Snow White Must Die (Bodenstein & Kirchhoff, #4)(68)

Bodenstein and Kirchhoff exchanged a silent glance. Here, in his domain, Hartmut Sartorius was again the owner who had the welfare of his guests at heart, and who was incensed by the graffiti on the fa?ade. He was no longer the stooped, humiliated shadow he had become due to circumstances. Only now did Pia comprehend the full scope of the loss that this man had suffered, and she felt a deep sympathy. She had wanted to ask him why he never moved away from Altenhain after those terrible events, but now this question seemed superfluous. Hartmut Sartorius was so solidly rooted in this village where his family had lived for generations, as solidly as the chestnut tree standing outside.

“You cleaned out the farmyard,” Bodenstein began the conversation. “That must have taken a lot of work.”

“Tobias did that. He wants me to sell everything. Actually he’s right, because we’ll never be able to make a go of it here. But the problem is, the property no longer belongs to me.”

“Who does it belong to?”

“We had to borrow a lot of money to pay Tobias’s legal bills,” Sartorius volunteered. “It was more than we could handle, especially since we had already gone into debt to put a new kitchen in the restaurant and pay for the tractor and other things. For three years I was still able to pay my bills, but then … people stopped coming. I had to close the place. If it hadn’t been for Claudius, we’d be out on the street today.”

“Claudius Terlinden?” Pia asked, pulling out her notebook. Suddenly she understood what Andrea Wagner had meant the other day when she said that she didn’t want to wind up like Sartorius. She would rather get a job than be dependent on Claudius Terlinden.

“Yes. Claudius was the only one who stood by us. He got us the lawyer and later he regularly visited Tobias in prison.”

“Aha.”

“The Terlinden family has lived in Altenhain as long as our family has. Claudius’s great-grandfather was the blacksmith in the village until he came up with an invention, which he used to set up a metalworking shop. Claudius’s grandfather expanded the family business and built that villa over by the woods,” Sartorius told them. “The Terlindens have always been socially minded. They’ve done a great deal for the village, and for their employees and families. They don’t have to keep doing that, but Claudius is always ready to listen. He’s willing to help anyone who’s in a jam. Without his support the organizations in the village wouldn’t have a chance. A couple of years ago he gave the volunteer fire department a new fire engine; he’s on the board of the local athletic club and sponsored the first- and second-string soccer teams. Yes, they can even thank him for the artificial turf.”

Lost in thought, Sartorius stared into space for a moment, but Bodenstein and Kirchhoff took care not to interrupt. After a pause Sartorius continued.

“Claudius even offered Tobias a job with his firm. Just until he finds something else. Lars was Tobias’s best friend. He used to come in and out of the house like a second son, and Tobias also felt completely at home at the Terlindens’.”

“Lars,” Pia said. “He’s mentally handicapped, isn’t he?”

“Oh no, not Lars.” Sartorius shook his head emphatically. “You’re thinking of Thies, the other brother. And he isn’t mentally handicapped. He’s autistic.”

Oliver, who had been extensively briefed on the old case by Pia, said, “If I remember correctly, at the time there was some suspicion directed at Claudius Terlinden as well. Didn’t your son tell you that Terlinden had something going on with Laura? If that’s the case, Tobias is probably not his favorite person.”

“I don’t think there was anything between Claudius and the girl,” Sartorius said after thinking it over. “Laura was pretty and a little wild. Her mother was the housekeeper at the Terlinden villa, so Laura went there often. She told Tobias that Claudius was pursuing her, probably to make him jealous. It hurt her feelings that he’d broken up with her. But Tobias was head over heels in love with Stefanie, so Laura no longer had a chance. Hmm, she was also of a whole different caliber, that Stefanie. Already a mature young woman, very beautiful and very self-assured.”

“Snow White,” said Pia.

“Yes, that’s what they called her after she got the part.”

“What part?”

“Oh, in a school play. The other girls were very jealous. After all, Stefanie was the new girl here, but she still got the coveted lead role in the drama club play.”

“But Laura and Stefanie were friends, weren’t they?” Pia asked.

“The two of them and Nathalie were all in the same class. They got along well and belonged to the same clique.” Sartorius was clearly thinking back to more peaceful times.

“Who was in that clique?”

“Laura, Nathalie, and the boys: Tobias, J?rg, Felix, Michael—I can’t remember the rest. When Stefanie came to Altenhain, she was quickly accepted into the group.”

“And Tobias broke up with Laura because of her.”

“Yes.”

“But then Stefanie broke up with him. Why did she do that?”

“I don’t know the exact reason,” Sartorius said with a shrug. “Who knows what goes on among the young people? Supposedly she’d fallen for her teacher.”

“For Gregor Lauterbach?”