‘Bingo,’ she said softly. OK, the rules said it took three to make a series when it came to murder, but two killings with such an off-the-wall MO couldn’t be coincidence. What puzzled her was why this had ever crossed the desk of the organized crime unit. She carried on reading, and found the tenuous explanation at the very end of the document.

Initial investigations have produced no personal motive for this murder. However, according to our intelligence, Neumann was involved in the drugs scene. He had allegedly been a long-time user of cannabis and amphetamines, and the narcotics squad responsible for dealing with the university had heard rumours that Neumann dealt drugs to his students. Although we have no firm evidence of his involvement in drug dealing, it seems possible that so bizarre a murder may have come about as a result of his involvement with the organized crime that exists in the drug culture. In short, that this may be an execution designed to send a message we cannot read to others who might be tempted to transgress the unwritten codes of such people.

‘Pompous bullshit,’ Petra muttered as she read the final paragraph. ‘Translation: we can’t make head nor tail of this, so let’s offload it to someone else.’ Nevertheless, she was for once glad of the buck-passing of her colleagues in the provinces. Without their laziness and incompetence, she’d never have been able to make the connection between this murder and Marijke’s case in Leiden.

The question was, what should she do now? There was no effective operational co-operation between the police forces of separate countries in the European Union. Interpol had no role to play here. Europol was for intelligence-sharing and the development of policing strategies, not cross-border operations. If she made this official, it would get bogged down in bureaucratic red tape and departmental politics.

But if she and Marijke worked the two cases together, sharing information and pooling leads … Since the Radecki investigation looked set to be snatched from under her, she needed to find another path to glory. This might just be it.

Petra hit the reply button. Please send full pathology and forensic reports re Walter Neumann. We would prefer hard copies if possible. This matter is both urgent and highly confidential.

She sent the message then sat back in her chair, a small smile of satisfaction on her face. If Plesch was right and there was a place for her in whatever was planned against Radecki, all well and good. But if she was only humouring her, this would be her insurance policy.

Chapter 16

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