The dragnet investigation E-Book

Franz Oberascher

• Herausgeber: novum publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 209

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Dramatic news throw a young woman back into her childhood... One day, while playing outside with his friends, Stefan is watched by an unknown man. Although he has been warned by his parents, Stefan gets into the man's car, where terrible things happen to him. While his mother plans her revenge, Stefan's classmates form the RAFA gang with the aim of catching the unknown repeat offender on the streets. With clever ideas, they reduce the list of recorded drivers. But they need Stefan's testimony. Will he help them? Finally, they are eager for a solution. A decoy is sent onto the streets, and the trap snaps shut... Is the crime finally solved, or does everything turn out quite differently than hoped?

Leseprobe

He sneaks around

Heidi lies awake in bed. The clock strikes midnight. She can't get any rest. The memories are scratching too hard in her head. The wound in her soul hurts again. She would never have thought that her childhood would catch up with her, that she would be overwhelmed by times gone by. "He's on the road again," her senses, her thoughts, her alarm bells pound. "He was always on the road," she admits to herself, and that depresses her all the more. She just didn't know it anymore. She has erased such thoughts from her mind. She erased them. She repressed them.

Heidi Müller has a degree and is a thirty-two-year-old successful woman; clever, self-confident, single, popular with colleagues and a staff of employees under her leadership. Now she is fishing in the memories of her childhood and pulls in a big catch, or rather into bed. Twenty years ago, it poisoned her life for months. Now it's fresh as dew in her stomach.

Once before, during her time as a student, a headline had already frayed her nerves. She had skimmed it and demonized it. She read in the public media: "Attempted kidnapping!" And next to the picture of a police car was written: "An eight-year-old schoolboy may have narrowly escaped being kidnapped in Vellach on Monday. The boy was waiting for his bus after school when a car suddenly stopped. A man tried to drag the pupil into the car. The boy managed to break free. The suspected kidnapper was arrested on Tuesday lunchtime."

Further down, there was mention of the interrogation of the suspect; the background is unknown. The eight-year-old pupil had been standing at a bus stop when a car suddenly stopped. According to the police, a man jumped out and tried to drag the pupil into the car. When the boy resisted, the man punched him. Despite this, the pupil managed to break away and flee. At home, the eight-year-old told his father about the incident. On the way to the police station, the boy discovered the car of the alleged kidnapper and his father memorized parts of the license plate number. After a nationwide manhunt, the suspected kidnapper was tracked down and arrested. The man was questioned. However, according to the security authorities, he had an alibi and the boy may have made a mistake about the car. However, there is absolutely no doubt about the pupil's story. The investigation is still in full swing.

Heidi can't find peace. She thinks of her childhood. What happened twenty years earlier in her hometown is now pounding in her head. She tries to fall asleep but cannot. She represses the thoughts of those terrible moments back then. Was she to blame when the tragic events unfolded? Heidi thinks clearly. Because as of today, the wound is bleeding again. A newspaper report from today has triggered her mental relapse, almost a copy of that time. She read the paper in the evening: "Unknown man accosts children". She is caught up in these headlines. It tells of every parent's nightmare. A child had been approached by a stranger on the way to school and lured into a car. This has happened several times recently in the vicinity of an Austrian school. An unknown man was targeting children at . He tried to lure the children in, suddenly harassing them with frightening phrases such as: "Your mother is ill, I'll take you to her." The police are investigating the case and are working together with the school management. Personal details would be published.

Fortunately, nothing has happened so far because the children have reacted correctly and told their parents about similar incidents. A police officer, who asks for tips from the public, has advice for the children: "Run away and start shouting loudly! Then the perpetrator will flee too!"

Heidi is tormented by thoughts. They cling to her former school friend Stefan. "I wonder what happened to him?" she muses, reliving the period of their friendly relationship at the Hauptschule, now called Mittelschule. "A wonderful time," she thinks, "except for the year it happened." Will Stefan ever be happy again? This thought now plagues Heidi and she escapes into a half-sleep that lets her replay the whole drama of an event that overshadowed everything in the first years after the turn of the millennium like a movie in front of her eyes ...

Out of the blue

Stefan didn't hesitate for a moment. Exhaustion, wetness and this pure coincidence covered everything that might have needed to be considered. He was even allowed to take a seat next to the friendly gentleman in the front. He had opened the passenger door for him. The car accelerated. Stefan felt safe. He would soon be with his mommy. Thank goodness!

Under normal circumstances, Stefan would never have got into the car. But what is normal? You often have to make an exception when other circumstances tempt you to do so. And anyone who thinks about it now agrees with Stefan. Of course, if Stefan had thought about it longer, he would have hesitated. How often had Mummy warned him against taking such a step? And he, the clever and always thoughtful boy, would have remained steadfast and never left the side of the road. Nevertheless, he was now sitting in this strange car because of the special circumstances. And so it had come to this:

The sky was hatching something. Suddenly, clouds rolled in, threateningly fast. The change in the weather had been announced and yet it took everyone by surprise. Incessant dark masses pressed in. They announced bad weather, even worse, they warned of disaster.

Only the three children didn't notice at first. "Are you coming down with your skates today?" Andreas had asked his friend Stefan. "If mommy allows it," he had replied, because mommy was very strict. In the end, he had managed to convince Mummy: no homework, glorious autumn weather, helmet on, protective gear on, guaranteed to be back home after two hours. That's a promise!

The boys romped around like young dogs near the town center. Heidi, Andreas' sister, also joined them. A twelve-year-old secondary school pupil doesn't usually mix with first graders. But that didn't matter to wild Heidi. She didn't think much of other people's opinions, she did what she liked. She also liked little Stefan. For her, he wasn't one of the show-offs, the super-super-smart ones. Stefan seemed modest to her, honest, with a special charisma. She loved this charisma. Of course, she would never have spoken to anyone about it. The feeling was there on its own. She couldn't be accused of adoring Stefan, she would never have let it get that far. "Me, the strong Heidi, and a first grader, never!" she would have defended herself. Nevertheless, there was something there, that charisma. And Heidi loved that.

The three of them sped up the hill along the cycle path and into the parking lot. They set up a goal run with cobblestones and swept through the slalom until a municipal worker grumbled. Backwards into the dip, a new challenge beckoned, whirling in circles, turning a figure of eight, preparing for a race, chasing after a cyclist. In no time at all, two hours had passed.

"Half past four already, I have to go home!" Stefan suddenly grumbled. "But not now, we're about to start the race!" replied Andreas.

"I have to get home, I promised mommy I'd be on time!" Stefan repeated. "Then let's at least walk one more lap up to the notice board and back!" ordered Andreas as he picked up the phone. The other two had no choice. They chased after the runaway. "Victory!" cheered Andreas and slowed down sharply while Stefan and Heidi tackled the last few meters. "I'll buy you another drink," said Andreas, pleased with his lead. He rolled up to the front door of the department store next door. "I have to get home," Stefan said, "Mommy's waiting for me!" "It doesn't matter about the five minutes," Heidi reassured him. So the three of them entered the department store, Stefan hesitantly.

In the meantime, the sun had disappeared and with it a late summer's day that had strayed into the middle of November. The clouds dispersed like an explosion. Within a few minutes, everything pointed to rain. The wind picked up and shook the last of the fruit from the trees. It was already dripping when the children scurried into the department store. The store was on the main road that ran through the village.

Shortly before the thirsty sportsmen had entered the department store, someone had parked their car on the opposite side of the road in an inconspicuous spot. The children paid no attention to the car or the driver. The driver of the car, however, paid close attention to the children. The little one in particular, who was loitering behind the two others, caught his attention. The stranger greedily kept an eye on the front door. He was waiting. And he obviously knew exactly what he was waiting for.

"Wonderful weather," he thought. The first heavy drops were already slapping against the windows. They swirled like shreds on the park, bench, banquette and tree, on the house, courtyard, hut and elder bushes.

"What do you want to drink?" Andreas asked Heidi and Stefan. "I don't care," replied Heidi, "you're inviting us, so get something!" "I'm not thirsty, I want to go home," whined Stefan. "Look, it's started to rain!" he continued to torment the other two. He clutched his helmet, which he had taken off earlier, and rolled towards the exit.

"Stop, stay there, I'll take three cans of soda!" Andreas suddenly decided and fished the cans out of the shelf. "Canned drinks are forbidden for me!" Stefan got upset again. "You know what I'm telling you: you're not allowed to do anything! You're disgusting all the time, they have to ask you about every little thing to see if you might even be willing to listen. What are you even allowed to do?" Andreas had suddenly become angry because Stefan wouldn't take him up on his offer.

Heidi also said to Andreas: "Don't be coy about every little thing, Stefan, you're not a mama's boy. It doesn't matter if you come home a few minutes later. We'll down a can, I'll put some chewing gum on it and then we'll get out of here. Don't make a fuss!"

She immediately wanted to take her advice back. Stefan only heard "mama's boy" and that was too much for him. He felt it was an attack on his mommy and on himself. He loved his mommy, even if she was so strict. "Mummy's boy" pounded inside him. In an instant, the helmet was firmly in place on his head, and with a few brisk steps he meandered past the checkout. "Mummy's boy!"

He dashed out. The heavy rain didn't stop him for a moment from speeding up and taking off. "Home at last," he thought. Stefan rushed across the road and struggled up the hill against the wind. "Stefan!" Heidi shouted after him. She wanted to hold him back in the store. "Stop, my lady, you have to pay first!" The energetic fat lady at the till watched closely and threatened with her fingers. "Oh, the chewing gum mi!" Heidi remembered and got in line. A few moments later, she slipped her purchase to Andreas. "See you soon!" she gasped, and in a flash, Heidi had also left the store. She turned the corner. "Stefan, wait, I didn't mean it like that!" she wanted to shout after him. She had to make up with him before he got home. Disgusting rain, where was her boyfriend? "Stefan!"

When she saw him, a cold shiver ran down her spine. "No, Stefan, don't! No, Stefan!" she screamed, "Stefan!"

The howling wind and the pattering of the rain swallowed Heidi's cries of despair. Stefan didn't hear them. The "mama's boy" in his ear had deafened him at first. He had started up the incline too quickly. After a hundred meters, he felt his strength waning. "No wonder with this storm!" he thought as another voice reached him, and a very clear one at that: "But Hansi, in this filthy weather outside?" The stranger in the car stopped and spoke through the open side window. "My name isn't Hansi, I'm Stefan, Stabauer Stefan!" Stefan replied clearly and paused. "Stabauer Stefan, and you live at the end of town, right?" the friendly gentleman was pleased to hear. "What a coincidence, your mommy just called me, I'm from Telekom. There's something wrong with your line. She also wants to talk to me about the cable connection to the TV. Stefan the staff member! What a coincidence! Come on, get in, we'll be right there! You're going to be sick in this awful weather!"

Stefan didn't hesitate for a moment. Exhaustion, wetness and this pure coincidence covered everything that might have needed to be considered. He was even allowed to take a seat next to the friendly gentleman in the front. He had opened the passenger door for him. The car accelerated. Stefan felt safe. He would soon be with his mommy. Thank goodness!

At home?

Heidi had the wildest thoughts. The car had barely started moving before she was already rushing back to the store. "Andi, quick! Andi! Come at once!"

Andreas felt something must have happened. He hurried, pocketed the change without counting it, threw the cans into a bag and met Heidi at the entrance.

"Tell me!" - "Stefan's gone, he's gone!" - "So what? Is that why you're whining?" - "Understand, Stefan got into a car and went with us!" - "I don't understand anything. Which car, where did he go, who was he with?" - "That's just it. Stefan is in a car with a complete stranger!" - "Why do you know that? Did you see him get in the car?" - "Yes, I saw him. Do something! Call the police, the ambulance! Call someone! Stefan needs help!" - "It's not that easy. Calm down! What does the car look like? What make? What color?" - "My God, just a car, light - or gray? I can't remember! It's raining too hard! Andi, Stefan is traveling with a stranger in the car . And why? Because I insulted him! Andi, do something!"

Heidi expected help from her younger brother. In any other situation, he would have been delighted. Now was not the time. He tried to remain calm. "Maybe it was his uncle," Andreas thought. He didn't believe it himself, but it was a temporary distraction from more serious thoughts. His control centers flashed again.

"You know what, Heidi? We'll call Stefan in five minutes. If he picks up the phone himself, you'll apologize to him and everything will be fine. Good?"

"And if he doesn't pick up? What do I ask when his mother answers? How do I find out if Stefan is at home?"

"Quite simply, Heidi, you find out whether Stefan is already up there, because he's sure to take a long time due to the heavy rain."

"Fine, but you call!" - "No, you're calling! You want to apologize to him." - "We'll call together!"

The two of them waited wordlessly for a few minutes under the shelter of the rooftops. "Are the five minutes up already?" Heidi worried. "He should have been home by now with the car," claimed Andreas. He fished out his Han dy, pressed a few buttons and trembled for the next few seconds. He heard the buzzer, but only once, and then the energetic voice: "Stefan, is that you?"

Heidi also had her ear glued to the phone. She immediately broke off the call. "For heaven's sake, he's not home yet! Andi, help me! What should we do? That was his mother. Did you hear that? She's waiting for Stefan! Andi!"

Slowly but surely, Andreas was also getting a queasy feeling. "Have a drink first," he advised Heidi. He opened a can of Coke and handed it to his sister. She clutched the can, took a quick sip and handed it back to Andreas. The wind and rain made the siblings even more agitated. They stood together like two prisoners, trapped by terrible thoughts.

"What should we do?" Heidi mused repeatedly. "Do you think an acquaintance has simply taken him away? They might visit someone nearby and end up at home in a few minutes," Andreas pondered. "Nonsense!" Heidi interrupted him, "Stefan's already got a nervous flutter in the store. He wants to go straight home."

Minutes melted away. The two of them did not say what they feared at the same time: a crime.

"I've got it!" Andreas roared. "We'll call Stefan's house again." "What's changed?" asked Heidi.

"Don't you understand? We have to do something! A few minutes ago you were shouting that we should call the police. I'll dial the number now. God grant that Stefan picks up! Stefan, come on!"

They both held their heads to the receiver. They hoped they were trembling.

"Stabauer! Stefan, is that you? Hello, who's speaking? Stefan, come in! Stefan! Hello, who's speaking? Hello!"

"It's us! It's me, Andreas! Mrs. Stabauer, can I talk to Stefan, please?"

"I'd like to do that too. Where is he? I've been waiting for him for half an hour. Why didn't he leave on time? And anyway, why are you calling me? Stefan should be with you! Is he on his way?"

Then Heidi grabbed the cell phone: "Mrs. Stabauer, we're so worried! Stefan got into a car! He should be with you by now!"

"Into a car? Did you see that?"

"Yes, Mrs. Stabauer, I saw it from a distance, an unknown car! I thought a relative had given Stefan a lift."

"Child, that's terrible! Stefan can't get into the car with anyone! When was that?"

"About a quarter of an hour ago. That's why we're calling you. We were hoping Stefan would be home by now!"

"Stay at home! I might be in touch with you again soon!"

"But we are...!" - Heidi couldn't finish the last sentence. Mrs. Stabauer had hung up. The two looked at each other in horror. What could have just happened to Stefan? Had he been kidnapped?

"Hurry home!" Heidi ordered. The two of them sped off. The wind and rain didn't stop them. They simply left the drinks behind. Mrs. Stabauer would surely call in a moment. Maybe it would all go away. My God: Stefan!

Delivered

The car accelerated. Stefan felt safe. He would soon be with his mommy. Thank goodness!

But he immediately lost contact with the friendly gentleman. Stefan suddenly thought he was an intruder. With his skates on his feet, he had to put his legs to one side. He turned away from the stranger. Raindrops rolled down his forehead, nose and cheeks into his sweater. "Just don't get anything dirty," thought Stefan, "be careful in this strange car!" The thought of something strange made him pause for a moment. He wondered why he had got into this car without thinking. He didn't know the man. Who could it be? Right, he was from Telekom, he had explained it himself. Stefan tried to be friendly and smiled at the driver. He smiled back, but in a very tortured, unnatural way.

"Buckle up, you have to buckle up!" he demanded of Stefan. For that short time, Stefan found buckling up pointless, but he obeyed. Despite the heavy rain, he kept a close eye on the road. The car approached the entrance to the street where he lived. Stefan glanced over at the houses, one, two, the third emerging behind shreds of windswept leaves, rain and misty haze. "Our house," he thought, looking forward to warmth and a warm welcome.

The stranger didn't seem to know the area that well. "Stop, you missed the driveway!" Stefan roared. "Why, where exactly do you live?" asked the stranger. "Back there, the entrance to Birkenstrasse, the third house, that's where I live!" Stefan complained. The boy immediately regretted complaining. They continued to creep along the road.

"I'm sorry," the man at the wheel cleared his throat, "but it doesn't matter. I've got another job to do anyway, a few minutes further on. It'd be too dangerous to turn back in the middle of the road in this awful weather. I'll turn on the heating so you don't catch a cold. You'll arrive home a little late, but healthy, ha, ha, ha ..."

The long laugh choked Stefan's throat. They left the local area. The stranger stepped harder on the gas pedal, ignoring many a small driveway to turn around. Stefan didn't want to talk him into it. The further they got from his home, the more he felt uneasy. "I wish I'd stayed with Heidi and Andreas," the boy muttered to himself. A dull feeling crept into his stomach. Was his conscience getting to him? Had he done something wrong? Stefan didn't know what was happening to him. He suddenly sensed a menacing force that wanted to play tricks on him. There was no escape. Tied up in the belt, he waited for it to come.

"Nothing will happen," he tried to suppress the thoughts. Nothing had happened either. He was sitting in a car with a friendly gentleman. They would be stopping nearby shortly. Stefan would wait in the car for five minutes and then be taken home straight away. "That's how it's going to be," he thought. But there was something stuck in his chest and he couldn't get it out.

They had already turned off twice. Stefan no longer knew the area. They drove through small copses, over a bridge, along narrow lanes, through meadows and back into a wooded area. There was no sign of any settlements.

"Stop right there! Where do you have to go? Does anyone even live here?" Stefan formulated the questions in his mind, not daring to say a word to the person next door. He was overcome with fear. His beloved home was receding into the distance. His trust in the unknown driver was broken, suddenly torn away. Stefan felt his heart beating rapidly. He tensed his arms, sensing the danger. He was on his way to a place that smelled of disaster. He knew he was under threat. And he was alone. Forest and meadows, foxes, deer, pheasants, nobody cared about him. The whole world turned away from him, uncomprehending. What did the man want from him?

Stefan scolded himself. Why had he got into that car? Why hadn't he heeded his parents' words? How many times had they talked to him about not getting involved with strangers? Stefan struggled with himself, blamed himself and weakened himself more and more. He hung paralyzed in his seat, which had become his prison and shackle. He felt dizzy, his head ached, he shivered with cold while the hot air fan roared. Wherever they were heading, he had stopped watching. The poor boy feared for his life. Was he just imagining things? Stefan surrendered to an uncertain fate. He floated in the car like a heap of misery and had fallen into a state of extreme helplessness. Anything could have been done to him. Stefan fell silent and dreamed of purgatory and hell.

The car suddenly came to a standstill. And really, they must have landed in hell. The fiend leaned over towards him. Fighting back didn't help. A foul smell crept up Stefan's nose. The poor man closed his eyes, switched off all his senses, whimpered constantly, let himself be done to - gripping, touching, tugging, tearing, jerking; swearing, cursing, ordering, sighing, moaning; biting, bleeding, panting, swallowing, spitting. The Incarnate One was playing his game with him. Stefan succumbed to the devil. The humiliated man sobbed, whimpered, whimpered, whimpered. Was he calling for his mother? No one heard him. It happened. - It had happened. There lay the bundle.

There lay the bundle. The sense of time had disappeared. The darkness matched Stefan's condition. And yet, in the deepest abyss, in the despair that it was no longer possible, a little light came from somewhere. It woke Stefan up. He clung to the light. He got up and stood on his own two feet. Stefan struggled towards the light. It grew. He trudged on. He began to feel. It was raining. He looked ahead. He smelled rotten autumn leaves. He heard cars buzzing along in the rainwater from afar. He swallowed blood. "I must have bitten my lips, I'm bleeding," he thought, and: "Quick to the light, away from this hell, to the light. Light means life!" Stefan wanted to live. He received his new life. He felt it.