Dirk Lützelberger - Secret doors

"What about the ambulance? Did you reach anybody? I think all we need is the police and a hearse" she said to Stefan as he approached her. Then she noticed Phil still staring at the scene. She had to give him a task to distract him.

"Phil, can you find out where we are and how far it is to the nearest house?"

Stefan pointed to his mobile phone, "No reception at all, Gwen. We’ll have to find another way to call the police."

"I don’t have cell phone reception either, mom, but I know where we are thanks to GPS. Is he alive?

She shook her head, "No, but let me think about it for a minute."

The images in her head started again. Gwen closed her eyes and took a deep breath in and out. Her thoughts had returned to the here and now.

"Stefan, you stay here and guard the site. I’ll go with Phil to the village and call the police. Phil, can you remember the position from here too, so we can find our way back?"

"Sure, already done!"

Gwen gave Stefan one more kiss and hugged him goodbye. "We’ll hurry and be back soon" she promised.

"You’ve changed" he whispered in Gwen’s ear as they released the hug.

Gwen looked at him with alert eyes. "Yes, I feel I can be useful, too, right now."

"Then go! The quicker you’ll be back!"

She waved at Stefan and took Phil by the hand. Then she let him guide her, because he knew the way with his smartphone.

After a good hour’s walk, they reached the next village. In the meantime, they had telephone reception again and considered calling the police directly. But they rejected this idea, because the dead man would not run away anymore. Stefan guarded the area so that other pedestrians would not cause any damage here either. However, it was very unlikely that other pedestrians would take the same route, because otherwise someone else would have found the dead body earlier. But since he was already cold and stiff by now, Gwen thought, he must have died a few days ago and since then no one had walked this path anymore. Nevertheless, they thought to inform the police, because then they would surely be able to drive back to the place of discovery in the police car. So, they saved themselves a lot of walking and Phil would play an important role, because he knew the coordinates exactly. He could then guide the police officers. It was important for Phil to have a sense of achievement and Gwen also felt like working on the investigation despite her vacation. But she thought that Stefan would not like that and rejected the idea.

They reached the trivial police station. Behind the counter sat a small, pot-bellied older man with grey-white hair. They have to work here quite a long time before they can retire, Gwen quipped inwardly when she addressed the policeman.

"Hello, good man. We need your help, please." The man stood up and looked at Gwen and Phil very closely.

"Young lady, how can we help you? Has your dog run away?" he replied.

Gwen was perplexed and wanted to rebuke him, but then decided to keep her identity and rank to herself for the time being.

"You won’t believe this, but we found a dead man in your beautiful alpine village. My…", Gwen was looking for the proper term to describe her relationship status with Stefan. "My companion waited up at the site and we walked down the valley to inform the police. My son has the exact coordinates stored on his mobile and can lead you to the site." Gwen made eye contact with Phil and hinted him to tell the policeman the location. Phil took his smartphone and opened the navigation system to show the policeman the marked location.

"Hmm, that’s up by the 'Loser'. And you’re sure he’s dead?"

Gwen looked at him in disbelief and just nodded silently. This man didn’t even think she could tell the difference between a dead and a living person.

The policeman turned around leisurely, as if he wanted to say demonstratively that they didn’t have to hurry anymore when a man was killed. He seemed to be looking for something and sorted several sheets into different trays. From time to time he shook his head. Gwen thought only of Stefan and looked at her watch. Meanwhile almost one and a half hours had passed, and the dawn would set in sometime, so she decided to get some more speed in here.

"Good man, my friend is waiting up there, and if we don’t want to get there first in the dark, we’d better take to our heels." Did she just say, 'my friend'? Gwen smiled.

"You’re in a hurry. He’s not going anywhere. I’m just looking for the procedural instructions for such a case, because we haven’t had anything like this in our 'one-horse town' yet, Madame! Gwen reflected on how snappish someone can get, and by now she didn’t care what the guy thought of her. She took out her ID from her pocket and slammed it on the counter.

"My name is Gwen Fisher and I live in Germany. I’m Chief Inspector at the State Office of Criminal Investigations and I know what to do." Phil stared at his mother in disbelief. He had never seen her so angry. At least not outside his youth room, when it came to clean up. "Please call a colleague for help and an ambulance. Grab a walkie-talkie and the car keys and let’s get going!"

The policeman flinched as Gwen started with her instructions and examined her ID. Without rushing, he picked up the phone, dialed a number and informed his colleagues that he would close the police station to pursue a reported incident involving a dead man. He could be reached by radio on the way. He gave the approximate location and said goodbye. He then obviously radioed the nearest hospital and also informed his colleagues about the plan of action and the location. They would meet there.

"Are we going alone?" Gwen asked stunned.

"We are not as abundantly staffed here as they probably are in town. Come on, I’ll drive." With these words, the policeman grabbed the car keys off the counter, and they left the station. By radio he informed his colleagues that they were now on their way.

After what felt like an eternity, they reached the place where the dead man was found. Stefan had made himself comfortable with the corpse, if one could even say so. He sat in the ditch and watched the surroundings. When he saw the patrol car coming up the slope, he stood up and gave them signs to come to him. The pot-bellied policeman got out and came towards Stefan. Gwen and Phil followed him.

"I am District Inspector Wedelmaier. I am the security guard on duty at the police station where your colleague reported this 'incident'. On the way here, she had already told me about her holiday here in Austria and that we are practically colleagues. Did you touch or change anything here? You will understand that I have to ask this as a matter of form?

Stefan nodded and extended his hand to his Austrian colleague. "I am Superintendent Schick of the LKA in Northern Germany. We are happy to be able to help you and 'no', I haven’t changed anything" he said with a smile.

"You won’t have to help us. We have all the means to clear up this case ourselves" Wedelmaier replied coolly, stepping towards the dead man. With his hands in his pockets, he eyed the corpse without coming even one step too close to it.

Stefan looked questioningly at Gwen, who just shrugged her shoulders and pinched her mouth.

Phil first noticed the approaching ambulance and ordered it to stop. Two young, blond, well-trained men got out, took their emergency cases and quickly went to the officer. The three obviously knew each other very well, Gwen noticed, because without introducing themselves, they only shook hands briefly.

After a few minutes the crew of the ambulance had realized the obvious. The man was dead.

Stefan whispered to Gwen, "If the man is dead and the cause of death is not obvious, shouldn’t we be careful and assume the worst?