‘A bit sad, maybe, but hardly proof he’s a rapist.’

‘Did you have time to look up his mother?’

‘Only to establish that she died last summer, at the age of seventy-nine. Early July, to be exact. Can’t find out the cause of death without a warrant, as you know, but there doesn’t seem to exist any suspicions of foul play. She died in the hospital, not at home. So you can forget about Freske murdering Mummy dearest and keeping her corpse in the bedroom.’

‘So she died just a few months before the attacks started. I bet her death triggered them.’

‘Possible. If it’s him, that is.’

Karen opens her mouth to argue but then closes it again.

‘So you don’t think it’s him?’ she says after a pause.

‘Obviously I do think it’s him. Or that it could be, at the very least. But we need more if we want to convince the higher-ups. You know that as well as I do.’

‘And how are we supposed to find out more if we can’t even talk to the guy?’

Karl stares into space without answering. Then he curses, bends down, plants both palms on the table, and straightens back up.

‘Let’s go over there,’ he says in a voice that reveals a hint of resignation behind the determination. ‘We’re just going to have to come up with an excuse for why we need to talk to him. But I’m not swabbing a bloke in a wheelchair, just so we’re clear.’

‘He’s not in a wheelchair.’

‘I hope you’re right. Either way, it’s going to have to wait until tomorrow, after the morning meeting. Why don’t you start thinking about a reason for why we need to bother him again? A damn good one.’

Chapter 36

36

He’s in a wheelchair.

When Gundar Freske finally opens the door the next morning, after they’ve rung the bell four times, it’s with the words:

‘You were already here. What do you want now?’

Karen smiles.

I knew it.

‘I’m sorry to inconvenience you, but as you know, the crimes we’re investigating are very serious. It won’t take long. May we come in?’

The wheelchair scrapes against the doorpost when Freske awkwardly turns around and wheels himself into the flat. Karen hears Karl close the door behind them and turns to him with a silent question in her eyes.

He replies with a brief nod. Yes, he has seen through Freske’s bluff, too.