Blood Ties Read online

  Nik pinned the last photo to the wall and took two steps back. ‘Still no word of a ransom demand?’

  ‘Nothing. The CID have bugged the family’s landline and mobiles, but the kidnapper hasn’t made any contact.’

  ‘Are you sure all phones are being bugged or does Grohnert maybe have another one he used for less official business?’

  ‘Well, I know he doesn’t have any other contracts with German service providers. I checked.’

  ‘Doesn’t make any sense,’ mumbled Nik. ‘If we’re taking greed to be the motive, there would have at least been a demand for money.’

  ‘Maybe there was but it slipped past the police,’ suggested Jon.

  ‘Possible. But if Grohnert doesn’t have a secret mobile, then it could have only happened via email or letter. And the CID will be monitoring both. So let’s forget ransom for the time being and say she was abducted for another reason.’

  ‘Maybe the kidnapper’s a child molester?’

  ‘At fourteen, Greta’s slightly too old to fit that target group,’ said Nik. ‘Sexual violence is still a valid possibility but the violence during the abduction seems abnormally severe for that to be the case. Plus, there are so many other corners of Munich where it would have been far easier to find vulnerable minors . . . the main station to name one.’

  ‘So what other options are there?’

  ‘Well, the children of rival gang leaders are sometimes used in organised crime to apply pressure. But I don’t know enough about the Grohnerts for that.’

  ‘From what I can tell, everything seems pretty kosher. Clemens Grohnert is a qualified civil engineer and earns a couple of hundred thousand a year. The villa is paid off, as is his wife’s car, so it’s just the Maserati to go. But the money in his account more than covers that. He also has an impressive number of shares so pressure from a loan shark seems unlikely.’

  ‘And what about his wife?’

  ‘Vanessa Grohnert is an architect. They got married nineteen years ago. Nowadays she only works occasionally on sporadic projects in Munich and most of her clients come from Munich’s high society. I took a look at her WhatsApp messages but didn’t find anything that hints of a lover or stalker . . . or anyone else acting crazily.’

  ‘You hacked Vanessa Grohnert’s mobile?’

  ‘One-two-three-four isn’t exactly the best PIN.’

  ‘Did you hack any of Clemens’ devices?’

  ‘The server at his construction company is well protected but he reads his work emails on his mobile so I didn’t have to hack the system. His PIN was as ridiculous as his wife’s,’ explained Jon. ‘Anyway, long story short, there was nothing to suggest why someone would want to kidnap Greta.’

  ‘Then the only person left is the daughter herself.’

  ‘Already looked. As you might expect with a fourteen-year-old, she was in more groups than I have hairs on my head. Each one full of the same trivial nonsense. And her Instagram wasn’t any better.’

  ‘Any problems in school? A dubious boyfriend perhaps?’

  ‘School seems trouble-free. She goes to a humanist high school in the Ludwigsvorstadt borough. Doesn’t have a boyfriend from what I can see. And her hobbies are ballet and astronomy. She goes to ballet every Friday. And other than that, she likes to post the photos she takes with her telescope on Instagram.’

  ‘This is getting us nowhere,’ said Nik with a groan. ‘Never seen a case with so few leads before. Had it been a robbery, it wouldn’t seem so suspicious; but not for a kidnapping without ransom.’ He heard Jon typing in the background.

  ‘That’s strange,’ mumbled Jon.

  ‘What is?’

  ‘I ran a search of newspaper articles and press portals and I’ve found a tabloid photo from 2016 showing police in front of the Grohnerts’ house. They are carrying cardboard boxes. All it says is that public prosecution carried out a search.’

  ‘Was he arrested?’

  ‘There’s nothing on his record to say he was. It doesn’t even mention any house search,’ replied Jon. ‘And I can’t find anything apart from that headline. Not a single article.’

  ‘This might be our missing lead.’

  ‘I’ll look into it and be in touch as soon as I find anything.’

  It was a bright and mild early autumn morning and the cloudless sky was reminiscent of the summer just past. Just right for a walk through Munich’s English Garden. It was too early for the beer garden to be open yet, and Jon sighed regretfully. He was wearing black jogging bottoms, blue trainers and a white T-shirt that sat taut over his protruding belly. He had been too tired to shave and hadn’t even bothered to comb his short, dyed-blonde hair. Sullenly, he rubbed his fingers over the stubble on his cheeks. ‘Seven o’clock,’ he said under his breath. ‘Who the hell gets up at seven o’clock on a Sunday morning to go jogging?’

  A woman running up the side of the park caught his attention and he turned to look at her. A pair of toned legs in tight running trousers strode comfortably, while her black crop top exposed her midriff. Her long blonde hair was tied up high in a ponytail and it was evident from her speed and technique that she was a frequent runner. With a grumble, Jon started to run after her.

  ‘Good morning,’ he said as he approached her, attempting to sound friendly. The woman he was running beside worked for the Munich public prosecution service.

  ‘Jon.’ She gave him a quick nod of recognition.

  ‘Could we not have just met up for a nice chat in a cafe?’

  ‘You are fully aware I should arrest you, aren’t you?’ she responded, glancing towards him while maintaining the same swift pace. ‘There are people behind bars who have broken fewer laws than you managed to break last year alone.’

  ‘That’s true,’ said Jon nonchalantly. ‘But I’m sure all that anonymous evidence I sent you more than balances it up.’

  ‘You know we would have got there ourselves.’

  ‘C’mon. You don’t really believe that,’ said Jon. ‘I delivered you a psychopathic serial killer on a silver platter. The media went wild praising you for your speedy investigating abilities. You even got a personal note of congratulations from the prime minister himself.’ Jon wiped his brow with the back of his hand. ‘And not to mention the raise that went along with your promotion . . . If you ask me, I think a case of champagne is more appropriate than a threat of arrest.’

  ‘How do you know about my pay rise?’

  ‘Oh, please,’ Jon retorted, his ability to keep up with the woman now seriously flagging. ‘So, before I have a heart attack, I’d actually like to get around to the real reason for our meeting.’

  ‘You know, I actually considered just deleting your text.’

  ‘Understandable. But the thing is, we’re talking about a teenage girl here, and you know even better than I do that Greta’s chances of getting out alive are getting slimmer with every passing hour. So really, you should be taking every ounce of help available to you . . . Even if it means turning a blind eye to a few unlawful actions.’

  ‘And don’t forget, the girl’s well-being is the only factor at play here,’ said the woman. ‘Don’t think you can bother me with every little speeding ticket from now on.’

  ‘I have a fake number plate,’ Jon said with a wry smile.

  The woman looked at him snidely before upping her pace in retaliation. ‘OK. Clemens Grohnert belonged to a consortium that was responsible for building a new bypass in the north of Munich. The new route opened in 2012 but it took until 2015 for all its connecting roads to be linked up. An enquiry found that unused materials were never accounted for. The planned construction involved the renovation of a train station. But then a lighting system with a budget of eight hundred thousand euros was never installed.’

  ‘Hence the home search?’

  The woman nodded.

  ‘Apart from one headline, I couldn’t find anything on Grohnert in the press. And he has a clean record.’

  ‘We were trying out a new hu
sh-up method. We needed someone from the inside.’

  ‘You mean you made Grohnert a deal?’

  ‘Look, I’m not going to go into the details, but charges were pressed in 2016 against the people responsible. We found a man called Ulrich Sasse to be the ringleader. A repugnant bastard of a criminal who we’ve run into on various occasions in recent years. But finally, with the help of Grohnert, we were able to catch him. He was sentenced to three years in prison at the end of 2016 and a few weeks after that, his construction empire completely disintegrated.’

  ‘Plenty of grounds for revenge there then,’ Jon commented.

  ‘That’s what you’d think. But Ulrich Sasse was found hanging in his cell six months into his sentence.’

  ‘He killed himself?’

  ‘Not according to his ex-wife, who’d been to see him in jail the day before. She was convinced Sasse was murdered. Which was why she sued Munich Prison Service. Unsuccessfully, I might add.’

  ‘Who might have wanted to kill him?’

  ‘Even Frau Sasse didn’t know the answer to that one. According to an external inquiry, there was nothing to suggest he was suicidal. But if you ask me, it’s certainly plausible he was depressed. I mean, look at the circumstances: before the conviction, he was part of Munich’s high society, and afterwards, he had to sell his house in Starnberg and didn’t have a penny to his name.’

  ‘Shouldn’t someone be questioning her about the case?’

  ‘Eva Sasse is Argentinian,’ explained the woman. ‘After her husband’s death, she went back home. Going by the rumours, the grieving didn’t last long and she was married again two months later.’

  Jon wiped the sweat from his forehead. ‘What did the autopsy results say regarding suicide?’

  ‘Nothing particularly remarkable. Ulrich Sasse hanged himself with his TV cable. Video footage of that night was checked three times and nothing indicated anyone else was involved.’

  ‘Yeah, but that kind of thing can be covered up.’

  ‘You should stop reading so much crime fiction,’ she replied indignantly.

  ‘So if Sasse didn’t arrange the abduction, then who did?’

  ‘Are you seriously asking me to tell you inside information pertaining to a current investigation?’

  ‘Oh, come on. You know perfectly well if it doesn’t come from you, I’ll get it somewhere else,’ said Jon. ‘Why not spare me a bit of time.’

  For a moment, the woman felt a surge of fury and squeezed her eyes tightly shut, but as suddenly as it had arrived, the anger dissipated, to be replaced with sorrow. She herself had a three-year-old son and the case was affecting her on a personal level. ‘We’re getting nowhere,’ she finally admitted. ‘No clues as to why Greta was abducted or where she might be. And nothing on the kidnapper either.’ She paused for a moment. ‘Maybe you’ll come across something. Do whatever you can.’

  ‘I promise I will,’ replied Jon.

  ‘So Grohnert snitches on his business partner so he can get off scot-free,’ Nik concluded. He picked up the croissant from his plate and dunked it in his coffee. ‘Good enough reason for someone to want revenge.’

  ‘Yeah, but then our would-have-been main suspect dies in jail.’ Jon’s voice sounded over the loudspeaker.

  ‘Yeah, and under pretty dubious circumstances too,’ added Nik.

  ‘Let’s talk it through,’ said Jon. ‘Why would someone murder Ulrich Sasse?’

  ‘Maybe he had secret information,’ Nik speculated. ‘Maybe he knew things about other people who were involved . . . things that would have got them chucked in jail.’

  ‘Perhaps he worked closely with the public prosecution, saving him from a long prison sentence – and in doing so gave evidence against his partner.’

  ‘Maybe he kept something to himself.’

  ‘But there’s no reason why he would then suddenly reveal it, is there? The case was closed and nobody else had been prosecuted.’

  ‘OK, well, maybe Sasse’s murder doesn’t have anything to do with the case,’ said Nik. ‘I mean, you did say he wasn’t a particularly respectable guy.’

  ‘Yep. Along with all the fraud, he was also a notorious cheater, was caught doing coke twice by the tabloids and had loads of points on his licence. There’s no doubt he would have definitely pissed off a fair few people in his lifetime.’

  ‘Perhaps he’d had a fight with a fellow inmate.’ Nik took a sip of coffee. ‘But if that was the case, then his death wouldn’t have anything to do with Greta’s abduction. So maybe we should just stop trying to link Sasse’s suicide with the case.’

  ‘OK, but that still leaves Sasse’s employees who lost their jobs because of the fraud. And not to forget the tradespeople who are still waiting for their money. It’s also possible they’re angry with Grohnert. I mean, they know he was in on it, even if he wasn’t charged.’

  ‘How many people are we talking here?’

  ‘Hard to say,’ said Jon. ‘Around a hundred employees were left without work after Sasse went bankrupt. He ran numerous other subcontracted companies which got next to nothing during the insolvency proceedings. I know of three companies that flopped because of it.’

  ‘And how do we make the connection to Greta’s kidnapping?’

  ‘Sasse maintained throughout the proceedings that Clemens Grohnert was the man behind the fraud.’

  ‘And was he?’

  ‘Hard to say, isn’t it, since he bought himself out of jail,’ said Jon. ‘If Grohnert was the real scammer, then the kidnapper might really be a victim who’s looking for justice.’

  ‘Nobody simply mutates into a cold-blooded killer and child kidnapper because their business goes bust or they didn’t get paid.’ Nik looked at the wall. ‘There has to be something else.’

  ‘Maybe we don’t need to worry about it anymore,’ said Jon. ‘Turn on the TV. Greta’s kidnapper just made an announcement.’

  The TV time slot was normally reserved for a Bavarian soap opera but the kidnapper’s announcement was apparently more important. A female newsreader sat at a large desk. On the wall behind her was the image of a world map. She was reading from a sheet of paper.

  ‘Two days ago, fourteen-year-old Greta Grohnert was abducted from her parents’ house. Despite every effort being made by a special committee set up by the police, there is still no trace of the girl. Today, however, the case has seen a significant development. We will now go to our correspondent at police headquarters, where a press conference will be beginning in just a few minutes.’

  The scene changed to a man in his forties with short black hair. He wore a white shirt and a grey jacket that had gone out of fashion years ago. His forehead was beaded with sweat and the microphone in his hand was shaking. It was obvious he hadn’t had enough time to prepare. Reporters were running around frantically in the background, cameras were being brought into the room and police officers were checking IDs.

  The man began to speak. ‘Thirty minutes ago, the presumed kidnapper in the Greta Grohnert case sent a voice message that went out to all police departments, including the CID, as well as to all national and regional TV channels and newspapers. The message circulated so quickly on the internet that the police were obliged to call a press conference at short notice.’

  ‘And is there any other new information on the Greta Grohnert case?’ The newsreader’s voice sounded over the scene.

  ‘Until now, the only new element has been the voice message but perhaps the press conference will provide some new details.’

  The picture returned to the newsreader in the studio. ‘According to our experts, the message is not a hoax and we are able to broadcast it to you now.’

  A photo of Greta Grohnert appeared on the screen and a sinister computer-generated voice began to speak.

  ‘Clemens Grohnert is a criminal. He got rich at the cost of others and broke laws. People lost their jobs and livelihood. They have been left with nothing, while Clemens Grohnert sits in his villa, planning his next
holiday and laughing about his exemption from sentencing. This injustice can no longer be tolerated and I demand that a fund of three million euros is set up to provide for those affected by the building scandal. As well as that, I demand that Clemens Grohnert comes clean about his role in the hush-up and takes responsibility for the crimes he committed. If these demands are met, Greta Grohnert will be released unharmed.’

  The shot returned to the studio. ‘I’d now like to welcome to the studio an expert on . . .’

  Nik turned down the volume on the TV and picked up his phone. ‘Such a strange case,’ he mumbled, deep in contemplation.

  ‘So I was right with my initial suspicion then,’ said Jon. ‘It’s all to do with the building scandal.’

  ‘I don’t believe it.’

  ‘But the kidnapper has given the embezzlement as the reason for the kidnapping,’ Jon said, confused. ‘Doesn’t get any clearer than that.’ He paused for a moment. Nik could hear him typing in the background. ‘Looks like the special commission is meeting up right now to discuss the case while everyone’s waiting for the press conference to start. They’ve invited Unit 7 along.’

  ‘What? This has got nothing to do with corporate crime.’

  ‘You’re confusing me, Nik. How many more clues do you need?’

  Nik reached for his coffee. ‘OK, let’s say the kidnapper is a Robin Hood type who wants to lend a hand to the weak – in this case, the people harmed by the construction scandal. Let’s say he’s ready to do anything for justice. That kind of person would never shoot an innocent driver or kidnap an innocent child.’

  ‘The Red Army Faction never had an issue with killing their victims’ drivers.’

  ‘Yeah, but they were all about the struggle against the system,’ Nik said. ‘This guy only talked about Grohnert; not about the construction mafia or anyone else involved. The kidnapper could have abducted Grohnert himself with all the effort he’s gone to. Then he could at least get the money out of him by taking him hostage.’ He took a sip of beer. ‘Plus, that ransom demand doesn’t make any sense. How is it supposed to work with the funds? Who gets the money? How much are the pay-outs? And three million euros? Come on! That’s not enough! Even if we presume a comfortable yearly salary of fifty thousand euros, that would only just be enough to reimburse sixty people for twelve months’ work.’