Dirk Lützelberger - Secret doors

"You seem to be right, Michael" Stefan admitted with a simper.

"Then I’ll see you in a few days. Enjoy the time that remains. I look forward to seeing you." Michael hung up.

Stefan looked at Gwen and noticed that her sadness was gone. "This wasn’t the plan, but it seems to me you’re looking forward to the task." He took her hand and grabbed Phil’s too. "I’m looking forward to working with you." All three laughed.

Anyway, the next day the vacation was over, and Gwen couldn’t wait to get back home to do some initial research. She was already planning the first days after her return from vacation when her phone rang. The phone number was a local number that she didn’t know. It was Chief Inspector Karl Oberstohner. He had phoned Alois Wedelmaier and learned that he had handed over the case to his German colleagues. They would take care of everything else. He could hardly believe that he had actually managed to get the job done again, passing it on from his desk to others. So, he called Gwen to get the confirmation at first hand and to wish her good luck. He promised her to support her if any questions should arise or if further investigations in Austria were necessary. The results of the hair analysis would of course be sent to her as soon as they were available.

Gwen thanked him and hung up. She would still have to pack her bags, but this time she was looking forward to it. She was going home and got a new case.

Chapter 6

The first working day after the holiday is usually the hardest. Gwen, however, was delighted when she returned to the State Office of Criminal Investigations in Kiel, which was abbreviated in German as LKA, and entered her office. Her colleagues greeted her cheerfully. They, too, had noticed the condition Gwen had been in the last weeks and were happy to see her as if she had changed. A holiday could work wonders, they agreed.

No sooner had Gwen dropped into her chair than Stefan was already standing in her office.

"Welcome back, long time no see" he flirted and winked.

"So, what was going on when I was on vacation? The LKA is still intact! It can’t have been that bad" she flattened.

"Let’s have a cup of coffee and talk to our colleagues before we get into the hustle and bustle again."

Gwen followed Stefan to the department’s coffee machine. Other colleagues had already met there to discuss the latest developments. As usual, there were enough employees who always saw only the negative and complained about everything. Others were delighted to see Gwen so happy and healthy again after her holiday. Gwen had no problems talking to these colleagues. She shared her experiences but avoided mentioning her frustrations and lows. She was proud of her son, talking about his geocache findings and how he had joined her and Stefan in what he said was a ’rough up’ of the policeman. Here, everyone felt that Gwen had internalized every detail of the report and was about to start to find out why the jogger had taken so many different unapproved drugs. They agreed that if anyone could answer this question, it was certainly Gwen.

There was not much news in the LKA. There was a restructuring of the management level. This was as certain and regular as eggs is eggs, Gwen said. On the one hand, a longer period of stability in the management team would certainly have been helpful, so that the managers could also take the credit for which they were responsible. On the other hand, of course, the same thing happened, and managers would have to face the music when they got their departments into hot water.

Eventually, regular change was important to get new food for thought. Nothing was worse than continuing in the same way year after year in deadlocked structures. Change was there to break up these structures and introduce more efficient procedures.

The purchasing department of the State Office of Criminal Investigation had also once again launched a change that would affect each of the officers, whether they wanted it or not. However, in this case it was unintelligible to Gwen why they had not simply left everything as it was before.

"I really don’t understand that. The old cards were still valid after all" Gwen expressed her displeasure and incomprehension.

"Maybe they were able to cut costs a little bit with that measure."

"But that doesn’t mean you have to change all the cards!"

"The credit card companies certainly want to introduce new security features again so that the cards are better protected against misuse. There’s no other way to explain it."

"This means we have to store new credit card numbers in all systems again, so that the trips and LKA expenses can be accounted for correctly and automatically." Frustrated, Gwen added, "And I have also received a new PIN!"

"Gwen it doesn’t help to whine here, because the decision has been made. Whatever the trigger for the exchange was, we’ll never know. But it’ll be worth the effort and the security."

"I’m sure you’re right. I’ll get started this afternoon on implementing the changes in the systems. Was anything else going on when we were on vacation?"

"Not that I’ve heard of any major changes. It seems that we can look into the mysterious circumstances of Mr. Schörff’s death What do you think?"

Gwen smiled, picked up her now empty coffee cup, and went back to her office. Stefan followed her.

"I guess we’d better get started."

The German authorities had received a request for residence from Austria for the sister of Andreas Schörff and were working on it. This would only take a few more days, as there were many requests coming in, it was holiday time and the department was understaffed at all. This was all Stefan could find out. At least it had been ensured that the information about the sister’s current whereabouts would go directly to the LKA, so as not to take the detour via the Austrian authorities.

With Andreas Schörff’s place of residence it had been easier. His fingerprints had been clearly assigned to his identity by his passport. The passport had been issued by the authorities in Kiel and his home address was also known here.

Stefan and Gwen discussed the next steps. They would first inspect the house or apartment to find evidence of drug use or abuse. Perhaps this would enable them to complete the investigation quickly. If not, it might give them more clues as to how he got the drugs.

Gwen was already fantasizing about an international smuggling ring for fake drugs, but for Stefan it was a bit far-fetched. After all, they had often started out small and had discovered a larger context through their research. Stefan put up with this but warned Gwen to take small steps. Eventually, the first thing they did was to go to Andreas Schörff’s home address.

The two investigators wanted to get their own picture before perhaps activating forensics or other personnel from the other departments. They reached Schulstraße 27 in Gettorf. North of the center, at the end of a cul-de-sac, they found a large detached house at the address. It was very quiet in the street and not a soul took notice of their arrival. They had parked their police car in the driveway of the property and had got out. As always, they tried to get an impression of the surroundings and took even small things that did not escape their trained eye. Behind the property there were fields, meadows and tree areas. It seemed as if the village had come to an end here and behind it there was nothing but undeveloped land and cultivated fields. The other houses in the street were smaller and older houses from the existing stock, while the family house of Mr. Schörff was of more recent construction date. Probably an old house had given way and a new, larger house with better climate and heat insulation standards had been built. However, the building style fitted in very well with the existing architecture of the other houses in the street, although it had been built with exceptionally valuable materials. The marble steps to the entrance of the house alone must have cost a small fortune. The garden was in an impeccable, well-kept condition and the whole house was equipped with high-quality stainless-steel lamps. Stefan and Gwen soon realized that a certain expensive standard of living was maintained here.