screamed or fainted. It was probably because the war had turned women into the family breadwinners; trading on the black market, foraging, manual labour – women could do it all just as well as men. Better even. But they paid a high price, and not just tiredness and exhaustion. Many marriages broke up when the men came back from the war, sometimes after years of absence, to find their wives could get by in this new world of ruins and black markets better than they could. Stave shot a discreet glance again at Anna von Veckinhausen’s hands: she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.
‘That would have been Station 22,’ Stave said. ‘If you didn’t know it, I guess that means you don’t live around here.’
The witness hesitated for a few second. ‘No,’ she admitted. ‘I live in one of the Nissen huts along the Eilbek canal.’
Stave made a note of the address. A looter who had decided to check out a new area, he decided. But he said nothing. He found Anna von Veckinhausen imposing, even a little intimidating. Such self-assurance. She came from another world. There was just the trace of an accent in her voice, but where did it come from? Obviously not from Hamburg or the north of the country. Maybe somewhere in the east? ‘So, you found the body, ran down Lappenbergs Allee to the police station. Have you witnesses to that?’
She gave him a confused look and said nothing.
‘The people you asked for directions to the police station – do you know who they were? Did you take a note of their names?’
‘What do you mean?’ she said indignantly, but still in a quiet voice. ‘Are you treating me as a suspect?’
Stave smiled, though he knew that right now the grimace on his face would be taken the wrong way. ‘Just routine,’ he said.
She threw her head back and looked him in the eye. Challengingly. ‘They were just anonymous figures. Men with hats and their collars turned up, women with headscarves and hats. All of them hurrying along in the cold. I didn’t get any names and couldn’t even tell you what they looked like.’
Stave made another note in his book. ‘And what about before, when you found the body? Did you touch it?’
‘What sort of questions are you asking me? I come across a naked man’s body, what do you think I might have touched?’
‘You knew straight away he was dead?’
‘I’ve seen a few corpses lying in the snow, if that’s what you mean. I could tell immediately…’
Stave didn’t ask when and where she’d seen corpses lying in the snow. ‘Do you know how he died?’
Anna von Veckinhausen shook her head. ‘No? How did he?’
The chief inspector ignored her question, just made another note. His fingers had turned to ice. He found it hard to write, the wordsbarely legible. He knew that he was making the witness nervous. But then she should be nervous, he told himself. ‘Did you notice anything else? Anything about the body? Anything lying near it?’
She shook her head. She’s bitterly cold too, Stave thought.
‘And what about immediately before you found it? When you didn’t know what you were about to come across in the ruins? Did you see anything suspicious, anything along the path? A person? A noise?’
‘No. Nothing.’
Quick answer. Too quick. Suddenly Stave was certain there was something she was hiding from him. Should he take her into head office for questioning? Maybe threaten her with a looting charge? He hesitated. His experience was that most of the time witnesses told what they knew. Sometimes you just had to give them a bit of time and they would turn up at the police station and add to their statement. And if it turned out that Anna von Veckinhausen wasn’t one of those he could always interrogate her again. That meant see her again.
That’s all you need, making a fool of yourself, Stave told himself, immediately banishing the thought. ‘You can go,’ he told her. He gave Anna von Veckinhausen a piece of paper with his office telephone
‘That would have been Station 22,’ Stave said. ‘If you didn’t know it, I guess that means you don’t live around here.’
The witness hesitated for a few second. ‘No,’ she admitted. ‘I live in one of the Nissen huts along the Eilbek canal.’
Stave made a note of the address. A looter who had decided to check out a new area, he decided. But he said nothing. He found Anna von Veckinhausen imposing, even a little intimidating. Such self-assurance. She came from another world. There was just the trace of an accent in her voice, but where did it come from? Obviously not from Hamburg or the north of the country. Maybe somewhere in the east? ‘So, you found the body, ran down Lappenbergs Allee to the police station. Have you witnesses to that?’
She gave him a confused look and said nothing.
‘The people you asked for directions to the police station – do you know who they were? Did you take a note of their names?’
‘What do you mean?’ she said indignantly, but still in a quiet voice. ‘Are you treating me as a suspect?’
Stave smiled, though he knew that right now the grimace on his face would be taken the wrong way. ‘Just routine,’ he said.
She threw her head back and looked him in the eye. Challengingly. ‘They were just anonymous figures. Men with hats and their collars turned up, women with headscarves and hats. All of them hurrying along in the cold. I didn’t get any names and couldn’t even tell you what they looked like.’
Stave made another note in his book. ‘And what about before, when you found the body? Did you touch it?’
‘What sort of questions are you asking me? I come across a naked man’s body, what do you think I might have touched?’
‘You knew straight away he was dead?’
‘I’ve seen a few corpses lying in the snow, if that’s what you mean. I could tell immediately…’
Stave didn’t ask when and where she’d seen corpses lying in the snow. ‘Do you know how he died?’
Anna von Veckinhausen shook her head. ‘No? How did he?’
The chief inspector ignored her question, just made another note. His fingers had turned to ice. He found it hard to write, the wordsbarely legible. He knew that he was making the witness nervous. But then she should be nervous, he told himself. ‘Did you notice anything else? Anything about the body? Anything lying near it?’
She shook her head. She’s bitterly cold too, Stave thought.
‘And what about immediately before you found it? When you didn’t know what you were about to come across in the ruins? Did you see anything suspicious, anything along the path? A person? A noise?’
‘No. Nothing.’
Quick answer. Too quick. Suddenly Stave was certain there was something she was hiding from him. Should he take her into head office for questioning? Maybe threaten her with a looting charge? He hesitated. His experience was that most of the time witnesses told what they knew. Sometimes you just had to give them a bit of time and they would turn up at the police station and add to their statement. And if it turned out that Anna von Veckinhausen wasn’t one of those he could always interrogate her again. That meant see her again.
That’s all you need, making a fool of yourself, Stave told himself, immediately banishing the thought. ‘You can go,’ he told her. He gave Anna von Veckinhausen a piece of paper with his office telephone
Similar Books
