the music was going, not much happened, other than Philip offering me a glass of wine. He offered one to Babsi, as well, of course, but she declined. She can’t tolerate alcohol.” Frau Leyhausen told Lina that when the music was over, her girlfriend left. She explained that her friend was a sick woman suffering from Crohn’s disease and never knew when her symptoms would occur. That evening something was
imminent.
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“I had a bad conscience for letting her drive home alone, but she
assured me she’d be all right.” She was silent. “Well, she saw that I was having a good time.”
And the fun had continued. Philip ordered one glass of wine after
the other and then grappa to top it off. They got on well together, at least in the beginning when they still could conduct a more or less
normal conversation. But toward the end, she had been quite drunk.
Franziska Leyhausen blushed and her voice got softer and softer.
“At one point we started to make out quite wildly, and then we had
to go. It’s quite possible that the people at the Waldschänke threw us out. I don’t remember at all how we got out of there. Total blackout.”
She was silent. “All I remember is that at one point we stood outside the joint. It was pleasantly cool and I thought a walk would do us some good—fresh air, exercise . . . I remembered this Aaron’s rod I’d found the day before and suggested a little walk. I would show him an Aaron’s rod, something he’d surely never seen before.” Lina thought of the witness who had watched the two in the parking lot and who stated the
woman wanted to show Birkner “her rod.”
“Philip was totally into it,” Franziska Leyhausen said and shook
her head. “We were really goofy. We kidded around, smooched, and
staggered into the woods like two teenagers.” She was blushing again.
“Don’t think that’s something I usually do. I know it was idiotic,
but . . .”
Lina nodded sympathetically. “But sometimes one is in a mood
like that,” she said.
Franziska Leyhausen looked at her and then shook her head. “I
just wish I’d said good-bye to him then, or switched on my brain at
least.” She took a deep breath. “So we stumbled through the woods.
Even though I was quite drunk, I did find the spot with the Aaron’s
rod. Philip tried to kiss me the whole way there and now he began
to seriously feel me up.” She shook her head. “I’m thirty-four years old and nevertheless had imagined I could walk in the woods with a
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plastered man in the middle of the night, talking about the flora and fauna of middle European mixed forests.” She shook her head again.
“How stupid can you be?” She was silent for a moment. “When we got
to the Aaron’s rod, I showed the plant to Philip, who wasn’t interested in it at all, of course. I think he said at one point, ‘Come here, I’ll show you my rod,’ but I’m not certain. He kissed me again. He pinned me
against a tree, kissed me, and pushed his hand under my jacket, under my blouse, and under my bra. I said no and pushed him away, but he
simply tried again. At one point I was so angry that I rammed a knee into his balls, with full force.”
Lina didn’t look, but noticed that Alex flinched when she said that.
“At that point he started to puke and fell down. Quite a bit of it
landed on my slacks.” She took a deep breath. “Man, was I furious!
But at the same time it made me feel good.” She looked at Lina. “Do
you understand what I mean? I mean, it wasn’t the first time I’d had an experience like that. There’s a man I like, we have a nice conversation, we share some drinks, and then, the moment we’re alone, the program
starts and runs automatically. Step one: gentle kisses on the cheeks.
Step two: tongue involvement. Step three: check out the boobs . . .”
Franziska Leyhausen blushed and stopped talking.
“What did you do after you kneed Herr Birkner?” Lina asked qui-
etly after a while.
“I went home. My bike was still at the Waldschänke, but I was too
drunk to ride, so I pushed it the entire way. It took forever to get home.
I live in Barmbek, in the Jarrestadt,” she added. That was, indeed, very far from the Niendorfer Gehege. She looked down. “When I heard
on the news on Friday that Philip had been found dead in the forest, I suddenly questioned how harmless