Read Online The Ice Queen: A Novel by Nele Neuhaus - Free Book Online
Authors: Nele Neuhaus
Ads: Link
fast?”
“He knows the right people in the right places. You know how these things work.”
Nierhoff gave Bodenstein a skeptical look. “Did you inform the next of kin yesterday?”
“No. I presume Goldberg’s housekeeper did that.”
“They want the autopsy report.” Nierhoff nervously rubbed his chin. Inside him the policeman was struggling with the politician. “Can you imagine what might come of this, Bodenstein?”
“Yes, I can,” he said with a nod. Nierhoff jumped up and resumed silently pacing back and forth in his office.
“What am I supposed to do now?” he finally mused out loud. “I’ll be fired if that detail gets out to the public. Not to mention what the press will do with it if anything leaks out!”
Bodenstein grimaced at this self-pitying utterance. Apparently, solving a homicide case didn’t interest his boss in the slightest.
“It’s not a matter of the public,” he replied. “Since nobody’s interested in shouting that particular detail from the rooftops, nothing is going to happen.”
“That’s easy for you to say.… What’s the deal with the autopsy report?”
“You’re going to run it through the shredder.”
Nierhoff went over to the window, his hands clasped behind his back, and stared outside for a moment. Then he turned abruptly.
“I’ve given my word that for our part no further investigations will be conducted in the Goldberg case,” he said in a lowered voice. “I trust that you will comply.”
“That goes without saying,” Bodenstein replied. He didn’t care who the chief commissioner had given his word to, but it didn’t take any particularly clairvoyant abilities to know what that meant. On directions from on high, Goldberg’s murder was to be swept under the rug.
Monday, April 30
“I could have danced all night! I could have danced all night!…”
It was just past seven when Bodenstein stopped short in the doorway of the conference room, watching his colleague, who was warbling away and dancing with an imaginary partner between the table and the flip chart. He cleared his throat. “Was your zoo director nice to you? You seem to be in a great mood.”
“I feel fantastic!” Pia Kirchhoff did one last pirouette, then dropped her arms and gave the hint of a bow with a big grin. “And he’s always nice to me. Shall I get you some coffee, boss?”
“Did something happen?” Bodenstein raised his eyebrows. “Are you trying to get me to sign off on a vacation?”
“My God, how suspicious you are. No, I’m just in a good mood,” Pia replied. “Saturday night, I ran into an old friend who used to know Goldberg, and—”
“Goldberg is ancient history,” Bodenstein said, interrupting her. “I’ll tell you why later. Would you be so kind as to call in the rest of the team?”
A little later, everyone at K-11 in Hofheim was sitting around the conference table, listening in amazement to Bodenstein’s curt announcement that the Goldberg case had been dropped. Detective Inspector Andreas Hasse—who today was wearing a golden yellow shirt and an argyle sweater vest with corduroy pants instead of his usual brown suit—showed no emotion upon hearing the news. He had no spirit whatsoever, and although he was only in his mid-fifties, for years he’d been counting the days to his retirement. Even Behnke just went on indifferently chewing his gum, obviously lost in thought. Since there was nothing urgent pending, Bodenstein had agreed that his team would help out their colleagues in K-10 in investigating an eastern European auto-theft gang that had been making trouble in the Rhein-Main area for months. Ostermann and Pia Kirchhoff were to concentrate on an unsolved carjacking. Bodenstein waited until he was alone with the two to relate the details of what he knew about Goldberg’s past and the strange events of Sunday morning, which had led to K-11 being taken off the Goldberg case.
“So that means we’re really out of it?”
“He knows the right people in the right places. You know how these things work.”
Nierhoff gave Bodenstein a skeptical look. “Did you inform the next of kin yesterday?”
“No. I presume Goldberg’s housekeeper did that.”
“They want the autopsy report.” Nierhoff nervously rubbed his chin. Inside him the policeman was struggling with the politician. “Can you imagine what might come of this, Bodenstein?”
“Yes, I can,” he said with a nod. Nierhoff jumped up and resumed silently pacing back and forth in his office.
“What am I supposed to do now?” he finally mused out loud. “I’ll be fired if that detail gets out to the public. Not to mention what the press will do with it if anything leaks out!”
Bodenstein grimaced at this self-pitying utterance. Apparently, solving a homicide case didn’t interest his boss in the slightest.
“It’s not a matter of the public,” he replied. “Since nobody’s interested in shouting that particular detail from the rooftops, nothing is going to happen.”
“That’s easy for you to say.… What’s the deal with the autopsy report?”
“You’re going to run it through the shredder.”
Nierhoff went over to the window, his hands clasped behind his back, and stared outside for a moment. Then he turned abruptly.
“I’ve given my word that for our part no further investigations will be conducted in the Goldberg case,” he said in a lowered voice. “I trust that you will comply.”
“That goes without saying,” Bodenstein replied. He didn’t care who the chief commissioner had given his word to, but it didn’t take any particularly clairvoyant abilities to know what that meant. On directions from on high, Goldberg’s murder was to be swept under the rug.
Monday, April 30
“I could have danced all night! I could have danced all night!…”
It was just past seven when Bodenstein stopped short in the doorway of the conference room, watching his colleague, who was warbling away and dancing with an imaginary partner between the table and the flip chart. He cleared his throat. “Was your zoo director nice to you? You seem to be in a great mood.”
“I feel fantastic!” Pia Kirchhoff did one last pirouette, then dropped her arms and gave the hint of a bow with a big grin. “And he’s always nice to me. Shall I get you some coffee, boss?”
“Did something happen?” Bodenstein raised his eyebrows. “Are you trying to get me to sign off on a vacation?”
“My God, how suspicious you are. No, I’m just in a good mood,” Pia replied. “Saturday night, I ran into an old friend who used to know Goldberg, and—”
“Goldberg is ancient history,” Bodenstein said, interrupting her. “I’ll tell you why later. Would you be so kind as to call in the rest of the team?”
A little later, everyone at K-11 in Hofheim was sitting around the conference table, listening in amazement to Bodenstein’s curt announcement that the Goldberg case had been dropped. Detective Inspector Andreas Hasse—who today was wearing a golden yellow shirt and an argyle sweater vest with corduroy pants instead of his usual brown suit—showed no emotion upon hearing the news. He had no spirit whatsoever, and although he was only in his mid-fifties, for years he’d been counting the days to his retirement. Even Behnke just went on indifferently chewing his gum, obviously lost in thought. Since there was nothing urgent pending, Bodenstein had agreed that his team would help out their colleagues in K-10 in investigating an eastern European auto-theft gang that had been making trouble in the Rhein-Main area for months. Ostermann and Pia Kirchhoff were to concentrate on an unsolved carjacking. Bodenstein waited until he was alone with the two to relate the details of what he knew about Goldberg’s past and the strange events of Sunday morning, which had led to K-11 being taken off the Goldberg case.
“So that means we’re really out of it?”
Similar Books
