Snow White Must Die (Bodenstein & Kirchhoff, #4)(104)

His compliment seemed to please her. She smiled again, that warm, motherly smile that seemed to trigger an almost irresistible need in him to throw himself into her arms, seeking comfort.

“Sometimes I care more about the fate of others than is good for me.” She sighed. “But I simply can’t hold back. When I see somebody suffering, I have to help.”

Bodenstein shivered in the icy morning air. She noticed at once.

“You’re cold. Let’s go in the house, if you have any more questions for me.”

He followed her through the garage and upstairs into a big entry hall, a relic of the eighties in all its uselessness.

“Is your husband home?” he asked in passing, looking around.

“No.” For a fraction of a second she hesitated. “My husband is on a business trip.”

If that was a lie, Bodenstein accepted it for the moment. Maybe she didn’t know the game her husband was playing.

“I have to speak with him, urgently,” he said. “We found out that he had an affair with Stefanie Schneeberger eleven years ago.”

The warm expression vanished abruptly from her face, and she turned away.

“I know,” she admitted. “Gregor told me about it then, although not until after the girl disappeared.” It was obviously difficult for her to speak about her husband’s infidelity.

“He worried that he’d been seen during his … bit of hanky-panky in Sartorius’s barn and the police might consider him a suspect.” There was bitterness in her voice and her gaze was somber. The betrayal still hurt, and it reminded Bodenstein of his own situation. Daniela Lauterbach may have forgiven her husband after eleven years, but she had definitely not forgotten the humiliation.

“But why is that important now?” she asked in confusion.

“Amelie Fr?hlich was looking into those past events and must have found out about the affair. If your husband knew about it, he may have considered Amelie a threat.”

Daniela Lauterbach stared at Bodenstein in disbelief.

“Surely you don’t suspect my husband of having anything to do with Amelie’s disappearance?”

“No, he’s not a suspect,” Bodenstein assured her. “But we urgently need to talk to him. He did something that could have legal implications for him.”

“May I ask what that might be?”

“Your husband convinced one of my colleagues to remove the 1997 interview transcript from the official police records.”

This news obviously gave her a shock. She turned pale.

“No.” She shook her head resolutely. “No, I can’t believe that. Why would he do such a thing?”

“That’s what I’d like to ask him. So, where can I find him? If he doesn’t get in touch with us immediately we’ll have to launch a search for him. And I’d rather save him that embarrassment, given his position.”

Daniela Lauterbach nodded. She took a deep breath, keeping her emotions under control with iron self-control. When she looked at Bodenstein again, another emotion was visible in her eyes. Was it fear or rage—or both?

“I’ll call him and let him know,” she said, trying with difficulty to lend her words a casual tone. “I’m sure there must be some kind of mistake.”

“I think so too,” Bodenstein agreed with her. “But the sooner we get this matter cleared up, the better.”

* * *



It had been a long time since Tobias had slept so soundly and blissfully, without a single dream. He turned over on his back and sat up with a yawn. It took him a moment to realize where he was. Last night they had arrived here quite late. In spite of a heavy snowfall Nadia had exited the autobahn at Interlaken. Somewhere she had stopped, put chains on her car, and then drove on undaunted, up the steep switchback road, higher and higher. He was so tired and exhausted that he hardly noticed what the inside of the cabin looked like. He hadn’t been hungry either, just followed her up a ladder and got into the bed, which took up the entire area of the loft. His head barely touched the pillow before he was asleep. No doubt the deep sleep had done him good.

“Nadia?”

No answer. Tobias hunched down to look out the tiny window by the bed. It took his breath away when he caught sight of the deep-blue sky, the snow, and the impressive mountain panorama in the distance. He had never been to the mountains; there had been no ski vacations in his childhood, just as there had been none to the sea. Suddenly he could hardly wait to touch the snow. He climbed down the ladder. The cabin was small and cozy, with wooden walls and ceiling, a corner bench with a table set for breakfast. It smelled like coffee, and logs crackled in the fireplace. Tobias smiled. He slipped on jeans, a sweater, jacket, and shoes, opened the door and stepped outside. For a moment he paused, blinded by the gleaming brightness. He inhaled the crystal-clear, icy air deep into his lungs. A snowball hit him right in the face.

“Good morning!” Nadia laughed, waving. She was standing a couple of yards below the steps, and her radiance competed with the snow and sunshine. He grinned, ran down the steps, and sank in up to his knees in powder snow. She came toward him, her cheeks red, her face more beautiful than ever under her fur-trimmed hood.

“Wow, is it great here!” he shouted enthusiastically.

“Do you like it?”

“Oh yeah! I’ve only seen something like this on TV.”