‘Like I said, I don’t like it,’ interrupted Scholz, ‘but I’ll go along with it. But I’ve got a few conditions. We’ll talk about it after we’re through here.’

The front door opened before they had a chance to knock. A man of about forty stepped out, drawing it to behind him. He was a little under two metres tall, athletically built and reasonably good-looking. A perfect fit for the description given them by Mila, the escort who’d been bitten.

‘Commissar Scholz?’ he asked Fabel.

‘No, that’s me,’ said Scholz. ‘Herr Schnaus?’

‘Yes. What’s this about? My wife and kids are here and—’

‘It’s about the website you run,’ said Fabel.

‘Oh …’ Schnaus looked crestfallen. ‘I rather thought it would be. Listen, I’ve told my wife this is to do with business.’

‘What exactly is your business?’ asked Fabel.

‘Computer software.’

Fabel looked over at the car in the drive and at the house once more and considered the decision he’d taken about his future.

‘Okay, we’ll play along. For now. Is there somewhere private we can talk?’

‘My study …’ Schnaus led them into the house and along a wide hall. The study was roomy, bright and contemporary. There was a large desk with two expensive-looking computers on it. Two more sat on workstations on the other wall.

‘You run your site from here?’ asked Fabel.

‘Listen, it’s a hobby more than anything else … I don’t do it for the money …’

‘Just for pleasure,’ Scholz sneered. Schnaus’s face reddened.

‘Listen, I can’t explain it. It’s just something …’ He let the thought die. ‘What is it you want to know?’

‘For a start you can tell us where you were on the evening of Friday the twentieth of January.’

Schnaus typed something into his computer. ‘I was in Frankfurt. At a conference.’

‘Can anyone confirm this?’

‘About a hundred people. I gave a talk there to introduce a new product.’

‘You stayed overnight?’

‘Yes. Three days in total.’

‘What kind of new product?’ asked Fabel. ‘I mean, what kind of software do you sell?’

‘We’re distributors for gaming software. Other stuff too, like interactive software for training, that kind of thing.’

‘Have you ever heard of a game designer called Melissa Schenker?’

‘No …’ If Schnaus was lying he was covering it up well. ‘I can’t say I have.’

‘What about a role-playing game called The Lords of Misrule?’

‘Oh yes … more than heard of it, we distribute it.’

‘Melissa Schenker designed Lords of Misrule,’ said Fabel.

‘Oh. I wouldn’t know that. It’s not part of the portfolio I represent. And anyway, I’m not always familiar with who designed or conceived the games.’

There was a pause.

‘Why do you do this, Herr Schnaus?’ asked Fabel. ‘I mean you have a good job, a family. Why do you feel the need to run a website like this?’