Dead

by Fanning, Fred

  “It has been a long night. I think we could use some sleep,” said Johann.

  However, Reinhardt and his team didn’t have time for such luxuries. They would work through the night to find the treasure at any cost.

  Hammer picked up the phone receiver but hesitated. He didn’t want to tell Freda the bad news. After waiting a few seconds, he dialed Freda’s number.

  “Freda, this is Hammer.”

  “Erich my dear how are you?”

  “Not good. Today at work they identified Günter Eckersley as a suspect in the Silke Mencken kidnapping.”

  “How did they find out?”

  “Günter was seen at a café near the flat and the waiter overheard a man call his name. The other man must have been Kurt Howler.”

  “Damn, I bet you are right. Do they know about Kurt?

  “Not that I am aware of, but it will probably only be a short time before they do.”

  “Erich, dear, thank you. I will call you again tomorrow.”

  Freda sat on the couch in her flat. As she hung up from speaking with Hammer, her face became flushed and her heart beat quickened. She sighed, took a moment then made a quick call to Reinhardt.

  “Reinhardt, this is Freda. I hate to bother you so early in the morning, but the police have identified Günter Eckersley as a suspect in the Silke Mencken kidnapping.”

  “Really, how did they find out?”

  “Günter was seen at a café near the flat and a waiter overheard another man call him Günter. The other man must have been Kurt.”

  “Dammit, do they know about Kurt?

  “No, but it won’t be long before they do.”

  “We can’t do anything about this now, but we need to stop Maggie.

  “Perhaps killing her is our answer.”

  “Not so fast, let me think about it.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Johann got up early and had a good breakfast. He took a taxi to his parent’s flat at number 51 Leichhardt Strasse, using his key to let himself in. He stood at the opened door for a moment hesitating to enter. The room smelled of smoke from the fire, but as he looked in it was familiar. He smiled briefly as he entered. Earlier Johann had paid the building superintendent to have boards put up on the windows and to fix the door broken by firefighters so the flat could be secured. He was glad to see the work was done. The flat was damaged, but it was his home and he didn’t want thieves taking anything else.

  He spent the rest of the day poring over the flat. He gathered all the papers he could find. With all of the papers on the kitchen counter, he sorted through them to set aside bank records, bills, and wills.

  Johann found both his mother’s and father’s wills. His dad left everything to his mother, unless she died first, in which case everything went to Johann. The father’s will included money in the bank, the flat, and any remaining retirement money.

  His mother’s will left everything to his father unless he died first, then it all went to Johann. Her will included the same flat and the little money in the bank. He made a list of the bank account numbers and locations and placed calls to determine the money in each account. It added up to $5,000 with no big withdrawals recently. None of this seemed like enough to get someone killed.

  He also put all the three-ring binders in a pile. He went through them one by one. The binders were filled with notes and papers, but nothing about the Berlin Society of Theosophy. He set them aside for the trash. He found the paperwork to stop his father’s retirement checks from the German Government and made a note to stop it. Lastly, he put all the keepsakes he could find in the spare bedroom on the bed. He made a list of the items but didn’t see anything of real value.

  He then spent time looking for secret places where something valuable might have been hidden. He didn’t find anything and was disappointed. He walked to his old room to rest. His parents had left his room just as it was when he left home nearly twenty years ago.

  After the war, his father was able to buy this flat and always paid the bills. He remembered his father worked as a gardener for the U.S. Army in Berlin, but from the records he had found, this job didn’t make enough money to pay the bills. Perhaps his mother’s family helped out. Aunt Käthe purchased a home in Helmstedt and appeared to have enough money, but she never seemed to have a lot.

  Johann couldn’t think with all the information knocking around in his head. He took a taxi back to the hotel for some rest. He grabbed a beer in the restaurant of the hotel then walked up the stairs to his room. He was relaxing in his chair when the phone rang. On the other side of the wall, Kurt Howler started the tape recorder.

  “Johann speaking.”

  “This is Maggie; did you find anything at the flat?”

  “The basic information for my family’s finances. The amount of money my father made doesn’t appear to have been enough. He must have been getting money from somewhere else.”

  “Did you consider help from your mother’s family?”

  “Yes, but without further information, I can’t say. I don’t remember my Aunt Käthe having a lot of extra money. She seemed to just get by, like my parents.”

  “Let me do some checking with the police in Helmstedt and see what I can find.”

  “The super boarded up the windows and fixed the door for me.”

  “That is good news.”

  “I don’t know whether to sell or keep, it was my home.”

  “Well, you don’t have to decide now.”

  “I guess you’re right.”

  “Did you find anything with the name Günter Eckersley on it?”

  “No, I checked all the papers and didn’t find that name anywhere.”

  “There has to be a connection.”

  “None that I could find.”

  “Well, we are meeting tonight, so get some rest. I will see you later.”

  Johann sat back in the chair.

  Kurt stopped the tape and called Freda. She was out so he left her a quick phone message. Kurt then played the tape back and wrote a transcript of the call. Just after he finished, Freda called him back.

  “Kurt here.”

  “I got your message.”

  “Thanks for calling back Freda.”

  “What has happened?”

  “Maggie called Johann tonight. They discussed what Johann found in a search of the family flat. He reported finding nothing but said it didn’t seem his father made enough money to meet the family’s bills. They discussed the possibility of his aunt helping financially. Johann didn’t think so. The other thing is they are meeting tonight. I don’t know about any meeting. They must be having a secret meeting that we don’t know about.”

  “Good report Kurt. Find out about the meeting. We need to know who is meeting and what they are meeting about.”

  “I will follow-up. I haven’t heard him leave at night so I will need to put a device on the door to alert me if he leaves.”

  “Thanks, Kurt, good job. I will call later.”

  Freda was surprised that Maggie and Johann had been meeting secretly. She needed to find out who else was meeting with them and what they had found out. She knew of one way. Erich Hammer. She dialed his number.

  “Hello, Erich, dear. This is Freda.”

  “How are you dear?”

  “I am fine, but I need your help.”

  “Sure, anything for you.”

  “Maggie Hoffmann has been meeting with von Manntoell secretly. I need to know what they are meeting about.”

  “Funny, I haven’t heard of any meetings. Let me see what I can get tomorrow. I’ve gotten on the roster for Silke Mencken’s clinic room. I will let you know how she’s doing.”

  “Wow, that’s great. We need to find out what she knows, too.”

  “Well, tomorrow night from 11:00 pm to 7:00 am I will be at the clinic. I’ll call you later that day.”

  “Erich, you are a dear. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “That is nice to hear. You know I nee
d you, too.”

  “Goodbye, for now, Erich, I love you.”

  Maggie was still at the office going over the chalkboards. She was relieved that she now had, at least, a name. She read the record on him for the first time. She found out that he was born in East Berlin. He became a police officer and worked his way up to Sergeant before the wall came down and the East German Police were disbanded. The record said he was not selected for the West Berlin Police because of disciplinary issues–mainly using excessive force while making arrests.

  After leaving the police, his record showed he was arrested at two Neo-NAZI demonstrations for disturbing the peace and three more times for burglary. He served six months in jail for theft. The record showed an address in the Middle District of Berlin.

  Maggie also had the results of a search of his flat. Spoiled food in the refrigerator and moldy bread meant he had not been there for some time. The search revealed a few illegal weapons and a few thousand dollars’ cash in a bedroom drawer.

  The police investigator recovered an address book, which Maggie held in her hand. The book only had codes and phone numbers. As she looked through the book, she didn’t recognize any of the codes. She decided to have the book scrubbed for the former East German police officer numbers first thing in the morning.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Freda received the transcript of the phone conversations between Maggie and Johann with a list of places that Johann went yesterday that Kurt had written down from the bug. They reinforced what Kurt had already told her. Freda and Reinhardt sat in the sun room at Reinhardt’s house.

  “Reinhardt, we have everything that Johann has. I don’t see that he has come very far in solving this mystery.”

  “I tend to agree with you, Freda.”

  “Johann doesn’t understand what he has, but since he has given this information to the police, it is only a matter of time before they will put it together.

  “Yes, that’s the issue. We can’t let the cops figure any of this out before we find the cash.”

  “Recommend we keep Kurt on his tail and tape his phone calls. There is one thing more.”

  “What is that?”

  “It appears that Maggie and Johann are having some late night meetings. I have Kurt on this.”

  “Who are they meeting with?”

  “I don’t know yet. Kurt is going to let me know the next time they meet.”

  “Good plan, then we can get to the bottom of all of this.”

  “Yes, I hope it works out that way. I need to go for now. I will get back to you later.”

  “Good, see you later.”

  Freda took a drive to the farmhouse and looked at the barn. It was a large wooden barn with faded yellow paint that was peeling in several locations. She made sure there was no evidence to tie Silke Mencken back to the barn.

  She took a quick tour of the one-story, four-bedroom farmhouse doing the same thing. She couldn’t find anything. While there, Freda gave Kurt a call to see what was going on, but she got the hotel answering service.

  “Hello Kurt, this is Freda. Please call me at the farm when you get this.” Freda no sooner hung up when the phone rang.

  “Sorry, Freda I am just being careful and screening my calls.”

  “I understand Kurt, what is going on with Johann?”

  “Nothing much right now. He has been in his room all day. He called the clinic in Helmstedt to check on his aunt. He said nothing out of the ordinary; however, he did call a lawyer in Helmstedt and left a message about his aunt’s estate.”

  “The aunt’s estate is a funny thing to question. Isn’t she alive in the clinic?”

  “I don’t know and I haven’t thought of a way that I could find out without raising suspicion.”

  “Good point Kurt. Let me have someone else check on it.”

  Freda had Erich Hammer call the clinic in Helmstedt. It may be nothing important, but it needed to be checked out. Freda drove back to her flat to go through the material from Helmstedt. As she went through this stuff, she saw no link that would involve the aunt’s money. She couldn’t help but wonder why this question came up.

  She was becoming obsessed because recent events were destroying her plan to get the cash. This meant she could be caught and sent to prison. She sifted back through the material Johann had at the flat. It amounted to nothing. She looked at the bank statements showing the money left by his father and mother. She saw the flat, $5,000, and two life insurance policies worth about $5,000 after burial expenses were subtracted.

  Just when it appeared that all seemed to be falling into place, the question about the aunt’s estate shook everything up. As she sat in a chair thinking, her phone rang.

  “Freda speaking.”

  “Freda this is Erich, how are you?”

  “Good, how are you?”

  “Missing you, but otherwise excellent. I checked on Käthe Woolwine at the clinic. She is alive, but they don’t expect her to survive. Her age is against her.”

  “My God, they think she will die too?”

  “Yes, they do. Why is that important?”

  “Too many people have died in this already. I just hate to hear about one more.”

  “Didn’t you anticipate this could happen?”

  “Yes I knew it could happen, but it is reckless to kill when you don’t have to.”

  “Are we still on for dinner tomorrow night?”

  “Yes, I’ll see you then, Erich.”

  Freda wondered if the concern about his aunt’s death answered the question of why he was interested in her estate. She didn’t have a record of him checking on his parent’s estate. Why the concern with his aunt’s? Freda drove over to Reinhardt’s.

  “Hello, Freda, I heard you drive up. What are you up to?”

  “Reinhardt I have a couple of things I need to speak to you about that just came up.”

  “Come in then and we’ll have a drink.” Freda sat down on the sofa and Reinhardt entered the room with two glasses.

  “So Freda what are the issues?”

  “Johann has called a family lawyer in Helmstedt to check on the Käthe Woolwine estate. I can’t figure out why he would do that.”

  “And the second thing?”

  “Käthe Woolwine, Johann’s aunt, is in a clinic in Helmstedt and the doctors don’t think she will live. That is yet another murder to contend with.”

  “The aunt’s estate is the real issue? Could it have something to do with the missing money? Could it be that easy?”

  “I think Johann believes his aunt will die, but I don’t think the estate is related to the location of the money.”

  “That makes sense, but I am not convinced. I agree with you about another murder. The police will look harder for us all now.”

  “We have eliminated Günter. Do you think we may need to remove Kurt Howler too?”

  “Don’t be too hasty. We don’t have many people helping us with this and can’t afford to lose anymore.”

  “Okay, you usually know these things best.”

  “Thank you. Now go home and get some rest. We can’t do anything until we find out about the late night meetings.”

  “That sounds like a good idea, I could use some time.” Right after Freda arrived home, she placed her purse on the kitchen counter and sat on a bar stool when her phone rang.

  “Hello, Freda.”

  “Freda this is Kurt. Johann got a call to confirm the meeting tonight.”

  “Do you know where it is?’

  “No, the call was short.”

  “Okay, Kurt. You’re on it tonight?”

  “Yes, I am. I will give you a call later.”

  Freda’s shoulders dropped slightly and she took a deep breath. Knowing about the meeting was progress. She called Reinhardt and left a message on the answering machine. She took the time to get a few things done around her flat. She did some cleaning and walked to the market for groceries.

  Johann had dinner at the hotel and prepared for the me
eting later with Maggie and Silke. Just before 10:00 pm, Johann walked out of his room wearing a light jacket.

  Kurt heard the alarm and left right after him. He saw Johann walk to the corner and turn right. Kurt saw an unmarked police car sitting back in the shadows a few parking spaces from the corner. Kurt followed behind Johann slowly and passed Johann as he got into the police car.

  The car pulled out and stopped at the corner. Kurt darted to his car parked two cars behind the police car and left to follow the cop car. Kurt couldn’t believe his luck of parking in the proper spot.

  He followed the car to the Oskar-Helene-Heim Clinic. Kurt drove by and parked a few spaces down the street. He walked up to the clinic and saw the vehicle pulling up to a loading dock at the rear of the building.

  Kurt walked into the lobby and saw Johann heading up the stairs to the fourth floor. Kurt followed up the stairs and saw Johann going in the fourth-floor door. He saw a policeman in the hall outside of a room, which could mean only one thing. They were meeting Inspector Albrecht. Kurt continued to the fifth floor, walked across the floor and down the other staircase. He returned to the lobby and made a quick phone call.

  “Freda, this is Kurt.”

  “Kurt, where are you?”

  Kurt spoke softly with his hand over the receiver. “I am at the Oskar-Helene-Heim. It looks like Johann and Maggie are meeting with Inspector Albrecht.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, Johann went into a room on the fourth floor that is under police protection.”

  “Kurt was the policeman at the door Erich Hammer?”

  “Sorry Freda, I couldn’t see the officer’s face.”

  “Stay with Johann. Call me when he leaves.”

  Kurt hung up and stopped by the clinic café for a large cup of coffee from a machine. He sat in the waiting room and read an old paper someone had left on the seat. It was quiet except for the echo of clop, clop, clop as people walked on the tile floors. Freda sat at home waiting for a follow-up call.

  In the meantime, Johann and Maggie met with Silke in her hospital room.