Dead Woods (24 page)

Chapter 16

Max stood in front of the skyscraper in Bundesstrasse and looked up at its dirty-beige facade. Several institutes of the University of Hamburg were housed in this building, among them the department of mathematics, where Daniel Vogler was employed. Shaking his head, he turned away from this ugliness from the 1970s and entered the foyer. It took quite some time before he found what he was looking for on the large display board. Finally, he stood in front of a door on the fourth floor behind which the department office was supposedly located. Unfortunately the door was locked. Sighing, Max looked around the wide, windowless hallway. Information about meetings, working teams, and room utilization was posted on a blackboard. A framed display listed all the people working in the department. Daniel Vogler was not on the list.

Max was still standing in the hall, not sure what to do, when he heard the clicking of high heels behind him. He turned around and saw a woman of about fifty in a simple gray suit coming toward him. She carried a large, black leather case in one hand and a key ring in the other. She paused briefly when she saw Max, then nodded and stopped at the door at which he had just knocked.

“Are you looking for something? Can I help you?” she asked.

Max smiled and introduced himself. “I’m looking for someone who knows Daniel Vogler. All I know is that he works as a mathematician and computer scientist at the university.” Motioning to the display case, he added, “But he isn’t listed here.”

The woman raised an eyebrow, “I know Daniel,” she said. Then she smiled. “It’s actually not that confusing around here. Come in.”

She opened the door to the office and put her bag on a chair in front of the desk.

“Why is Major Crimes interested in Daniel Vogler? Someone asked for him yesterday already. I hope nothing happened to him.”

“We’re investigating a murder and he’s an important witness.”

“Oh,” the woman said, and raised an eyebrow again. She removed the pitcher from the coffee maker and added water from the sink faucet. “What is it you want to know?”

“Herr Vogler stated that he’s employed here but often logs in from home. Is that true?”

The woman inserted a filter and added coffee. “Yes. Daniel has a half position, one that is just temporary, for two years.” She looked at Max. “That’s why you didn’t find him on the list outside.” She turned on the machine. “Daniel is quite a loner, even for a mathematician. He’s seldom here, but he turns in good work.”

“He once explained to me what he’s doing, but I didn’t understand a word, I’m afraid.”

The woman smiled. “That would probably be true for most. Come along.” She opened a door that led to a room that was noticeably larger than the front room. One wall was completely covered with a floor-to-ceiling bookcase stuffed with books. Another wall consisted of a huge whiteboard covered with mathematical formulas. The woman stepped behind the desk and put down her bag, which she had brought along. She smiled when she saw Max’s confused expression. “I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Professor Thelmann, Daniel’s immediate boss, and his dissertation adviser.”

“I didn’t know that Herr Vogler had a doctorate,” Max said to hide his embarrassment. It was a rarity for him to succumb to clichés, but he wasn’t totally immune.

“Oh yes, right on schedule. He studied mathematics and computer science and got his doctorate in mathematics. He’s highly intelligent; I’m sure you noticed . . . You know him, I assume.”

“Yes, I’ve already talked with him.” He resisted the temptation to ask for an explanation of what exactly Vogler and Professor Thelmann worked on, since he guessed it would take quite some time. Instead he said, “If I understand you correctly, Daniel was your student and got his doctorate here, with you, and then went into the private economic sector—and then returned?”

Professor Thelmann nodded. “Exactly. He didn’t enjoy his excursion into the harsh outside world, and he was back a short time later.”

“Is this something that happens quite often? I mean, that someone joins the private sector and returns after a while?”

The woman shook her head. “No. It’s actually quite unusual. The poor working conditions at universities have a lot to do with that. Usually only temporary positions are available, and positions for support personnel are being constantly reduced.” She grimaced. “For freshly minted scientists who plan an academic career and want to start a family, the conditions are definitely less than stellar. So most leave and never return.”

“But Daniel Vogler did. Were you surprised?”

“No. It rather surprised me that he entered the private sector in the first place. He could have applied to a different university and, most likely, would have found a job.”

“So what surprised you? Maybe he wanted to finally have a secure, well-paying position.”

Professor Thelmann smiled. “Daniel is quite an odd fellow. He’s not interested in money. He prefers to work by himself and to spend his time solving problems about whose existence ninety-nine percent of people are oblivious.”

Max thought about the explanation Vogler had given him and Lina and silently agreed with the woman.

“Computer science is more of a hobby for him, something to relax with. His real passion is mathematics. I doubt a job exists in the private sector that wouldn’t quickly bore him.”

Max nodded. “What he did was way below his capacity, wasn’t it?”

“Was it? Daniel only mentioned that he worked for a software company. He didn’t say what he did for them.”

Max explained briefly what Inoware had been involved with. Professor Thelmann frowned. “I wouldn’t have expected that. As I said, Daniel is highly intelligent and easily bored, and programming simple security packages must have been a piece of cake for him. It’s no wonder he was back here in no time.”

“The company had to declare bankruptcy,” Max said.

Professor Thelmann laughed. “That was surely not because of Daniel or his work. He’s a perfectionist, and if the assignments were as simple as you say, he most likely installed some additional security components, even if nobody asked for them.” Then she became serious again. “But why are you asking all these questions? Is Daniel in trouble?”

Max didn’t answer at once. Eventually he said, “We’re currently investigating two murder cases. Herr Vogler knew both victims.”

She raised her eyebrows. “I wasn’t aware that was considered a crime.”

“It isn’t,” Max replied calmly. “But I still have to check whether Herr Vogler’s statement is true or not. He said he was logged in to the university computer last week, during the night from Thursday to Friday, and this week on Tuesday evening. Is it possible to confirm that?”

Professor Thelmann looked at Max for a long time before she answered. “Sure. I don’t have the slightest doubt that you’ll find his statements confirmed when you check the protocols.”

“You mean you believe him when he says he was logged in here at those times?”

“I didn’t say that.” The woman looked at the whiteboard covering the wall to the right of her desk. Her face was pensive, as if she were checking the formula on the board. “I only wanted to hint that those protocols don’t prove that Daniel was logged in.”

“Oh,” Max said. “Is it that easy to manipulate them?”

The woman laughed. She had a pleasant, warm alto voice, and there was none of the mockery in her laughter that Daniel Vogler infused into his. “It’s not child’s play, necessarily, but it seems to me you forgot with whom we’re dealing here. Daniel Vogler is the ultimate pro. He wouldn’t have the slightest difficulty manipulating the protocols to create an alibi for himself.” She paused. “If he should ever need one.”

Lina had gotten up early enough to have her first cup of coffee with milk at home. So she was in a good mood when she ambled along the small side street in Eimsbüttel at nine in the morning. The sun was shining and she admired the beautiful, old houses, most of which looked as if they were freshly painted. The district around Osterstrasse used to be quite frumpy, but it had picked up considerably in the past few years. People who couldn’t afford or who weren’t willing to pay the horrific rents in Eppendorf or in the Schanzenviertel had moved here, into those magnificent Art Nouveau bourgeois buildings on Eichestrasse or into less elaborate old buildings on surrounding streets. The result was that by now it was almost equally impossible to find affordable housing in this area.

Barbara Schönbek’s naturopathic practice was located in the basement of an old building with a tiny but lovingly maintained front garden. Lina had called ahead, and so the door was opened by a smiling woman of about forty as soon as she rang. They shook hands. The practitioner led Lina into a room that was empty except for two comfortable chairs and a small table on which there was a lit candle. The window to the street was covered with rice paper, and one corner of the room was pleasantly lit by a standing lamp. The room smelled of fresh mint.

Barbara Schönbek had prepared some herbal tea, which would have made Max happy, but which Lina accepted only because it was the polite thing to do. She pretended to sip it.

“Have you found Franka—I mean Frau Leyhausen?” Barbara Schönbek asked before Lina had put down the cup so that she could forget about it for the rest of the conversation. Lina scrutinized the woman who looked at her expectantly: large brown eyes, a high forehead, thick black hair, a small face, and slender fingers. She was beautiful, but Lina also saw that she was exhausted. Now she looked worried. “Did something happen to her?”

Lina nodded. “Frau Schönbek, your friend is unfortunately no longer alive.”

The woman covered her mouth with both hands, and her eyes were wet with tears within seconds. She looked at Lina as if she hoped she might have misheard.

“She was found dead in Jenisch Park yesterday morning, but she probably died on Tuesday night.”

Barbara Schönbek now covered her entire face with her hands and bent over as if she were trying to protect herself against invisible blows. Lina heard her sob quietly and looked on with empathy. She fished a packet of tissues from her knapsack and held it out to her.

“Thank you,” Frau Schönbek said, sniffled, and blew her nose. “To be honest, I was almost prepared for this news.” She clasped the tissue in both hands as if it were lending her support. “Franka was wiped out! Depressed! I’d never known her like that.” She cried out, “I should have canceled that stupid appointment on Tuesday; then she wouldn’t have killed herself.”

Lina frowned. “But she didn’t kill herself,” she said. “Your friend was killed.”

Barbara Schönbek lifted her head. “What?”

Lina nodded. “We don’t yet have the results of the autopsy, but in all probability she was strangled.”

“Strangled . . . Oh, god!” Barbara Schönbek jumped up, one hand pressed against her mouth. “Please excuse me.” She ran out of the room and soon afterward Lina could hear her throwing up in the bathroom. The woman seemed to be very sensitive, and Lina remembered Franka Leyhausen mentioning that her friend suffered from Crohn’s disease. Didn’t that affect one’s stomach and intestines?

She heard the flushing of the toilet, the splashing of water, and then Frau Schönbek returned. “I’m sorry. I’m hypersensitive and bad news immediately affects my stomach.” She raised her shoulders. “I can’t control it.”

Lina waited until the woman had sat down again and then asked, “How close were you with Frau Leyhausen?”

Barbara Schönbek again blew her nose and then took a deep breath. “We were very good friends. I don’t know whether we were best friends, but close to that. We met at the university.” When she saw the question in Lina’s look, she said, “I also studied biology at the time, but then I had to stop due to my illness. We stayed in touch, even though we are quite different in many ways.” With another shrug, she said, “Franka isn’t into energetic healing, which has become my field of expertise. She is . . . was rather scientifically inclined.”

Lina nodded even though she had not the slightest idea what energetic healing might be. She could always look into that later—if she felt like it. “Do you know Frau Leyhausen’s former boyfriend, Daniel Vogler?”

The holistic practitioner nodded. “But I really just know him from what Franka told me. We’ve rarely seen each other. On Franka’s birthdays and once or twice at concerts.” She hesitated. “Do you think Daniel had something to do with Franka’s death?”

Now it was Lina’s turn to shrug regretfully. “We’re investigating every possible lead. If I understand it correctly, Frau Leyhausen had also told Herr Vogler about the concert in the Waldschänke, but he didn’t go. Is that right?”

“Yes. We had chosen a spot with a good view of the door, but Daniel didn’t show up all evening.”

“Do you know why the two had split up?”

“Franka ended it.” Lina frowned. Barbara Schönbek seemed to be absolutely sure, but Daniel Vogler’s recollection had been quite different. “She was never in love with Daniel, but his intelligence fascinated her. Even after they broke up, they spent quite a bit of time together. But she didn’t even consider the question of moving in together.”