‘And you think this guy is the same, but on a smaller scale?’ Fabel asked. Everything that Brauner was saying fitted with what he had started to believe after the second murder.

‘Yes, but what’s more I think your killer here is flaunting his psychopathy. He wants you to believe that these are random acts to conceal whatever it is he’s up to.’

‘So what is he up to?’ Maria was frowning at the coffee table’s surface as if to see that which was already gone. ‘He kills a journalist and, we think, steals some of her papers.’

‘Papers that relate to a story she was working on, if she had them laid out on the table to look over,’ Werner added.

‘Kill the journalist and kill the story?’ Maria looked up and towards Fabel.

‘Could be. But it doesn’t fit with the other killings. A prostitute and a civic lawyer.’

‘Maybe it does,’ said Werner, ‘but we just haven’t seen the connection yet. After all, we know next to nothing about the dead prostitute. Maybe she had something to do with Angelika Blüm’s story. A sex scandal, maybe?’

‘Angelika Blüm wasn’t a tabloid journalist, but if it were a sex scandal that involved politics or something else, then perhaps.’ Fabel rubbed his chin frustratedly, as if the action would stimulate brain activity. ‘We simply have to find out who Monique was. And we need to go back to the Kastner case. We have to take a closer look at her personal paperwork. And we didn’t get into her professional life because we thought it was a random killing. We’ve got to go back over it all again. Maria … could you start that? I know you’re looking into the second victim’s identity, but I’d like you to take this on as well.’

‘Sure, Chef.’ Maria answered without much enthusiasm. Fabel had expected Werner to look relieved that he had not landed the job. He didn’t. Fabel knew that Werner resented Maria being given so much responsibility, but Fabel didn’t have time for good man-management practice just now.

‘Werner, I need you to follow up on Angelika Blüm’s professional contacts, see if you can find out what she was working on. In the meantime, let’s find out if anyone else here caught a glimpse of our mystery visitor.’

Brauner spoke again. ‘By the way, Jan, we have picked up a second set of prints.’

‘Oh?’ Fabel raised his eyebrows.

‘Don’t get too excited. They’re all over the place, some new, some quite old and difficult to lift, but I reckon they’re the same person. Someone who has been, well, intimately acquainted with Frau Blüm’s apartment for some time. Unlikely to be our guy.’

Fabel suddenly felt leaden and dull, as if the adrenalin had worn off and a sluggish tiredness had reclaimed him, body and mind. He made his way back through to Blüm’s home office.

Fabel looked down at the devastated carcass that had once been Angelika Blüm. The pathology technicians had laid out a body bag and were preparing to move the corpse onto it. He watched as they zipped up the remains of a woman who had tried several times to get in touch with him. Calls he had deemed too unimportant to return because he had a major murder inquiry to conduct. Now she was a part of that inquiry. He knew the lead that sat in his chest was guilt. He spoke to a woman who was now beyond hearing him.