Snow White Must Die (Bodenstein & Kirchhoff, #4)(108)

“Here’s my number.” He handed her his business card. “And thank you so much for your candor. You’ve helped me a great deal.”

“You’re welcome.” Heidi Brückner nodded and held out her hand. Her handshake was warm and firm. Bodenstein hesitated.

“Oh, in case I have another question—how can I reach you?”

A tiny smile flitted across her serious face. She pulled out her wallet and took out a card for him.

“I probably won’t be here for much longer,” she said. “As soon as my brother-in-law comes home, he’ll undoubtedly throw me out.”

* * *



After breakfast they had plodded through the deep snow for a couple of hours, enjoying the magnificent view of the Bernese Alps covered with snow. Then the weather suddenly changed, which was typical of the high mountains. Within minutes the radiant blue sky clouded over, and without warning a blizzard moved in. Hand in hand they returned to the cabin, breathlessly got out of their soaking wet clothing and climbed up the ladder to the loft stark naked. Heat from the wood stove had risen to the ceiling. Cuddled close together they lay on the bed while the wind howled around the cabin and the windowpanes rattled. They looked at each other. Her eyes were close to his and he could feel her breath. Tobias pushed the hair out of his face and shut his eyes when she slid down his naked body, licking his skin, teasing him with her tongue. All his pores broke out in a sweat as he panted, and his muscles tensed to the breaking point. With a moan he pulled her onto him and saw her face filled with lust. She began to move with more intensity, full of desire for him, and her sweat dripped onto him. Ecstatic joy flooded through him, then broke with unexpected force over him, and he felt as if the walls were swaying and the floor shaking beneath him. For a while they lay there, exhausted and happy, panting and waiting for their heartbeats to return to normal. Tobias took her face in his hands and gave her a long, tender kiss.

“That was wonderful,” he said softly.

“Yes. That’s how it will be forever and ever,” Nadia whispered, her voice husky. “Just you and me.”

Her lips brushed his shoulder, and smiling she snuggled up closer to him. He pulled the covers up over them and closed his eyes. Yes, that’s how it would be. His muscles relaxed and he felt how tired he was.

But suddenly he pictured Amelie’s face. It felt like he’d been punched in the face, and in a flash he was wide awake. How could he lie here so calmly while she was still missing and possibly fighting for her life somewhere?

“What is it?” Nadia murmured sleepily. It wasn’t a good idea to talk about another woman in bed, but Nadia was also worried about Amelie.

“I was just thinking about Amelie,” he replied honestly. “Where could she be? I hope nothing’s happened to her.”

He wasn’t prepared for Nadia’s reaction. She stiffened in his arms, jumped up and shoved him violently away from her. Her beautiful face was contorted with rage.

“Are you crazy?” she yelled, beside herself. “You f*ck me and then start babbling about some other woman? Aren’t I enough for you?”

She clenched her fists and pounded on his chest with a strength he wouldn’t have believed possible. Tobias had a hard time defending himself. Panting and stunned by this outburst, he stared at her.

“You f*cking *!” Nadia screamed, the tears gushing from her eyes. “Why do you always think about other women? I always had to listen to you talking about what you’d said and done with some other girl! Haven’t you ever thought how that might hurt me? And now you’re lying here with me in bed and jabbering about that … that little slut!”

* * *



The thick, damp fog lifted and completely dissipated in the Taunus. Driving on the B8, bright sunshine greeted them as they left the woods beyond Glashütten. Oliver flipped the sun visor down.

“Lauterbach will turn up,” he said to Pia. “He’s a politician and concerned about his reputation. His wife probably called him long ago.”

“Well, I hope so.” Pia didn’t quite share the optimism of her boss. “Claudius Terlinden is being watched, at any rate.”

The phone lines between K-11, the district attorney’s office, and the court were jammed up since J?rg Richter’s confession that Laura was still alive when he and his friends threw her into the underground tank. She had begged for her life, crying and screaming, until they had rolled the lid over the hole. It was clear that in the case of Laura Wagner the proceedings would have to be reopened, and that Tobias Sartorius would be exonerated. If he ever showed up. As of now there had been no sign of him.

Oliver turned left and drove through the village of Kr?ftel toward Heftrich. Just before the entrance to Heftrich stood the farm which Stefanie Schneeberger’s parents had purchased ten years ago. A big sign pointed the way to the farm store, where only organic produce from their own fields that they had grown themselves was sold. Oliver pulled in at the farm, which was spick and span. They got out and looked around. There was hardly anything left of the dreary functionality of the former homestead farm, one of many that had been set up en masse in the sixties for returning Germans from eastern Europe. The Schneebergers had added on buildings and remodeled those that already existed. Under the new awning of the middle building, in which the farm store was located, fall flower arrangements waited for buyers. The roofs of the buildings were covered with solar and photovoltaic panels. Two cats were lolling on the steps of the farmhouse, enjoying the rare sunshine.