Free JF05 - The Valkyrie Song by Craig Russell Page A

disturbed,’ said Werner. ‘Christa Eisel found Westland still alive and bleeding out fast. If she hadn’t applied pressure he wouldn’t have made it to the ambulance. Maybe the killer heard Christa coming.’
    ‘Maybe so, but a panicked escape doesn’t fit with the fact that no one was seen leaving the scene. Carstens Kaminski’s Davidwache team have spoken to almost every girl working the Kiez that night – and bear in mind that most of them sit watching the streets from their windows. Normally
any
unknown woman passing through the street would stand out. The problem we have is that it was an exceptional night in the Kiez, given this near-riot feminist protest. But, prior to the protesters’ invasion of Herbertstrasse, no one noticed a woman who didn’t belong wandering around. Also, ChristaEisel swears no one passed her coming out of the square. But let’s say the killer
was
disturbed – it still doesn’t alter the fact that she eviscerated Westland instead of cutting his throat. What’s more, Westland was on foot, where all of the original victims were in their cars. And let’s remember we are nearly a full decade on from the last Angel murder. There are, however, specific similarities – particularly the expert use of a blade. For the moment my money stays on this being the work of a copycat.’ Fabel slipped a large printout from the folder on his desk. He stuck it up on the incident board. A woman of about thirty stared blankly out from the photograph. She was wearing no make-up and her blonde hair had been brushed back severely from her face. The image had the bleached, stark lighting of an official photograph.
    ‘This is Margarethe Paulus,’ explained Fabel. ‘I’ve just been sent her details by the BKA. Three nights ago, she escaped from a secure mental hospital in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. I haven’t had a lot of time to go through all the details, but the main thing you should know is that she is a highly dangerous individual. She killed and castrated three men in nineteen ninety-four and would have been a prime suspect for the original Angel killings had she not already been locked up. And we have to bear in mind that her murders were spree, rather than serial. She is familiar with Hamburg, apparently, and was brought up in Zarrentin, in north-west Mecklenburg. Although it was in the former East, it’s only seventy kilometres from Hamburg. It’s highly unlikely, given that she only escaped three days ago, that she’s involved with these latest killings, but we have to keep an open mind. She would certainly be a candidate for a copycat killer. At the very least we need to be on the lookout for her.’
    ‘How did she manage to escape?’
    ‘Walked out of the main gate, apparently. She had complained of feeling unwell and an orderly and a nurse were escorting her to see a doctor. She broke the maleorderly’s arm before knocking him out, then stole the nurse’s uniform, electronic door key and identity card before locking her in a storage room, bound and gagged. It’s clear that Paulus is a highly organised type. Somehow she had managed to collect make-up and hair dye over God knows how long so that she could make herself look like this nurse.’
    ‘So she had targeted the nurse, rather than just grabbing an opportunity to escape?’ asked Dirk Hechtner.
    ‘Probably months in advance.’
    Fabel spent the rest of the briefing going through what they had in the way of statements and the initial forensic evidence. He then allocated investigative tasks to each team member. After he had wound the meeting up, Werner loitered until the others were gone.
    ‘Let’s have it, Werner,’ said Fabel, gathering up his papers. ‘What’s on your mind?’
    ‘Anna told me about your chat.’
    ‘My God, it didn’t take her long to find a shoulder to cry on.’
    ‘It’s not like that, Jan. I asked her how it had gone. She’s in shock, I think. So am I, truth be told.’
    ‘You think I’m making a