Secret doors E-Book

Dirk Lützelberger

• Herausgeber: epubli
• Kategorie: Krimi
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 483

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Many consultants promise absolute security for money. Who would not like to know that their property, data and money is safe from thieves? A dead man without a murderer guarantees Chief Inspector Gwen Fisher sleepless nights in her second case. When a burglary without traces is also reported, the LKA is initially helpless. Does her 15-year-old son have enough knowledge to lead the investigators on the right track? Gwen and her colleague take up the challenge and enter a part of the Internet that they had not known until then.

Leseprobe

Dirk Lützelberger

Secret doors

Secret doors

Crime

Dirk Lützelberger

© 2020 Dirk Lützelberger

By the same author have also been published:

Hintertüren (German Edition)

Mord im ersten Leben (German Edition)

Murder in the first life (English edition)

Roadtrip in Australien (German edition)

Road trip Australia (English edition)

Printed in Germany

The work, including its parts, is protected by copyright. Any use is prohibited without the consent of the publisher and the author. This applies in particular to electronic or other reproduction, translation, distribution and making available to the public.

Imprint

Texts:               © Copyright by Dirk Lützelberger

Cover:              © Copyright by Dirk Lützelberger

Translation:      www.deepl.com, manual proofreading

Publisher:         Dirk Lützelberger

Am Sorgfeld 14 22587 [email protected]

Print:                epubli – a service of neopubli GmbH,

Berlin

Chief Inspector Gwen Fisher is caught up in the grief of her husband’s death and tries to clear her mind by taking a vacation. But already in the first days of her vacation she is drawn into a new case. A dead man without a perpetrator gives Gwen sleepless nights at first, especially when a lead is found in her hometown. Together with her friend and partner, Superintendent Stefan Schick, she takes up the challenge and travels home to continue working on the case. But before they can do so, their credit cards, which have just been reissued at the LKA, are blocked again, because a large-scale fraud is suspected. In cooperation with the department of white-collar crime, they conduct initial investigations. They first take them to management consultants, who promise absolute security. In the further course of the investigation, however, the team is then confronted with a theft without a trace. Are the body at the holiday resort and the burglary connected? Which security measures are to prevent misuse of electronic means of payment? Is there absolute security? The investigators are faced with many riddles and learn a lot about latest technologies in this case again. To everyone’s surprise, Gwen’s 15-year-old son already has an idea of how to solve the cases. They go on a dangerous search for clues in darknet and want to set a trap.

For all factory guards

Chapter 1

The first sunrays of the day shone through the window of his holiday apartment. They flashed playfully between the mountains and cast a golden shimmer on his breakfast table. That’s the way to live, he thought as he gleefully shoved the last bite of his breakfast into his mouth. As was typical for him, it had been a very healthy breakfast. Lots of fruit, yoghurt, a little honey and a strong, freshly brewed coffee. He swallowed the last bite of his morning meal and enjoyed a sip of coffee while looking at the mountains. This is where he liked to be and where he could relax better than anywhere else. It had been a good decision to just put work aside for a few weeks and relax. He had enough interested people who would hire him when he was back home. In today’s age, security is very important, and only few people had enough idea what exactly this meant. He felt comfortable in his job and knew how to satisfy his customers efficiently. The consulting activity was the financial foundation of his life. Moreover, secondary earnings were not excluded, he remembered with a smile.

He pushed the chair back and got up to get ready. His mood was not at its best when he brushed his teeth and put on his jogging clothes. Now came the most difficult part of the morning, he knew that, and even the breath-taking view of the Austrian Alps couldn’t change that, when he stepped outside his apartment door into the cool morning air.

Don’t act so coyly, he spurred himself on and started moving grumpy. The first steps are always the hardest and now move, you old geezer. He didn’t mince matters when it came to his own fitness. At forty-eight, he was no longer the youngest and his belly began to go a bit out of shape when he wasn’t paying attention. As much as he took care of his diet, it didn’t help him to stay fit in the long run if he just sat in front of the TV and relaxed with a glass of red wine. He had to face the fact and admit that he had to work on his figure. A visit to a fitness studio was beyond all question for him. All those well-trained athletes with their hardened bodies would only take away his motivation in the long run. He did not want to join a club either, because he did not like the whole club rules with its regular meetings and events. He was a loner and tried repeatedly to motivate himself to run.

Every year on New Year’s Eve, it was the same game. The good intentions were made and also quickly knocked on the head. But not this year. 2013 was a special challenge, which he was only too happy to face, he thought as he slowly picked up speed and found his rhythm. He had celebrated the New Year with several friends. A young lady he had never seen before had also been there. Her name was Lena. She was about his age and had beautiful, blonde, long hair. They had found each other very sympathetic at first sight, and at the party they talked very intimately the whole evening. Time flew by and they were the last to go to bed early in the morning. In retrospect, they both suspected that this meeting had been arranged by their friends, but everyone vehemently denied this. Whether this meeting was arranged or rather coincidental, lost its importance, because it was the most beautiful evening in the past years, which he gladly remembered. As midnight approached, they had made a promise to each other. They would finally put a resolution into action they had already made in the past years, but never finished it alone. Lena wanted to quit smoking and he wanted to run twice a week to improve his physical fitness. They swore to support each other so that the other would not back out of the deal. In the first months of the new year this went very well until in April Lena received an offer from her company to go abroad. To follow her was beyond question for him, as he loved his job and he still expected many orders here in Germany. They therefore wanted to try a long-distance relationship. After some time of separation, Lena realized what she had to do without in the past weeks. She separated from him after only five months of friendship.

Meanwhile he trotted at his optimal speed through nature and his thoughts circled around Lena. She was the best that ever happened to him. Even though the relationship had not lasted, she had given him the decisive impulse to persevere with his plan. By now it had become almost routine that he put on his running shoes twice a week and ran distances of varying lengths. It was almost fun for him once he had reached the apex of his running route. Furthermore, his success could be measured by his weight and his fitness. It improved from month to month. Although he was still a long way from running a marathon, he enjoyed the small successes when he noticed that another kilo on his scale had permanently left.

He enjoyed the landscape that passed by and he breathed the fresh air. He smelled the pine needles, which gave off their unmistakable scent. The moss that covered the forest floor and was still wet from the cold night glittered in the early morning sun. He heard the birds chirping to greet the morning. The air was much better up here than in his hometown, he thought and breathed all the more deeply, as a stinging stopped him a bit. He rubbed his side and tried to breathe in and out consciously. That damned spleen, he sneered, as a slight pang in his chest was added. He stopped running and continued walking slowly until the discomfort subsided.

The sun was now a little higher in the sky and flashed through the trees. The rays gently warmed his cheek. So early in the morning it was still relatively fresh in the mountains and the sun needed some hours to warm the air.

When the discomfort subsided, he started to walk slowly again. First slowly up the hill and then faster and faster until he finally reached the clearing completely out of breath. Here he paused for a moment to enjoy the beauty of the mountains once again, the cool atmosphere of the early morning and with every breath he took, he sucked the oxygen-saturated air into his lungs. Oh, how nice it was to finally be on the way to a better fitness, he thought. The slight cold he had had in the past few days had gone as quickly as it had come. It didn’t even come to the usual discomfort he usually gets from it. Usually there was a sore throat for a few days, then a coryza and finally a little cough. This time he only noticed a slight scratching in his throat and for two days his nose was a bit congested so he couldn’t breathe properly. But a little nasal spray brought relief and he didn’t even think about going to bed and lazing around. He wanted to hang on and it wouldn’t kill him.

As if in a trance, he continued to run. Expecting the endorphins, he ran faster and faster, but the state of inebriation did not set in today. He had heard that during endurance sports the body always released endorphins at some point and the long-distance runners could run on euphorically. He had never experienced this situation before. Again and again, he had to push himself to get up from the couch and not just stand still afterwards. So, he kept on running at a slow pace, crossing the clearing and following the path further up into the forest. He looked at his watch and noticed that his time had been better before, but those damn stitch had spoiled his time today.

His holiday was coming to an end and the last three weeks were characterized by sports, recreation, long walks and wellness in the spa adjacent to his hotel. He was also looking forward to returning home and to his work. It had been more than necessary to relax again, he thought as he left the forest and turned back onto the country road leading to his holiday home. He wanted to repeat this at all costs. The holiday had been worth it, and he felt how he was looking forward to his work again.

His legs gave way for a moment when he felt that pain in his chest again. This time higher, not so far to the side. Was his spleen out of place? Rubbish, he countered and walked a few steps slower again. He probably just overdid himself and should have left it at the Viennese Schnitzel last night. But his eyes were obviously bigger than his mouth had been, because he absolutely had to have the plum butter dumplings for dessert – with cinnamon crumbs and vanilla sauce. Now he regretted his decision. This dessert was probably still so heavy in his stomach that he had the problems jogging this morning. He should pay even more attention to his diet; he blew his nose again and started to walk slowly. The pain subsided.

Chapter 2

Chief Inspector Gwen Fisher thought back to her last birthday with mixed feelings. Only a few months earlier, she had lost her husband on his own birthday. They had tried to save him and get him to hospital in time, but fate was not kind to them. He died the same night. In the weeks that followed, she got to work, not to be caught by her grief. With success, as Gwen initially believed, and together with her colleague Superintendent Stefan Schick, she solved the tricky case of a serial killer. After the successful conclusion of the case, Gwen and Stefan had formed a delicate bond and now spent more time together. She smiled as she remembered her last birthday.

It was 01 February 2013, when they all met in Gwen’s family home in Felm to toast. Gwen, the kingpin, successively toasted her son Phil, her partner Stefan, the forensic scientist and long-time friend Dr. Michael Peters and last but not least her mother Beth. The group was small, but they were her favorite people, whom Gwen liked to be with. She closed her eyes and relived in her mind the most beautiful moment of the celebration.

"But Mom, you have to explain one thing to me" said Phil, looking at Gwen expectantly at the time.

"Well, what is it, sweetheart?" Gwen asked.

"You’ve always promised to spend more time with me Why would it work out this time?" Phil followed up.

Gwen thought for a moment and then said very seriously, "First you have to part occasionally with your computer and have time for me. Can you do that?"

Phil nodded affirmatively after a short break.

"And then someone will help me to carry out my plan" Gwen heard herself say and still tasted the kiss she exchanged with Stefan at that time.

Dreaming, Gwen lingered in her thoughts until the present caught up with her and Phil came home rumbling.

By now it was Sunday, 07 July 2013, and summer found ways into the hearts of the people of Kiel and the summer holidays were in full swing. Phil enjoyed the days off and had met his school friend Benoît for the first time this year for a swim. They had cycled to the Falckenstein lido, which could be reached in just under forty minutes. It had become warmer these days and the boys had the feeling to enjoy their freedom.

"Hi, Mom, I’m back!"

"You can’t miss it" mumbled Gwen.

"Benoît and I have thought about something. Since the weather is supposed to stay the same for the next days, we have great plans for the coming weekend. You’ll never guess. Guess what?"

Gwen sat up and thought. On the weekends, as it was customary among the Fishers for generations, at least one day should be dedicated to the family. They had always done so, even when Paul was alive. Gwen painfully remembered the time with her beloved husband and hardly noticed that Phil was standing in front of her and still waiting for an answer.

"Come on, tell me, what’s the great idea?" she asked Phil.

"We wanted to go on a bicycle tour to the high ropes course together to test our head for heights. You and Stefan are coming, right?"

"We should discuss this with Grandma and Stefan first."

"Nah, it’s nothing for grandma, but it would be great if Stefan came along" he replied.

Before Gwen could answer, the front door opened, and Stefan stood in the room. Gwen jumped up joyfully and greeted her colleague and meanwhile, very good friend. She had previously avoided introducing him as 'her' friend, as Paul’s death was less than a year ago. She wanted to wait for an appropriate period of mourning, but what was 'appropriate' or 'usual'. She pushed the thought aside and gave Stefan a big kiss on the cheek.

"We were just talking about you, Stefan" Gwen gallantly passed the conversation over.

"Uh-huh, and what was that about? I hope it was something positive."

"Phil already has us booked for next weekend. You know, our family Sundays. He wants us all to go to the high rope course to face our fears of heights." Gwen giggled. "Without Beth, of course, she won’t be able to make it. So? What do you think?"

Stefan only had to think about it for a moment and agreed, "Of course, that’s a great idea!"

As quickly as Phil had come, he nodded and disappeared outside again. "I’ll take Benoît to rove around the neighborhood."

"All right, big boy, but don’t forget dinner later."

The door already fell crashing into the lock and Gwen pulled the still standing Stefan to her on the couch.

"Nice of you to drop by" she smiled at him in love and stroked his ear.

"Yeah, I thought we’d spend Sunday night together and see the murder mystery on TV."

"As if we didn’t have enough detective stories that week" said Gwen and poked him into his side.

"No kidding, but it’s also nice to just consume these totally far-fetched stories."

"Exactly, the murderer is usually the gardener, and in the end, there is always some distant brother-in-law, cousin, or missing brother who happened to have a motive, opportunity, and means to commit the murder. Throughout the whole movie there is always a story told, where the killer never appears in it … and is captured, as in real life." Gwen twisted the corners of her mouth into a gloating smile and rejoiced when Stefan responded to her sarcasm.

"You’re right, almost like our last case."

"The scam?" Gwen wanted to make sure.

"Yeah, sure. Weeks of analysis of accounts, interviews with friends and relatives, research among colleagues, and everything else to later connect the son, who was currently spending a semester abroad for 'work and travel', with the crime."

"Stories of how life writes them. Now come over here, my hero." Gwen grinned boldly, knocked Stefan over on the couch and curled up tight beside him.

Gwen felt Stefan’s warmth on her back and pressed herself against him even more. She let her hips circle and felt how Stefan enjoyed the situation. He wrapped his arm around Gwen and held her tightly. While Gwen felt the emerging excitement behind her back, she closed her eyes to enjoy the situation.

She noticed her eyes becoming moist and a single tear collected in the corner of her eye. She squinted her eyes, swallowed once but could not keep the situation under control. She released herself from the embrace and sat up.

"What’s wrong?" Stefan asked in a soft voice and stroked her back and through her hair.

"Not now, please!" she replied curtly and gently took his hand.

"You know what’s going on, Stefan. It just keeps coming back up. There’s nothing I can do about it." She tried to keep her composure and hold back the tears, but she could feel her resistance getting weaker.

"I miss Paul so much, but I’m also very happy with you. Please don’t misunderstand me. I like you so much, but I’ve been married to Paul all these years. We have a son together. I thought I could easily overcome the situation by getting back to work and showing successes. But that only worked in the beginning. On my birthday I thought I had made it and overcome the loss. You were there, you were all there. You gave me stability and made me forget the terrible situation, but then it caught up with me again."

She slumped down and the next tears rose in her eyes. Gwen could feel the levees starting to break.

"What can I do for you, my dear. Please tell me!" Stefan tried to calm Gwen down.

"There’s not much you can do. I need time. I don’t know." Her tears began to flow.

"I feel so helpless. I want to be there for you, help you." Stefan left Gwen to her feelings. He was powerless and had never lost anyone close to him before and therefore could not feel what this meant. Gwen sobbed and cried. She let her emotions run free. After what felt like an eternity, Gwen came back to her breath and was able to say a few words between her sobs.

"Just … give me … time." Stefan nodded wordlessly and stroked her back again.

This time, Gwen was able to endure the caresses. She had calmed down a bit and started to think more clearly again.

"I could do with some time off" Gwen expressed her wishes.

"That sounds great" Stefan replied without sounding euphoric. He didn’t feel very comfortable in the situation and didn’t want to strain her unnecessarily by acting wrong.

"What do you suggest?" he asked cautiously. "What would do you good?"

Gwen was thinking. Get away! Far away! But what about Phil? What if her mother got worse? She’s not that young either! You should be able to get home quickly, and not drive so far away. But with a plane you can get home quite quickly from anywhere. But not from New Zealand, you stupid cow! Yeah, but it’d be okay if they go by car. Or we could drive just the two of us. That would be nice too, but Phil would be sad. Why can’t I find a good solution here? Paul would have known what to do. But he’s not here, and … I miss him so much.

Gwen took a deep breath in and out, trying to get the thoughts that were buzzing around in her head like flies into something orderly. Away! Not that far! Three of you! That sounded reasonable!

"I want to get out of here. With you and Phil together, but not that far away. I think a change of scenery would do me good."

"That’s a great idea. We’re on summer vacation and we could take time off over my 40th birthday. I had thought about that, but now that you brought it up, it makes total sense to me. Does it for you?"

Gwen looked at Stefan and tenderly took his cheeks in her hands. Then she pulled his face up to hers. She nodded and kissed him tenderly. She closed her reddened eyes and enjoyed the moment. After a while she released his face again. Stefan would have liked to enjoy the situation even longer and still felt the warmth of her kiss.

Gwen let herself fall to the back rest of the couch and imagined how she would like to spend her vacation.

She dreamed of white beaches, palm trees and warm water. But all the beautiful places that would offer something like that were either too far away or too expensive to spend a holiday there. She categorically ruled out the alternatives around the corner at the North and Baltic Sea. After all, she could have that just about every day. In northern direction there was only Denmark or maybe Sweden. But here there was no sun guarantee. It seemed to amount to a compromise. Instead of going to the sea and lying lazily on the beach, it would of course be a good idea to do something for your fitness and go hiking in the mountains. Maybe in the Austrian Alps. There was no guarantee of sunshine either, but at least the probability of rain was much lower than to the north. Gwen made friends with the idea and tried to put her ideas into words.

"We could render the mountains uncertain. I think some sport would do our fitness good and we could go hiking in Austria. What do you think?"

"Okay" Stefan replied hesitantly. "But will you get enough relaxation and variety there?" he asked back.

"If we choose a nice place and spend a few days just loafing around there, we’ll manage" she replied, partly in Austrian slang, and giggled.

Stefan raised his thumb to signal that he agreed.

"This is how we do it. Next step is to see the travel agency tomorrow and book, so that we don’t change our mind. And we’ll talk to Phil when he gets home."

"You’re right!" Gwen confirmed Stefan’s intentions and relaxed inside. She was happy to have found a way to get some distance and switch off.

♦♦♦

Phil was torn between the joy of the upcoming holiday and frustration that he could no longer realize his plans with Benoît. In the end, however, the prospect of spending some time together with his mother and Stefan prevailed. Phil was very pragmatic about this. Just like his mother. If it was not one solution, it was another. There was always a way. Gwen had always taught him that way, passing on both her sunny disposition and optimism to Phil. Phil had gone straight to Benoît the next day to tell him the news. He didn’t know exactly where the holiday was going or what they were going to do, but it was going to be hiking in the mountains. That much virtually certain.

Gwen and Stefan had to work. After all, it was a normal weekday and even though it was school holidays, Gwen couldn’t watch Phil all day. At times Beth stepped in to check on things and to provide Phil with lunch. Beth had always been a family person and helped out whenever she could. Gwen liked to have her mother by her side, as she was not only a support in the difficult times since Paul’s death, but in her unobtrusive way she was always a welcome guest. In spite of her seventy-three years, Beth was still very fit and agile, which was certainly due to her interested and open nature, which led to her being taken along to all sorts of family activities. However, Beth and her daughter had quickly agreed on the phone last night that it was not a good idea for 'Granny' to be climbing mountains or hiking in the mountains. Beth wished, she should have a good time with Stefan and Phil and report back afterwards.

Gwen and Stefan went to the travel agency of their choice after work to get extensive advice and finally book. The decision was made quickly. The Austrian Alps were already set by Gwen’s ideas and the desire to hike and relax could also be realized there very well. They booked a beautiful wooden cottage in a small holiday resort, which invited to ski in winter and to go hiking in summer. Around the holiday resort there were enough possibilities to explore the mountains and the Altausser lake was just perfect for cycling.

Gwen was comfortable with her decision and the days were numbered before they could leave. It would only be two more weeks to work. Her boss at the LKA had looked a bit critical for a moment when she approached him with the wish to take vacation near-term, but since he had noticed in the last weeks how much Gwen was backed down, he knew that this would be a necessary step to get back the old Gwen, the happy Gwen. Also, the relationship with Stefan had not remained hidden from him and so he was not surprised when a short time later Stefan came to him with the same wish and applied for leave just as quickly.

Back home, both of them settled into Gwen’s living room to toast their holiday plans. Phil returned home a little later and joined the two of them, who immediately reported the news and described the holiday destination. Phil was thrilled and immediately pulled out his cell phone to google the place. He liked what he saw very much, and he also looked at the geocaches that would be hidden at that location. Then he smirked.

"If I would find even one single geocache, I would have one country point for Austria in my statistics! So Benoît has to prepare himself for the worst, if he wants to catch up with me. I would have found the southernmost cache right away, because Benoît had only been in Munich so far and had successfully searched for geocaches there. I have to text him right away." Phil kept babbling to himself as he disappeared into his room on the second floor. Gwen and Stefan just looked at each other speechless and smiled.

"I think we’ve hit the jackpot" said Gwen.

"Yes, I’m happy if Phil is happy there too, but this is primarily about you. So, you can relax and unwind."

"As always, you’re right."

"What is it with these geocaches?" Stefan wondered.

"This started a few years ago. It was the best way to get kids out of the house, if you ask me." She winked at him. "The geocaches are listed in a huge database on the Internet. The exact location is given by GPS coordinates and many of the caches also tell a story or hold secrets. So, a Sunday stroll becomes an interesting undertaking. One looks for a way where the son tries to find his geocaches to get points in the mentioned statistics, and he is motivated to come out into the fresh air. Of course, he has to take his mobile phone with him and stares at it all the time to find the right way to the cache. You can’t expect him to be more communicative, but at least he gets comes out of his room and doesn’t always stick to his computer."

"I understand. And through statistics he compares himself to his friends?"

"Right. At least that’s how I understood it. That’s why he’s so eager to find the southernmost, northernmost, westernmost or easternmost cache. It also keeps track of when he found the most caches in a day, how many different countries he found them in, and how difficult they were." Gwen thought about it, then she went on. "Once he was trying to find an extremely difficult geocache. It was called, 'You can see me!' That should have been warning enough, because when we arrived at the listed location, we were standing in front of a several hundred-year-old oak tree. At a height of at least ten yards you could see a box that was attached to a crotch. Since we were neither equipped with a ladder nor with a climbing harness, Phil wanted to climb the tree just like that. I’m sure you can imagine the discussion that caused."

Stefan nodded understandingly. "I can imagine that very well. Let’s see what caches he wants to visit this time and how dangerous it will be. Don’t worry, I’ll support you in your discussions."

♦♦♦

The last two weeks flew by and finally the big day was there to start the much-needed holiday. In the past time Gwen had to reminisce about Paul and their journeys together. She became very sad and tried to distract herself with her work, but only partly succeeded. Her thoughts went around in circles. Eventually, she told herself that everyone was grieving in their own way and that she was not the type of person to wrap herself in black clothes for a year and refrain from laughing.

Packing had always been a horror for Gwen. Had she thought of everything? What if something was missing, or her clothes didn’t go with the weather? But she wouldn’t let that spoil her holiday. Not before it even started. She laid out her clothes that made the most sense when combined and with which she would be prepared for all weathers. When she looked at the piles of clothes on her bed and the floor, she began to doubt whether she would be able to fit all of them into her suitcase. She took a deep breath and went to her son in his room.

Phil had already finished packing. He was only fifteen years old, but already very advanced in some things, Gwen thought proudly. She had left him his own suitcase to pack, and now all the stuff had already found their place in it. She could hardly believe it.

"Have you finished packing yet, Phil?" Gwen asked incredulously.

"Sure Mom. All in. Shoes, clothes, for hot and cold days. I also remembered to pack the toothbrush, too." Phil smiled at his mother. "Do you need any more help?"

Gwen wondered if she wanted to lower her guard, but she gave way and nodded hesitantly. Without another word, Gwen turned around and disappeared into the bedroom. Phil followed her triumphantly.

"Well, let’s see …" Phil began by inspecting the stacks. "That doesn’t look so bad, considering you’re going away for three months." Gwen just looked at him ashamed but said nothing. "I think if you’ve got half of each pile, that’s enough to put in a suitcase. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do." Phil turned around and disappeared into his room smiling. He could hardly hold back his laughter.

Gwen thought about her smart-aleck son and looked again at the piles of clothes only to realize that he was probably right. She started to sort the stacks again and put at least half of the clothes back in the closet. How she hated that! More and more she began to doubt if she still had enough and if she was prepared for all eventualities. Finally, she fell on the bed and watched the result. There were significantly fewer stacks and she had the feeling that she would be very well prepared with that too. It would fit, she told herself and stuffed everything into the suitcase. Surprisingly, it even closed, which hadn’t always been the case in recent years. How often had she got into a fight with Paul when it came to pack the suitcases? But these were now all just memories that would fade away more and more.

It is the 'here' and 'now', and so she tried to experience every day anew. The doorbell rang. Phil sprinted down the stairs and greeted Stefan, who entered the porch together with the taxi driver.

"Are you guys finished?" he asked Phil, who nodded and turned around to get his suitcase. "Because we’re ready to go."

Groaning, Gwen also came down the stairs and put her suitcase by the apartment door. The taxi driver immediately loaded Gwen’s suitcase and waited for the boys. Two minutes later everything was stowed, and they could leave for Kiel central station. By bus they would be at Hamburg airport in ninety minutes, where the plane would take them directly to Salzburg. Phil and Stefan were already sitting in the taxi when Gwen, still with a feeling of having forgotten something, closed the door and locked it. It was as if it took a load off her mind when she finally sat in the taxi and they took off. Who would have thought that packing a suitcase could be so exhausting?

Chapter 3

The sun was already higher on the horizon today, when he laced his shoes once more to do his workout. By now he had got the hang of motivating himself and had scouted out a nice, about ten-kilometer-long loop where he could really let off steam. He left his holiday flat and stretched out in front of the door. He enjoyed the view of the rugged mountains and the woods that ran up the slopes like ivy looking for the path on a house wall. The weather had not let him down during his entire vacation and he sucked the fresh mountain air deep into his lungs. After a few squats and other loosening-up and stretching exercises, he slowly started to trot off to complete his penultimate round before he would travel back home in the next few days.

He usually took it slow for the first kilometer and today he didn’t intend to change that. Rather he enjoyed the dry paths that meandered through the first part of the forest. Past the ant hill, whose industrious inhabitants apparently always had something to do. He was happy that he was on vacation and not doing his job on the rat race of some company. Although he was self-employed, he did not usually rest until fourteen hours. Not even on the weekends he would have loved to spend with friends. He walked past the raised blind, which stood at the edge of the forest as if waiting for victims and looked out over the clearing. The thought that a hunter was waiting for an animal to shoot it from a distance did bother him a lot. Therefore, he had often planned to do without meat completely, but just as with various other of his intentions, this one could not be realized in the long run. Rather, he told himself that a hunter was after game, whereas his prized steak was bred especially for it. This comparison, however, was misleading, of which he was aware and so he tried to keep his meat consumption at least to a minimum. As he jogged out into the open clearing, he picked up the pace. Today he felt superior to everyone and went to his limits, as he thought. A marathon professional would certainly still have overtaken him running backwards, but he was proud of his speed and snorted threateningly with every step he took.

The pain that he suddenly felt in his chest again did not worry him, as he had already noticed it during the last few days of running. He comforted himself with the thought that it had disappeared again by itself the last time. He felt fit and did not give in, he only paid attention to evenly breathing in and out. In the past it was usually his spleen that did not want to supply the increased needed amount of blood when he exerted himself. That will surely be over in a moment, he encouraged himself.

Behind the next bend the path rose steeply and wound its way back into the forest. It was a good opportunity to increase the speed and effort once again. If only these stabbing pains in his chest had disappeared again, but with every step he took he felt his body resisting the torture further. When he started the ascent, he had not been able to run any faster. He decided to just keep up the speed and hope that the pain did not increase. He staggered to the left and saw the trench coming towards him. He still tried to counter-steer, but his legs were already failing. His eyes were still able to see the trench, but his brain was no longer able to give sufficient impulses to absorb the impending fall. When he tipped forward and fell into the ditch without any resistance, his senses no longer perceived the situation. When his body hit the bottom of the dried-up ditch, he felt no more pain. He was already dead.

Chapter 4

From Salzburg airport to Altaussee they drove only one and a half hours in their rental car. The scenery was beautiful, and Gwen, Stefan and Phil enjoyed the drive through the mountain and hilly landscape. They were looking forward to the days off and the activities that the three of them wanted to undertake. Phil sat in the back seat and was absorbed in his mobile phone. Gwen often wondered what he had to read and do with it all the time, but she had given up asking in the first place a long time ago. The answers had always been the same. "Anything!" or "This is too complicated for you, mum" and finally "I’m chatting with my friends, please leave me alone". When she was young, the only way to get in touch with her friends was by phone or letter, or to meet them directly. But for this she needed a date, and this was mostly planned by phone. Today, however, the youngsters arranged to meet casually via chat programs on their mobile phones and adjusted the time and place of the meeting until the last minute. For Gwen this was not acceptable. She needed stability and planning reliability, so she could enjoy her life. And the plan now was to reach their holiday accommodation.

To see the wooden huts with the adjacent ski lifts in the summer was a bit peculiar, Gwen and Stefan agreed. Phil had already disappeared in the hut, had taken his luggage and his mobile phone with him and wanted to inform Benoît immediately of their domicile. Gwen and Stefan explored the facility. It consisted of about forty huts, which were covered with wood. The registration and restaurant were located in the center, while the individual houses in the surrounding area adapted to the ups and downs of the ground. The individual houses had room for four people or for larger groups. The sturdy furnishings certainly created a homely atmosphere in winter with the fireplace, Gwen pondered as they returned to their accommodation and took care of unpacking. So, this was to be the place of rest and relaxation for the next fortnight, she pondered, when Phil suddenly appeared.

"Mom, can I go out and look for the first geocache?"

"Sure, but don’t run too far away. We’re going to dinner soon." The door closed and it was almost quiet in the house. She only heard the occasional creaking floorboards upstairs and knew that Stefan was already unpacking.

She embraced him from behind and pressed him firmly against her. "It was a great idea to come here. I have a good feeling about it."

Stefan turned around in the hug and grabbed Gwen tightly at her waist. "I’m glad you’re happy. I hope you can relax here." He gave her a kiss on the forehead.

Phil had found his first geocache right on the day of arrival. It was a small cache, with an easy difficulty level. It was hidden at the edge of the settlement and Phil had already caught a first nice view of the 'Loser' – the mountain they wanted to explore more intensively in the next days. The name of the mountain came from the Middle Ages, when the inhabitants of the village climbed to the top of the mountain to 'lose'. In their dialect, this meant ’to listen' or ’to hear' whether they could hear the noise of battle from the Enns Valley. Phil was looking forward to the other caches that would be hidden on the way to the summit.

The first days spun away. This was not least due to Stefan’s fortieth birthday. Gwen had thought of something very special to celebrate the day properly. She had woken Stefan up early in the morning and had organized a breakfast package the evening before. Then she had gone with Stefan and Phil to a nearby hill. Stefan couldn’t believe his eyes when a van with the inscription 'Balloon Cruises' was waiting for them. Stefan hugged Gwen and lifted her up into the air, because he immediately realized that an exciting balloon ride in a hot-air balloon lay ahead of them. They helped to prepare the balloon and get it ready for take-off. It should be an experience only for the three of them and the pilot.

As the balloon floated weightlessly into the air and the trees beneath it grew smaller and smaller, Gwen shuddered to realize how small man was in this world. How helpless and vulnerable. She painfully remembered the good times she had experienced with Paul. The trips they had taken together and the warmth he radiated when he looked at her and took her in his arms. All this would never happen again, because Paul was no longer with her. Gwen stared at the horizon and let her thoughts run free. She pressed her lips together and became very sad.

Stefan watched Gwen from the corners of his eyes while he and Phil enjoyed the silent ascent of the balloon and the wonderful view. Only the burner interrupts the silence from time to time with a rumbling ’schuuuuuuuuub'. Up here in the balloon, they didn’t feel any draft because the balloon moved with the wind at the same speed. Phil spotted an ibex and pointed it out to Stefan. Excited, he pointed again and again to the edge of a clearing until Stefan saw the magnificent animal with its two long horns. "This must be a male animal" remarked Stefan, adding, "the females, have only smaller curved horns." Phil just nodded, impressed, and continued to search the ground for animals, while Stefan grabbed Gwen around the waist.

"This is the best birthday present I’ve ever had."

"I’m glad! Then I have met my target." Gwen smiled in agony.

"Are you all right? You’re so quiet while ballooning. Are you not feeling well?"

"Yes, yes, everything’s fine." She leaned over to Stefan and whispered in his ear, "I’m just thinking about the past, but we can discuss it later."

After the very gentle landing, they helped to pack the balloon back into a handy, but murderous package and hoist it onto the trailer. After that, the three balloonists were baptized as they should be. While the pilot recited the dictum, the three balloonists were raised to nobility one after the other and received their certificates. Back in their apartment, they finished the day with a bottle of champagne, which Gwen had put in the fridge of her accommodation. Phil was tired and already in bed when Stefan looked at Gwen with a pleading look. She understood immediately.

"You’re probably wondering why I was a little quieter than usual when we did the ballooning." Stefan nodded in agreement.

"I was lost in my thoughts about Paul, as you can imagine. I just can’t turn it off overnight, even though I thought I could handle the situation easily. But that is not the case. Whenever I come to rest and we do something nice, I have to think back to the good times with Paul. Today, when we silently ascended into the sky, was another such moment. All the memories of my time with Paul were suddenly there again and I had such a helpless feeling when I saw the earth from above."

"I was hoping the peace and quiet would blow away the cobwebs, but it seems to have backfired."

"Well, I wouldn’t say that. Sure, the work helps me to free my mind, but also the time here with you distracts me. I just need more time. You understand that, right?" She looked at him pleading.

"But of course, my darling. Please don’t worry. I’ll be with you and help you in any way I can." He moved closer to her and handed her the glass of champagne. "And now, toast again, and look forward to the next few days. The variety will let you forget the past."

Gwen raised her glass and they clink glasses.

"You’re right. I am looking forward to the next days and the ziplining. Phil doesn’t know about it yet and it should be a surprise for him too. I had imagined it would be harder to get him out into the fresh air, but with geocaching he has found a new field of activity, which automatically leads him into nature."

Gwen looked at the clock and was startled at the advanced hour. The day had literally spun away. They drank up and Gwen pulled Stefan promisingly upstairs into the bedroom.

The sunrise the next morning unfortunately happened without any of the three taking notice. They slept late, because the ballooning had been quite exhausting in the end. After an extensive breakfast, they made their way to the top of the 'Loser', to look for geocaches and hopefully find them, as Phil said. Gwen gave Stefan a conspiratorial look behind Phil’s back as they set off. Phil also found the first cache right by the side of the road. It hadn’t been a challenge for him anymore, since he already knew the most obvious hiding places. It took him only a few seconds to imagine the most suitable hiding place at the given GPS position. And mostly he was right! Stefan and Gwen applauded and motivated him to keep going while they kept an eye on the time. At a parting of the ways they would have actually gone further uphill to reach the summit, but Gwen and Stefan agreed that they would try the rest of the way on another day, as some fog came up. So, they would better go back towards the valley. They looked at Phil to see if he bought their story. Phil looked at the summit, and also noticed the clouds approaching. With some muttering, and disappointed that he couldn’t find the other geocaches at the clearing and in the forest behind it, he joined the two adults who had already walked a few yards. Immediately Phil started to locate new geocaches along the alternative path. His eyes were fixed on his mobile phone, so he didn’t notice when they reached the entrance of the ziplining park. He looked up when the adults suddenly paused. After he realized where they had led him, he acclaimed them.

"You did that on purpose!" came the reproach from his mouth with a grin.

"Sure" Gwen replied, "we can still get the other geocaches tomorrow, but here we have a surprise planned for the time being. But don’t think that this is going to go on all day, my friend."

Phil put his cell phone in his pocket and while Gwen and Stefan were paying, he was already greeted by the leader of their small group. Ziplining was new territory for the three of them, which they now wanted to experience the first time. Their leader’s name was Ben and he was twenty-five at most, as Gwen assessed him from the gut. He had shoulder-length blond hair, which he had tied up in a braid. He would have made a good surf instructor, Gwen thought as she caught herself staring at his muscular body. Ben did a good job explaining the harness with all the straps very professionally. He then helped everyone in and fastened the straps. Last but not least everybody got a helmet, because they should play it safe, as he said.

The first descent was only about 50 yards long and they could already see the end between the trees, but at first nobody dared to start. But that was usual, Ben said, and Stefan decided to be the first to face the downhill. Stefan looked a bit cramped when he was pushed out by Ben and started the descent to the end point hanging only on a carabiner on a rope. There a helper was already waiting to receive him. When Stefan lifted his thumb to signal that everything was okay, Phil came in second. He also completed the first distance masterfully and was proud of his courage. Gwen was suddenly not so sure whether all this was a good idea but didn’t let on when she was nudged down the first downhill. She held on tight to the rope and tried to look down as little as possible. Was she afraid of heights? No, it wasn’t a fear of heights, but why couldn’t she enjoy the ride? The helper Jenny picked her up and she concentrated on getting solid ground under her feet again.

"That was great, Mom! How many more departures?"

"We’ve booked the tour with six departures, so there’ll be five more" Gwen heard herself say.

"Well, move on to the next one. I’d like to go first!"

Stefan took Phil by the hand and together with Jenny, who must have been about the same age as Ben, they went on to the next starting point. Behind Gwen something rumbled. Ben had arrived and unlocked the carabiner.

"Come on, lady, let’s not keep the others waiting!"

Was she supposed to take that as a compliment or was he alluding to her age? You are really snippy today, there is nothing to please you, Gwen had slapped herself in mind. Well, maybe the fun will come with the further descents, she told herself and started moving.

The fun never came. Also, the further departures she was rather grumpy, and Gwen did not want to give up. What was wrong with her, she asked herself several times. Usually you were always up for fun of this kind and had gotten involved in new adventures, but in the last weeks everything was different. The reason seemed to be very obvious to her. She could turn it around as she wanted, but she had finally arrived in the deep mourning for Paul.

After a delicious dinner they sat together at the counter of the restaurant and discussed how to proceed.

"That’s not how I’d visualized things. I’m so sorry, but I don’t want to ruin your vacation either."

"Mom, I miss Dad too, but we have to stick together now. You still have me and Stefan, and we all need each other."

Gwen smiled at Phil’s words. Much like an adult, she noticed again and took him in her arms.

"I just need to pull myself together and I’ll be fine."

Stefan also tried to contribute something to improve the mood. "Or we could cut our vacation short and you could rush back to work. Maybe this will help to clear your mind. But we just broke off of that daily routine to clear your mind."

Gwen shook her head vigorously. "You can’t be serious, can you? I don’t want to cut short my holiday, it’d be a pity for the good time and the money. I’ll find a way to cope with it here. I’ll talk to our family doctor as soon as we get home. I’m sure he’ll have a good idea. Okay, let’s go do something fun and plan our next few days so I have something to do and distract myself."

Stefan backed off when he noticed that he had probably stung a vespiary here. He and Phil could only agree with Gwen’s words, as they both wanted to experience more on this holiday and left it at that.

Chapter 5

The plans for the next days were quickly put together last evening.

Gwen was looking forward to a wellness day at the nearby Vital Resort. The reception of her accommodation helped with the reservation and they compiled an all-round carefree package for Gwen. It was planned to explore the sauna landscape with its five saunas and the hot springs resort extensively. In addition, a wellness package consisting of body peeling and a massage was also included. The men joined the visit to the thermal baths but left the wellness treatment exclusively to Gwen. This was not for men, they said and reaped only a shake of the head from Gwen.

Stefan organized the boat tour on the Altausseer lake for the next day. With a picnic basket, which he had organized through their reception, they set off to explore the Altausseer lake by solar boat. The weather played along and the twenty-seven degrees Celsius were easily bearable with a little breeze on the lake. On the opposite bank of the lake they finished their trip and had a picnic at the hunting lodge on the meadows. Nobody really wanted to think about the way back, when they were all lying on the blankets with fat bellies, looking up at the sky and the water. Stefan watched Gwen very closely and he thought she had relaxed a bit. Either it was the spa day or today’s trip that made her think of something else. But he also knew that it would take some time until she had overcome her nadir.

Stefan gave them the choice of returning to their car by boat or on foot, to go back to their accommodation. In the meantime, Phil had already figured out another geocache which was supposed to be hidden at the lakeside. So, he took the adults’ choice off and they got up to walk. About midway to their parking lot, Phil found what he had been looking for.

Spurred on by his success, he had set his mind on making the next day a geocache hike.

"This is where we turned the other day, to get to the ziplining. This time we have to continue towards the clearing" Phil shouted excitedly, jumped up from the bench and ran ahead.

"We’ve been on the road for several hours now, and maybe we should start thinking about the way back" Gwen interjected and massaged her thighs and calves.

"Now let’s go to the clearing so Phil can retrieve his Travelbug, which is said to be hidden there. He had already planned this for the other day when we turned off for the ziplining. After that, I suggest we head back."

Gwen nodded in agreement and moaned as she rose from the bench and started moving. With every step she took, she felt the sore muscles in her calves. With all that desk work, she was no longer used to the physical exertion.

Phil had already run ahead a bit excitedly, but then stopped to wait for them.

"Come on, I still want to find the Travelbug" Phil yelled to them.

"What is this, anyway?" Gwen admitted to having no idea what he and Stefan were actually talking about.

"Mom, it’s simple. I’ll explain it to you again. In some geocaches there are not only things to swap and a logbook in which you can sign in, but sometimes also small coins or other items with pendants or a minted identifier. You can look them up on the internet and read about the assignments these little guys are supposed to do. Some of them just want to explore the world and are happy if you carry them with you for a long time and just put them back into another cache far away. Others, for example, only want to see churches in Germany and still others want to explore all the castles in the world. The one I expect in the next cache wants to go back to Germany and we can do him that favor, can’t we?

"But then you have to go back to Kiel and find a geocache in which it fits. Some of the ones we had found in the last few days were only very small" Gwen said when they caught up with Phil.

"Yeah, sure, I’ll do that!"

"Same as the other promises you make to clean your room or unload the dishwasher or take out the garbage?"

"What are you so funny all of a sudden, Mom?"

Stefan sensed that the mood was about to change, took Gwen’s hand and pulled her uphill. "You and I will take care of this when we get home. Please don’t worry, Gwen. Now, let’s find the clearing and make the final climb to find this Travelbug. Then we’ll head for the valley. I’m getting awfully hungry, aren’t you?"

Gwen said nothing and tried to put on a face as friendly as possible.

When they reached the clearing, they stopped for a short time to get their bearings. Phil started his geocaching app to find out the exact distance and direction. With a few simple movements and magic circles of his mobile phone, he had calibrated the compass and was now waiting for the exact GPS signal. Stefan looked at Gwen and winked at her. Then Phil walked off slowly and watched the compass needle on his phone very closely. It was only one hundred and eighty-one yards away and they would leave the clearing and turn back into the forest, that was clear as daylight. The needle swayed a bit but kept pointing towards the forest. Ninety-two more yards and Phil slowed down. Gwen and Stefan followed him at some distance and talked about the evening program ahead of them. Forty-three more yards as he came around the bend and looked up from his cell phone. He saw the gradient. And he saw something else that left him standing there rooted to the ground.

Gwen, too, took a deep breath when she saw her son standing there petrified. She quickly grasped the situation and realized that the person in the ditch needed help – if it wasn’t already too late.

She sprinted off and gave Stefan a harsh instruction, "Try to call an ambulance!"

In her head the images of Paul’s birthday party were replayed. How they celebrated, toasted and how Paul collapsed. When Michael Peters, the medical examiner, immediately went to the scene and tried to help Paul. How they called the ambulance and took Paul to the hospital. And finally, how all attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful and Paul died that night. Gwen felt like she was walking in slow motion and the images in her head seemed surreal. As if the images were hovering over her as she walked here in the woods in the mountains to the person in the ditch and she was watching everything as an outsider. She was right in the middle of it. As if in a trance she reached the ditch and knelt down next to the motionless body.

"Hello" she shook it, "can you hear me?" She turned the person on their side. It was cold and stiff. She looked into a disfigured and dirty face but put her ear to its nose and watched the chest. There was no sign of breathing. No sign of life. Gwen sat resignedly beside the dead.

"What about the ambulance? Did you reach anybody? I think all we need is the police and a hearse" she said to Stefan as he approached her. Then she noticed Phil still staring at the scene. She had to give him a task to distract him.

"Phil, can you find out where we are and how far it is to the nearest house?"

Stefan pointed to his mobile phone, "No reception at all, Gwen. We’ll have to find another way to call the police."

"I don’t have cell phone reception either, mom, but I know where we are thanks to GPS. Is he alive?

She shook her head, "No, but let me think about it for a minute."

The images in her head started again. Gwen closed her eyes and took a deep breath in and out. Her thoughts had returned to the here and now.