Snow White Must Die (Bodenstein & Kirchhoff, #4)(58)

Monday, November 17, 2008



The entire K-11 team had gathered in the conference room around the big table; except for Hasse they were all present, even Behnke, who looked grumpier than usual.

“Sorry I’m late,” said Pia Kirchhoff, heading for the last vacant chair. She took off her jacket. Nicola Engel glanced demonstratively at her watch.

“It’s twenty past eight,” she noted sharply. “We’re not the Rosenheim Cops on TV, after all. In the future please organize your farm work so that it doesn’t interfere with your work schedule.”

Pia could feel the heat rush to her face. Stupid cow!

“I was at the pharmacy getting some cold pills,” she replied, equally caustic. “Or would you rather I took a sick day?”

The two women stared each other down for a moment.

“All right. I see that everyone is present now,” said the commissioner without apologizing for her unjustified insinuation. “We have a missing girl. Our colleagues from Eschborn informed us this morning.”

Pia scanned the group. Behnke was leaning back in his chair with his legs spread, vigorously chewing gum. He kept shooting fierce glances over at Kathrin, who responded with a hostile expression and her lips pressed tight. Pia recalled that at the insistence of Dr. Engel, Oliver had talked to Behnke last week. What had come of that? In any case Behnke seemed to know that Kathrin had reported seeing him working in the bar in Sachsenhausen. The tension between the two could not be ignored. Bodenstein sat at the head of the table staring down at the tabletop. His face was stony, but the shadows under his eyes and the vertical furrow between his eyebrows revealed that something was bothering him. Even Ostermann made an unusually sullen impression. He seemed caught in the middle. Behnke was an old friend, and Ostermann had always protected him, covering his mistakes. But he’d finally become fed up with Behnke taking advantage of his friendship. And Ostermann usually agreed with Kathrin Fachinger—so whose side was he on?

“Has the Wallau case been cleared up?” Dr. Engel asked. It took Pia a moment to realize the question was directed at her.

“Yes,” she replied, frowning at the memory of the large-scale operation by the evidence team and forensic medical examiners at the accident scene. “They did find two bodies, but we probably won’t have much to do with them.”

“Why is that?”

“They were two roasted suckling pigs that were supposed to be delivered to a party,” Pia explained. “The van was completely destroyed in the accident because the party service driver had a couple of butane bottles in the cargo area that blew up in the fire.”

Dr. Engel frowned. “All the better. And the Rita Cramer case is in the hands of the DA.” She turned to Bodenstein. “So you can take over the case of the missing girl. She’ll probably turn up somewhere soon. Ninety-eight percent of cases with missing teenagers are cleared up within a few hours or after a couple of days.”

Bodenstein cleared his throat. “But two percent aren’t,” he said.

“Talk to the parents and the girl’s friends,” Dr. Engel advised. “I have an appointment now with the National Criminal Police. Keep me informed.”

She stood up, nodded to the team, and left.

“What have we got?” Bodenstein asked Ostermann when the door closed behind her.

“Amelie Fr?hlich, seventeen years old, from Bad Soden. Her parents reported her missing yesterday. They saw her last on Saturday morning. But because she’s run away from home before, they waited until now to report it.”

“Good.” Bodenstein nodded. “Pia and I will go talk to the parents. Frank, you and Fachinger will drive—”

“No,” Kathrin interrupted her boss, who gave her a startled look. “I’m definitely not riding with Behnke anywhere.”

“I can ride with Frank,” Ostermann offered hastily. For a moment there was utter silence. Behnke chewed on his gum and grinned contentedly to himself.

“Do I have to take personal disagreements into consideration?” Bodenstein asked. The furrow between his eyebrows had deepened. He looked really angry, which was rare for him. Kathrin was pouting. It was a clear instance of insubordination.

“Be careful, people.” Bodenstein’s voice sounded dangerously calm. “I don’t give a shit who has problems with whom at the moment. We have work to do, and I expect all of you to comply with instructions. Perhaps I’ve been a bit too lax in the past, but I’m nobody’s fool. Ms. Fachinger and Mr. Behnke will drive to the girl’s school and talk to her teachers and classmates. When they’re finished with that, they’ll start on the girl’s neighbors. Is that clear?”

The answer was stubborn silence. And suddenly Bodenstein did something he’d never done before. He slammed his fist down on the table.

“I asked if that was clear!” he roared.

“Yes,” replied Kathrin Fachinger icily. She got up, grabbing her jacket and bag. Behnke also got up. The two left the room, and then Ostermann also retreated to his office.

Oliver took a deep breath and looked at Pia.

“Oh, man.” He exhaled and gave her a crooked grin. “That felt good.”

* * *



“Altenhain?” Pia asked in surprise. “But Ostermann said something about Bad Soden.”