‘No, women don’t act like that. A dismembered body suggests a male killer.’
‘There are exceptions.’
‘True. We shouldn’t rule out the possibility, but still …’ Beatrice reached for her notepad. ‘The ad agency. We need to question every single person who was there that evening. We’ll pester the pathologist’s office to give us the report on the sawn-off hand as soon as possible. And we’ll follow the Owner’s clues.’ She looked at Florin, hoping for his agreement, but he was gazing beyond her into the distance.
‘Those five days,’ he said. ‘So much time between her disappearance and her death. If we only knew what happened in that time span …’
Without breaking eye contact, Beatrice pinned the enlarged printed photo of the letter on the board above their desk. ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘In five days, a person can change completely if you push them hard enough. We should keep that in mind with everything we find out about her.’
The thought stayed with her for the next few hours. Five days . She completed the list of choral Christophs and unearthed contact details for former choirmasters, but those five days kept circling relentlessly in her mind.
‘Good afternoon, this is Beatrice Kaspary from Salzburg Landeskriminalamt. Am I speaking to Gustav Richter?’
‘Erm, yes. What’s—’
‘Don’t worry, nothing’s happened. I just need some information from you. You lead the Arcadia chamber choir, if I’ve been correctly informed?’
A relieved sigh. ‘Yes.’
‘I have two rather unusual questions. Do you have a choir member called Christoph? Or a former member? The time period in question would be the last five to six years.’
‘Why do you want to know that?’
‘It’s connected to a current investigation. Unfortunately I can’t be any more specific than that.’
‘Aha. Yes, we do have a Christoph. Two, for that matter – Christoph Harrer and Christoph Leonhart – and they both still sing with us.’ A brief pause. ‘Are they in some kind of trouble?’
‘No, absolutely not. Did your choir perform Schubert’s Mass in A flat around six years ago?’
This time, his answer came more quickly. ‘Yes, that sounds about right. Let me think for a moment – yes. It must be almost six years ago now.’
Beatrice highlighted the two names.
‘You’ve been a great help, thank you.’ Her hand continued to hover over the notepad; one final question was burning on her tongue.
She took a deep breath.
‘Is that all, Frau Kommissarin?’
‘Yes. No, sorry, just a moment – there’s one more thing, and it might sound strange, but I’ll ask anyway. Do either of the two men have a birthmark on their hand? Something big, quite noticeable?’
‘What? Why do you ask?’
Beatrice sighed inwardly; it was an understandable reaction. ‘It could be an important detail in the case.’
‘A birthmark?’ He sounded slightly irritated, as if she was trying to make a fool of him. ‘I’ve no idea why that might be of interest to you, but I’m afraid I can’t help you there. I tend to concentrate more on my singers’ voices, as it happens.’
Three further telephone enquiries revealed yet another Christoph. After that, the only choirs left on the list were the very small ones, and the ones whose choirmasters she had been unable to reach. ‘That’s already fourteen we have to check out in person.’ Beatrice flung her pencil down on the desk in exasperation. ‘With my luck the last one will end up being the one we’re looking for. None of the choirmasters so far knew anything about a birthmark.’
‘Same here.’ Florin’s outstretched arm fished for Beatrice’s notes. ‘I’ll just type everything up, then get Stefan to hunt out the addresses.’
‘Okay. I really need to grab a bite to eat. Can I bring you anything?’
Florin shook his head silently, already populating the table on his screen with names. The glum twist of his mouth reflected her own mood:
‘There are exceptions.’
‘True. We shouldn’t rule out the possibility, but still …’ Beatrice reached for her notepad. ‘The ad agency. We need to question every single person who was there that evening. We’ll pester the pathologist’s office to give us the report on the sawn-off hand as soon as possible. And we’ll follow the Owner’s clues.’ She looked at Florin, hoping for his agreement, but he was gazing beyond her into the distance.
‘Those five days,’ he said. ‘So much time between her disappearance and her death. If we only knew what happened in that time span …’
Without breaking eye contact, Beatrice pinned the enlarged printed photo of the letter on the board above their desk. ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘In five days, a person can change completely if you push them hard enough. We should keep that in mind with everything we find out about her.’
The thought stayed with her for the next few hours. Five days . She completed the list of choral Christophs and unearthed contact details for former choirmasters, but those five days kept circling relentlessly in her mind.
‘Good afternoon, this is Beatrice Kaspary from Salzburg Landeskriminalamt. Am I speaking to Gustav Richter?’
‘Erm, yes. What’s—’
‘Don’t worry, nothing’s happened. I just need some information from you. You lead the Arcadia chamber choir, if I’ve been correctly informed?’
A relieved sigh. ‘Yes.’
‘I have two rather unusual questions. Do you have a choir member called Christoph? Or a former member? The time period in question would be the last five to six years.’
‘Why do you want to know that?’
‘It’s connected to a current investigation. Unfortunately I can’t be any more specific than that.’
‘Aha. Yes, we do have a Christoph. Two, for that matter – Christoph Harrer and Christoph Leonhart – and they both still sing with us.’ A brief pause. ‘Are they in some kind of trouble?’
‘No, absolutely not. Did your choir perform Schubert’s Mass in A flat around six years ago?’
This time, his answer came more quickly. ‘Yes, that sounds about right. Let me think for a moment – yes. It must be almost six years ago now.’
Beatrice highlighted the two names.
‘You’ve been a great help, thank you.’ Her hand continued to hover over the notepad; one final question was burning on her tongue.
She took a deep breath.
‘Is that all, Frau Kommissarin?’
‘Yes. No, sorry, just a moment – there’s one more thing, and it might sound strange, but I’ll ask anyway. Do either of the two men have a birthmark on their hand? Something big, quite noticeable?’
‘What? Why do you ask?’
Beatrice sighed inwardly; it was an understandable reaction. ‘It could be an important detail in the case.’
‘A birthmark?’ He sounded slightly irritated, as if she was trying to make a fool of him. ‘I’ve no idea why that might be of interest to you, but I’m afraid I can’t help you there. I tend to concentrate more on my singers’ voices, as it happens.’
Three further telephone enquiries revealed yet another Christoph. After that, the only choirs left on the list were the very small ones, and the ones whose choirmasters she had been unable to reach. ‘That’s already fourteen we have to check out in person.’ Beatrice flung her pencil down on the desk in exasperation. ‘With my luck the last one will end up being the one we’re looking for. None of the choirmasters so far knew anything about a birthmark.’
‘Same here.’ Florin’s outstretched arm fished for Beatrice’s notes. ‘I’ll just type everything up, then get Stefan to hunt out the addresses.’
‘Okay. I really need to grab a bite to eat. Can I bring you anything?’
Florin shook his head silently, already populating the table on his screen with names. The glum twist of his mouth reflected her own mood:
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