Greed, page 15
The remains of a fire escape ladder, more like.
Lit by the glow from various windows, Jan could make out its bent and rusting frame. The fire escape was already hanging a couple of feet out at this level, its attachments having been torn from the wall. One storey lower down, the distance was double that and further down the gap grew ever greater. Jan couldn’t see the bottom of the ladder. Did this skeleton even reach the ground? He grabbed one of the struts. It shook and wobbled in the dark, screeching like an ancient windmill. Would the thing actually bear his weight?
‘Jan!’ Fitz was there, holding Jan back. ‘If it is the police, maybe we should just put an end to all this. We can explain everything.’
‘And what if it’s the guy who wanted to haul me into the station?’ Jan said, breaking free. He straddled the sill, groping for the rungs with the tip of his shoe.
Kim and Christo were standing in the kitchen doorway. A woman came into view behind them. The woman from Fitz’s hotel.
FOURTH DECISION
* * *
‘Finally, multicellular and complex organisms emerge. Life itself is a manifestation of this mathematical principle.’
Will Cantor
35
Maya quickly took stock of the scene in the kitchen. The young woman with the black bob whom Maya had seen out in the hallway. Table and chairs – empty, pushed back as if in a hurry. A couple of people standing in the doorway to the next room, one of them the woman who’d been with Black Bob earlier. The two of them staring wide-eyed back at her. As if she’d been expected.
They turned their attention back to the room beyond. Maya tried to get a glimpse of what was going on in there.
It was them! The gambler, definitely. And over by the window, with one leg in mid-air, was Jan Wutte!
Pressing her phone to her ear, Maya whispered, ‘I’ve found them, Jörn! Last flat on the left.’
‘Who are you?’ asked the guy in the doorway. ‘What do you want?’
‘Oh, I’m sorry. I’m Maya, and you are?’
‘Christo.’
‘Are Jan and Fitzroy in there?’
Christo didn’t reply.
‘I just wanted a quick chat,’ Maya said. She went up on her tiptoes and peeped over his shoulder. ‘Ah, I can see them. Jan! Fitzroy! Have you got a minute?’
Unsure of what to do, Christo turned to look at the two men.
Fitzroy Peel came up behind Christo and said something quietly in his ear.
Christo’s expression hardened. ‘You’re police?’
Damn, the rules of engagement had just changed! Before Maya could say anything, Christo asked, ‘Do you have a search warrant?’
‘Are you serious?’ came a roar from behind them. Jörn. ‘Are you taking the piss? You occupy this house illegally and then dare to deny us ac—’
‘Jörn!’ Maya exclaimed.
‘—cess! Where are they? Let us through!’
‘Are you a cop too?’ Christo wanted to know.
Black Bob was now filming from her seat at the kitchen table. The girl with the ringlets was doing likewise as events unfolded around her. Figures appeared in the room behind Christo, their smartphones glowing.
‘Jörn …’ Maya said, trying to pacify her colleague. She gestured with her head to the mobiles and held him back as he attempted to shove past Christo. ‘You’re being filmed,’ she hissed.
‘Am I?’ Jörn shouted. ‘Well, I don’t give a damn.’
‘Jörn …’ Maya pushed him away, but to no avail.
‘Obstructing the police! You’re accomplices to a homicide.’
‘I didn’t kill anyone,’ Wutte shouted from the windowsill. ‘In fact, I was the one who called emergency services. You’re trying to frame me!’
‘Typical,’ one of the people on the couch said.
‘I’ll see you all in jail for aiding and abetting murder.’
He pushed Christo again, harder this time.
What an idiot! He’s getting out of control.
‘Jan Wutte!’ Maya shouted. ‘We only want to question you as a witness.’
‘It doesn’t sound like your colleague has the same idea,’ cried a man who was filming proceedings with his phone.
‘Let’s see your credentials then,’ said the young woman with the black bob.
Jörn stared at her in disbelief.
Maya grabbed his arm. ‘Jörn!’
‘I’ve had quite enough of this,’ he seethed. ‘I want everyone’s ID.’ He patted the pockets of his tracksuit top and then the bottoms.
Maya immediately realized that the moron had left his papers in his uniform. They couldn’t afford to humiliate themselves like this. Maya pulled out her police ID card.
Jörn glossed over his inadequacy with added bluster. ‘Papers, pronto. All of you!’
Maya shut her eyes and sighed. She hated working with imbeciles. Peel hadn’t immediately run for the exit and Christo had seemed willing to talk … until Rambo Jörn barged in.
‘You first,’ Christo riposted. ‘We’ve only seen your colleague’s ID so far.’
Jörn was ready to go wild, but the sight of Maya’s pursed lips defused any further outbursts. Her eyes roamed over Christo’s shoulder and alighted on the open window.
‘Where are Wutte and Peel?’ she cried. ‘And that girl too?’ Miss Ringlets had vanished, and so had Black Bob.
Maya rushed over to the kitchen window. She could see the loose, rusty remains of a fire escape trembling out in the dark courtyard as two figures clambered down the swaying, squeaking metal frame.
Goodness, got suicidal urges, have they? They’d rather climb down that death trap than speak to us? Mind you, after Jörn’s performance …
Or maybe they weren’t as harmless as they made out … There was a crash and several rungs broke off and bounced off the ladder before disappearing into the void with further loud clangs. Then the whole structure broke free.
‘Oh my God!’
The vibrations ripped the ladder from under Jan’s feet. He clung on, the rusty steel cutting into his palms, his legs dangling in mid-air. The screech of metal drowned out his cries. Pieces of iron rained down on them from above, ricocheting off the ladder against the wall of the house and plunging into the courtyard below. Lights came on in several windows. Fitz too had almost been thrown from the ladder and was clinging on with one arm, twisting this way and that, before he managed to grab hold of a rung with the other.
The fire escape’s fall came to a juddering halt, almost loosening Jan’s grip again until he caught hold at the last second. The structure had slipped about three feet down the wall. It was creaking, groaning, rocking and shaking.
We need to get off this thing!
The courtyard was lit down at ground level. The partial collapse of the fire escape had helped them because the bottom of the ladder was now less than ten feet above the concrete. Jan’s descent was more about letting himself drop safely than actually climbing down. He reached the bottom of the ladder, lowered himself until he was clutching the last rung, glanced down and let go.
The landing was hard, even though he broke his fall with a half-somersault. Mentally he checked his body. Ankles, knees, wrists, lower arms, shoulders – all OK. He jumped up.
Fitz landed beside him, and Jan helped him to his feet.
‘You maniac!’ Fitz croaked.
‘Let’s get out of here before the whole thing comes crashing down on top of us!’ Jan said, dragging his friend out of the courtyard and into the stairwell.
Kim was standing there, her hair wild and a savage look in her eyes. Nida was behind her.
‘Come on,’ called Kim. ‘Those two cops will be here any moment.’
Bell was posted some twenty yards from the entrance of the house, with El roughly the same distance away to the right of it. Sam was waiting in the doorway opposite and Jack was waiting in the Range Rover in the street running parallel to the rear of the building.
It was past midnight.
The plainclothes policewoman and her ludicrously disguised partner were still in the building. Their appearance had added a fresh twist to the chase. It was too great a coincidence that they had turned up here after El’s sighting of them at Peel’s hotel – so the police were after them too. El could have done without the competition, but there was nothing he could do about that now.
He ground his teeth in frustration. The targets didn’t have many options. Did they plan to sit tight and spend the night in there? They’d have to come out sometime, so he and his team needed to be ready for that moment.
They were all used to waiting. Guard duty at night in Afghanistan, Iraq or Sudan or anywhere else they’d conducted secret ops. This was a piece of cake compared with their time in the military.
There were still a few lights on inside the house.
‘I think I can see them,’ Jack said via the headset. ‘Yep, they’re coming out of another house. The buildings must communicate. They’re not alone. Four people in total.’
‘Copy. We’re on our way. Keep us posted.’
So they weren’t going to sit tight after all. They might come to regret that decision.
36
Fitzroy sprinted alongside Kim towards Friedrichstrasse with the other two close behind. Occasional heavy drops of rain started to fall from the looming thunderclouds overhead.
‘I hope we won’t be sorry later about helping you like this,’ Kim panted.
‘You won’t,’ said Fitzroy. ‘We haven’t done anything, honest.’ Other than break into a hotel room, although technically we didn’t even do that. We did, after all, have a key card. ‘I’ll tell you another time. Where are we headed?’
‘Follow me.’
Friedrichstrasse. Kim scanned the traffic. The street was still busy, with taxis making up much of the traffic at this hour. Jan peered nervously over his shoulder. There was no sign of the policewoman and her colleague. Kim flagged down a cab and looked back one last time before jumping inside.
Fitzroy suddenly froze. Three hulking dark figures were racing towards them from Reinhardtstrasse. They were definitely not police officers.
‘Move it!’ he shouted, leaping into the car. ‘Fast as you can!’
‘What is it?’ Kim asked.
Fitzroy slammed the door behind them. ‘I’ll tell you later.’ And to the driver, he said, ‘Go, go, go!’
The three silhouettes stopped and stared at the receding taxi. A black SUV pulled up alongside them.
‘Fu—’ hissed Fitzroy, looking out of the back window. Jan had spotted them too.
Fitzroy waved two hundred-euro notes under the taxi driver’s nose. ‘I’ll double this if you get rid of the black Range Rover back there.’
‘What the h-hell?’ Kim stammered.
‘Get rid of it?’ the driver asked. ‘You mean, shake them off?’
‘Yes.’
‘Um, I’ve chased someone before, but shaking someone off …’ He put his foot down.
‘I want an explanation,’ Kim demanded. ‘Now.’
Fitzroy and Jan exchanged glances. Fitzroy nodded. I’ve got this.
‘A friend of mine was murdered tonight,’ he explained. ‘Jan witnessed it, but, as you’ll have gathered, the police suspect him of committing the crime.’
Kim stared at him open-mouthed. It was raining harder now, and the driver turned on the windscreen wipers.
‘Sorry we’ve dragged you into this,’ Jan muttered sheepishly.
‘What about the guys behind us?’ Kim snapped. ‘They’re not police officers, are they?’
Kim would freak out if he said any more, and they could do without that.
‘Something else entirely,’ Fitz said. ‘I owe them money.’
‘You guys are totally …’ Kim cried.
The rain was pouring down now. The taxi driver swerved past a line of cars into the bus lane. The black Range Rover wasn’t allowed to follow, but naturally it did and then found it even easier to close the gap.
‘They’re catching up!’ said Fitzroy, struggling to keep calm.
‘I can see that,’ said the driver. ‘Stick with me.’ He accelerated through a green light. The Range Rover was right behind them now, its headlights spitting sparks from the ricocheting rain.
A flashing blue light and a howl of sirens. A police car screeched out of a gateway behind the SUV and pulled right up to their pursuers’ bumper.
‘Now the police,’ groaned Jan. ‘I’m done for.’
‘Not if you didn’t do anything …’ Kim said, staring out of the back window along with the others. The SUV was lit up in the blue glare.
‘You saw what the man was like,’ Jan said. ‘He doesn’t care. He’d already made up his mind. I could really do without the hassle.’
‘Sorted,’ the driver announced cheerfully.
The Rover fell back and pulled over into a driveway. The patrol car stopped alongside it.
‘They’re not allowed to use the bus and taxi lane,’ the cabbie explained. ‘I knew the police were there. I saw them on my way into the centre. They were sitting there, waiting for someone like those guys.’ He turned into a side street. ‘Where exactly do you want to go?’
‘Drive on a few blocks,’ Fitzroy instructed him, ‘and then stop at the next taxi rank.’ He handed the driver the number of banknotes he’d promised.
Kim looked at Jan and raised an eyebrow.
Jan responded with shrug. ‘He earns a decent wage.’
‘Then he should give those gorillas their money back.’
Fitzroy grinned. This girl sure had the gift of repartee.
‘Shit!’ Maya cursed outside the squat. She was still peering along the street in both directions. ‘They’re gone.’ She took a few steps one way, then a few paces the other. ‘You were a true pro in there,’ she barked at Jörn. Mentally checking that she hadn’t left anything in his car, she added, ‘Better no partner than someone like you. Go on home! Good night!’
‘Oh, come on …’
She turned on her heel and without another glance at her partner marched off towards the hotel on to whose roof Wutte and Peel had climbed. Her jeans were already soaked from the rain.
The cabbie let them out at the next taxi rank. The downpour had subsided to a light drizzle by now.
‘I’m going back to my gran’s,’ Kim said. ‘I stay with her when I’m in Berlin. You can come with me if you need to think about your next move. You can hardly go home or head to a hotel at the moment.’
‘Are you sure?’ Jan asked, stunned.
‘I can’t really leave you at the mercy of that crazy cop.’
Jan ran his fingers distractedly through his hair. ‘Well, yeah, that’d be … cool … Great.’
‘Thanks,’ said Fitz. They could look for a hotel, he thought, and ask one of the girls to show their ID, but it’d be better not to risk it.
‘Are you coming too?’ Kim asked Nida. ‘After everything that’s happened, I’d understand if—’
‘Your brain-teaser …’ Nida said. ‘There’s something about it. I’d like another look in peace and quiet this time, if that’s OK.’
Kim shrugged her shoulders. ‘It’s fine with me and my gran.’
‘The only thing is: how do I get back to Reinhardtstrasse afterwards?’
‘Taxi,’ Kim said, pointing to Fitz with a grin. ‘He’ll pay for it, and to get to my gran’s too.’
Fitz grinned back at her. ‘Fine by me.’
They hopped into another taxi, and Kim gave the address to the driver.
‘Why are you so interested in that story anyway?’ she asked.
‘It’s the last trace we have left of my friend who died,’ Fitz explained. ‘We were hoping it’d provide some clues.’
‘About who killed him? A fable?’
‘From the piece of paper. You were there. At first we had no idea what was written on it.’
‘True,’ she agreed, ‘but now we do, and I don’t see any clues.’
‘Maybe they’re hidden. There’s a history to all this, but it’s too complicated to tell it all right now. Maybe the end of the story will reveal a motive.’
‘For murder?’
‘Who knows?’
‘A nice little challenge,’ said Kim, turning to Nida. ‘Do you have any idea what the outcome of the story might be?’
The rain was falling harder again.
‘The classic solution would be game theory,’ Nida said.
‘This is no time for games!’ Jan blurted out.
‘It’s only partly to do with games or even gambling,’ Nida replied. ‘Game theory deals with how decisions are made when several people are involved. It’s used as a basis for strategizing in all kinds of decision-making processes and conflict situations – from business and societal change to social unrest and warfare.’
‘So why’s it called game theory?’
‘Because it originated in games-related questions and is often still modelled using games. Mathematical models of it do exist though.’
‘More bloody maths!’
‘You might have heard of the prisoner’s dilemma,’ said Nida. ‘That’s the best-known example.’
Jan shook his head.
‘Imagine two criminals are interrogated by the police. They’re in a tricky position – the police can prove they committed robbery, but suspect them of involvement in armed robbery. If both of them stay silent, each serves two years in prison. If they confess to armed robbery, each gets a four-year jail sentence. But if one of them admits to robbery and the other says nothing, the one who confessed will serve only one year if he gives evidence against the other, whereas the second criminal will receive the maximum sentence of six years.’
‘Can they communicate with each other?’
‘That’s a very good and important question. They’re questioned separately and don’t know what the other one has said.’ She crossed her arms, sat back and grinned at the other three. ‘What would you do?’
There was a short silence until Jan said, ‘We’d be fucked.’
‘Why?’ asked Nida.
‘If I spill the beans, I go to jail for only one year. That’s the best outcome for me personally. Unfortunately, the other person’s thinking the same thing, so we both talk. Meaning that both of us confess, and the police lock us both up for four years.’
