Page 23 of Anatomy of a Killer
‘You call a few little coincidences leads?’ Meller stands back up and with his foot clatters the dustpan and brush to one side, a noise that makes Eva spin around and grab my arm. The broad-chested Meller towers before us, menacingly pointing his index finger. ‘Look, what I showed you about Marcus Steinhausen– nowthoseare leads! For fuck’s sake, do you win your police badges in a lottery? How come your shitty outfit only seems to employ useless fuckers?’
‘Once again, we’re not from the police, we’re private investigators,’ Eva says firmly.
Meller looks at us as if this is the first time he’s heard it.
‘Who are you working for?’ he asks, with narrowed eyes.
‘I’m afraid we can’t tell you that,’ I chime in circumspectly. ‘But you can be sure we’re keen to find out the truth. Just like you.’
Meller holds up his thumb and forefinger, barely half a centimetre apart. ‘I’m that close,’ he growls, nodding to reinforce his claim. Then he goes over to the desk, unscrews the top from the schnapps bottle and takes a sip.
I look at Eva, who suggestively raises an eyebrow and nods at the sitting-room door. But I don’t want to go. As strange as Meller is, I’m thrilled to have finally come across someone who shares my belief that Dad is innocent.
‘That would mean that Marcus Steinhausen has given the police a number of false alibis,’ I tell him.
‘Couldn’t be more false!’ Meller says, wiping his mouth and putting the bottle back on the desk. ‘Those so-called friends who’ve given him alibis– he’s bribed them! I’m one hundred per cent certain of it! You see, one of the boys worked with us on the site. He was never friends with Marcus, he just kept borrowing money off him. Marcus had no friends apart from me!’ He pounds his fist on his chest. ‘I was his only friend! And how did he thank me?’
‘Did you tell the police that he might have bribed the witnesses?’
‘Of course! They questioned the guys on site too, but the wanker denied it all.’
Eva opens her mouth, but I get in first. ‘Do you have an idea where we could find Marcus Steinhausen?’
Meller comes over to us. His face is contorted into a peculiar grin that makes me shudder. ‘I told you I’ve already done most of the donkey work.’
RECORDING 02
Berlin, 7 May 2021
I’d like to talk about Larissa Meller.
Why her in particular?
For two reasons. First, I met her mother, and so it feels– how should I put it?– personal. And then Larissa was the first. It’s said that the first victim plays a special role for the killer.
Is that so?
It’s proven, yes.
(grins)What other clichés have you got up your sleeve? The killer who had a difficult childhood, a strict father or no father at all, an indifferent mother or a controlling one, and who started torturing small animals at primary school? A loner, always a bit odd, who later had problems with women. None would let him near them, but little girls couldn’t defend themselves, he was able to dominate them.
But that’s often the case.
(laughs)Tell me about your childhood.
My. . . ?
Why not? It doesn’t look like we need to bother with my story. You seem to know it all already.
No, I’ve just. . . I’ve looked into the topic and read up on it.
I’m not a topic, I’m a human being, just like you.
With respect, you can’t compare us. It’s never crossed my mind to abduct little girls, slit their wrists and watch them bleed to death.
Have you read up on this too? What do you say to a bit of biology? The human body contains between three and seven litres of blood. If a person loses more than one and a half litres, they become weak, thirsty and start to freeze. At this point the loss of blood must be stopped or the brain won’t get enough oxygen and the person will lose consciousness. Death occurs shortly afterwards. When exactly depends on how big the injured vessel is. . .
I don’t think I want to hear this.
