across the path as if he was drunk. He had long hair, down past his shoulders, and wore a long coat, which was a rather odd sight on such a hot night. Hans turned and ran after the man.
A group of teenagers were walking on the path widely spread apart, blocking the homeless man’s way. The man stopped and raised his hands to the sky. “ Sono innocente !”
Instead of moving out of the way, two of the teens walked toward him in a very threatening manner. When they got close to him, they shoved him aside harshly. The man wobbled, but remained standing. You could see it took all of his strength. The teenagers laughed at him.
This is my chance , Hans thought. “Hold him, stop him!”
His scream startled the homeless man, who looked around in a panic. Because the teenagers didn’t appear to be letting him through and Hans blocked his way back, he saw no other choice than to run toward some construction scaffolding right by the lake.
“Hold him!” Hans yelled again.
The homeless man hobbled along with great difficulty toward the end of the scaffolding. The teenagers looked on with some surprise, but also seemed to be very amused by the whole spectacle. They didn’t move an inch, which forced Hans to keep on running.
By the time the homeless man reached the end of the scaffolding, he tripped. Because of his speed he continued moving forward, but eventually lost his balance. At full speed, he hit his head against a pole. Without making a sound he fell into the water.
Hans also ran across scaffolding and stopped at the place where he thought the homeless man must have fallen in the water. He motioned to the teenagers with broad arm movements, indicating he needed their help. No one moved. What should he do? Jump in or leave the man to his own devices? It wasn’t very deep, but he had to look very closely before he could see a leg underneath the scaffolding. Suddenly Mats’s face flashed before him. Murdered by that monster down in the water. Should he even try to save this bastard’s life, was it even worth it?
He hesitated for a moment, but then his conscious and common sense took over. He couldn’t take the law into his own hands, no matter how tempting it was. The man would receive the proper punishment. Besides, he needed to be questioned. Otherwise Mats’s parents would never know why their son had to die. He jumped into the dark water. Far enough not to touch the homeless man’s body. The water came up to his waist, which would make it easy to pull the man back on to the shore. He turned back toward the scaffolding and saw the man’s foot sticking out. He grabbed it and pulled him out from under the scaffolding. Because he was face down in the water, Hans couldn’t see his face right away. When he turned him around and got his head above water, what he saw was the face of a dead man, for the second time that evening.
14
“Is it going to take much longer, Mom?”
Petra pulled Niels even closer against her. She understood his impatience and thought he had held up remarkably well so far. He had been through something horrible, so it wasn’t strange that he wanted to leave.
She looked at her watch. It had been well over an hour now since the moment when Hans had returned to her while she waited in the bushes. This time he was accompanied by two police officers. After being reunited, they were put in a police car and taken to the police station in Verona. There they were met by the two detectives: Filippo Tardelli and Carlo Martuccia. Tardelli was the eldest of the two and seemed like a mentor to the much younger Martuccia, whom she estimated to be around thirty years old. They were very nice. A little later Karin Goudsbloem introduced herself. She was a Dutch citizen living in Verona and worked as an interpreter for the police.
They asked her and Niels to take a seat in a room with four chairs and a table. Hans went to another room with the detectives for questioning. Even though Martuccia spoke
A group of teenagers were walking on the path widely spread apart, blocking the homeless man’s way. The man stopped and raised his hands to the sky. “ Sono innocente !”
Instead of moving out of the way, two of the teens walked toward him in a very threatening manner. When they got close to him, they shoved him aside harshly. The man wobbled, but remained standing. You could see it took all of his strength. The teenagers laughed at him.
This is my chance , Hans thought. “Hold him, stop him!”
His scream startled the homeless man, who looked around in a panic. Because the teenagers didn’t appear to be letting him through and Hans blocked his way back, he saw no other choice than to run toward some construction scaffolding right by the lake.
“Hold him!” Hans yelled again.
The homeless man hobbled along with great difficulty toward the end of the scaffolding. The teenagers looked on with some surprise, but also seemed to be very amused by the whole spectacle. They didn’t move an inch, which forced Hans to keep on running.
By the time the homeless man reached the end of the scaffolding, he tripped. Because of his speed he continued moving forward, but eventually lost his balance. At full speed, he hit his head against a pole. Without making a sound he fell into the water.
Hans also ran across scaffolding and stopped at the place where he thought the homeless man must have fallen in the water. He motioned to the teenagers with broad arm movements, indicating he needed their help. No one moved. What should he do? Jump in or leave the man to his own devices? It wasn’t very deep, but he had to look very closely before he could see a leg underneath the scaffolding. Suddenly Mats’s face flashed before him. Murdered by that monster down in the water. Should he even try to save this bastard’s life, was it even worth it?
He hesitated for a moment, but then his conscious and common sense took over. He couldn’t take the law into his own hands, no matter how tempting it was. The man would receive the proper punishment. Besides, he needed to be questioned. Otherwise Mats’s parents would never know why their son had to die. He jumped into the dark water. Far enough not to touch the homeless man’s body. The water came up to his waist, which would make it easy to pull the man back on to the shore. He turned back toward the scaffolding and saw the man’s foot sticking out. He grabbed it and pulled him out from under the scaffolding. Because he was face down in the water, Hans couldn’t see his face right away. When he turned him around and got his head above water, what he saw was the face of a dead man, for the second time that evening.
14
“Is it going to take much longer, Mom?”
Petra pulled Niels even closer against her. She understood his impatience and thought he had held up remarkably well so far. He had been through something horrible, so it wasn’t strange that he wanted to leave.
She looked at her watch. It had been well over an hour now since the moment when Hans had returned to her while she waited in the bushes. This time he was accompanied by two police officers. After being reunited, they were put in a police car and taken to the police station in Verona. There they were met by the two detectives: Filippo Tardelli and Carlo Martuccia. Tardelli was the eldest of the two and seemed like a mentor to the much younger Martuccia, whom she estimated to be around thirty years old. They were very nice. A little later Karin Goudsbloem introduced herself. She was a Dutch citizen living in Verona and worked as an interpreter for the police.
They asked her and Niels to take a seat in a room with four chairs and a table. Hans went to another room with the detectives for questioning. Even though Martuccia spoke
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