going back to where you thought you had left them.
Claasens stared at the page as if his concentrated attention on the words and figures would restore them to what he had seen before. And he had seen the error before. Except it wasn’t there now. No paperwork from Lensch. No yellow Post-it notes. This was mad. He flipped the thick binder over and checked inside its back cover, just in case the paperwork was there. Of course, that didn’t make any sense, but what he’d been looking at had made even less sense.
He tried to shut out the sound of the workmen and focused on the file. He felt he was going mad. Everything tallied. No discrepancies.
What the hell was going on?
His cellphone rang and he knew it would be Emily.
Chapter Two
1
.
‘Anna …’ Werner asked tentatively. ‘I hope you don’t mind me asking, but have you just farted?’ He hit the button and the side window of the Polo slid down. They were parked in the Kiez, at the far end of Silbersackstrasse, facing towards the Reeperbahn. Here the street was narrow and dark.
‘Close the window, Grandad,’ said Anna. ‘It’s freezing out there.’
‘I’d rather take my chances with the cold.’
‘Anyway, who smelt it dealt it.’ Anna smiled innocently.
‘Sometimes you’re less than ladylike.’ Werner closed the window but left a small gap at the top.
‘Well, you make up for me. You remind me of my Auntie Rachael. Except you’ve got less facial hair, of course. What’s the time?’
‘Twenty past midnight.’
‘I’m bored. I am really, really, really, seriously bloody bored.’
‘It’s part of the job. I thought you would be used to it by now.’
‘How come I’m teamed up with you, all of a sudden?’ asked Anna. ‘Is this
Lord Gentleman
’s idea of keeping me on a tight rein until he can dump me on someone else?’
‘
Lord Gentleman
?’ Werner turned to her.
‘You know – Fabel … the
English Commissar
. Where thehell does all that Anglophilia come from? I mean, he’s a Frisian, for fuck’s sake.’
‘His mother is Scottish,’ said Werner. ‘You knew that. And he went to school there for a while. You know, you could be more ladylike in the way you speak as well.’
‘Half Scottish, half Frisian – no wonder I’ve never seen him get a round in. Anyway, I take it this was his idea?’
‘As a matter of fact it wasn’t. It was mine.’
‘What? Oh, I see … so now you think I’m the problem child of the family too.’
‘Anna, sometimes – and don’t take offence – but just sometimes you are the most insufferable pain in the arse. I used to wonder why you always wear that heavy-duty leather jacket: it’s to stop the chafing from all those chips you carry around on your shoulders. I suggested he team you up with me because I thought we could work well together. To be honest, I’m trying to keep you as part of the team. I think Jan really wants that too.’
‘Oh, I know,’ said Anna with sarcastic earnestness. ‘He really showed me that by giving me the sack.’
‘You know, Anna, a little less attitude would suit you a whole lot better. And you’re not sacked. Yet.’
‘So you thought we would work well together …’ Anna grinned.
‘That was before I knew about the farting.’
‘Look … over there …’ Anna rested her hand on Werner’s forearm and nodded towards the corner of the street. A tall woman with blonde hair, tied back into a ponytail, wearing a long black or dark blue coat, moved quickly along the street, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. She passed the bar on the corner and kept heading towards Silbersacktwiete. ‘This looks promising.’
There were six unmarked cars dotted around the Kiez, as there had been every night for the last week since Westland’s murder, all watching over unlit courtyards or, like Wernerand Anna, the occasional piece of open ground, shadowy and dense with bushes and trees. The woman slowed her pace, looked up and down the street, then
Claasens stared at the page as if his concentrated attention on the words and figures would restore them to what he had seen before. And he had seen the error before. Except it wasn’t there now. No paperwork from Lensch. No yellow Post-it notes. This was mad. He flipped the thick binder over and checked inside its back cover, just in case the paperwork was there. Of course, that didn’t make any sense, but what he’d been looking at had made even less sense.
He tried to shut out the sound of the workmen and focused on the file. He felt he was going mad. Everything tallied. No discrepancies.
What the hell was going on?
His cellphone rang and he knew it would be Emily.
Chapter Two
1
.
‘Anna …’ Werner asked tentatively. ‘I hope you don’t mind me asking, but have you just farted?’ He hit the button and the side window of the Polo slid down. They were parked in the Kiez, at the far end of Silbersackstrasse, facing towards the Reeperbahn. Here the street was narrow and dark.
‘Close the window, Grandad,’ said Anna. ‘It’s freezing out there.’
‘I’d rather take my chances with the cold.’
‘Anyway, who smelt it dealt it.’ Anna smiled innocently.
‘Sometimes you’re less than ladylike.’ Werner closed the window but left a small gap at the top.
‘Well, you make up for me. You remind me of my Auntie Rachael. Except you’ve got less facial hair, of course. What’s the time?’
‘Twenty past midnight.’
‘I’m bored. I am really, really, really, seriously bloody bored.’
‘It’s part of the job. I thought you would be used to it by now.’
‘How come I’m teamed up with you, all of a sudden?’ asked Anna. ‘Is this
Lord Gentleman
’s idea of keeping me on a tight rein until he can dump me on someone else?’
‘
Lord Gentleman
?’ Werner turned to her.
‘You know – Fabel … the
English Commissar
. Where thehell does all that Anglophilia come from? I mean, he’s a Frisian, for fuck’s sake.’
‘His mother is Scottish,’ said Werner. ‘You knew that. And he went to school there for a while. You know, you could be more ladylike in the way you speak as well.’
‘Half Scottish, half Frisian – no wonder I’ve never seen him get a round in. Anyway, I take it this was his idea?’
‘As a matter of fact it wasn’t. It was mine.’
‘What? Oh, I see … so now you think I’m the problem child of the family too.’
‘Anna, sometimes – and don’t take offence – but just sometimes you are the most insufferable pain in the arse. I used to wonder why you always wear that heavy-duty leather jacket: it’s to stop the chafing from all those chips you carry around on your shoulders. I suggested he team you up with me because I thought we could work well together. To be honest, I’m trying to keep you as part of the team. I think Jan really wants that too.’
‘Oh, I know,’ said Anna with sarcastic earnestness. ‘He really showed me that by giving me the sack.’
‘You know, Anna, a little less attitude would suit you a whole lot better. And you’re not sacked. Yet.’
‘So you thought we would work well together …’ Anna grinned.
‘That was before I knew about the farting.’
‘Look … over there …’ Anna rested her hand on Werner’s forearm and nodded towards the corner of the street. A tall woman with blonde hair, tied back into a ponytail, wearing a long black or dark blue coat, moved quickly along the street, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. She passed the bar on the corner and kept heading towards Silbersacktwiete. ‘This looks promising.’
There were six unmarked cars dotted around the Kiez, as there had been every night for the last week since Westland’s murder, all watching over unlit courtyards or, like Wernerand Anna, the occasional piece of open ground, shadowy and dense with bushes and trees. The woman slowed her pace, looked up and down the street, then
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