Page 30 of Nothing Watching

But now, the police were going to arrive at the university’s front door. Let’s see how fast you can provide the information when my team and I are standing in front of your desk, tapping our feet and refusing to go away, Juliette thought, as they pulled up outside the Arts University of Berlin.

She was struck again by the imposing frontage of this building, with its magnificent pillars and carven frescoes which seemed to look both calm and timeless in the low morning light.

Now, she couldn’t believe they had been so slow to connect this place of learning, where one of the students had been killed, with the printed pages left at the scene.

“We are going to go in strongly,” she muttered to the others as they climbed out of the car. “We are not going to accept any delays.”

They marched inside and headed for the main admin offices.

She knew that the pages themselves were being analyzed by the police as a priority, the complex different steps being rushed through, and she hoped that this would bring answers. But in the meantime, it was the people she was interested in.

The pages were just the killer’s signature, but in these halls, with history in every nook and cranny, she hoped that she would learn more about the human factor.

Juliette strode into the university’s admin offices and went straight to the front desk, where a receptionist looked inquiringly up at her.

“Is the chancellor in yet?” she asked.

It was only just eight a.m. Traffic had been slow on the way into Berlin. They’d spent a frustrating hour caught up in it after leaving the scene.

“I’m sorry, the chancellor is away at a conference in Frankfurt at the moment,” the receptionist replied, looking up at Juliette with a polite smile. “Can I help you with something?”

She was a blond woman, in her thirties, and with the bland, mannerly experience of someone who spent their days fending off unwanted demands on the chancellor’s time.

Taking a deep breath, Juliette showed her badge.

“Yes, we are police, investigating the series of murders that includes one of your students and as of this morning, a third victim. I understand the police have already been in touch, requesting information.”

“Yes, that is correct. We are in the process of providing it,” the receptionist said, sounding defensive.

“Unfortunately, it’s now a matter of extreme urgency. I need a full list of the staff who work at this university, and also the ex-staff, and anyone who resigned or was fired recently. We have some urgent questions and we need to get answers fast,” Juliette said, her tone brooking no argument. “I imagine you would have access to all of this? It should be fairly simple to obtain?”

“Er—yes. I can give you that,” she said uncertainly.

Juliette handed over her card. “I need it within the hour. And in the meantime, I need to speak to the next most senior person in charge, who is here. Who would that be?”

The receptionist raised her carefully groomed eyebrows.

“Well, there’s the deputy chancellor, but he’s in a meeting now,” the receptionist replied, her fingers hovering over her keyboard.

“Get him out of the meeting,” Juliette said firmly. “This is a matter of life and death. If he doesn’t want to talk to us, I’ll go into the meeting and pull him out. Either way, he’s answering our questions.”

The receptionist hesitated for a moment before nodding and picking up the phone. Juliette leaned against the desk, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for the deputy chancellor to come out.

They waited for what felt like an eternity, but was only a few minutes. Finally, a tall, bespectacled man in his fifties approached them, looking harried and disheveled.

“I am Professor Hans Braun, deputy chancellor. How can I assist you?” he asked, his tone curt.

“Professor Braun, we suspect that one of the staff at this university may have been involved in the murders,” Juliette said.

Immediately, the professor was on the defensive.

“And why is that?” he asked.

Juliette wasn’t going to tell him about the signatures. It was a feature of the case that the police had not yet made public, and she agreed with them that this was better kept confidential.

“There is a certain piece of evidence that leads us here,” she said, and now it was his turn to raise his eyebrows.

“This is a large university. We have a huge staff complement,” he said.

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