Dirk Lützelberger - Murder in the first life

[Miss Gore]: Have you lost your tongue, or don’t you speak our language?

[Hangim Hi]: Hello!

[Miss Gore]: Oh! That’s it? Did no one teach you how to introduce yourself, or should we guess?

[Darkwing]: Maybe it’s his name, Miss.

[Miss Gore]: Sure, Hangim Hi either stands for a cowboy, but you don’t look like one, or it’s your own wish to be hung up?

[Darkwing]: Maybe you should grant his request, Miss Gore?

[Hangim Hi]: Um, hi, I’m new here.

[Miss Gore]: So, who are you, and what do you want? Is this about wasting our time, or are you about to dangle from the nearest tree?

Mark was upset. This new guy stumbled into his conversation with Darkwing, which hadn’t really got going yet, and didn’t say a word. Mark clicked with the mouse on the new character on the screen and opened the profile. What he read there was too good to be true.

♦♦♦

The thirst had passed, and Kay finally felt no more pain. His hands already died off while ago, and he didn’t feel anything anymore. His butt on the hard, faecal covered floor and his back against the cold bars of the cage he had felt consciously for the last time several hours ago. Meanwhile Kay noticed his environment only very dimly, but he could clearly see the figure that approached him. It was a person very close to him. Kay tried to speak but could not get a word out. His throat had dried up for days and his desperate cries for help, which sounded more like the timid grunting of a dying animal through the tape, went unheeded. The person came closer and closer to his cage and inspected the steel prison from all sides. The figure took his time. Maybe it was looking for a way to help him escape. Kay could see its breath becoming visible in small clouds in front of the mouth and nose. Then the figure began to open its mouth. Kay was irritated because the mouth did not reveal any teeth, only a black hole. As if hypnotized, Kay looked into the dark throat of the figure that began to speak.

The words came out loud and clear, "You asked for it, Kay!" The mouth hadn’t moved an inch, but Kay was sure he had heard the words clearly. How was that possible? His dehydrated brain was no longer able to find the answer to this question. His ears heard the person’s last words, "Farewell."

Then the figure dissolved in a cloud of mist and Kay’s eyelids slowly closed. His body had been able to maintain all vital systems until that very moment but now he felt the power fade from his muscles and his breathing became shallower. Then he was no longer breathing at all. He had finally lost the fight.

For a Sunday, they had gotten up early. The weather was excellent, and Gwen was looking forward to the day. To finally be back for her family and especially her son filled her with anticipation.

"I have a surprise for my big boy." Gwen looked expectantly at her son, still listlessly chewing on his Nutella bun. Phil kept a straight face. Gwen met this reaction unexpectedly and directly. She had hoped Phil would be pleased and curiously inquiring, but the opposite was the case. This had been going on all week. Hardly a word had come out of Phil since Paul died. It seemed as if he was living in his own world, as if contact with the outside world had been broken. The only interest Phil showed was in playing on his computer. Here he could retreat for hours and spend his time but contact with Gwen was broken off.

Gwen finished her coffee and asked, "Don’t you want to know where we’re going today?"

Phil pushed the last bite of his roll into his mouth and stood up. "We can leave right away; I’ll just brush my teeth" he announced indifferently.

Gwen looked at Phil in surprise as he disappeared at the top of the stairs. Shaking her head, she cleared the kitchen table.

Everything was prepared and she had hoped so much to please her son. But he did not show the spark of interest in where he was going. Wordlessly and apathetic Phil got into the car, with his iPod and the headphones on his ears.

As she slammed the door and walked around the car, Gwen muttered, "Here you are, Lord, don’t say a word."

She stepped on it.

Beth was already standing at the side of the road ready to leave and was impatiently waiting for her daughter. When she saw the black Touareg arrive, she waved at Gwen. As soon as the car came to a halt, the back door flew open and Phil jumped out to fling his arms around his grandmother’s neck.

Gwen kept a jealous watch over this event and was rooted to the spot behind the steering wheel. After endless seconds, she parked the car and helped her mother get in. Phil was already in the back seat again and smiled to himself as Gwen got into the car to drive the trio to their actual destination.

"So, Phil, are you excited?" Beth asked curiously.

"Do you know where we’re going?" Phil asked hypocritically.

In surprise, Beth looked at Gwen before answering. "To the sharks and octopuses, to Sea Life. You like that, don’t you?"

"Great! We haven’t been there a long time!"

Gwen didn’t recognize her son. For the last week, he could barely get a word out. With his grandmother, the situation seemed very different. He babbled on unchecked and talked about his last week and his experiences for most of the trip. After ninety minutes they reached Timmendorf beach and Sea Life. It was bitterly cold, but the sun was shining on them. The thermometer showed 14° F this morning on departure and it might hardly have got warmer. The sun simply had no more power to heat up the air accordingly. The winter came inexorably with big steps.

After they had parked the car in a side street, the three of them went to the entrance. Behind the dune, you could hear the waves that tirelessly made their way to the beach. Gwen already had the feeling that she would need many attempts to find her son again. Perhaps Phil’s impression that his mother was having an affair with Dr Peters was also getting in the way of their relationship. She would have to get rid of this obsession soon, but not today and not in the presence of Beth, Gwen thought as they queued up at the entrance.

After they had passed the entrance, Phil headed straight for the first aquariums and dragged his grandma by the arm with him. "Come on, grandma, let’s go to Speedy!"

'Speedy' was one of the attractions in Sea Life and Phil was crazy about it. The little sea turtle had really taken a shine to him. He could stand in front of the aquarium for hours and watch 'Speedy' glide by. Gwen would have loved to know what was going on in her son’s little head.

"Hey, isn’t it great how Speedy does her laps in the water?" Gwen tried to get a conversation going. "I bet you can’t hold your breath underwater that long!"

"If you’d gone to the pool with me sometime, like Dad did, you’d know how well I can swim and, above all, dive!"

Wham! That wasn’t the plan, Gwen thought. It really hurt, but there had simply not been enough time for her career, her husband and her son. She had had to set priorities that now turned out to be wrong. But there was still enough time to change things. Gwen took a step closer to her son and crouched down.

"You’re right Phil, I haven’t spent enough time with you, and I’m very, very sorry about that, but we have to stick together now. All we have left is each other."

The seconds passed, Phil kept staring at this little sea turtle and showed no emotion.

"Phil, I have a great idea. There is not so much to do in the LKA at the moment and I have worked on all the big cases. I can easily arrange to be at home more and then we will simply do something together. Anything you want! Maybe we can go to the swimming pool, if you like? How’s that sound?"

Again, the seconds passed, which seemed like endless minutes or even hours to Gwen. Then finally Phil answered quietly and cautiously, "Yes, that would be great."