Nemesis: Innocence Sold (28 page)

Daniel’s impatient expression made Sandra confine herself to the important things. “The contact with the mysterious unknown man wasn’t organized via Kamps but the other man. The moor as a meeting place was also a suggestion from Mr. X. Kamps believes Mr. X has supplied his friend with children. Girls, none older than six. But of course everything was ‘purely innocent.’” She rolled her eyes. “I really didn’t understand why Kamps is closing his eyes to reality. It looks less like fear than something else. But I don’t know; maybe Sven has some idea what was going on there. He’s still having a brief talk with the prosecutor and will be here shortly. Back to Mr. X. He made the suggestion that Kerlinski be taken out and that any companion be taken out along with him. Though Kamps didn’t admit this, he was enthusiastic about the notion of beating up the private detective on the moor. The girl would then be an extra bonus for his buddy, and Kerlinski’s companion would have had bad luck. Those ex-mercenaries were supposed to make sure nothing happened to the boys, which of course went seriously wrong.”

Kat raised a hand. “Just a second. Are you saying they wanted to hunt human beings just for fun?”

“That was part of it but not all of it. They were looking to settle accounts with Kerlinski. Five years ago, he carried out an investigation at a superelite private school and exposed Kamps and his buddy as members of a small but active drug ring. They’d supplied their classmates with pills and weed and were immediately kicked out of the school when Kerlinski informed the school’s director about those nice boys. Kamps’s friend, in particular, was really mad—because his father insisted on him completing his education, and he had to actually work afterward and also lost the use of his car for half a year. He had never forgiven the detective for that and was enthusiastic when he was now supposed to get the chance to shoot him.”

“You can’t be serious,” Kat said, gathering her hair into a ponytail. “I mean, those are worse bastards than the ones we have to deal with on a daily basis. I don’t believe it. It sounds like something out of a really bad movie.”

“It’s true, though, unfortunately,” Sandra said.

With a sympathetic smile, Kat pushed a cup of coffee over to her. “Here. Unfortunately not with a shot in it; no doubt you need one after that interrogation. I don’t know if I would have had enough self-control not to beat some sense into that spoiled brat.”

Daniel didn’t say a word; but his gaze had become slightly warmer.

Surprised at how much she longed for his touch, Sandra continued after a sip of coffee. “This Mr. X must know about the matter at the school. Unfortunately, we’re not getting a word out of Kamps’s buddy. The thought of appearing in court as a child molester has caused him to persist in remaining silent. The prosecutor’s office is evaluating whether he could be offered a deal if he were prepared to give up his connection to Mr. X, but that looks fairly unlikely. So we’ll have to find him ourselves. At least we have a starting point with regard to the circles he moves in, and Sven has already called Kerlinski. He’s going to have all the school-related documents sent over to us, and he thinks his papers are considerably more extensive than what’s in the police files because some things were swept under the rug back then. And now guess what District Office of Criminal Inspection was responsible back then.”

“Lübeck,” Kat and Lars said at the same time while the two embarrassed Lübeck policemen remained silent.

“I’ll volunteer to evaluate the papers,” Lars said. “I’ve had enough of this. Children, childish acts of revenge . . . Where are we here? Behind the wall of Dante’s hell?”

Daniel opened his laptop. He informed them of the result of Dirk and Kerlinski’s conversation with the newspaper publisher. “I’ll get to what’s behind Sandra’s observation in a moment.” With a wave, he beckoned everyone over. Daniel’s controlled, almost cold manner wasn’t one Sandra recognized, and it indicated there was a rage in him. “We’ve found something on Sandra’s computer and on the photographer’s.”

Daniel switched to his e-mail program and clicked on a link inside an e-mail message. Although he acted quickly, Sandra noticed the message wasn’t from Jake, as she would have expected, but from her brother. Some seconds passed; then an unfamiliar welcome screen demanded a username and password. Daniel pressed the “Return” key, and the screen was divided into two. On the left, there was a narrow column offering various possible entries, on the right, numerous pictures resembling passport photos. As far as Sandra could see, all the pictures were of children.

“I don’t believe it,” Lars said behind her.

“It gets worse,” Daniel said. “But first, something else: with this, we have the reason why they were after Sandra. This extra function was well hidden within the area she knew, but not well enough.” Daniel tapped the passport photos. “A large part of these photos were taken by our photographer. He was responsible for administering the selection on offer, as it were. On the hard drive of his computer, we found some records for which there are as yet no links here. Back to this program: on the left, one can enter preferences. Watch—I’ll take blond, brown eyes, under six years old.”

Daniel’s fingers flew across the keyboard; he had hardly confirmed his entries when only three pictures remained on the monitor. The format was considerably larger than before, making it easy to identify children, so Sandra easily recognized Tim and Eric. Only the third child was unknown to her, but owing to his hair and eye color, he could have been a somewhat younger brother of the other two. A possible explanation for Daniel’s behavior shot through her, and without thinking she grabbed his shoulder. “The third boy . . . Please don’t say . . .”

He laid his hand on hers and gently loosened her grip. “Yes. Unfortunately. Apparently, they’ll do anything to keep their promises.” He pointed to the picture and clicked, and a name and address appeared. “His name’s Colin; he’s only four years old. Dragged into a van before his mother’s eyes. The investigation is ongoing, but everyone expects the result to be a burned-out, wrecked vehicle. The mother’s not fit to be questioned; she’s in a hospital after having suffered a nervous breakdown. What we have, we know from witnesses. To begin with, our colleagues’ routine program will run parallel to our investigation; Stephan’s convinced this will be more efficient. We’re already having problems coordinating our efforts. Adding even more colleagues to our own team now would only cost us time we don’t have. Speaking of time, we have another twenty-four hours. Experience suggests that after that the boy’s out of our reach, and the case will be out of our hands. A special task force will take over. You’ll be assigned.”

“What does ‘you’ mean?” Sandra asked.

“They will not want to or be able to do it without you. The same goes for our colleagues from Lübeck. The rest of us prefer to fly under the radar. We’ll continue as we have up to now, but it will become more difficult to coordinate our actions.”

And their direct cooperation would be at an end. She opened her mouth to protest vehemently but remained silent. She knew the hierarchy within the police all too well. It was thanks to Stephan and Sven that they had been able to move as freely as they had up to this point.

A slight smile appeared on Daniel’s face. “We’re not there yet, Sandy. We still have a few hours, and we’re going to use them.”

“If your only concern is that you’re not going to be working with your boyfriend anymore, then . . . ,” Hannes said.

The cynical remark caused Sandra to understand the true meaning of the expression
see red
for the first time in her life. She spun around so fast that Lars drew back, startled. “Haven’t you understood anything, you idiot? It’s none of your fucking business what’s going on between Daniel and me, but what should interest you is that we’re so much faster and better than any special task force that has to follow all the rules. This is about the boy.”

Hannes didn’t retreat but looked at Sandra coldly. “You should watch your tone. You don’t speak to colleagues that way and certainly not to one several ranks above you.”

His lack of insight and the reference to the internal hierarchy rather than concentrating on saving the child were the last straw. “Your rank doesn’t interest me. At all. Furthermore, you just attacked Daniel and me, and he towers over you, both in terms of expertise and rank. And furthermore this is exclusively about who can do what best and not what rank is on a person’s pay stub. I’d have thought more about how it would be insane to tear apart a team like this and would regret that we can no longer access the resources we’re now able to. Once again: what’s most important is the child. But understanding priorities seems to be more than you’re capable of. By the way, I don’t even know exactly what it is you are. Would-be superintendent? To me you’re more the biggest moron running around here. As far as I’m concerned you can join your colleagues immediately or vacation on your island, but don’t waste our time.”

This time Hannes was silent and looked for support from his colleagues. Kat and Lars didn’t move but smiled at Sandra and thus made it unmistakably clear whose side they were on. Volker also looked up, gave Sandra a smile, and then continued to flip through some printouts.

Daniel’s eyes, on the other hand, glittered. “Are you done?” he asked, very politely.

“Only until the next crap comes out of his mouth,” Sandra said.

“Well, as you already said: we have no time for such crap. What exactly is your problem, Hannes? I don’t suppose it’s that Sandra and I have a private life when work ends?”

Hannes maintained his position and crossed his arms over his chest. “Economic department. Drug department. Americans. A half-criminal colleague from Lübeck. What is this? Certainly not an official special task force. And you’re surprised at my distrust?”

Volker wrinkled his brow, but didn’t let himself be distracted from his printouts. Sandra was getting curious about what was occupying the policeman to such an extent that he didn’t defend himself against the unfair accusation.

Daniel didn’t seem insulted in the least, either. “No, I’m not surprised at your reaction; I just wanted to hear it from you. Stephan? Would you take over?”

“Sure,” said Stephan, who had joined them but not yet taken part in the conversation. “But to begin with, some good news: I’ve just received confirmation that Binder’s laptop accessed the same catalog Daniel just showed you. This gives Sven nice thumbscrews, which he will use immediately. Binder’s attorney is already on his way. In forty minutes, we’ll be one step closer to the great unknown man.”

Kat raised a hand and wished to say something. “Who’s Binder? Why laptop? Usable in court or just for information?”

“Arne Binder is Kamps’s friend. The second man from the moor.”

Kat slapped her forehead. “Sorry. Too many names. Now I’m back on the same page. How did you get to this so quickly? The technicians need forever. Is the evidence admissible in court?”

With great smugness, Stephan looked at his colleague. “Why wouldn’t it be? Are you turning into our friend from Lübeck? The search was conducted officially by us, and we had the great luck that a colleague from the BKA became involved and immediately evaluated the computer. It would have been a nightmare if it had stayed in the evidence room for six months. Wouldn’t you say?”

Kat seemed just as puzzled as Hannes, who asked, “How does the BKA fit into the picture? If they become active, then the case is lost to us.”

“It’s not,” Stephan said, perching next to Daniel on the edge of the desk so he could look directly at Hannes. “I understand the last few months have worn you down quite a bit. It’s tough to carry out an undercover investigation of one’s own colleagues and superiors. It must be murderous to almost lose your partner, as well. For that reason, each of us more or less has sympathy for you. But your distrust must come to an end now. If personal relationships bother you, you’re in the wrong place here. Daniel’s one of my closest friends, but he’s not in charge here because of it but because he’s best suited to be. We can keep the two separate without difficulty.”

Stephan gave Lars and Kat a sidelong glance that made it clear that their close relationship hadn’t escaped their boss before he once again turned to Hannes.

“Of course, our composition is unusual, but then again it’s not very difficult to explain: Dirk and Sven officially work for the economic department, but often their investigations peripherally involve organized crime. Since we’re also friends, and the chief of police knows how well we work together, I usually provide personnel support if they need it. That means we have a short distance to travel and are usually pretty fast. Sven’s coordinating with the prosecutor’s office right now. You can’t get any more official than that. The only anomaly with us is that in cases of imminent danger we like to use unusual means. The involvement of the BKA was such a case. Our BKA colleague is a computer expert and has worked with us since this morning to crack the access to this catalog. I admit that it’s only thanks to his help that we are able to use this evidence officially. But let me ask you very directly, Hannes: If we have the opportunity to look at the e-mail account of this newspaper publisher to find out who wanted to have Sandra watched, should we refrain from doing so only to comply with the laws? Would it have been better to have waited for days for the result from our technicians—until they finally had time for Sandra’s computer or the photographer’s hard drive?”

“No, of course not,” Hannes said.

“We’re not going to do any more than this. As far as I’m concerned, you can go drink a cup of coffee in peace and think about what you want to do. Either you’re in . . . or out.”

Volker unexpectedly barged in. “I’d prefer if you’d abandon your reservations. I have something here. If you insist, you can handcuff me yourself afterward because of the damned raid, but at the moment we need you. Even if I’d prefer to do without you. I’ve had enough of your annoying remarks.”

Hannes managed a nod at Stephan and Daniel. Without addressing the topic further, he turned to Volker and spread his hands. “How have I helped you?”