‘What about the gun? Where did you get that?’

‘I saw them dump it in a trash can. When they left I went and got it out.’

‘You followed them?’

‘No. They dumped the gun in the trash can inside the Schwimmhalle.’

‘They didn’t make any effort to hide it?’

‘Not much. And there’s a canal just a few metres from the pool. I guess they didn’t care if it was found or not.’

‘Or maybe they wanted it found …’ Yilmaz suggested.

‘That’s what it looks like,’ agreed Fabel. ‘German hitmen – a Ukrainian weapon. It would appear they were trying to point us in the wrong direction.’ He turned back to Hansi. ‘I need you to come down to the Präsidium and make a full statement. And I need you to look at some mug shots; see if you can identify the shooters.’

Hansi Kraus nodded. He looked less than happy about it, but had the doomed air of someone who accepts that shit happens. And usually to him.

Fabel placed a hand on the shoulder of Kraus’s grubby military overcoat. ‘Listen Hansi, I can’t make you do this. And nor can Herr Yilmaz or anyone else …’ He looked pointedly at the other Turk who returned his gaze disinterestedly. ‘Your evidence is only good if you give it freely and honestly.’

Kraus gave a bitter laugh. ‘Nice world you live in, Herr Hauptkommissar … I’ll give you your statement.’

Fabel led Kraus out to his car. Yilmaz walked with them to the door. ‘I appreciate your help on this, Herr Yilmaz,’ Fabel said, and meant it.

Yilmaz smiled broadly and gave a dismissive shrug.

‘But I take it you understand that this doesn’t buy you any favours from me,’ said Fabel. ‘I owe you for this, but I’ll never compromise the law or myself to help you out.’

‘That is something I already know.’ Yilmaz laughed. ‘I didn’t expect anything in return. That’s the problem with dealing with an honest policeman. The only thing I’d ask is that my part is kept out of Hansi’s statement.’

‘That’s one compromise I can make. Thanks again. Goodbye, Herr Yilmaz.’

All the way back to the Präsidium, Fabel had kept his window open to mitigate the influence Hansi’s overcoat was having on his upholstery. When Fabel arrived, he handed Hansi over to Werner and told him to order something from the canteen for their guest to eat. Looking at Kraus, however, led Fabel to believe that they would have to turn him loose reasonably soon: his eyes were becoming increasingly mobile, darting from side to side, like those of a hunted animal. There was also a nervous intensity to his movements. Fabel knew Hansi needed a fix and they had only so long to get information out of him.

Back at his office, Fabel cleared his desk of clutter, heaping files into a pile on the floor and pushing his keyboard and mouse to one side. He found a large layout pad in the bottom drawer of his desk and flipped through it until he found a clean page. As he laid the pad on his desk, an image of Angelika Blüm’s apartment came spontaneously to mind. He remembered the cleared coffee table, with objects placed out of the way to allow the unobstructed flow of ideas. He felt another pang of guilt when he thought about a woman he had never met, but whom he now knew so intimately, who had tried so insistently to make contact with him.