Franziska Leyhausen lifted her head. “You didn’t know that?” She
looked at both of them in surprise. “But why else did you want to
speak with me?”
“I explained it to you on the phone. I wanted to ask whether you
came across anything unusual in the course of your work.”
Suddenly Frau Leyhausen started to laugh. She snorted a few times
and then the laughter turned into sobbing and she covered her face
with her hands. Eventually she got hold of herself, cleared her throat, and straightened up. “Please forgive me, but it all started—yes, it actually started with the fact that I found something unusual, an Aaron’s rod.”
“An Aaron’s rod?” repeated Lina.
“It’s not a rare plant, but it’s mostly found in Southern Germany
and the Central German Uplands. I didn’t expect to find it in a much-frequented wooded area like the Niendorfer Gehege.” She laughed out
loud again, but it sounded bitter. “So it really was something unusual.”
She had just discovered and photographed the Aaron’s rod when a
man approached her. That man was the same who attacked her today.
“A strange guy, like a troll,” she said. “Well, you saw him. I showed the Aaron’s rod to him because I was so delighted with it, and we talked for 153
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a little while. The man is obviously slightly mentally handicapped, but he seemed to like being in the forest. At some point, though, I started to feel uneasy, so I gathered my things and took a break, even though I still had a lot to do.” She had gone to the Waldschänke to have a bite to eat, and she saw the announcement that the band Ingenia was giving a concert.
“When was that?” Alex asked.
Franziska Leyhausen didn’t have to think about it. “On Wednesday.
That evening, I asked two friends whether they’d come to the concert with me. It sounded interesting. Babsi agreed immediately. Daniel said he wasn’t sure he could make it, but he wanted to go.
“On Thursday I drove to the concert with Babsi—I mean, Barbara
Schönbek. We chose a table from which we could see the door, in case Daniel came, but he didn’t show up all night. Instead, a vaguely familiar man sat down next to me. And wouldn’t you know it, he turned out to be Daniel’s former boss, Philip.”
Lina sat up straight. “Hold on a sec. This Daniel, is he Daniel
Vogler, who used to work for Inoware?”
“Inoware . . . It’s possible that was the name of the place. Daniel is a computer scientist and used to work for a company that went under
a few years ago. Is that the one?”
Lina nodded. “And what is your relationship with Daniel Vogler?”
Shrugging, Franziska Leyhausen said, “A few years ago we were an
item for a short time, but now we’re just good friends.”
“And you met Philip Birkner through Daniel Vogler?” Lina asked.
“Yes. But ‘met him’ is saying too much. I was Daniel’s guest at
the company’s fifth-anniversary party. We were a couple then,” she
explained. “The party was at the Steigenberger Hotel—everything
superchic and elaborate—but the employees had to drag along all
their friends so the place wouldn’t look so empty. At least half of the guests had nothing to do with computers, or at least nothing with
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that company.” Franziska Leyhausen fell silent, seemingly remember-
ing things from that evening.
“And that’s where your former boyfriend introduced you to
Philip?” Lina asked, prodding her gently.
“Exactly. He shook my hand and we exchanged a few words, and
that was it.” She grimaced. “I tried very hard for the rest of the evening not to be too bored. They had a cocktail bar and the bartender
pushed an absolutely awful drink on me—probably prohibitively
expensive, but absolutely gross.” She frowned. “Sorry, I’m sure that’s of no interest.”
“Do you know Frank Jensen?” Lina asked.
“Who?” The woman was frowning again.
“A colleague of Daniel Vogler, another computer scientist.”
“Oh, I know who you’re talking about. At the celebration we
briefly said hello, but not more. I don’t think I’d recognize him if I ran into him on the street.”
Lina considered asking Franziska Leyhausen if she knew anything
about the events leading to the bankruptcy of the software company,
but decided against it. That topic had to wait. “So, let’s talk about Thursday night. You’re in the Waldschänke, Philip is sitting next to you, and you establish that you’ve met before. What happened then?”
Franziska Leyhausen closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. When she
started to speak, she was looking at the desk in front of her. She bent forward, placed her hands between her knees, and raised her shoulders.