Free Puzzle People (9781613280126) by Doug Peterson Page B

she couldn’t shake her thoughts loose from Stefan Hansel. So she strolled down the hall to pick up some more rolls of double-stick tape—an essential tool in their reconstruction efforts. The authorities were trying to come up with a system for reassembling these documents by computer; but for now, it was the old-fashioned way. Jigsaw know-how and lots of sticky tape.
    On the way back, she couldn’t resist. She dashed into the break room, where another can of Pepsi awaited her in the refrigerator.
    “Guten Tag,” Annie called out to Frau Holtzmann and Frau Kortig, who sat at one of the three round tables in the break room.
    “Guten Tag,” said Frau Holtzmann, while Frau Kortig just smiled her greeting and looked back down at the crossword puzzle she was doing. Frau Holtzmann and Frau Kortig had separate offices right next to Annie’s.
    The two women made an odd pair. Frau Kortig was a quiet middle-aged woman with curly blonde hair and fair skin, and she usually wore dowdy dresses. She had barely said a word to Annie in the past two months. Frau Holtzmann was a stocky woman in her thirties, and her short hair was fire-engine red with a purplish tint, a punk-style cut. Her eyeglasses were also contemporary—rectangular and bright-red-rimmed to complement her hair. She was blunt and aggressive, not shy in the least.
    “Slow down, Frau O’Shea, you’re tiring me out just watching you.”
    Annie smiled politely. She hated it when people told her to slow down. She never told slowpokes to pick it up.
    “How are you settling in?” Frau Holtzmann asked.
    Annie wanted to just grab her Pepsi and go; she had work to do. But she also didn’t want to reinforce Frau Holtzmann’s impression that she was always in a hurry.
    “Just fine, thanks. Mind if I take a seat?”
    “Not at all. If you take a long break, maybe I’ll have a chance of finishing off as many puzzles as you today.”
    Annie dished out another polite smile. She didn’t know that people kept track of each other’s output.
    “Herr Hilst treating you fine?” Frau Holtzmann asked.
    “Oh yes, I enjoy his company. It makes the day go by quickly.”
    “Really now.” Frau Holtzmann gave Frau Kortig a knowing glance. “He’s quite the talker, isn’t he? Likes to ask questions.”
    “I like that. He has a curious mind.”
    “Especially when it comes to women. He’s probably thrilled to share the office with someone in a skirt.”
    Did Frau Holtzmann just wink?
    “I like Herr Hilst,” Frau Holtzmann added, in case she was sounding too catty. “I’ve had a soft spot for him, ever since what happened with his marriage.”
    “Oh?” Annie popped open her Pepsi and drank straight from the can. “I didn’t even know he had been married.”
    “Yes, poor thing. Married only a few years. His wife betrayed him with another man. She didn’t even try very hard to hide it.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that. So . . . how is your crossword coming along, Frau Kortig?” It wasn’t a very elegant change of subject, but Annie did not want to let the gossip go on any longer.
    Evidently, her abrupt change of subject was too blatant for Frau Holtzmann. Before Frau Kortig could even squeak an answer, Frau Holtzmann excused herself and bolted from the break room, shaking her head with an air of discontent.
    “It’s a difficult puzzle,” said Frau Kortig, casting an awkward glance at Annie before rising and exiting close behind Frau Holtzmann.
    “Auf Wiedersehen,” Annie said.
    Annie left the break room with a bad taste in her mouth. She hated gossip, but she also wondered if she could have been more tactful. Frau Holtzmann struck her as the wrong kind of person to cross.
    When Annie entered her office, Pepsi in hand, Kurt raised his coffee cup in a salute. “You’ll need to down a lot more Pepsi if you want to keep up with me on the caffeine consumption.”
    “I’ll work on it.”
    Kurt surveyed his table. “You know, stumbling across that murder drives home