Dirk Lützelberger - Murder in the first life

Gwen took Phil in her arms and comforted him. "I’m with you and I’m here for you – and so is Grandma. There’s just the three of us now and we’ll stick together. I already told you today in Sea Life that there is less to do at the moment in the LKA and I will leave earlier than in the past. I’ve neglected you both too much and I’ve been too busy with my job and career, but now you come first, my dear!" With these words, Gwen embraced her son even tighter.

"Promise?"

"Promise! So now you get to play a little bit more and then it’s off to bed."

Phil didn’t need to be told twice. After his mother left the room, he started a search engine on the Internet and thought a second time before typing the words 'fantasy', 'virtual' and 'chat'. It only took a moment for the hits to appear. The first one turned out to be a paid offer and Phil clicked on the second. 'SecondLife', never heard of it, but he was immediately fascinated by the realistic avatars that could be selected as game characters. The virtual world on the entry page instantly made him want more. He clicked his way through the site and inspected all available pictures and videos with fascination. The representations of the characters in the pictures and videos had one thing in common. They were all happy, healthy, beautiful and also somehow cool and sexy. 'My world – My imagination' – that was the slogan that ran through all the examples and captivated Phil. With his mouth open, he stared at the imaginatively designed avatars, which moved very naturally in the example videos, and tried to give him an impression of what would await after registration. Everything here was so personal, but also so anonymous at the same time. While browsing the site, Phil forgot the time and was already longing for this world to escape from his everyday life. There in the other life he would surely meet someone who would understand his situation and his problems. All this without revealing his real identity.

That was exactly the right thing to do, Phil finally decided and clicked on 'Register'. Now he needed a name for his avatar in the virtual world. Phil did not hesitate a second and typed in 'Phil Fisher'. Then he chose one of the standard male characters, which made a great impression. Tall and slim, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt – almost like in real life – Phil judged his choice. He didn’t have that much muscle, he didn’t have a beard yet and he was much younger in reality, but he gave rein to his imagination. And that’s how he will certainly look when he grows up, he hoped.

After entering his real date of birth and an e-mail address he was registered and seconds later he found himself in the brave new world. How wonderful it was. It had a little bit of an 'Alice in Wonderland'. Carefully he moved his figure in the sparkling and flashing area reserved for the newcomers, as not to collide with other newly created characters.

After only a few steps it had happened. He bumped into a young woman. "Ouch!" Phil said. Nothing happened. But then after a while, a small window opened. It said:

[Alina B]: Hi, are you also new here? It’s quite difficult to move around without running into somebody.

Phil was stunned. That was fast to get in touch with someone, he realized. Timidly he put his fingers on the keyboard and answered behind the blinking input marker.

[Phil Fisher]: Yeah, right.

"Phil, it’s bedtime. Brush your teeth, please. I’ll be right up, and I want to see you in bed!"

Shit, she couldn’t have chosen a worse time, he was annoyed inwardly, who had forgotten the time completely and quickly typed the words:

[Phil Fisher]: I got to go to bed. Good night.

[Alina B]: You are polite. Good night.

A smile swept across his face. She doesn’t even know me and she’s so kind to me. Maybe I will see her again next time, Phil aspired, because Alina had been really sweet. Then he rushed into the bathroom and brushed his teeth.

It was late when Mark’s acquaintances finally logged on. He had waited two hours, making small talk. This time it had been nothing more than aimless talk that was of no use to anyone, Mark resented. They just wasted his time. Suddenly all three logged in at the same time. Mark looked at his watch. It was already 10:47 pm. The 'Daily News' on TV had probably just ended. Mark grinned inside himself.

He used to spend a lot of time in front of the television and consumed for hours the same old stories. Today the Internet was his favourite pastime. If there was one thing Mark had learned from the Internet, it was that while it was helpful and useful in many cases, it was also the biggest waste of time he could imagine.

On the other hand, it was very varied, and you had it in your own hands where it took you. SecondLife had become Mark’s favourite companion in the late evening hours. Here he always met interesting people and it challenged him to find out their most intimate secrets. Especially if they did not want to reveal them.

After the avatars of his acquaintances had finally synthesized themselves in the virtual world, they could chat with each other.

[Priscilla]: Hello, my lady, good evening.

[Hangim Hi]: Howdy.

[Darkwing]: Hello.

[Miss Gore]: Well, it’s about time you guys showed up.

[Priscilla]: Please excuse, mistress, but the RL was very busy today.

’RL', that stood for 'Real Life'. Priscilla was no newcomer in these circles, Mark realized that again and again and he thought about how to get the missing information out of him. First of all, he needed less listeners, so he switched to private mode with Priscilla.

[(p) Miss Gore]: Nice to see you, was it busy in your branch again?

[(p) Priscilla]: I can tell you. I even had to pick up a package after work tonight.

This could be an interesting starting point, Mark thought.

[(p) Miss Gore]: Is the post office still open this late?

[(p) Priscilla]: No, mistress, I had it sent to my packing station.

[(p) Miss Gore]: Yes, this is indeed a good facility. Open day and night.

How convenient for me, Mark made a mental note, and how convenient for you, my dear Priscilla. Now Mark had almost everything he needed. His plan emerged like a puzzle in his mind. He went through the pieces one more time. Sven was male, married and lived in a single-family house, whose address he had reconstructed from the geo-coordinates of the photo. Today he had picked up a parcel from a nearby packing station. With a bit of luck, Sven would not remove his address label on the package when he threw the box into the wastepaper bin. There was still a tiny piece of the puzzle in front of Mark before he could put his plan into action. He was excited, like a little boy. Unfortunately, there were too many packing stations around Sven’s home, and he still needed the necessary postal number to send a fake parcel to Sven himself. He would probably have to visit Sven’s home in the next few days to do so. While he sat there and stared at the screen, he didn’t even notice that the conversation had continued. Hastily he turned the pages back in order not to miss anything important. He had to be careful now as he was chatting with Priscilla in private mode as well as talking to the other two in public. He was not allowed to get confused with the different windows in which the conversations took place.

[(p) Priscilla]: … and you can get to it anytime.

[(p) Priscilla]: Hello, mistress, are you still there?

[(p) Priscilla]: Hello?

[Priscilla]: Hello, you two. Miss Gore seems to have just disappeared from the keyboard. How you doing?

[Hangim Hi]: All bullshit!

[Darkwing]: So-so.

[Priscilla]: Why does everything suck?

[Hangim Hi]: Oh, the work, the woman, everyone is against me!