"And do you think these fights were about the company's history?"

"I'm certain of it! Only last week, they shouted so loudly that they could be heard with the door closed. Fortunately, my coworker, Ms. Maler, was away from her desk. She would have immediately started gossiping about that."

"What could you hear?"

"I can't repeat it to you verbatim, but she accused him of shutting his eyes to the truth, and that it was their duty to deal with this Nazi shit. He replied with something along the lines of 'And even if it is true, no one cares about that today! Why do you want to ruin our reputation?' She replied that he was a self-righteous asshole and that she'd deal with it on her own if he continued to refuse. And . . ."

"And?"

"And then he threatened her. He said, 'If you feel that's really what you have to do, I can't be held responsible for the consequences of your actions. Our family built this company into an empire, and I will not let your bad conscience destroy it!'"

LATE THURSDAY EVENING.

For once, Hannes was very pleased with himself. His suspicion that Anna Stahl had important information had been confirmed, and then he had actually managed to extract the information from her. Since he didn't want to unsettle her or interrupt her train of thought, he had barely written anything on his notepad. But the conversation was burned in his memory.

He now had three new leads. The first was Ms. Wagner, the jealous or at least jilted lover. Although Hannes could not imagine that the older woman was capable of murder, let alone physically able, it was still possible she had hired someone. At the very least, she knew more about Ms. Ternheim's life than she had initially let on and could further contribute important information-if she was willing.

The second lead was more nebulous, but at least he had a name. First thing tomorrow morning, Hannes would look for Mark von Wittenberg, who had recently met with Ms. Ternheim and had frequently called her.

The third lead clearly pointed to Ms. Ternheim's brother. As managing director of Lagussa, he felt enormously pressured by his sister and had threatened her. Could her death be one of the consequences of her actions? Was Mr. Ternheim trying to shield his company from potentially irreparable damage, even if it meant sacrificing his own sister?

Hannes would have preferred to drive back to the station to look at the photos of the tattoo on Ms. Ternheim's arm in greater detail. He felt the numbers had to be an important clue to solving the case. Instead, he looked over at Anna in the passenger seat.

"I'm sure no one's following us," he said.

Anna turned toward him, exhausted. "That's good," she said, yawning. "Tomorrow will be extremely busy; I can't wait to get to bed."

Back at the bar, she had called her friend Tina, who had immediately offered her pull-out couch. All the parking spots were taken on Anna's street. Hannes decided to double-park the police car, which he still needed to return to the station, and turned on his hazard lights.

"Take your time packing," he said, "I'll wait here."

"You can come up if you want," she said. "I need some spare clothes for tomorrow because I won't be able to make it home before the gala. You can help me carry my things."

Hannes was a bit uneasy about this, but he also didn't want to come across as ungentlemanly. He followed her into the three-story building. The hallway was well maintained but dimly lit.

"The light's broken down here," said Anna. "The super was supposed to call someone a long time ago. Normally it looks much more civilized."

"I was recently made homeless," he said and told her about the snake and how he had sought asylum in Ben's garden cottage.

"And you want to protect me?" Anna said, then giggled, sounding slightly drunk.

"Hopefully it wasn't a python that stuck the note on your bike," Hannes joked.

She opened the middle door on the second floor and flipped the light switch. Hannes entered behind her and stood in an open hallway which led to a living room.

"Wait here on the sofa, you can leave your shoes on." Anna disappeared into the bedroom.

"It's best if you take enough clothes for two nights," Hannes called out to her from the other side of her bedroom door. "You shouldn't come back here alone after the gala. To be on the safe side, you should spend another night at Tina's. Oh, and please remember not to tell anyone you're staying there. Don't even talk about it in the cafeteria." He was unable to keep his eyes from wandering to the gap in the doorway.

"Sure, of course," she said from her room.

She stood behind the open closet door, so Hannes couldn't see her. However, he could not overlook the fact that she had just put on fresh clothes. Her skirt, blouse, socks, and underwear flew onto the bed. Hannes escaped with his tomato-red ears into the living room. He sat down on the white couch and looked around the tastefully decorated room. No signs of a boyfriend.

"What is it?" asked Anna. Hannes looked toward the door. She was now wearing dark-blue jeans and a white top. Her outfit emphasized her slender figure. He realized he was looking at her for too long without saying anything.

"Oh, it's nothing! I was just thinking about last night and how pathetic I must have seemed."

"Well, if someone lost his tarantula here, I'd be the first one to leave. It's more eight-legged creatures that I'm afraid of. Let me quickly pack my bag and then we can go."

A few minutes later, she entered the living room with a sports bag and a garment bag. Hannes took them from her and threw them over his shoulder.

"Hey, be careful! My dress for tomorrow night's in there. It can't get wrinkled."

Hannes held the garment bag in his outstretched arm. Anna snorted.

"What?" he said. "This way your dress won't get wrinkled!"

"That's true, but you look silly." She grabbed the garment bag from him and pushed him out the front door into the hall.

"You probably don't iron clothes that often, do you? Otherwise you would have been more careful," she said.

"I rarely iron my workout clothes. There are no points for presentation in canoeing, fortunately."

"But if there were, you'd shoot for the stars. Damn it! I forgot my shoes for tomorrow night." She quickly turned around and hurried back to her apartment.

Hannes stood in the stairwell and listened as she rummaged through her shoe rack.

"Here they are!" she shouted and presented him with black high-heeled shoes.

"But they're a little scuffed at the toe," said Hannes. "Do you want to get some polish?"

"No need. I'm done."

She pulled the door shut and hurried down the stairs, with Hannes chasing her. Suddenly, she stopped and he almost ran into her. He instinctively dropped the bag and grabbed hold of Anna before she fell down the stairs. For a moment, her eyes locked on his muscles.

"That was close," she said, and Hannes could feel her warm breath on his face. It still smelled faintly of the fruity cocktail.

"Why did you stop so suddenly?" he asked.

"I left the garment bag lying in front of the shoe rack." She bounded up the stairs again. "Go on down, I'll be right there!"

Hannes picked up her bag and placed the black shoes on top. When he got to the police car, he opened the trunk and threw the bag and shoes in. When he turned around, a green tricycle was parked behind him and a wide-eyed little boy stared at him.

"Are you a policeman?" he asked with excitement.

"Well, what are you doing out here so late? Yes, I'm a policeman."

"How come you don't have a uniform?"

"I only need my uniform when I'm chasing bad guys."

"Have you caught a lot?"

Hannes laughed and knelt down. "Not yet. You know, there aren't too many bad guys. Most times people do silly things, but really bad things don't happen too often."

"I've done silly things before," the boy said. "Mommy was making pancakes, and I wanted to taste the bowl. Then it fell on my head, and we had to eat sandwiches."

A loud laugh came from beside Hannes. "Finn, what are you doing outside? It's getting dark."

"Nah, it's not dark yet at all," said the boy.

"Right," Hannes said and grinned. "You've still got five minutes. Besides, you're a big boy!"

"Exactly!" Finn said. "And you know what? When I get bigger, I want to be a policeman too! But I'm always going to wear a uniform, because I'm going to catch a lot of bad guys."

Anna ruffled his light-blond hair. "I think so too. You'll definitely catch a lot of bad guys."

"How come you have one blue eye and one green eye?" Finn asked Hannes.

"You know, my mother has really great green eyes and my father really nice blue ones. I couldn't decide which color, so I have a green right eye and a blue left eye."

"Makes sense," Finn said. "Then no one has to be sad, because Daddy always says that I have his eyes, and then Mommy looks sad."

"Finn! Finn, where are you?" came a voice from across the street.

"He's here, Sandra!" Anna shouted. "I'll bring him over!" She handed Hannes the garment bag. "I won't take long. Is that okay?"

"Sure," Hannes said and made a show of carefully laying the garment bag on top of the sports bag. "I wouldn't want him to run into some bad guy on his way home." He leaned forward and whirled an excited Finn into the air.

"Finn?" came the voice from across the street, this time clearly worried.

"Don't worry," Anna said, laughing. "Finn's having a blast!"

Hannes put the little guy back on his tricycle. "Okay, safe journey home. And remember, always pay attention to the traffic rules! Otherwise, I'll have to write you a speeding ticket."

Finn giggled and rode off. "I always-I mean, almost always-drive very carefully. Bye-bye!" He turned his tricycle around and waved with both hands while pedaling. He almost crashed head-on into the police car, but Anna stopped him at the last second.

Anna returned a few minutes later. "So, is that true?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Your eyes. Can you actually inherit one color from each parent?"

Hannes laughed. "No, I just made that up for him. It's a pigment disorder called heterochromia iridis. There's only pigment in one eye. It's rarer in people than dogs, for example. As you can imagine, it wasn't always easy going to school with different-colored eyes. My nickname was 'Alien.' I hated my eyes back then."

"I hope you don't hate them now," Anna said. "After all, they suit you. They give you an air of mystery."

Hannes searched for a more innocuous topic. "I hope your neighbor didn't want to know why a police car was waiting for you?" he asked.

"Of course she wanted to know! But don't worry, I didn't tell her the truth."

"So what did you tell her?"

"That you're my new boyfriend! I had to tell her something. And that's the most harmless explanation. Now she's even more curious. And as for Finn, I'm his favorite neighbor." She climbed into the passenger seat. "Once you catch this bad guy who stuck the note on my bike, I'll tell her we broke up because I can't cope with your dangerous lifestyle."

On the way to Tina's, Anna talked about her yearlong trip backpacking around the world. Hannes was fascinated, because he had always dreamed of doing the same. He had always put it off, however, for the sake of canoeing, which probably also served as a convenient excuse for him to avoid traveling by himself through foreign countries.

"I don't mean to pry, but how did you afford it? You don't make a ton of money when you're a trainee, right?" he asked, amazed at the variety of countries and attractions she had visited.

"My parents didn't give me a single cent. I'd work, and as soon as I made enough money, I'd travel somewhere else. There are various agencies that specialize in work and travel. Of course, not all the jobs were great. Once, I worked on a garlic farm in Australia. I reeked of garlic for days, even long after I'd quit. I then flew to Vietnam and was afraid I'd be kicked off the plane because of the smell."

Hannes enjoyed listening to her travel stories. His own life suddenly seemed small and unexciting. Obviously he had underestimated Anna when they'd first met at the office. And she probably overestimated me, he thought.

"Turn left up there," said Anna. "Then take the first right, and we'll be there."

Hannes turned and stopped in front of Tina's redbrick building. "I'll carry your things in," he said and reached for the garment bag.

"That one," Anna said with a grin, "I'd prefer to carry myself. But it would be nice if you could carry the other bag."

The door buzzed open immediately after Anna rang Tina's doorbell, and then half a flight up, the door on the terrace floor opened.

"Anna, what in the world!" shouted a girlish voice. A woman about Anna's age with very short black hair appeared at the top step. She looked at Hannes. "So you're Anna's guardian?" she joked and warmly shook his hand. "I'm Tina, pleased to meet you. Why don't you come in?" She immediately struck Hannes as very kind, and he was convinced his initial distrust had been completely misplaced.

"There hasn't been much to protect so far," he said, "but I think it's still better if Anna stays with you. Unfortunately, I have to get going, my boss is waiting for me."

"Sure, Anna can stay with me. I love it when she stays over. Nonstop girls' night!"

"Not tonight." Anna shook her head. "Big gala tomorrow. I just hope I can sleep with all this excitement."

"You will," Tina said and patted her arm, then took the bag from Hannes and walked into her apartment. "And if you can't fall asleep, I'm sure I have something to help calm your nerves. There must be a bottle around here somewhere."

Anna looked at Hannes. "That reminds me. I forgot to tell you that Ms. Ternheim was so nervous lately she started keeping a bottle of sedatives around."

THURSDAY NIGHT.