The tanker truck driver E-Book

Joe Benda

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

Seitenzahl: 520

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

For the main and secondary characters, after initial failure, a new development often arises that they themselves did not expect, but which is very favorable for them. The tanker driver, following his motto "eyes shut and through", manages to pacify his conflict-prone family circumstances. The heating installer commits crimes in the employment relationship, is fired and, after further setbacks, manages to run a company in the same industry. The same or a similar fate befalls the others.

Leseprobe

Foreword

"Anything but the daily grind: a heating oil delivery driver,

a lawyer, an entrepreneur, a judge, court proceedings,

Marriage crises, real estate scandals. People of every color

are confronted with changes and events,

that have a lasting impact on their lives."

Chapter 1

Lunch in the judge's family

Hans-Peter (name and all other names fictitious) is a judge at the district court. He presides over a criminal division. He still has a few years of service left, then he will be provided for by this state as a retiree.

He has a twenty-six-year-old son, Kevin, who is studying theater and acting.

Once a month, on Sundays, or even twice a month, the judge's son goes to his parents' house for lunch. The woman of the house doesn't miss out on this. Once or twice a month, she wants to cook for the family and her son, just like in the old days.

The woman of the house and wife of the judge is Petra. She is a year older than her husband. On days like this, Kevin is also allowed to choose something.

One Sunday (they are having sauerbraten with red cabbage and dumplings), father and son once again get into a discussion. It's about a court hearing that the son has attended as a spectator. The son asks the father what he thinks of the defendants.

Father: "How? According to the file, of course."

Son: "Nothing else?"

Father: "Of course also according to the personal impression and according to the statement in the main hearing - in short, according tothe epitome of the main hearing § 261 StPO including the taking of evidence, witnesses, etc. Why?"

Son: "How? Is that all?"

Father: "Yes, what else is there?"

Son: "You can only judge a person if you have something to compare them to."

Father: "How? I don't understand. I did."

Son: "You didn't!"

Father: "Why not?"

Son: "Because you know far too little about the accused. I'll give you an example, dear father. If, for example, the defendant lives in X Street and a theft is to be judged and X Street has 220 house numbers, and he lives in the street with 219 others, he is the only one who has stolen, is that enough for you as a comparison? Even though you don't know the 219 other residents of the street?"

Father: "Of course."

Son: "And if X street has 450 house numbers, then what?"

Father: "What are you doing? What are you getting at?"

Son: "My point is that you don't know enough about the defendants. I just said that."

The tone becomes sharper.

"And what about the comparison of your defendant's behavior with the population of the entire city, which after all is 600,000? Are you worried about that?"

Father: "What are you doing? Of course not."

The mother gets nervous. She's seen this before. They're about to have a real row.

Kevin finds it hard to hold back his skepticism about his father's job.

Son: "Okay. Different subject."

Petra is relieved.

Son: "How many bad judgments have you made in your professional life?"

Father: "What are you doing?"

Son: "Why don't you just say it?"

Father: "Of course not."

Son: "You don't believe that yourself."

Hans-Peter, the judge, stammers something about acting on his own conviction, the result of the taking of evidence, etc.

Son: "Shall I tell you what it's like?"

Petra tries to intervene.

Petra: "Son, don't talk so disrespectfully to your father!"

Son: "The more misjudgments you have made - or are you saying that you were always sure - the more you will make mistakes in the future and accept them."

Father: "Why?"

Son: "Because that's your way of salving your conscience. You always condemn more people than you should acquit."

Father: "Can you express yourself more clearly?"

The son cites two examples from the main hearing day in which several appointments took place.

The judge must agree that the evidence was shaky.

Son: "Then why didn't you acquit the two defendants?"

Father: "Because there was more to be said for a conviction than against it."

Son: "Nonsense. Because the phrase 'in doubt for the accused' is being trampled underfoot by you, if not by the entire justice system, and has lost its validity."

Now the judge has had enough.

The father ends the discussion. He rambles on about "not knowing anything about life", "snotty argumentation" etc.

The mother also dissolves the food bank. There will probably be no Sunday lunch for the next few weeks.

Chapter 2

The tanker driver

Marco is forty-three years old. He is a tanker driver by profession and supplies private households and commercial households with heating oil.

On a late summer's day in 2016, Petra is walking her dog in the southern part of the city. At a residential building, in front of which a tanker truck with heating oil is parked, a discussion cannot be overheard as she passes by. The woman living there has ordered a delivery, but wants to send the driver away again.

She can't use the delivery, which takes hours, right now. The regulatory authority has come along with a TÜV inspector. The technical condition of the oil heating system is to be checked.

In any case, Marco is not working in the private family home today. The tank system cannot be filled here today. As a result, Marco finishes his tour two and a half hours early and drives home to continue his tour from home the next morning, as the appointments have already been made and so have the customer addresses.

He only has to drive a few kilometers home. He lives in the Ruhr district town of E., where he has managed to build a small detached house, which he lives in modest prosperity with his wife and five-year-old son.

He is looking forward to his five-year-old, with whom he wants to spend the unexpected free time in the afternoon, and doesn't call home so that it is a surprise that he is coming home early.

After a short time, the first trouble; he is stopped. Truck check.

The first police officer checks the tachograph and finds the first inconsistencies in the driving times.

The second - unusually technically adept - bites into the truck.

He finds around thirteen faults on the vehicle in around 30 minutes.

This ranges from defects in the hydraulics of the brake booster to lighting defects and the date on which the tires were retreaded.

Marco receives a defect ticket and a complaint. He is not the owner - this is his employer - but he is still liable as a driver, and this too.

He continues his journey in a visibly depressed mood.

He parks the truck where he always parks in the undeveloped side street, on the side of the road in the estate of detached houses. He packs his rucksack, flask and thermos flask (all empty) and walks the last few meters to his house in the row of detached houses.

Then he notices a mid-range car with a foreign license plate, about three house numbers away from his.

"Strange," he thinks. "Who's that supposed to be? The car is a complete stranger here."

Here in the street, everyone knows everyone and you talk about everything. After all, because we know each other well, we always sit together at the barbecue in the evening.

As he walks towards his house, the door opens and a guy comes out at a brisk pace.

"Strange," Marco is still thinking, "well, maybe my wife has appointed a representative. Insurance or something. Maybe the insurance agent should review the whole package: Household contents, liability and everything else you need. She talked about it once."

The guy quickly pushes past him. A man's perfume (Davidoff), which Marco has always hated, reaches his nose as he passes.

He enters his house. As he crosses the threshold, he is still thinking about his aversion to Davidoff. "Davidoff is a men's perfume for spoiled little boys from the south who come down from the tennis court in pastel-colored pullovers," he thinks.

The same smell in the small hallway to the living room.

Marco suspects something terrible.

He doesn't even go into the living room or kitchen, but heads straight up the stairs from the hallway to the bedroom. In the bedroom, his wife is busy getting dressed. The bed is rumpled, the same smell of perfume in the bedroom.

His wife is scared to death.

In a split second, her face turns ashen, her eyes widen in horror.

A world collapses for Marco. He sees everything collapse that he has laboriously built up over a long period of hardship.

His wife wants to get past him.

He stands in her way.

The blow catapults the woman to the other end of the sixteen square meter or so bedroom. Whimpering, she remains against the wall in a strangely crouched position, partly squatting, partly lying down, in a cramped posture in which she remains.

Marco realizes that the situation could escalate even further. To prevent worse, he runs outside and walks around the block for two hours.

"My God, what have I done?" he thinks incessantly. Not only has he not slowed down the disintegration of his little world, he has actually accelerated it.

When he returns, he learns from neighbors that his wife has been picked up by the ambulance, bleeding profusely from the head, especially around the eyes. The police are also said to have been there.

The little boy is said to have been in the care of his neighbor, Britta T., from midday anyway. She is friends with his wife.

In view of the overall circumstances that presented themselves to the police at the scene, they called in the on-call service of the youth welfare office. They took the little boy into their care.

In the subsequent criminal proceedings, Marco gets off relatively lightly. A six-month suspended sentence for assault.

His wife refuses to testify, § 52 StPO.

The conviction is based on the police reports and the medical certificates and on Marco's confession.

But this is just the beginning. Now it's just getting started.

The woman does not return to the house and temporarily takes up residence with her best friend and neighbor Britta.

In the subsequent housing allocation proceedings under the German Civil Code (BGB), she is awarded the jointly owned detached house for twelve months for sole use with her son.

The judge barely lets him and his lawyer get a word in edgewise. The decision is made after a very short hearing, and this means that the tanker driver has to bear the burden of the house alone and stay outside himself.

In addition, the wife subsequently refuses to have any contact with the five-year-old. He also has to fight for this in court. The child's mother boycotts wherever she can.

In the subsequent trial and court hearing regarding visitation rights, she rambles on loudly and inaccurately about the inadequate father-son relationship ("He was only ever away" etc.).

Marco finally obtains an order. Fortnightly visiting rights from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays without overnight stays.

He rents a twenty-two square meter apartment in the city centre in a bleak 60-apartment rentalblock in grey and meets mostly single tenants, alcoholics, drug addicts, people who have been kicked out, autistic people, marginal figures in this society.

But he must at least prove to the court-appointed guardian that he has his own place of residence for visiting contact and does not sleep in the truck!!!

The decision is undermined by the woman wherever possible; "child is ill, child doesn't want to etc. etc.". Medical certificates are even presented.

Seven months pass without him seeing his son even once.

Then came the next blow: the maintenance claim. With an income of 2,350 net, he is supposed to pay around 1,200 euros in maintenance including child support.

This means that of the remaining EUR 1,100 to EUR 1,200, the tenant is still expected to pay all the house charges, the mortgage, the property taxes, the building insurance and the water supply, etc.

The apartment costs 385 euros, leaving him with 100 to 200 euros without having eaten a single bread roll. A court hearing is now scheduled for the maintenance claim.

The judge explains that Marco, as a trained truck driver, has the opportunity to earn 2,900 euros net according to the collective agreement and attributes this income to him fictitiously. "Fictitious", as the lawyers call it. This means that the maintenance claim goes through in the form in which it was upheld. With this fictitious income, the household expenses can also be "conveniently" paid.

The order also orders him to pay the costs of these court proceedings.

His overdraft facility of 4,000 euros has been used up to 3,380 euros.

He is allowed to give away what he earns. So he is heading for an uncertain future.

Chapter 3

The wife of the tanker driver

Once the dust has settled (four days in hospital, deep laceration, concussion, chest contusion from the fall, a fortnight at her friend's house), the tanker driver's wife stays in constant contact with her friend and visitor on this fateful day.

She had been tying him up, probably more out of boredom at first, as her husband was almost exclusively on the road with his truck, working a lot of overtime.

She sees her own part in the recent negative developments and that she has been cheating, but ... "If he's never there?"

One day, after she has moved back into the house following the conclusion of the housing allocation procedure, a conversation takes place with the "affair" about a possible future together.

The conversation is disastrous.

The man does not react in the way I had hoped.

The numerous excuses all have roughly the same tendency. It's always "We didn't bet like this", "It wasn't planned", "We didn't want a firm commitment, just a few nice hours here and there" and so on.

The prospect of being tied down and taking on joint responsibility for a five-year-old child who is not even his own puts the man off completely.

"People have 'tindered' each other. Why can't we leave it at this level?" he asks.

The woman is shocked by the ruinous conversation.

"Oh man, this has really backfired," she thinks. The little perfect world is broken and the "gap closure" is already on strike before it has even started in earnest. That's really sobering.

Outraged, she throws him up in the air.

She spends a few days thinking about what to do next.

She doesn't want to be without a man, she's too interested in the pleasures of life for that. But one who has nothing but excuses?

So nothing happens at first. Probably due to general uncertainty.

The fight for her son's visiting rights is wearing her down more and more.

Her lawyer has also explained to her that under the new maintenance law she will have to look for work in the foreseeable future, otherwise she will not receive any separation or divorce maintenance herself.

That's no perspective either. She doesn't want to go back to her old job. She was glad to be rid of this field of work.

Casual jobs, such as catering, are out of the question. She has no desire to be ordered around by male guests and have her ass slapped, including the usual crude advances that a good-looking woman is exposed to in the restaurant trade.

It's going to be tight.

She also realizes that the boycott of father-son visits cannot continue. The little boy has a right to his father and also to the visits that take place. He is also increasingly asking for his dad.

Her lawyer has also warned her that her behavior of undermining the visitation contacts could end with the withdrawal of custody, because this is a disregard for the child's welfare.

So afterjusteleven months (!) she allows the first visit and pick-up of the child for four hours ("Please not so much and not so long"). The contact should only take place outside, playground etc., after all it is summer.

She orders the child to be returned punctually(!) after four hours. Pick up and drop off at the front door.

With his pulse racing, the father goes to the shared house at the agreed time.

He has parked the truck in the same place as always (in the undeveloped side street). He rings the bell. The door opens. Mother and child are standing in the doorway. Marco's pulse continues to quicken.

His larynx is shaken by the violent and rapid beating of his pulse.

His lawyer has told him a lot about the rapid estrangement of a child of this age from his father and warned him not to expect too much. The son, still holding his mother's hand, stands in the middle of the entrance hallway of the house.

In a firm, almost resolute voice, but not in a reproachful tone, the little boy calls out: "Daddy". Pause. Again. New attempt: "Daddy". Pause. New attempt: "Dad ... I think it's so stupid ..." Pause again. "I think it's so stupid," he repeats, pause again, "that you don't live here anymore."

The father is stunned and speechless. The mother is visibly not unmoved either.

After all, the mother allows both of them to go into his nursery (also at the request of the little one, of course) because he wants to show his father new toys. The son is now six years old. The birthday letter that the father sent and the birthday present were not answered. Did the mother hold all this back?

The little boy happily shows his father his newly acquired toys, including his father's present.

The father can hardly concentrate. He is cautious. After three quarters of an hour of playing together in the children's room, he even has coffee and almost intimate conversations with his mother again, but Marco is still reserved.

He has to have the feeling that his wife really wants him back. You don't want a six-year-old holding the scaffolding together. That would be completely too much for a little boy, and it wouldn't be his job either.

This goes on for the following months. Finally, the truck parks again at least every other day, if not every day, even overnight in the same place as always ... in the undeveloped side street.

Chapter 4

The Managing Director

The managing director (GF) is Siegfried T. He is the managing director of a company for transmissions and engine parts for trucks and machines, buying and selling and nationwide distribution. He is married and has a son and a daughter aged three and nine.

On a warm, sunny May morning in 2015, he is fifty-one years old and looking forward to the planned date with his youthful, highly attractive twenty-eight-year-old "affair", whom he courts and supports wherever he can.

They have an appointment for around twelve o'clock. He has also booked a room for the night. They want to go on a day trip beforehand. But his girlfriend hasn't left anything out to increase his anticipation. In the morning, she sent him photos of herself in sexy lingerie via WhatsApp.

However, he has an appointment with his bank beforehand. It's about the business loan. He has twelve employees, full-time and 450 euro jobbers. The production hall and warehouse cost another 6,000 euros a month.

The company was humming along until about a year and a half ago, when a major customer dropped out.

Since then, Siegfried has struggled to recoup the monthly costs. He has had to lay off four people.

But with "the bank at his side", he is not too worried. Even if he does have a slightly queasy and gloomy feeling when he thinks about the business loan.

He is "rated", as it is called in banking jargon, on a monthly basis. His credit line currently amounts to 75,000 euros. This is urgently needed for purchasing goods and running costs.

Hedging takes place exclusively via the changing inventory. In other words, hedging is inadequate.

The tax consultant has prepared the necessary documents for the monthly meeting regarding the rating. He has everything with him.

Since the financial crises of the past, banks have left nothing to chance (Nippon crisis 1998, New Economy 2003, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Hypo Real Estate 2008/2009/2010, collapse of West LB etc. etc.).

The loan officer greets him with a look on his face as if there had been four deaths in each family overnight.

After the welcoming pleasantries, the room feels four degrees Celsius cold. The clerk explains to him in no uncertain terms and gets straight to the point that the Management Board has decided to reduce the credit line.

The GF shudders.

It is true that there were harbingers. The clerk announced in every monthly meeting, with the repetition frequency of a prayer wheel: "The current account makes me worrygen, the current account makes me worry, the current account makes me worry."

Siegfried didn't take it seriously enough.

Now the announcement is in the room.

Unyielding.

Merciless.

Irrevocably.

Not allowing any discussion.

The reduction is from 75,000 euros to 25,000 euros. Approximately 38,000 euros must be repaid within fourteen days.

That was it.

End.

From.

The CEO does not have these liquid funds. And certainly not recoverable current receivables in this amount.

A lucrative contract is not in sight for another four months.

But even that is not certain.

He politely says goodbye and leaves the bank.

He could offer the wife's detached house, which belongs only to her, as additional security, but he doesn't want to do that. Besides, she wouldn't have agreed. Especially not after the first of his "escapades" came to light. Because he's not exactly the most faithful husband.

He cancels on the twenty-eight-year-old, who is raging with disappointment. He goes for a walk in the woods to clear his head. He realizes that a bankruptcy petition is imminent and that it may be unavoidable.

Chapter 5

The gas water installer

The judge's wife, Petra, has a small problem in the bathroom of the house. The hot water inlet in the bathtub is leaking.

The plumber who came for years has given up his business for reasons of age.

She looks for another one in the Yellow Pages. He appears too. He introduces himself politely.

The gas water fitter works 60 hours a week and usually for "nuts" at the end of the month. Nevertheless, he loves his job. He can't imagine doing any other job. He loves it when he can explain technical issues and how the boilers work to customers and receives appreciative glances in return.

He is accompanied by a nineteen-year-old apprentice of Turkish origin called Hassan.

Hassan has been training as a gas water fitter for two years and has his exam in a few weeks. He will pass with flying colors.

A well-known colleague made the connection between the gas water installer (GWI) and Hassan. With the words "He's looking for training", "A really tidy boy".

The colleague had not promised too much. The GWI grew to like Hassan more and more every day. He almost loved him like his own son.

His own son is twenty-four and also works in the company and learned his trade at GWI. He has clashed with Hassan a few times over technical issues. Now things are going reasonably well. He still feels a residual jealousy when he sees how GWI sometimes gives Hassan preferential treatment and special care.

One day, the customer calls. A repair job that Hassan (now a journeyman) has carried out is not free of defects. A shower fitting that he has replaced for a customer is still dripping.

The GWI's son drives there and deals with the complaint.

It turns out that a new tap has not been installed, as calculated at 180 euros net (including company surcharge), but a cheap used "flea market tap", which costs a maximum of 10 euros.

Since it can hardly be assumed that Petra or her husband, the judge, removed this fitting and installed the used fitting, the GWI's son says nothing for the time being and changes the fitting again without any problems.

He has a recurring rivalry with Hassan, but doesn't want to "put him on the spot" and doesn't tell the GWI anything for the time being. However, he plans to confront Hassan when the opportunity arises.

Nothing happens for two weeks.

This is followed by call after call from customers, totaling around seventy-two complaints.

It's always the same picture of damage that the GWI's son, who has to deal with the repairs and complaints, has to take note of every time.

Used control units for boilers, used fittings instead of new ones, used expansion vessels instead of new ones; all cheap flea market stuff or material bought second-hand on eBay. This was installed instead of the new spare parts, which were several times more expensive. These were all jobs carried out by Hassan, with total damage estimated at around 40,000 euros.

Hassan has even gone so far as to install used boilers instead of new boilers when boilers need to be replaced in the ludicrous idea that the district chimney sweep will not notice.

Legal fees and court costs for the warranty letters from lawyers are not included. The fact that Hassan had unnoticed amassed a stock of used spare parts in a rented garage, from eBay classifieds, flea markets etc., as immediately revealed in the criminal proceedings, also comes out in passing.

Hassan installed the used parts, misappropriated the new parts he had brought with him and charged his company for, sold them again as new parts at a small discount and thus made a "profit" in seventy-two cases totaling around 35,000 euros.

He immediately receives notice of termination from his employer, which he does not contest before the labor court.

The criminal proceedings are still ongoing and are being conducted in parallel.

GWI temporarily hands over the management of the company to his son. He needs eight weeks to get through the crisis.

Chapter 6

The fitness trainer

Lena, the GF's twenty-eight-year-old affair, now wants to concentrate fully on her actual relationship. What's the point of all this, her "patron" is now broke?

But if the source of money dries up, the extramarital relationship also becomes obsolete for them.

No more shopping, no more unscheduled cash handouts to encourage favors in the sexual sphere, so the GF has become uninteresting to her. He can no longer help out with "minor or major money problems", bank debts, etc. She is therefore no longer interested in this extramarital relationship.

Her actual partner, Joey, is the same age and works as a part-time tow truck driver on a temporary basis. He also works as a trainer in a gym chain on a 450-euro basis.

Her husband has only one fault: he is insanely jealous.

One day he checks her cell phone. The catastrophe is inevitable. He finds the undeleted chat with the GF on WhatsApp, including the messages sent with photos etc.

The scenes he now makes for her every day are unprecedented. He controls her non-stop. Finally, she can't take it any longer and separates.

What begins now is a boundless stalking.

She literally can't catch a break. After changing her cell phone number three times, nothing changes.

On the way to her car, he picks her up and swears his unconditional love for her. He turns up at her workplace.

Finally, he climbs onto her balcony (second floor) at night. He reaches the balcony via the rainwater downpipe, which he uses to shimmy up. Her bedroom is right next to the balcony. He would love to see her, even if she is asleep, and see the bed that he was allowed to share until recently.

He is observed climbing up the stairs by neighbors who think he is a burglar.

The police and fire department get him down from the balcony.

He is now sentenced to six months' imprisonment on probation after having continuously violated the injunction and the ban on contact issued in the summary proceedings. He also has eight months to complete eighty hours of work as a kitchen assistant at the miners' hospital.

He does not complete one hour of work, so his probation is revoked.

What now?

He can't go home.

The deadline for the start of the sentence has already been significantly exceeded.

He tried to go to his home several times and turned back at a safe distance from the house when he saw patrol cars.

Of course, he can't go to his ex-wife either.

He certainly can't go to his buddies at the gym.

You can't rely on them. He knows that only too well. The only thing that "connects" them, if you can even use that term, is training.

Finally, he remembers a good school friend. They went to school together for two years. Both aged eleven and twelve, from 2005 to 2007.

Then they lost sight of each other when they changed schools, moved house, etc. Nevertheless, the feeling that there was once someone with whom he could go "through thick and thin" and climb trees together is still alive.

This feeling can still be felt today. Even today, the buddy from back then still feels the rough bark of the branches that he gripped to slowly climb each tree.

He finds out the address from other former schoolmates.

He packs the essentials and sets off.

Kevin, the judge's son, is amazed to see who is standing in the doorway at 10:40 pm on a Saturday evening. Although his joy at seeing him again is quite restrained, his fascination that his old buddy is calling again outweighs his excitement.

The two spend almost two hours chatting about old times. These two hours turn into what feels like ten minutes. It's almost midnight when the doorbell rings. Following a tip-off, two police officers are at the door. In uniform.

They stand unyieldingly in the doorway, demanding entry and expressing that there is "no escape" from the situation.

This is the end of the fitness trainer's escape. Joey simply has no chance.

The officers are standing in the room. The click of the 8 is imminent.

The first officer's gaze falls on a rucksack brought by the fitness trainer, from which something shimmers out that looks like a plastic pallet of white lozenges.

The fitness trainer hesitantly complies with the request to open this rucksack.

Around 700 tablets of anabolic steroids come to light. The fitness trainer wanted to sell them at the gym after all. That was generally worthwhile.

Now everything happens very quickly. Reinforcements are called in and the whole apartment is searched.

Eight officers turn "the bottom up" in the judge's son's apartment. Even the timid question about a search warrant is only answered in monosyllables. "We don't need one. Danger in delay." These are the words of the head of operations, PHK Naworski.

Nothing is found, except that another 2,000 Viagra and Cialis pills are found in the second rucksack brought by the fitness trainer. These are also worth selling on.

That was so practical, because the supplier on the Internet was the same, so the fitness trainer was motivated to place an additional order.

As expected, all of the judge's son's assurances that he had nothing to do with any of this do not bear fruit. Especially as both the judge's son and the fitness trainer are now accusing each other about the second rucksack.

The judge's son has to realize that his assurances that he has not seen his buddy since 2005, when they climbed trees together, are not very credible under the given circumstances.

In the early morning he is called from police custody.

On Sunday at 05:20 in the morning, the judge's phone rings.

Chapter 7

How is Hassan doing now?

Hassan is now unemployed for the time being. The employment office has imposed a twelve-week suspension period on him. There is no prospect of legal action, however, as he was at fault for the termination of the employment relationship. His lawyer has explained to him in no uncertain terms that in such a case he will only receive reduced Social Code II benefits.

The result is a real dry spell.

And now there's the compensation case.

His lawyer explained to him that even personal insolvency proceedings would be of no use, because so-called unlawful acts are involved and the creditors can apply to deny discharge of residual debt after the period of good conduct.

But first comes the criminal trial.

Despite intensive questioning, neither the presiding judge nor his lawyer can find out where all the money has actually gone. Because if Hassan were to pay something back to make amends, he could score points in the criminal proceedings. The money is simply gone.

There is no visible countervalue. The penalty is therefore draconian.

One and a half years without parole.

Prospect of open execution after about a year. All this for around 40,000 euros in damages, none of which Hassan even saw himself.

The explanation is not that difficult.

Hassan came to Germany from Turkey in 2003 with his Turkish parents and his sister Büsra (now twenty-two years old), who is one year older. His little brother Taifun (now eight years old) was also born here.

The father was denounced at the time because of alleged links to the PKK.

The family fled to Germany in a cloak-and-dagger operation. The father was never granted asylum because he was unable to provide all the necessary evidence. At least it was enough for subsidiary protection.

Things are a little better now, because Taifun was also born here.

However, Büsra has the hardest time in the family.

Despite being of legal age under German law, she is literally not allowed to do anything.

She does not have to wear a headscarf like other young women who come from the small Anatolian village of 600 inhabitants.

But make-up is already taboo.

The patriarch is unyielding.

Short skirts and revealing clothing of any kind are completely unimaginable.

Sex before marriage is like a natural disaster. She has to be home by 9 pm on weekdays and 10:30 pm on Saturdays, which is considered a special perk.

She wants to move out, but feels responsible for the family peace.

This is hardly possible without marriage. She would rather not even imagine the resulting earthquake in the family.

One day, she meets Abdul, a twenty-three-year-old compatriot. He grew up in Germany and is still influenced by the idea that the man is in charge in a relationship.

Abdul is either unemployed or works on a 450-euro basis. He does odd jobs here and there and sometimes does this, sometimes that. He has managed the decent visit to his parents to some extent.

Abdul really wants to drive a BMW X5, but doesn't know how to go about it given his desolate professional situation. The car costs around 80,000 euros and still costs 40,000 euros second-hand.

And so it comes as it must. He asks Büsra, who earns 1,400 euros net in her first year as a dental assistant, to vouch for him at Santander Bank.

That's what happens.

A few days later, the used X5 is at the door.

The months go by.

After the first wonderful three months, the first dark clouds appear on the relationship horizon.

Abdul is not so particular about fidelity. No woman is "safe" from him. There are always arguments.

Büsra also catches Abdul in flagrante delicto several times. This flagrante delicto is somehow everywhere.

It gets worse and worse.

In the end, Abdul ends the relationship because he feels constricted, as he puts it.

Now disaster is inevitable.

Of course, Abdul also stops paying the installments for the X5 from his account, and direct debit is not possible.

The X5 is seized and sold by the bank for a knockdown price of 20,000 euros. Legal fees alone for terminating the business relationship, canceling the loan agreement, etc.: several 1,000 euros.

The stand costs at the authorized BMW dealer up to the sale of several hundred euros are also to be borne and are covered by the guarantee. The terms and conditions of the finance purchase are structured accordingly. Büsra now has two problems at home.

Firstly, she has been dumped by her partner without being married.

Secondly, she owes around 35,000 to 40,000 euros from the guarantee.

She has also been left with these debts.

The fiasco at home can hardly be described in words.

The patriarch deploys every conceivable instrument of power. Life becomes hell for Büsra.

If only she could at least get rid of these damn debts. But then comes an unexpected windfall. Her brother Hassan frees her from the debt.

She doesn't ask any more questions.

He has obviously saved a considerable amount of money, or at least he doesn't want to say where he got all the money from.

It is debt-free overnight.

The guarantee is canceled. As a debtor, Büsra is suddenly a completely blank slate. So at least this has turned out well. Büsra knows only too well that Hassan can hardly have earned this money. He has many different versions of where he got the money from. Sometimes he claims to have won it in the casino, sometimes he claims to have made a good deal, sometimes he claims to have borrowed the money himself. As the versions keep varying, Büsra eventually gives up trying to find out where the money really came from.

Chapter 8

The lawyer

On Tuesdays, the judge attends a regulars' table for lawyers. He doesn't miss out on that. A little exchange is a must. On this one day a week, he also allows himself a few glasses, maybe a few more.

The other day there were a few too many and he was at the streetcar stop to go home. He could barely stand on his feet. He happened to be seen by two lawyers who know him well from numerous negotiations - only he didn't see them.

The former came back from a private party. They just thought: "Look, the chairman of the fourth criminal division. Just another human being ..."

Lawyers also take part in this regulars' table. One of them is a lawyer to whom he has been assigning most of his department's public defenders for some time.

This always worked out quite well to everyone's satisfaction. The "arrangement" consists of the public defender being as little of a nuisance as possible, being sparing with unpleasant motions that delay proceedings and not "attracting attention". This is due to the lower statutory fees.

Only once was there a remarkable incident. A defendant stood up after the closing arguments and said loudly: "Honorable court, I would like to say that I do not feel accused hereby the public prosecutor, but by my lawyer ..."

What the hell. Forget about it. The lawyer can't please everyone.

Until the early 2000s, the lawyer worked as an assistant to the board of Deutsche Bank.

Even then and in the years that followed, the scandals surrounding this institution became more frequent. Aiding and abetting tax evasion, etc. There were already lawsuits for millions in damages at the time.

In the course of the first staff reduction measures, he, the Executive Board assistant and others were also affected.

Undaunted, he set up his own business. Things have been going uphill ever since.

The firm has been booming for around four years. He manages to build trust relatively quickly in discussions with clients. Clients regularly leave his office in much better shape than when they arrived. He even manages to sell lost cases as won ones.

He now also runs seminars for specialist lawyer training courses. The successes fly to him. His long-term employee is as reliable as a machine. She never takes sick days, works independently and, incidentally, for two, and even kindly draws his attention to mistakes, which he then gratefully corrects in good time.

Things are also going well in his private life. He is the father of a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old, while his wife runs the household. He recently bought a condominium with a share of the garden.

He has also fulfilled his childhood dream: a Triumph TR6, built in 1974 with a 2.5-liter engine, ochre yellow, fully convertible.

He even gets appreciative looks from his professional colleagues when he drives up to court with it.

Then it gets worse. In the second half of the day, he can barely get up from his ergonomic desk chair. He drags himself to the guest toilet in his office and thinks he won't be able to walk the distance (just eight meters). He wonders where all this comes from. He is only in his mid-fifties and doesn't work physically. He also feels increasingly alone, which has nothing to do with loneliness. He liked being alone even as a teenager. It's something different somehow. It is an intensification. He feels "locked away", like solitary confinement, but he ignores the symptoms and blames them on age.

This self-soothing works excellently.

One day, there is a rumble in his office filing room. His employee looks in, startled. The lawyer is sitting on the floor. A ladder step has obviously just fallen over or he has fallen with it. Some files are scattered on the floor.

He sits there and stares in front of him without the willingness or ability to get up. The emergency doctor who is called cannot make an ad hoc diagnosis. He administers first aid.

Due to the incoherent babbling and slurred speech, a vascular occlusion is suspected. He is given vasodilator and blood-thinning medication and is examined in hospital for five days without the slightest finding.

He still walks with a sluggish gait like an old man and cannot follow a conversation. His immobility is striking. The uncoordinated babbling he utters shocks his wife, who only appears for brief visits to bring laundry, etc.

This goes on for a week as an inpatient and another three days.

When the doctors are unable to make a diagnosis, the hospital's social services department obtains a cost approval from his private health insurance company and he is referred to a psychosomatic clinic.

Once there, he can't tolerate the medication. His new friend "Zyprexa" simply has too many side effects.

He is being switched to Atosil. It's a little better with that. Three months' stay is initially planned.

He can't cope in the wood workshop. He can't work with wood. He goes to the model making department. That works better.

He speaks up more and more often during therapy sessions. He even argues with the therapists, which doesn't exactly increase his popularity with the staff. He discusses the therapeutic guidelines and questions the therapists' repetitive phrase, "You live in the here and now".

Doesn't such a therapist actually understand that the present and the future and the past are a puzzle made up of different pieces and that none of this has anything to do with asking questions about the meaning of past events?

How stupid are these therapists really? He gets angry.

He is discharged after ten weeks.

He must promise to reduce the medication only in consultation with the doctor providing further treatment or not to discontinue it abruptly, but to "balance it out".

He is gradually making plans to return to his office. At the moment, he is still at home.

The bar association has appointed a representative for these months. Of course, he has done next to nothing or only the bare minimum, and the large amount of money he has to pay for him - because the costs are of course not covered by the bar association - is unlikely to be compensated by anything of value.

He very quickly rejected the idea of not practicing his old profession at all.

That's just not possible. He has to pay far too much.

He sets off on foot and by public transport one day to go to his office. He can't drive yet.

The TR6 is in the garage. He has polished it and ordered a new soft top.

He turns back halfway.

Two days later, the next attempt.

He almost reaches the front door of the office.

But 40 meters are still missing.

He turns back after all.

But this is already a further development. At first he couldn't leave the house at all. After he abruptly stopped taking the medication against the advice of his doctors, of course, these disgusting anxiety attacks returned. He had to gradually practise leaving the house again.

Only 100 meters away from home.

Then 200, 500 meters and one kilometer. This gradual increase worked quite well.

The private daily sickness allowance insurance (loss of earnings insurance) stops payments after just three months. It claims that it is no longer responsible because he is unable to work. He should submit an application for occupational disability. In this context, he is constantly receiving calls from an insurance representative of the private daily sickness allowance insurance company. He keeps pestering him about when he will finally be well again. It had already been far too long that his earnings had to be compensated. In particular, he is asked to go to a medical examiner at the insurance company to prove that he is not unfit for work and that he still has a prognosis of recovery.

The lawyer recalls that, when asked, he himself repeatedly advised clients not to take out such insurance policies because only the insurer makes money from them in the medium and long term.

He finally manages to visit the office. He allows the representative appointed by the bar association to hand over the files. He receives information about the status of the individual files and resolves to return regularly. First two, then four hours a day, then all day.

He threw his pills in the bin weeks ago, against all medical advice.

He learned simple meditation techniques from a guidebook. His job has always made it impossible for him to do this. After some initial difficulties, it works quite well and he takes time out twice a day for 45 minutes to clear his head and put the techniques into practice.

In the past, he would have felt guilty about something like this, "stealing an hour and a half of the client's working day and not being available at all". Today, he is unperturbed by his employee's full phone note about unanswered calls. He almost feels something like schadenfreude because he was not available during the self-imposed time off.

The experiences of the last few months are too vivid. He doesn't want to experience anything like that again.

Chapter 9

The relationship of the judge's son

Kevin (Chapter 1), the judge's son, has been living with his partner for three years. He himself is studying theater and drama in his sixth semester. His wife Andrea is one year older, namely twenty-seven years old and a primary school teacher.

The two get on well, even though everyday life is now "eating" them both.

One evening, they are sitting in front of the TV watching a game show on RTL. The idea is that four husbands have to climb up a climbing wall, complete other tasks on the way to the corresponding height of several meters, complete a task once they reach the top and then climb down again. Of course, everyone does this as quickly as they can, with the wives standing at the bottom, coaching and each having made a bet as to who will be first or in what time the respective husband will complete the tasks.

The TV sofa crunches due to the consumption of pretzel sticks and pretzels, while the judge's son's wife casually declares almost tonelessly during a commercial break (sound turned to zero during the commercial break): "I want a child."

That has an effect.

Dead silence in the room. The judge's son looks at his wife as if she came straight from Mars, Jupiter, Kepler or some other planet.

He begins to stammer awkwardly.

"How to pay, my studies, don't feel mature yet" etc. etc. pp.

A discussion develops. The woman explains that although she is employed as a primary school teacher, she is not yet a civil servant and therefore earns less, she would be able to support both or three people at the beginning. He could finish his studies in peace.

This is only good for Kevin to a limited extent.

Although he feels a little flattered that his partner thinks so highly of him that she has even chosen him to be the father of her children, none of this changes the fact that he is completely overwhelmed.

He brakes, but without really saying "no". After all, he doesn't want to put her off. In the end, they both postpone the consideration until the weekend.

The next few Sundays all follow the same pattern. Just after the first morning coffee, his partner brings up the subject while he slows down.

She garnishes the arguments with a wide variety of aspects (biological clock is ticking, her parents are also building up pressure etc. pp).

She rejects his concerns that the whole thing might not be too planned.

This goes on for about five months ("cycles") without any results. Corresponding "efforts" are also already taking place eagerly, while contraceptives are no longer being used. All this, however, after five cycles without any results. Andrea goes to the gynecologist and has herself examined. Result: everything is fine, no findings. Further result: it must be her husband's fault.

Another evening of television.

RTL program is on, regularly interrupted by horribly annoying commercials in which the viewer is manipulated in a hammering manner to buy, consume or do something specific. All of this is interrupted by previews of various films, series, streaming options and much more.

In the evening, the woman brings up the subject that he should see a urologist and give a sperm sample. When Kevin refuses, Andrea pulls out all the stops.

"As long as it's more important to you to avoid embarrassment than our family future, that's a very bad thing" etc. etc.

And finally, he can't reject her justified desire to have children - without good reason, because she even wants to continue working after the child-raising year, and grandma and grandpa will even help. So it will probably be because he "doesn't want to take responsibility" etc. etc. pp.

This way of "arguing" does not remain without effect over the months.

They "practise" again. However, pregnancy does not materialize for months.

The second line on the window of the rapid test from the pharmacy just won't show up.

Finally, the potential mother calculates the conception days and has the intended father show up on three days of the week (she has even calculated the time) for the scheduled act of conception. "Scheduled fucking", so to speak. Kevin goes along with this too. He is amazed that he can manage it at all (these efforts are also in vain).

"OK," thinks Kevin, "so it's not possible without a visit to the urologist."

He is given an appointment the following week. After 20 minutes of waiting, one of the two young doctor's assistants (both not unattractive) calls him out, leads him to a cubicle, hands him a cup and four pornographic magazines. He is told to let her know when he is "ready".

Kevin disappears into the cabin.

Now it's in.

But not only in the cabin.

Also in an event automatism of which he can no longer reconstruct how he actually got into it.

Always remember - and this is his motto in life anyway - whatever you are doing, what you are doing.

The inner voice repeats the sentence.

Other voices join in.

A veritable chorus repeats the aforementioned admonition.

Kevin leaves the cubicle and, with a casual wave of his hand, throws the cup and the notebooks onto the reception desk. The cup clatters down the top and ticks on the table, causing the two young doctor's assistants to recoil in horror, expecting to get a whitish liquid.

But the cup is dry as a fart.

In the doorway, Kevin looks back once again. He realizes that both young medical assistants are not as attractive as he first thought when he entered the doctor's surgery.

On the way out - the practice is on the second floor - and going down the stairs, he thinks about how this would actually have been billed according to the medical fee schedule. What does a doctor charge according to the GOÄ (scale of fees for doctors) when he sends a patient into the cubicle for a wank? He leaves the answer to himself, but is a little annoyed that he didn't ask the doctor.

That evening at home, Kevin lets the cat out of the bag on the same TV sofa in the living room. The catalog of accusations is immediately intoned by his wife and won't stop anytime soon.

In the same breath, his wife declares their separation.

Kevin leaves the apartment like a beaten dog.

"All because I only loaded practice ammunition?" he thinks to himself.

Chapter 10

Another lunch in the judge's family

The family reunites (chapter 1). The son of the house is also present. There is roast beef with potatoes and cauliflower. The conversation ripples along. The family talks about this and that. Kevin finally returns to the topic from the last time.

Son: "Father, what about the wrongful convictions?"

Father: "What do you mean?"

Son: "Do they happen or not?"

Father: "Not to be ruled out. Wherever people work, mistakes are made."

Son: "But they pile up over time."

Father: "Of course not. I work carefully."

Son: "I still can't understand why you didn't acquit the defendants we talked about last time. It's not that you're not working carefully or that I suspect you are."

Father: "What about?"

Son: "You feel guilty because you know that you have made wrong judgments."

Father: "I don't understand. What do you mean now? At the moment in question, that's the trial you've been talking about the whole time, I was convinced that my judgment was correct. It's called the epitome of the trial. It is to gain a conviction about the conviction or non-conviction of the offender, which cannot be one hundred percent certain, but which silences all conceivable doubts. That is the definition."

Son: "That sounds great. But I'll explain to you why the frequency of wrongful convictions increases with every criminal judge."

Father: "I'm curious."

Son: "Due to the number of years you have been in the profession, you will accuse more and more defendants unjustly and thus condemn them. You do this to get rid of your own feelings of guilt."

Mother: "Juuunge ..."

Son: "That's basic psychology, father. You can even read about it on the internet."

Father: "It doesn't sound like that."

The mother becomes thoughtful.

Son: "It's quite logical. You feel guilty because you realize that you've made a whole series of wrong judgments. You didn't know any better. You believed the witnesses and as the years go by, you become more and more unsure whether that was always right."

Father: "You know a lot about the work of a judge."

You can't miss the ironic undertone in his voice.

Son: "Due to the number of wrong judgments, you have built up more and more feelings of guilt."

Father: "Soso."

Son: "And do you know the best way to compensate for feelings of guilt?"

Father: "You're about to tell me."

Son: "By increasingly switching to blaming others."

Father: "What does that mean?"

Son: "Quite simply, you will accuse more and more defendants unjustly and therefore also convict them unjustly in order to get rid of your own feelings of guilt."

Once again, the Sunday mood is completely ruined.

The judge's face petrifies.

The mother picks up the board.

While clearing the dishes, the mother thinks that there might even be something to it. Could this lead to a situation where judges tend to convict defendants rather than acquit them? "In dubio contra reum", so to speak. She quickly rejects the idea. These discussions between father and son lead nowhere. Nevertheless, they are held again and again and again.

Chapter 11

The KOK

KOK is the abbreviation for criminal superintendent.

The KOK (Tobias) is the interrogator responsible for Hassan. He is to record Hassan's statement comprehensively in preparation for the indictment and also inquire into the background.

Hassan is currently not making use of his right to refuse to testify as a defendant.

The KOK is already over thirty years old.

He could become a chief detective inspector (KHK) in just a few years if he didn't have so many black marks in his personnel file. In view of some stubborn professional attitudes and some serious investigative mishaps, his regular promotion may be in jeopardy.

And he has another problem: he sometimes sympathizes too much with the accused. He always wants to help them instead of convicting them. He simply feels too sorry for some of them.

Added to this is the slow processing of files. None of this makes life any easier for him in his job.

He is currently biting his teeth out on Hassan.

He simply won't say what he did with the proceeds from the embezzlement and fraud, around 40,000 euros, or even a little more.

Hassan has no expenses. He lives at home, doesn't have to pay board, hasn't made any expensive purchases and isn't addicted to gambling or drugs. It's growing out of him, but you just can't get anything out of Hassan.

The KOK wants to help the likeable young Turk somehow (a fact that the gas water fitter also fell for).

For this reason, Tobias initially handles the case slowly and summons Hassan for questioning for the third time. In the meantime, however, inquiries and reminders from the public prosecutor's office about where various files are, when they have been completed and why the deadlines are always exceeded are piling up. At some point, the KOK's superior has had enough. He confronts him.

He allows a voluntary inspection of his home.

Nothing is found in the apartment, but there are sixty unfinished files in the cellar. Another thirty in the trunk of his car. The resulting delays in the proceedings are considerable. In Hassan's case, too, there was a delay in proceedings of easily three months.

The KOK is suspended from duty pending further clarification and a decision. He is applying for a transfer. No decision has yet been made on this.

Tobias is thinking that if he is fired, he will take his case against the dismissal to the administrative court in Gelsenkirchen.

Chapter 12

A tempting offer?

Chief Public Prosecutor S., Detective Superintendent B. and Detective Director Z. begin to take an interest in Hassan (chapters 5, 7).

Hassan is unemployed after serving his sentence. He lives for the day and is busy trying to kill it somehow. One day, his cell phone rings with a suppressed number.

A male caller asks if he could meet up with Hassan.

Hassan: "Why? Who are you?"

Caller: "It doesn't matter at the moment. So are you free or not?"

Hassan becomes curious. His life is not particularly eventful at the moment, and financially everything is completely ruined anyway.

The course of his last employment relationship before his imprisonment is anything but a reference for the future.