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“It’s the torn dress from the video,” says Timo.
“Correct,” says Yasira. “But the thing is, Michael and I found this dress in Lena’s wardrobe. Without the slightest tear, of course.”
She gives her team a moment to process this information.
“It immediately struck me as odd, but I just couldn’t fit it in. And then, in all the madness...” Yasira sighs, “I simply forgot about it. Didn’t think of it again.”
“She could have the same dress twice,” says Michael. “That’s the simplest explanation.”
“Yes, she could,” Yasira admits. “But, my goodness, Lena was...” She pauses briefly, “Lena is a teenager and not Hitchcock!”
“Hitchcock?” asks Timo.
“They say that Hitchcock had the same suit in his closet seven times,” says Michael, who caught the reference. “So he didn’t have to waste time deciding what to wear in the morning.”
“What does her father say about it?” Timo wants to know.
“I called him earlier,” Yasira reports. “He remembers the flowered dress, but he doesn’t know if Lena might have bought it twice. Since her mother died, Lena has been buying her own clothes.” Yasira looks around. “But Lena is a sixteen-year-old girl! I didn’t have double clothes at that age. I still don’t have any duplicate dresses. Do you?”
Jenny and Katja Grebe shake their heads. Katja Jürgens, however, says: “Sorry, I have duplicate dresses. I’m always happy when I find something that looks good on me and fits.”
“Exactly! It’s just an indication,” insists Michael. “Lena could also have had two of the same dress.”
“Maybe she had it in two different sizes,” says Katja Grebe. “I mean, she could have outgrown one, but liked it so much that she bought it again in a larger size.”
“As you know, life has taught me to be open to unusual explanations,” begins Karsten Seiler, probably thinking of the supposed serial killer who turned out to be a cotton swab packer. “But let’s assume Yasira is right... What about Snoopy then? Did Snoopy not exist either? Then who was shot in the head with the MP5?”
A question that Yasira has also been pondering.
“Was it some poor bastard,” Karsten continues, “whose appearance was used as a model for one of the rapists without his knowledge? And Bear or whoever tracked down this model based on clues. And when he shot him, Snoopy didn’t even know what it was about?”
“Possibly...” says Yasira. “We never found a body. We don’t know who was really shot. Who’s to say it wasn’t like with Tesfaye Yemane? Someone was executed just because he had the wrong skin color.”
“But...”
“Or...” a new thought strikes Yasira, “who’s to say that the execution video isn’t also fake?”
“I don’t know,” Timo doubts. “Are you going to claim that every video isn’t real? What about Red Fox? You were there at the arrest yourself.”
“Exactly! We caught that idiot straight away! But why not the first killer? Huh? Think about it,” says Yasira. “Can you name another case where we put so much effort into finding out so little? Timo, what does your current statistic say?”
“In the last seven days, a total of two hundred and fifty-three police officers across Germany have followed up four hundred and thirty-two tips from the public,” reports Timo.
“And the result is: Nothing! Nada! Niente!” says Yasira. “We have turned the entire country upside down. We haven’t found a trace of any of the rapists. How likely do you think it is that a self-proclaimed avenger, an obviously intelligence-limited musclehead like Bear, succeeds where Germany’s entire police and intelligence apparatus fails?”
“So that would mean Bear himself is behind the videos?” asks Timo skeptically.
“Could be. He’s certainly the one who benefits most from it.”
“Cui bono?”asks Jenny.“Who benefits?Seriously? You do realize that con artists use this very question to lure their victims into the swamp of conspiracy theories?”
“Come on, give me a break. We always ask ourselves that question when we’re looking for a motive.”
“Okay,” says Katja Jürgens. “Let’s assume that someone wants to cause social unrest. They stir up right-wing resentment and hope that the whole system will tilt to the right.”
“I think that’s the most likely motive if the video is fake,” confirms Yasira.
“But since we’re already thinking outside the box, maybe we should take it even further,” Timo interjects, running his hand through his short stubbly hair. “There could be other motives. What if Lena’s real killer created the video to divert attention from himself?”
