Free Dead Woods by Maria C Poets Page A

him.
    “So, how did it go?” Hanno asked.
    “We brought Frank Jensen in.” Max took one of the empty chairs. “After we roused him from sleep. We’ll try to talk with him again later, but he has to sleep it off first.” He didn’t mention that the suspect had attempted to flee. “Lina’s at forensics. They should send a team over there and look around.”
    Hanno nodded. “Good. Sotny mailed us his autopsy report,” he said and waved several pages of computer printout. “Happy to say, it’s neatly done. Birkner received several blows to the head, but with different objects. Two of the knocks were probably done with a thick club—they did no damage. Just scratches. At least three blows were done with a hard, blunt object, maybe a steel pipe or something similar, and one of them was deadly.” Hanno expertly skipped over the medical terminology that was not directly relevant. “He has one more injury, a tear of a small artery in the left scrotum that caused significant swelling.” He grimaced. “Not life threatening, but extremely painful.”
    “In other words, someone gave him a mighty kick in the balls,” clarified Sebastian.
    “Who was kicked in the balls?” Lina asked from the door. “You?”
    “Philip Birkner,” Hanno said before briefly reiterating to Lina what he had told his colleagues.
    “Anything else?” Max asked.
    “Nothing else. Birkner was in the best of health, seems to have worked out regularly and watched his diet. No illnesses. All internal organs and lab results that Sotny has evaluated so far are negative. However, he had a blood alcohol level of .18 at the time of death.”
    “That squares with what the servers at the Waldschänke told us,” Lina said.
    “He had eaten a salami pizza, most of which he vomited, though. It’s about four to five hours between the meal and Birkner’s death.” Hanno looked at Lina. “Do you know when he ate the pizza? Did they mention anything at the Waldschänke?”
    Lina only had to think for a moment. “His food arrived shortly before the band began to play, around a quarter to eight. That means he died between a quarter to twelve and a quarter to one.” She cleared her throat. “Did the unknown woman from the Waldschänke come forward?”
    Hanno shook his head and Sebastian shrugged. No response, even though local television and newspapers had reported about the case exhaustively since the previous night.
    “She either didn’t hear about it or she’s the one who did it,” concluded Sebastian.
    “You mean the woman from the joint could have beaten Birkner to death?” Hanno said, looking interested.
    “Why not? Maybe he gave her the brush-off once and she was out for revenge. She throws herself at him at the concert, lures him into the woods, kicks him in the balls, and then hits him—first with a club and then with something harder.” Sebastian looked at Lina with a sneer. “I hear there are women like that, who greatly dislike it if one doesn’t pay them sufficient attention.”
    “Apparently there’re also women who successfully foil rapists,” Lina said without avoiding Sebastian’s gaze. Everyone present had seen Sebastian hit on Lina two years ago, when she first joined the team. He only stopped when Lina tore him to pieces at a self-defense course they both had to attend. He was limping for three days afterward. Ever since, he had been her dogged enemy.
    Before Sebastian could respond, Max said quietly, “But how does that account for the multiple tracks? And don’t forget, the woman had a lot to drink, too.”
    Sebastian was about to say something, but Hanno interrupted. “Max, what about Tanja Fischer?”
    Shaking his head, Max said, “Unable to reach her, by phone or in person. I went to her apartment again this morning—talked to a neighbor. She said that Frau Fischer is often gone for several days. Business trips, most likely.” Max scanned his notes. “She describes Tanja Fischer as slender and of medium