Snow White Must Die (Bodenstein & Kirchhoff, #4)(52)

“I’ll see you later,” she said curtly and left them to each other.

* * *



For the second time today Pia had taken a seat at a kitchen table and politely turned down a cup of coffee. Then she had informed Hartmut Sartorius about Manfred Wagner’s confession and arrest.

“How’s your ex-wife doing?” she asked.

“Her condition is unchanged,” said Sartorius. “The doctors just give me the runaround and refuse to say anything definite.”

Pia studied the gaunt, exhausted face of Tobias’s father. The man hadn’t suffered any less than the Wagners—on the contrary. While the parents of the victim were shown sympathy and solidarity, the parents of the perpetrator had been ostracized and punished for the actions of their son. The silence turned uncomfortable. Pia didn’t really know why she’d come. What was she actually looking for here?

“So are people pretty much leaving you and your son alone?” she asked at last. Hartmut Sartorius emitted a curt, bitter laugh. He opened a drawer and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, which he handed to Pia.

“This was in the mailbox today. Tobias threw it out, but I retrieved it from the garbage can.”

You murdering bastards, Pia read. Get out of here before another accident happens.

“A threatening letter,” she said. “Anonymous?”

“Of course.” Sartorius shrugged and sat back down at the table. “Yesterday they attacked him in the barn and beat him up.” His voice faltered and he had to fight for control as tears shone in his eyes.

“Who?” Pia wanted to know.

“All of them.” Sartorius made a helpless gesture. “They were wearing masks and had baseball bats. When I … when I found Tobias in the barn … I thought at first he was … he was dead.”

He bit his lip and lowered his eyes.

“Why didn’t you call the police?”

“It wouldn’t do any good. This is never going to stop.” The man shook his head with a mixture of resignation and despair. “Tobias is doing his best to get the farm back in shape and hopes we can find a buyer.”

“Mr. Sartorius.” Pia was still holding the letter. “I’ve read all the documents in your son’s case. And I noticed some inconsistencies. Actually it amazes me that Tobias’s lawyer didn’t file an appeal.”

“He wanted to, but the court refused to consider any appeal. The circumstantial evidence, the eyewitnesses—there was no room for any doubt.” Sartorius rubbed his hand over his face. Everything about him radiated discouragement.

“But now Laura’s remains have been found,” Pia insisted. “And I’ve been asking myself how your son could possibly have gotten the dead girl out of the house and into the trunk of his car, taken her to Eschborn to the restricted site of a former military airfield and thrown her into an old underground tank, and then driven back here, all in under forty-five minutes.”

Sartorius raised his head and looked at her. A tiny spark of hope gleamed in his watery blue eyes, but it vanished just as quickly.

“It won’t do any good. There’s no new evidence. And even if there was, to the people here he’s a murderer and that’s what he’ll always be.”

“Maybe your son should leave Altenhain for a while,” Pia suggested. “At least until after the girl is buried, when feelings here have died down a bit.”

“Where is he supposed to go? We don’t have any money. Tobias won’t be able to find a job any time soon. Who’s going to hire an ex-con, even if he has a diploma?”

“He could move into his mother’s apartment temporarily,” Pia suggested, but Sartorius only shook his head.

“Tobias is thirty years old,” he said. “I know you mean well, but I can’t order him to do anything.”

* * *



“I just had a déjà-vu moment when I saw the two of you sitting on the bench.” Nadia shook her head. Tobias had sat back down and was cautiously feeling his nose. The memory of his fear of death from last night had settled like a dark shadow over the sunny day. When the men finally stopped beating him and disappeared, he had silently said good-bye to life. If one of them hadn’t come back to take the rag out of his mouth he would have suffocated. They had really been serious about it. Tobias shuddered at the thought of how close to death he had come. The injuries he had suffered were painful and looked dramatic, sure, but they weren’t life-threatening. His father had called Dr. Lauterbach last night and she came over at once to patch him up. She had taped closed the cut on his eyebrow and left some painkillers for him. She didn’t seem to hold it against him that he had dragged her husband into the whole mess in 1997.

“Don’t you think so?” Nadia’s voice interrupted his train of thought.

“What did you say?” he asked. She was so beautiful and looked so anxious. She was actually expected on the set in Hamburg, but apparently he was more important. After he called she must have left at once. That was the sign of a true friend.

“I was just saying how strange it is for that girl to look so much like Stefanie. Unbelievable!” said Nadia and took his hand. She caressed the balls of his thumbs, a tender touch that under other circumstances might have pleased him. But right now it didn’t.