Page 38 of Nothing Watching

It was daytime. That meant he’d need to take extra precautions, but he was ready, and he had them, and he knew he could make this work.

He rushed over to the closet and quickly pulled on what he needed, what he knew he must use to protect himself, because the kindly shadows of night would not do it. Not this time.

And then, with his heart soaring and hope flaring inside him, he hurried out and followed the woman.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

Suddenly, it felt as if possibilities were exploding in this case. Juliette felt motivated that they had a suspect, Heinrich Carter, who was hiding in Germany and claiming diplomatic immunity to evade the charges against him from his time in the US. And now, before heading to him, they had the chance to find out about critical evidence at the scene. Evidence they could hopefully use to pinpoint Carter.

“Where can we meet?” Juliette asked Fischer.

“We can meet wherever you are in Berlin. I am getting into my car now, at our police station,” Fischer said. She sounded more harassed than Juliette remembered from last time, and she found that worrying. What was going on? Why was this meeting even needed, and why couldn’t Fischer just send the information? There must be a reason, and as urgent as it was going to be to find Carter, this took priority.

“I’ll send you a pin drop and meet you outside the police station where we are now,” Juliette said. She sent the pin drop and Fischer responded within a beat. “Five minutes.”

“Right.” Hanging up, Juliette turned to the others. “I need to meet with Fischer first. And then from there, we can go straight on to Heinrich Carter.”

“I’m going to research all the places that Heinrich Carter might be while we’re waiting for Fischer,” Sierra said. “He’s a fugitive. He might not be the easiest to find.”

But, having already tracked one suspect via their phone while on this case, Juliette felt confident about Sierra. She had grown to trust her ability. In the hacking and research sides, she was unsurpassed, and it could often give them a substantial lead.

“Good plan. And let’s also see if we can get more information on Carter’s diplomatic immunity. We need to know if we can even touch him legally,” Juliette said. “Let’s make the most of this opportunity and get ahead of the game.”

The team nodded in agreement, and they quickly dispersed to carry out their respective tasks. Juliette waited outside for Fischer, watching as the bustling city carried on around her.Tourists were strolling down the opposite street, looking intrigued at being in this off the beaten track destination. A few locals were walking in and out of a butcher’s store opposite, which was doing a brisk trade, and the smell of sizzling sausages wafted across the street from the restaurant next door.

And then, earlier than she’d expected, Fischer pulled up and got out of her car. She hurried over to Juliette purposefully.

“Morning. I have some bad news for you,” she said briskly. With a clench of her stomach, Juliette knew that her instincts had been right. Fischer had come here to deliver a bombshell.

“Our chief of police is pressuring us to take over the case again,” she said in a low voice. “He’s saying that the FBI is not equipped to handle it locally, and that it’s become too much of a political issue. He wants us to take it back, with him in charge.”

Juliette felt the weight of the news like a punch to the gut. They had been making progress, and she didn’t want to lose control of the investigation now. Apart from that it would delay things, and waste time, it would be disastrous for the task force to be taken off a case. The authorities would complain they’d been ineffective. This could go very badly for them in the long term. But she knew how politics worked. At a high level, there might be no way to argue. Even Ebury might not be able to intervene.

Thanks to their earlier conversation, Juliette knew there were problems within Fischer’s department. She and her team were doing their best in spite of their boss, and not because of him. Juliette guessed this interference from the boss was inevitable. It fit in with the type of character he was, and the objectives he had to take the credit for himself.

“What can we do?” Juliette asked, hoping that Fischer was firmly on their side.

“I will do what I can to stall the chief for a while longer, but I cannot guarantee anything, because he might escalate it, and then we are sunk. We need to get something soon. I wanted to give you a heads-up, so you can prepare your arguments for why your team should continue to handle the case. Make sure you have all the evidence you need. And be prepared to fight,” Fischer said, her voice firm.

“An arrest will be the best argument there is,” Juliette said.

“Agreed. So, let me share the forensic reports. Let me tell you about these gray hairs,” Fischer said, reaching into her car and handing Juliette a printed page. “The hairs are more than likely from a man. They are naturally gray, so we now have an age bracket for our killer, who would be probably over fifty years old. But although there is DNA obtainable from the sample, we have no match for it on file. So our suspect does not have a criminal record—in Germany, at least. He may have one elsewhere,” she said.

“Thank you,” Juliette said. This was very useful information.

She scanned the page quickly, her mind racing with possibilities. A natural gray hair meant that their suspect was not dyeing his hair to conceal his age. That was a valuable clue.

“You need to work fast,” Fischer implored.

“We will work quickly,” Juliette promised.

Fischer nodded and got back into her car. Juliette watched as the car pulled away, feeling a sense of urgency. At any moment, the political wheels could turn, and the chief could take over the case and potentially sabotage their investigation for his own reputational gain.

She put the page in her purse and headed back into the police station, returning quickly to the small office where Wyatt and Sierra were working. They were both still there, and she sensed an atmosphere of feverish stress in the way Sierra was attacking her computer keyboard.

“We have DNA information on the hair. Naturally gray, but the suspect it belongs to has no criminal record in Germany. He might elsewhere,” Juliette said.

“Heinrich Carter is fifty years old,” Sierra said. “That puts him smack bang in the ballpark.” She frowned at her screen again.

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