Nemesis: Innocence Sold (42 page)

“No, that wouldn’t be possible without Paulsen’s consent. Is that a problem?”

“No. As far as I know, a sound recording will suffice.”

Sandra’s eyes widened in surprise as she watched his final preparations. He winked at her. If all went as planned, some problems would be solved in a few moments. “Keep in mind: just let me do this.”

Her expression showed the beginnings of comprehension. “You are . . .”

“. . . completely fit again,” he said, ending a sentence Sandra would surely have ended differently, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “See you soon.”

“Just a second,” Sandra said. “Watch out for yourself, soldier,” she whispered in English.

Her unreserved trust and understanding made him smile. He saluted casually. “Whatever you command.”

Wegener was visibly irritated when he followed Sandra into the room next door, but Daniel wasn’t going to explain his behavior. The good man, with his two doctorate degrees and his extra psychiatric training, would see soon enough that reality wasn’t always in accordance with the textbooks.

Given these preparations, it wasn’t difficult for him, with an unburdened smile, to open the door to the room where Paulsen was already waiting for him.

At first, he was inclined to agree with Wegener a little. Paulsen’s posture was that of a man who had lost everything. His shouders were slumped, and he seemed able to keep himself upright only with difficulty, but when he slowly raised his head and recognized Daniel, something blazed in Paulsen’s eyes that convinced Daniel that his theory was correct. “What a pleasant surprise. I thought in view of our last encounter, you’d still be in the hospital, or worse.”

“A clear case of overconfidence. A little scratch like that isn’t worth talking about. Actually, I liked our last encounter better: you were wearing handcuffs in police custody.”

“That’s how things sometimes go. And now?”

The room was fairly small and drab and had only a table and two chairs. The carpet and wallpaper were painted in indeterminate beige tones that probably served some deeper psychological purpose. Daniel stepped over to the table and set down the recorder, which he had switched on. “No doubt it’s clear to you that this is not a friendly visit.” As specified by Natascha’s instructions, he reeled off a standard text including the date and their names and nodded slightly when Paulsen agreed to the recording of the conversation.

“Don’t you want to sit down?” Paulsen asked.

“Actually, I was sitting down long enough on the drive over, but all right—if it might accelerate things . . .” Daniel tested the weight and stability of the table while he was adjusting the position of his chair. He grinned at Paulsen. “And now? What was it you had in mind? I’d prefer you confessed to all the crimes without digressions and that I left and had a pleasant afternoon.”

“With your little policewoman?”

Without having intended to, Paulsen had given him a key word for which he had already been waiting. Even if it meant he would have to listen to some critical words later, he would do anything to make Sandra disappear from Paulsen’s radar. “Wrong again. My work for the LKA has come to its end. I’m making an exception today for your sake. Otherwise I’m once again working with my regular partner.” He congratulated himself on having said “partner,” a word with an ambiguous meaning.

His words had the desired effect. Paulsen looked confused. “I thought there was something going on between you and the policewoman.”

“Only a little interim diversion before my normal job starts back up. Where’s this going? I wasn’t planning on discussing my private life here.”

“That’s too bad. I find it very interesting.”

“And I find it to be a waste of time. I’d been counting on at least hearing a story about your extremely domineering father, who you can blame this all on.”

Enraged, Paulsen glared at Daniel. “I had everything until you ruined it—and yes, my father’s largely at fault. It was for his sake that I took on that mission in Kosovo back then. It was hell—violence and weapons everywhere. When I came back after six months, I was a completely different human being. For my business partners, violence was a normal means of getting one’s way, and my bodyguards were men of the same caliber.”

It seemed to Daniel that the floodgates were open, and he asked himself if he might have been wrong about Paulsen, after all. “No one forced you to take part in the violence. Only a man who resists group pressure is really strong.”

“Theory. Nothing but damned theory. It was survival of the fittest there, and I wanted to be on the side of the strong. First, I only watched, and then—” Paulsen broke off.

“And then the excitement you got from watching wasn’t enough anymore, and you went hands-on yourself? With women? Children? Men? Let me guess: when it was a matter of breaking resistance, that’s when it turned you on the most, right?”

Paulsen’s expression betrayed to Daniel that he had hit the bull’s-eye, but the recording device could only record and reproduce Paulsen’s hectic breathing. “You appear to be someone speaking from experience,” he finally said to Daniel.

“True. But my experience comes from the satisfaction of taking creatures like you out of circulation. Are you seriously going to tell me you didn’t know it was wrong and evil to do what you did to your victims? For you it was about power—power not limited to your own perverse games but exerted via a business model you created. It wasn’t money but power exerted through extortion that was of primary importance in that regard. Unfortunately, we will most likely never know how you exploited your knowledge, but I assume you demanded various favors in exchange for your silence.”

Paulsen smiled and leaned back. “That’s a really nice theory, but that’s all it is. Nicely reasoned, and if you were right, that would mean we were more similar than I thought.”

“Similar?” Daniel repeated with a scornful grin. “From the beginning my understanding was that you envied me and wanted to destroy me for that reason.” Again a fire glowed in Paulsen’s eyes, showing Daniel he was on the right track. “I’m everything you’ll never be and possess everything you’ll never have.” He laughed. “Everything’s been said. Every further minute is a waste of time. If you’d like to relieve your conscience, I’ll stay; otherwise, that’s it as far as I’m concerned. I have better things to do than listen to this crap. It makes me sick when guys like you give everyone else the blame instead of standing by the messes you’ve made.” Daniel pushed his chair back and made as if to get up. Now he would see whether his suspicion had been correct. Although he had counted on this, he jerked back when Paulsen’s fist crashed down on the recorder and smashed it to pieces. Before Daniel was standing, the tabletop struck him painfully in the stomach, right over the healing surgical scar. The impact drove the air out of him, and he just managed to stop his instinctive defensive move. Without resisting, he allowed Paulsen to drag him off the chair and spin him around. When he recognized the object in Paulsen’s hand, he cursed, but nevertheless he didn’t resist when Paulsen pressed against him from behind and laid an arm around his throat, at the same time holding the shiv against his throat. The sharp pain made Daniel gasp, but he forced himself to remain calm. The sharpened metal edge was too far away from his jugular to hurt him seriously, and he had some ideas about how he could free himself from the unpleasant grip.

“Your analysis was correct. Breaking resistance and taking the victor’s prize is a lot of fun. Laws only exist for brainless idiots with no money. I’ll enjoy every second with you. And believe this: I’ll easily deal with the consequences. Certifiable insanity and . . . the Latin term wouldn’t mean anything to you anyway, but it will be effective in court. I’ve researched every detail and know exactly what to say and when. But nevertheless you’re now going to pay for every minute I’ve had to spend here.” Paulsen’s left hand slid across Daniel’s body and stopped only when he encountered the Sig under Daniel’s sweatshirt. “Well, what a coincidence.” He released the snap-fastener and pulled the pistol out of the holster. With the gun in his hand, he retreated from Daniel. “Come on, turn around.”

Slowly, Daniel followed the instruction and wiped some blood from his neck. His gaze swept to the mirror, and he hoped Sandra would interpret his hand signal correctly and not interfere. It must be clear to her that Paulsen was behaving exactly as he had expected. “Do you really want to commit another murder?”

“Manslaughter, under extreme emotional distress, and I’m not responsible due to my mental illness,” Paulsen said.

“Wrong. Obviously base motives and complete legal culpability. Also, I can’t believe you’re going to be satisfied with simply shooting me to death. Didn’t your plans look different a minute ago?” Calmly, Daniel observed the effect of his words.

Paulsen’s jaw muscles worked until he produced a kind of grin. “Nice idea. I’ll be able to cover that with mental illness, too.”

“Are you sure? It sounds to me as if you knew exactly what you were doing.”

“But only the two of us know that. Some days ago, I manipulated the microphone carrying sound to the neighboring room so it only transmits intermittently. Really bad luck for you.”

“How long did it take you to make that shiv, by the way? Nice work.”

“Days. Thanks for asking. It was worth it. I simply hoped you would visit me sometime and wanted to be prepared.”

“I’m not a lawyer, but that sounds like premeditation.”

“Who cares? I’m much more interested in who you really are. Come on, spit it out. That will give you a few more minutes before we get down to business.” When Daniel was silent, Paulsen laughed. “A last attempt to play the hero? Fine with me; I don’t care much about the answer. How does it feel to always lose to someone better? You don’t seem to be particularly capable of learning. Now turn around. This is going to be a pleasure.”

Instead of obeying, Daniel raised an eyebrow. “This, then, is what one calls a false perception of reality, Götz.” He intentionally switched to a more familiar tone for the first time.

“You’re so predictable it makes me want to puke. Where have you won? Even when my hands were bound and you were pointing a pistol at me, you did exactly what I wanted. It’s so easy to manipulate you it’s ridiculous. Except for this damned clinic, everything’s gone exactly as I planned.” Daniel lowered his voice to a whisper; the German authorities didn’t need to hear every word. “Your ass is going to land in prison, and that’s where it belongs. Do you seriously think you can point that gun at my head and rape me? Mistake. I’d told you already: you chose the wrong man for your games.” At normal volume, Daniel continued. “Last warning: lay my Sig on the table and give up, or you’ll end up in the prison hospital with a broken arm.”

As expected, Paulsen just blinked; then his rage won, and he pulled the trigger.

There was a metallic click, but nothing happened. Rather than reacting with surprise, Paulsen leapt at him. But this time Daniel didn’t hold back. He blocked the blow and knocked the pistol out of Paulsen’s hand. He followed up with a kick to the stomach. The blow to the upper arm with the edge of his hand was superfluous, but he was in the habit of keeping his promises. With a loud scream, Paulsen grabbed his broken arm and collapsed. Grinning, Daniel took his phone from his pocket. “By the way, this thing can record, too, and since you agreed to the recording of our conversation, the prosecutor will be able to use every word.”

Behind him, the door opened. While Sandra seemed rather amused, Wegener looked at his patient in shock. “I didn’t understand every word, but the general implications were clear to me.”

“You’re welcome to hear the entire conversation if it interests you,” Daniel said. His sympathy for the psychiatrist won out over the satisfying feeling of having been right. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. I had the dubious pleasure of being able to study Paulsen’s authentic methods at close range. Just do me a favor: have my colleagues pick him up and take him where he belongs.”

Wegener nodded. “That will be taken care of in a few minutes, even if I have to deliver the bastard to the prison hospital myself.”

The sun shone on the North German landscape from a cloudless sky, and Daniel couldn’t have been in a better mood. “Why don’t you drive straight to Travemünde? The weather’s ideal for a little joyride.”

“Fine with me,” Sandra said and pushed the Mercedes. “I’d prefer to use the blue light, but I’d better not.”

“Well, I wouldn’t give you away.”

Sandra gave him a sidelong glance. “Speaking of giving things away—why not a little warning next time? I thought I was going crazy when you took the magazine out of the Sig and reprogrammed your phone outside the room. How long had you been planning that?”

“I’d already somewhat planned it when Natascha called me. This morning, Mark assessed the situation just as I had, and then I was sure. I actually wanted to let you in on it, but I was afraid that would lead to an endless argument.”

“Then you should get used to having more confidence in me, Lieutenant. I wouldn’t have tried to talk you out of it.”

“Sorry. I still have to get used to having an equal and very understanding partner.”

“You mean one who even lets it slide when you suggest there’s more between you and Tom than meets the eye?” When Daniel was about to launch into an explanation, Sandra waved it aside. “Leave it. I’m not stupid, and I know what you wanted to achieve. And in a way I’m even grateful to you for getting Paulsen to take me off his list. I hope we’ve heard the last of that guy. He’s repulsive in every way.”

“There’s nothing to add to that. And what are we going to do now?”

“Enjoy every second together. I bet Mark told you this morning when your next mission starts. You really need to work on your poker face. I’d say a fast trip across the Baltic on your boat, and tonight we’ll celebrate Paulsen sitting in prison instead of in the five-star clinic.”

“That sounds good. And we’ll drink to you women having messed things up for some nice people. The method may have been unconventional, but justice prevailed in the end. Shall we invite the entire troop?”