of her who was no taller than five feet seven. His hairline was receding, and his suit jacket didn’t manage to hide his beer belly.
He had thin, mouse-gray, slightly greasy hair and a pale face, and he appeared nervous.
“Lukas, this is Frau Svenson from the police.”
Herr Birkner started to tremble and wiped his face with his hand.
He looked miserable and Lina was ready to buy that he was mourning
his brother deeply. “Have you . . . ,” he started, but his voice broke and he had to clear his throat. “Did you find the person who . . . Philip, my brother . . . I mean . . .”
“No, Herr Birkner,” Lina said soberly. “We still don’t know who
did this to your family.”
It wasn’t obvious at first glance that Lukas and Philip Birkner were brothers. Even though Lina knew the older one only as a corpse, the
difference was striking. While the tall, handsome Philip exuded the
success he had made of himself, his brother didn’t seem to have been that lucky with his insurance agency. He looked at least ten years older than thirty-three, and must have aged that much even before the previous week. He scrutinized Lina while walking around the desk and then 128
Dead Woods
standing behind his wife. Sonja Birkner did not look at her husband, but stared at the desk in front of her. Her eyes were larger than before, almost like those of a deer. Lina knew this look. The woman was afraid.
She hesitated. It wasn’t her preference to interrogate Birkner about his brother’s sex life in front of his wife. She suddenly felt as if she had stepped into a minefield, where any step could cause a catastrophe.
“Herr Birkner, during our investigations we found out that your
brother had a lover.” She stopped. “Did you know about it?”
The man was staring at her. His fingers, with which he clutched
the back of the desk chair, were white. “No, I don’t know anything
about that. I also don’t believe it. It doesn’t sound like Philip.”
Sonja Birkner seemed to duck her head.
“But it’s the truth. I’ve spoken with the woman,” Lina said.
“Maybe she’s lying, to cast a bad light on Philip. Have you consid-
ered that angle?” he replied.
Lina pretended to consider his comment. She suddenly wished
Max were at her side, Max with his clear, deep voice, Max who seemed to embody and radiate serenity. It didn’t matter what she was going to say; Lukas Birkner wouldn’t accept any fault in his brother. It wouldn’t matter how much proof she showed him. With every dark spot about
Philip she was going to reveal, Lukas would retreat even more. He
clung so blindly to the image he had created of his brother that he
could not accept anything else. The only one who could get through to someone like Lukas Birkner would be Max. Lina was as sure of this as she was certain that Philip Birkner wasn’t the man his brother thought he was.
She drove back to headquarters deep in thought. She had to question
this couple again. It had been obvious that Sonja Birkner, if not lying outright, had withheld a lot of information. And she was afraid of her 129
Maria C. Poets
husband. Had Philip Birkner hit on his brother’s wife as well? Had she gone along with it—and had Lukas found out?
Hanno listened with only half an ear when she tried to tell him
what she’d found out. Sebastian had just finished with the teens from the subway station. “The patrol swept up three guys, all minors.”
Hanno shook his head. “One of them kicked Sebastian in the shin. I
could hear his screams all the way up here.”
Lina could vividly imagine the scene and was glad she wasn’t one of
the boys. She had once seen how Sebastian treated a suspect who had
dared to be rude to him.
Hanno cleared his throat. “Why don’t you go down and help him
out with the boys.”
Lina stared at him in disbelief. “You want me to work with
Sebastian . . . Listen, haven’t you noticed that we can’t stand each other?”
“How could I miss that?” Hanno replied in a peeved tone. “But
Max is still in the field, Alex already went home, and I can’t get away from here.”
“But why . . .”
“Someone has to go down to stop what’s going on. He’ll get him-
self into hot water otherwise.” This was Sebastian he was talking about, and Lina couldn’t care less about him. On the contrary, she sort of
liked the idea of Sebastian getting into hot water for a while. She glared