Snow White Must Die (Bodenstein & Kirchhoff, #4)(137)

“Stop!” he shouted, and his voice echoed through the lobby. As if stunned they both spun around and stared at him in disbelief. Terlinden dropped his suitcase. Tobias was shaking all over. Although he would have liked to hurl himself at them, he had to control himself and stay calm.

“Tobias!” Claudius Terlinden was the first to recover. “I … I’m terribly sorry about what happened. Really, you have to believe me, I didn’t mean to—”

“Shut up!” Tobias screamed, fixing his eyes on them as he slowly moved in a semicircle. “I’m not going to listen to any more of your shitty lies. You’re to blame for everything. You and this … this devious bitch.”

He pointed his finger accusingly at Daniela Lauterbach.

“The two of you have always pretended to be so understanding, but you knew the truth all along. And you let me go to prison. And now you’re probably trying to make your escape, right? But there’s no chance in hell I’m going to let that happen. I’ve already called the police, and they’ll be here any minute.”

He saw the quick look that Terlinden and Lauterbach exchanged.

“I’m going to tell you everything that I know about you. And it’s a lot, believe me. My father is dead so he can’t be a witness anymore, but I know what you did in 1997.”

“Now just calm down,” said Daniela Lauterbach, giving him the friendly smile that always fooled people. “What exactly are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about your first husband.” Tobias came closer and stood right in front of her. Her cold brown eyes bored into his. “About Wilhelm, Uncle Willi, Claudius’s older brother, and what he put in his will.”

“I see.” Daniela Lauterbach kept smiling at him. “And why do you think the police would be interested in any of this?”

“Because it wasn’t his real will,” said Tobias. “Dr. Fuchsberger gave the real one to my father after Claudius got him drunk and promised him a hundred thousand marks.”

The smile on Daniela Lauterbach’s face froze.

“Your first husband was deathly ill, but he wasn’t happy about the fact that you’d cheated on him with his brother Claudius, so he changed his will two weeks before he died. He disinherited both of you. Instead he stipulated that the daughter of his chauffeur would be his sole heir, because shortly before his death he found out that Claudius had gotten her pregnant in May 1976. And that on his orders you made her abort the child.”

“Did your father tell you this nonsense?” Claudius Terlinden broke in.

“No.” Tobias didn’t take his eyes off Daniela Lauterbach. “He wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. Dr. Fuchsberger gave my father the will and he was supposed to destroy it, but he never did. He kept it hidden in his safe, until today.”

Now he looked at Claudius Terlinden.

“That’s why you made sure my father stayed in Altenhain, isn’t it? Because he knew everything. Actually the company doesn’t belong to you, or the villa either. And Dr. Lauterbach would never have inherited her house or all the money from her first husband. According to the will, it all belongs to the daughter of Wilhelm Terlinden’s former chauffeur, Kurt Cramer…” Tobias snorted. “Unfortunately, my father never could bring himself to tell anyone about the real will. It’s a shame, really.”

“Yes, what a shame,” said Daniela Lauterbach. “But that gives me an idea.”

Terlinden and Dr. Lauterbach were standing with their backs to the stairwell and couldn’t see Amelie, who had come into the lobby, but they did notice that Tobias’s attention was distracted for a moment. Daniela Lauterbach grabbed the box that Terlinden had stuck under his arm, and Tobias suddenly found himself looking into the barrel of a gun.

“I’d almost forgotten about that dreadful evening, until you reminded me of it. You remember, Claudius, the way Wilhelm suddenly stood in the doorway of the bedroom, holding this very pistol and aiming at us?” She smiled at Tobias. “Thank you for giving me the idea, you little idiot.”

Without hesitating another second, Daniela Lauterbach fired the gun. An ear-splitting boom shattered the silence. Tobias felt a violent jolt and then his chest seemed about to explode. In disbelief he stared at the doctor, who had already turned away. He heard Amelie desperately calling his name in a shrill voice. He wanted to speak but couldn’t get any air, and his legs gave way. Tobias Sartorius hit the granite floor but didn’t feel it. Everything around him was black and deathly still.

* * *



They were discussing how to get onto the hermetically sealed grounds of the Terlinden factory when from the other side of the gate a dark limousine approached with its high beams on. The gate slid silently to the side.

“There he is!” shouted Pia, motioning to her colleagues. Claudius Terlinden, behind the wheel of the Mercedes, had to brake abruptly as two patrol cars suddenly blocked his way.

“He’s alone in the car,” said Bodenstein. Pia stepped up next to him, her weapon drawn, and motioned to Terlinden to roll down the window. Two uniformed officers lent weight to her demand as they took up position on the other side of the car, weapons at the ready.

“What do you want from me?” Terlinden asked. He was sitting stock still, his hands gripping the steering wheel. Despite the cold, his face glistened with sweat.