Lina turned to the computer again, deep in thought. She found the
homepage of the Ansmann & Son Bank—simple but elegant, revealing very little. Then she checked out the page of the management consulting firm where Katja Ansmann worked. The style was very similar—no
88
Dead Woods
wonder, since both firms used the same web designer. When Lina
accessed the site of the Registry of Companies to learn more about the bank and the consulting firm, she found out that the latter was a daughter company of the former and that Katja Ansmann was listed as chief executive. There was no evidence at all of the imminent bankruptcy of Ansmann & Son, which did not surprise her. After some thought, she typed “European Justice Portal” and clicked on the link to insolvency announcements. No response came when she typed the name of the
bank. Lina gnawed on her lower lip. The fact that the name of the bank didn’t show up here meant nothing. After all, her father had said that the insolvency was imminent. If it was not official yet, it would be difficult to find out anything quickly about the financial situation of the family enterprise.
While she was still pondering how to double-check her father’s
assertion, the phone on her desk rang. She started. A glance at her
watch showed that she had spent more than two hours on the com-
puter. None of her colleagues were anywhere to be seen. She saw on the display that the call came from the switchboard, which meant the caller did not have her direct line. She picked up the receiver.
“Good morning. I’d like to talk with someone who is investigating
the Birkner murder.” The man’s voice sounded faint, as if he were dead tired and hoarse, as if he had talked a lot lately—or had cried. “My name’s Lukas Birkner. I’m the brother of the dead man.”
Lina briefly introduced herself, and then asked, “What can I do
for you?”
Lukas Birkner asked whether they knew yet who was responsible
for his brother’s death. When Lina said no, he wanted to know if she could at least tell him exactly how Philip had died.
“By a blow to the head,” Lina explained after hesitating briefly.
“We’ve already told this to your parents.”
The man at the other end was silent and Lina guessed that the
question wasn’t the real reason for his call. And indeed, a short time 89
Maria C. Poets
later he said, “I don’t know how to say this . . . I don’t trust Philip’s girlfriend.”
Lina did not reply.
“Or rather, I don’t know what I should think. I can’t imagine her
going into the forest and beating him to death—she wouldn’t dirty her hands—but has she told you about the life insurance?”
Lina sat up straight and grabbed a pad and a pen.
“There’s life insurance?” she asked.
“Yes, mutual risk insurance. If something happens to one party,
the other gets the benefits.” He paused. “So the boy’s taken care of, you know.”
“And how do you know about this?”
“I sold them the policy. I’m an insurance agent,” he added. “When
the child was on the way, I talked with Philip about it. ‘Man,’ I told him, ‘what if something happens to you; think about it.’ I mean, you never know. What I recommended to them was whole-life insurance.
You know, one that kicks in in old age, but Katja was against it. They just opted for the risk insurance. It’s cheaper, especially for young people.”
Lina frowned. She would never have thought someone like Katja
Ansmann would even buy life insurance and then would be stingy with
the monthly payments. Wasn’t her family rich and clever enough to
have sufficient funds even in times of crisis? Didn’t people like that know enough tricks and loopholes to feather their nests?
“How high is the coverage?” she asked.
“Three million euro.”
Lina swallowed and then wondered whether the sum sounded as
enormous to Katja as it did to her.
“You know, I’d almost forgotten the insurance. At least, it wasn’t the first thing I thought of when I heard about my brother. But this morning Katja called my parents. I was there and answered the phone. First she wanted to know what kind of funeral we, especially my parents,
90
Dead Woods
had in mind. But then she asked me about the insurance, what docu-
ments she had to submit to get the money, and how long that might
take.” The man inhaled deeply, and Lina thought he was suppressing
tears. “My brother isn’t below the ground yet, and she’s already asking for the money.”