Page 28 of Nothing Watching

“I’ll send them through now.” He paused. “Look, I know how stressed you are and that you can’t do more.”

“Yes?” In the process of putting her shoes on, Juliette paused. She was sure there was a “but,” and she was right.

“But I’m under fire from two sides here,” Ebury explained. “We’ve got the situation blowing up on the German side, people are asking why the task force hasn’t yet gotten results.”

Juliette bit her lip. She so badly wanted to justify that there hadn’t been time yet for those sorely needed results, but she knew that it would sound defensive if she spoke that way. So she kept quiet as Ebury continued.

“Then we have the American side, and with two tourists killed in two days, I’m taking heat there. In fact, I haven’t yet gotten to bed. Since midday, I’ve been in nonstop meetings. There are questions being asked that I can’t answer.”

“I’m going to get you answers,” Juliette promised, feeling crestfallen that this situation was now landing so hard on her boss’s shoulders.

“We need a breakthrough, Juliette. And we need it urgently.”

“I understand,” Juliette said, finishing getting dressed. “I’ll be on the scene as soon as possible.”

She hung up the phone and took a deep breath. This was spiraling all the way down into “really bad.” She called the others and gave them the bad news.

“Meet me in the lobby in five,” she said.

As Juliette stepped out of the elevator and into the lobby, she saw Wyatt already waiting for her. A clatter of footsteps on the stairs, and Sierra joined them too.

They looked tired and disheveled, but ready for action. Juliette didn’t waste any time, quickly briefing them on the situation.

“We have another murder, Toula Timonen, and this time, the killer’s picked a German victim. The coordinates for the site have just come through. I don’t know more, so let’s get there and find out.”

The team looked at each other, exchanging worried glances. Juliette continued, “Ebury’s under a lot of pressure from both sides, so we need to crack this case and do it fast.”

They all nodded in agreement, and she could see the others were fully aware that this was a critical moment.

It was so early that even in Berlin, in summer, it was still gray, with only a muted glow on the cloudy horizon signaling that the day was beginning.

They climbed into the car and set off, Juliette speeding through streets that felt eerily quiet at this hour.

Her mind was racing, but she tried to control her thoughts, because until they knew more, they couldn’t identify a potential direction.

“This site is also in central Berlin,” Wyatt said, in a voice that told her he was getting his bearings. “Definitely not as central as the last two crimes, but not far away. More toward the shopping district?”

“Maybe it was due to the warnings?” Sierra asked. “Do you think that could be why he went further out of the center?”

“We don’t know if he starts off with a location or a victim,” Juliette said. “He might do either or both. Perhaps he picks an area, then a victim.”

She had no idea what time this kill would have occurred. Was he out and about in the small hours?

The flashing of police lights ahead told her that they would soon find that out.

She got out of the car, feeling the chill in the air that summer daylight heat might disperse, if the clouds cleared.

At the moment, the scene was strangely isolated. That, Juliette was relieved about.

What were the commonalities with the other scenes?

This was a very deserted area, like the others, and the epicenter of the scene, where the officers were clustered around the body, was halfway behind a big dumpster. That was different; the other bodies hadn’t been hidden, but it might just be where this victim had fallen.

She walked forward, needing to know who had found this body and when.

One of the attending officers looked up and immediately stepped forward. She was surprised to see that it was the young, keen Officer Lehmann. Fischer didn’t seem to be on the scene, but the young detective was there.

“I am so sorry this has happened,” he said to Juliette. “I was hoping that you would solve it yesterday, you attacked it so fast.”

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