Free JF05 - The Valkyrie Song by Craig Russell Page B

mistake?’ Fabel asked.
    ‘I think you would have handled it differently if Anna had been a man, to be frank, Jan.’
    ‘Not that again, Werner. I don’t let gender influence how I deal with my officers.’
    ‘Well, whatever the reason, I think you should give Anna another chance. She’s put her neck on the line more than once for the sake of catching a killer.’
    ‘But don’t you see that’s the point? Anna has put her neck on the line. She nearly got herself killed twice doing exactly that. This isn’t the Wild West, Werner. I mean, I thought you would understand. If anything it’s you that’s kept me fromscrewing up because you always make sure we follow procedure. There have been times when Anna has all but rendered evidence inadmissible because she hasn’t followed the State Prosecutor’s guidelines.’
    Werner sighed and rubbed a shovel of a hand over the grey stubble on his scalp. Fabel always thought Werner looked like a retired boxer or hardened sailor: his broken nose, picked up early in his career as a street policeman, his Hamburg Low-German way of speaking combined with his faintly scruffy way of dressing and his powerful build made him look like someone who was probably inclined to use muscle rather than brain. But no one had the eye for detail that Werner had. A tiny discrepancy in someone’s statement, some event that didn’t quite fit into the chronology of a crime, a forgotten scrap of evidence that changed the whole picture: these were the things that Werner caught when everyone else, including Fabel, had missed them. The truth was that Fabel relied heavily on Werner’s counsel, and it troubled him that his friend thought he was making a mistake over Anna.
    ‘Listen,’ said Werner, ‘I know you’ve been looking for a replacement for Maria Klee to partner me with. Team me up with Anna in the meantime. You could put Henk together with Dirk for a while. I think Anna and I could work well together. A good balance. Give it a go for a month or two. Then, if you still think she should go, fair enough.’
    ‘Have you talked to her about this idea of yours?’ Fabel asked suspiciously.
    ‘No. I promise. It’s just that she’s desperate to stay in the Commission, Jan. And Anna really would be a loss to the team. Another loss. She’s a good officer, Jan. She just needs to be brought into line. Let me have a crack at it.’
    ‘Okay, let me think about it,’ said Fabel.
5
.
    ‘Hard day?’
    ‘I thought you were asleep,’ said Fabel to the shadow in the bed.
    ‘I was. I asked if you’d had a hard day …’
    ‘The usual. Murder. Mayhem. Paperwork. You?’
    ‘The usual. I heard you have another celebrity murder on your hands. Are you sure you’re not doing them yourself, just to advance your career?’
    ‘Our career. I can see I’m going to have to bring you into this one,’ said Fabel. ‘That’s the deal: I’ll keep killing them to keep us both in work.’ He slid between the sheets. They were cool and clean on his skin. ‘By the way, have you seen my MP3 player lying around?’
    ‘No. You’ve already asked me. How did it go with Renate?’
    Fabel sighed. ‘How does it ever go with Renate? She was as bitter as hell, as always. I don’t know how the hell she has managed to turn the whole situation around so that she’s the injured party. It was Behrens who dumped her. Not me.’
    ‘It’s a woman thing.’ Susanne still had her back to him. ‘If you can’t find
the
man to blame, find
a
man to blame. I hold you responsible for Hans Zimmerman not choosing me as his partner for our kindergarten parade.’
    ‘I knew there was something,’ said Fabel. ‘Anyway, Gabi is thinking about joining the police. Renate blames me and wants me to talk her out of it.’
    ‘Will you?’
    ‘No. Not talk her out of it. Give her an informed picture, yes. Talk her out of it, no.’
    ‘We’ll talk about it tomorrow.’ Susanne’s voice was thick with sleep, but Fabel slid close to her,