"Policing 101," he said. "We covered numerous practical exercises! Besides, I already demonstrated once today that I haven't forgotten what I learned."

He persuaded her to order another cocktail and a sandwich. He had apparently managed to make her feel safe again and hoped that he actually had the situation under control. As a precaution, he decided against any alcohol and ordered another Summer Delight, while Anna opted for a Caribbean Lover. Was she trying to tell him something?

He engaged her in harmless small talk and felt this helped further reassure her. After the bartender placed the second round of cocktails in front of them, he steered the conversation back to business.

"Ms. Stahl, this morning I got the feeling you're very happy working at Lagussa."

"Oh, please call me Anna. Otherwise you make me feel like an old woman. We're about the same age, anyway."

"Sure," he said. Anna wasn't really his type, so why did he become more nervous the more she felt relaxed? "However, you're a little generous in saying that we're about the same age: I'm pushing thirty-three."

She cocked her head and looked at him. "Huh? How old do you think I am?"

"That of course is the most dangerous of all questions," he said and laughed. He made a point of sizing her up and realized she came off pretty well. She had slightly tanned, flawless skin and wore only a subtle amount of makeup. A few small freckles dotted her straight nose, and her smooth brown hair was casually tucked behind her ears. Earlier that morning, he had noticed her athletic figure.

"Well? Finished looking?" she asked, and he realized he had been eyeing her in silence.

"You, uh . . . Since you've already been working at Lagussa for almost ten years and started right after graduation, I'd guess twenty-seven."

"Ugh, such a cop," she said and laughed. "I gave you too much information before. Still, you're a little off: I'm twenty-nine. But that's not because I was held back in school. After training, I traveled the world for a year. You could still pass for someone in his twenties . . ."

Now she was clearly flirting: there was no mistaking the look on her face. He had hoped the alcohol would loosen her up, but he had not expected this.

"I've had this question on my mind the entire day," he said, trying to collect his thoughts. He could see the expectation in her eyes as she leaned toward him. "You said Ms. Ternheim had seemed a bit absent lately. When did you first notice the change?"

"Well, she was never really an extroverted person; she only occasionally came out of her shell. But she was always friendly, focused, and extremely present. I first noticed something had changed about two months ago. She started leaving the office earlier and earlier, at least by her standards. In the mornings, she would seem somewhat bleary-eyed and would barricade herself in her office for hours at a time. Normally, she would have meetings or would come out to ask us to do something for her. Then I started noticing how she would stare off into space whenever I spoke to her. She would ask me afterward to repeat myself."

"Was it just a phase or was she like that for the whole two months?"

"Last week, she had almost returned to her former self, and I hoped she had finally recovered from whatever it was. She was looking forward to tomorrow's charity gala for children suffering from leukemia. The cause was very close to her heart."

Hannes remembered Ben telling him he would be staging a protest at the gala, and winced.

"What is it?" asked Anna.

"Oh, nothing." He struggled with his bad conscience. "Are you involved in this event?"

"Our event coordinator takes care of it primarily, but I make sure management's ideas are adhered to. Basically, I supervise it all and make sure everything goes to plan." She sighed. "It's been a real tough job lately. I've had to hit the brakes a couple of times, so it doesn't devolve into some kind of party and we don't lose track of the reason behind the gala."

He felt even guiltier and wondered if he could talk Ben out of his protest. "Do you have any idea what could have triggered the change in Ms. Ternheim?"

Anna squirmed and stared at the table.

"Anna, please! You have to tell me what you know."

"Will it stay just between us?"

"I can't promise that. If it's crucial to the investigation, then I at least have to talk to my superior about it. But I promise you that we will treat your information as sensitively as possible."

"No one at Lagussa can find out. Think of the note on my bike, and Mr. Ternheim could even fire me!"

He thought for a moment and then nodded. "Okay."

"Promise?"

"I promise," he said and hoped he would be able to keep it.

"I have two theories. One private and the other professional."

"Tell me the private one first."

"Well . . . there were rumors going around the company for some time. As you know, Ms. Ternheim was not married and never had been. Even at public and official events, there was never a man by her side. The staff started talking, and I would hear bits and pieces until I was promoted to executive assistant. After that, the gossip stopped the moment I was near." She smiled. "But my friend Tina naturally kept me in the loop. There was a rumor going around that Ms. Ternheim was a lesbian. I couldn't picture it at all because she . . . Well, let's just say she didn't fit your stereotypical idea of one."

He thought of Elke, who also wouldn't be pegged as a "stereotypical lesbian."

"But once I started working closely with her, my opinion began to change." When she saw the look on his face, she laughed. "No, no, she never made any advances. But I did notice how she was quite familiar with a certain colleague, and then there was this one time that I came back to the office after going to the movies because I had forgotten my house keys. It was late at night and I saw her intimately embracing this colleague on the sofa in her office. The door to the office was open, so I saw everything. Fortunately, they didn't notice me and I immediately left."

"Which colleague was it?"

Anna looked around. It was clear she was struggling. "You can't tell anyone I told you!"

She had him sitting on the edge of his seat, and all he could do was nod. But he would have never guessed her answer.

"It was Ruth Wagner."

"What? The head secretary?"

Anna smiled, and to his surprise, he also noted how her smile made him soar. "I had caught them touching each other affectionately at a meeting before and thought I had been mistaken."

"Well, Ms. Wagner has certainly gotten herself under control pretty fast. I would have expected a more emotional reaction."

"Don't fool yourself! Ms. Wagner and Ms. Ternheim were very similar. Ms. Wagner is always under control. When her twin brother died, she was back in the office the day after the funeral and you wouldn't have known at all. However, I did see her in the ladies' room this morning looking like she had been crying."

Hannes looked at Anna and took a moment to think. "How long had this been going on?"

"No idea. The first time I noticed was about six months after I became an executive assistant."

"How did they interact when other people were around?"

"They were very proper and always polite. You couldn't tell if you didn't suspect anything. For me, it was obviously different. Since I had caught them together, I noticed little things. Ms. Ternheim, for example, always gave her assistants a glass of champagne on her birthday, and we got her a small gift. Ms. Wagner always organized this gift. Last year it was a brooch. Ms. Ternheim wore it every day since. Sure, everyone sensed a certain familiarity between the two, but that's not unusual after working together for so many years. I'm pretty sure no one else at Lagussa thinks there was something going on between them. And it has to stay that way."

"I understand. But what does Ms. Ternheim's change in behavior have to do with her relationship with Ms. Wagner? It didn't cause any problems in the past."

"I don't know if one thing has to do with the other," said Anna. "But their relationship began to cool off significantly around the same time Ms. Ternheim's general behavior changed. There were several times when she pointed out mistakes Ms. Wagner made very explicitly in front of other colleagues. They grew more and more distant."

"Couldn't that have to do with the changes in Ms. Ternheim's attitude?"

"She wasn't like that with the other employees. Although she seemed absent and not fully engaged, she was still very professional with us. No, I think the crisis in her relationship had other reasons. I know Ms. Ternheim met a man at some point in the last few months."

Surprised, Hannes leaned forward, hitting his cocktail glass and spilling it across the table. Anna jumped back, but a few drops splattered on her blouse.

"I'm sorry. Man, I'm clumsy!"

The bartender appeared with a rag and wiped up the mess.

"Ugh, I'm sorry. Could I have another cocktail? Anna, how about you?"

She nodded, laughing.

"So you're saying that Ms. Ternheim has never been married, had a secret lesbian relationship with her assistant for years, and most recently was with a man?"

"I didn't say they were together, but she repeatedly called him and probably also met with him."

"How do you know this?"

"He kept calling. Since external calls are diverted to me, I was the one who answered every time. When I asked Ms. Ternheim who the caller was, she avoided the question and said something along the lines of an acquaintance. After that, he didn't call her office anymore, but I'm sure he called her on her cell phone. Sometimes Ms. Ternheim's phone would ring, and I could see his name on the display. I was always asked to leave the room."

"But maybe he was just a platonic friend. Maybe she did have some kind of social circle."

"Well then, why hadn't he contacted her before? Sure, maybe he was a regular friend, but not a longtime one. In any case, Ms. Wagner heard me ask Ms. Ternheim about the man, and their relationship cooled off after that. That's why I felt guilty. I suppose she was jealous and yelled at Ms. Ternheim."

"Anna, this is really important information! We finally have a lead on someone who played a role in Ms. Ternheim's life. Do you still remember his name?"

"He called so often that I noted the name. He introduced himself as Mark von Wittenberg, and whenever I put him through, Ms. Ternheim would immediately shut her door."

Hannes quickly jotted the name down in his notepad. "How do you know they met?"

"'Know' is too strong of a word. But sometimes she rushed out of the office after he called. I once randomly saw her meet a man by the Charles Memorial. I wasn't spying on her, if that's what you think. I had the day off because my brother came to visit. I wanted to pick him up at the train station and you have to pass the monument on the way."

"Could you see what he looked like?"

"No, at least I can't remember. I only glanced briefly because I didn't want her to see me. That definitely would have been awkward."

"Did they hug or kiss?"

"No, they stood opposite each other, and he showed her something in a folder. That's all."

"Was he her age?"

Anna shrugged. "Like I said, I can't tell you anything about his appearance."

"Would you recognize his voice?"

"No idea! I remember only that it sounded a little hoarse, as if he had a slight cold. And there always seemed to be static on the line whenever he called, which made it hard to hear him. I never spoke to him for long because he always immediately asked for Ms. Ternheim."

"Good." Hannes took in what he had just heard. "What did you-"

"Wait, one more thing: these calls began around the time Ms. Ternheim started to change. As I said before, she was a little rattled after that. But lately she sometimes seemed even . . . Maybe I'm interpreting this all wrong. But she seemed downright scared. She sometimes had this look of terror in her eyes. Especially after she had spoken to this man. But maybe I'm imagining it."

Hannes took her observations seriously. "You mentioned something professional as well. What might have upset her at work?"

"Well, it's only indirectly professional. But it has something to do with Lagussa."

"Were there any issues with customers or business partners?"

"No, not at all. I mean, there are always issues, but nothing out of the ordinary. On the contrary, it was pretty calm. It's not about the company today, but about its past."

"I don't understand," he said, but he already had an inkling.

"Lagussa is a very old company. However, it's been incorporated under several names. There was a drug scandal sometime in the mid-nineties, long before I joined the company. It was around that time the company changed its name to Lagussa. That's not unusual after a scandal."

"What kind of scandal?"

"I don't know the details. Apparently there was a drug which had serious and unexpected side effects. There were even some deaths. Ultimately, it was settled out of court and the victims were compensated. The story still remains taboo at the company. Back then, it probably made the headlines, so it should be easy to find out more."

It was clear Anna did not want to go into further detail about this. "And you think this story might have something to do with Ms. Ternheim's behavior?"

"No, that was all settled. There was no trial, because everyone involved had to waive the right to sue in order to accept payment. Since the compensation turned out to be very generous, everyone accepted. What I'm talking about is even further in the past."

"And what's that?"

"I don't know exactly. I've never heard anyone talk about it. It must be a well-kept secret. Some sort of shocking story from the time of the Third Reich."

Hannes remembered his conversation with Ben. "What makes you say that?"

"As Ms. Ternheim's assistant, I've always had to go into her office, sometimes even when she wasn't there. For example, when she called from a meeting and demanded some numbers or other information, I would have to search her desk."

"Aha! And that's when you saw something that wasn't meant for your eyes?"

Anna nodded. "I knocked over a bag under her desk a few weeks ago. I was going to put everything back until I noticed the contents."

She took a break from telling her story when the bartender came over with more cocktails. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and she kept folding and unfolding a napkin. After the bartender left, Anna took a deep breath and continued. She lowered her voice so Hannes could barely hear her and had to lean in, which didn't bother him.

"There were two books that dealt with the role of industry in the Nazi era, one of them explicitly on pharmaceutical companies. There were also a lot of photocopies, mostly of old documents. A few bore the letterhead 'North German Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works,' which at some point or another I had heard was Lagussa's initial name when it was founded. Afterward, I looked it up in the company history. The information on the early period is pretty brief and monosyllabic, but the company name is there."

"What kind of documents were they?"

"I didn't look too closely. I was sweating bullets under that desk. If Ms. Wagner had walked in on me . . . What I saw was handwritten correspondence with official authorities and the Nazi Party, and then lists of employees and purchase orders. And some black-and-white photos." Anna gulped, and goose bumps ran down her arms. "Some photos seemed harmless. They showed men shaking hands with other men in Nazi uniforms. But there . . . there were also really horrifying photos. Of people who were totally disfigured being presented by doctors. Or emaciated people on an assembly line with the company logo emblazoned on the wall in the background." She put her head in her hands. "I will never forget those images. And you know what I noticed over and over again? Many of these people had tattoos on their forearms."

For a while there was silence. Hannes also had to collect himself. His theory seemed to be confirmed. So was that the reason for the tattoo on Ms. Ternheim's arm? Did the numbers on her forearm represent a connection to a dark chapter in Lagussa's past? Anna couldn't have known anything about the tattoo-it hadn't been mentioned in the press.

"What makes you think it has to do-"

"Well, because she probably didn't know about these things and only found out by accident. After all, it was members of her family who must have somehow been connected to the Nazis. Lagussa constantly presents itself as a responsible and clean company. Its employees, patients, and business partners don't know anything about this. I searched the Internet and found nothing."

"You mean, the shock of this discovery could have unsettled her?"

"Not just the discovery! I had already said that she and her brother saw eye to eye when it came to the company, and that is no exaggeration, even if they were never warm with each other. But their relationship got even frostier toward the end. There were several times when I overheard them fighting."