Snow White Must Die (Bodenstein & Kirchhoff, #4)(69)

“Yes.” His expression darkened. “They turned that into a motive at the trial. Tobias was supposed to be jealous of the teacher so he … killed Stefanie. But that’s utter nonsense.”

“So who got the lead role after Stefanie couldn’t play the part?”

“If I remember rightly, it was Nathalie.”

Pia shot Oliver a glance.

“Nathalie—who is now Nadia,” she said. “She always remained loyal to your son. Even to this day. Why?”

“The Ungers are our next-door neighbors,” said Sartorius. “Nathalie was like a little sister to Tobias. Later she was his best friend. She was … a pal. Rather tomboyish but not bitchy at all. She was game for anything. Tobias and his friends always treated her like a boy because she did everything with them. When they were even younger, she rode a moped, climbed trees, and joined in their fights.”

“To get back to Claudius Terlinden,” Bodenstein began, but at that moment Behnke marched in, followed by two more officers. They came through the restaurant’s back door, which was ajar. That morning Bodenstein had entrusted Behnke with leading the search of the house. He took up position in front of the table, his colleagues like two aides-de-camp on either side.

“We found something interesting in your son’s room, Mr. Sartorius.”

Kirchhoff noticed the triumphant gleam in Behnke’s eyes, the arrogant twitch at the corners of his mouth. He enjoyed displaying the superiority he felt in situations like this, based on his authority as a police officer. A shabby character trait that Pia deeply resented.

As if touched by a magic wand, Sartorius again seemed to cave in.

“This,” Behnke announced without taking his eyes off Sartorius, “was in the seat pocket of a pair of jeans in your son’s room.” He flared his nostrils, sure of victory. “Does this belong to your son? Hmm? I don’t think so. There are initials on the back written in indelible ink. Take a look.”

Bodenstein loudly cleared his throat and reached out his hand, gesturing to Behnke to hand over the item. Pia could have kissed her boss for that. She had to stop herself from breaking into a grin. Without a word Oliver had put Behnke in his place—and he did it in front of his colleagues from the evidence team. Behnke’s furious gnashing of teeth was almost audible as he reluctantly handed his boss the plastic bag with his discovery.

“Thank you,” said Bodenstein without even looking at him. “You can all continue your work outside.”

Behnke’s lean face first turned pale, then red with anger at this rebuke. Woe to the poor devil who now crossed his path and made a mistake. He glanced at Kirchhoff, but she succeeded in maintaining a completely disinterested expression. Meanwhile, Bodenstein examined the find in the plastic bag and frowned.

“This seems to be a cell phone belonging to Amelie Fr?hlich,” he said gravely, after Behnke and the other two officers had gone. “How could it have wound up in your son’s pants pocket?”

Hartmut Sartorius had turned pale, and he shook his head in bewilderment.

“I … I have no idea,” he whispered. “I really don’t.”

* * *



Nadia’s cell rang and vibrated, but she merely cast a quick glance at the display and put it down.

“Go ahead and take it.” The melody was gradually getting on Tobias’s nerves. “They aren’t going to let up.”

She grabbed the phone and took the call. “Hello, Hartmut,” she said, looking at Tobias, who straightened up involuntarily. What did his father want with Nadia?

“Oh?… Aha … Yes, I understand.” She listened without taking her eyes off Tobias. “No … I’m sorry. He isn’t here … No, I don’t know where he could be. I just got back from Hamburg myself … Yes, of course. If he calls me I’ll tell him.”

She hung up. For a moment it was quite still.

“You lied,” Tobias said. “How come?”

Nadia didn’t answer at once. She lowered her eyes and sighed. When she looked up she was struggling with tears.

“The police just searched your house,” she said tensely. “They want to talk to you.”

A search of the house? Why was that? Tobias got up abruptly. He couldn’t possibly leave his father alone in this situation. He had long ago reached the limit of what he could tolerate.

“Please, Tobi,” Nadia begged. “Don’t go there. I … I … won’t let them arrest you again.”

“Who says they want to arrest me?” Tobias replied in astonishment. “They probably just have a few more questions.”

“No!” She jumped up and the chair crashed to the granite floor. Her expression was desperate, and tears were pouring from her eyes.

“What’s the matter?”

She flung her arms around his neck and hugged him. He couldn’t figure out what was wrong. He stroked her back and held her close.

“They found Amelie’s cell phone in the pocket of your jeans.” Her voice sounded muffled against his neck. Tobias was speechless. Anxious now, he pulled away. There must be some mistake. How could Amelie’s cell end up in his jeans?

“Don’t go,” Nadia begged him. “Let’s go somewhere, somewhere far away, until all this is cleared up.”