Page 40 of Nothing Watching

“Mr. Carter used to work in America,” she said carefully, hoping her words were vague enough to not arouse suspicion while still giving this dragon the information she needed.

Unfortunately, it was the wrong thing to say.

“You are looking to speak to him because of those trumped up charges? They were nothing more than a smear campaign!” she said angrily.

Juliette was taken aback by the receptionist’s sudden outburst, and also her knowledge of the crimes. She quickly tried to defuse the situation. “Ma’am, we’re not here to discuss past allegations, although they might be relevant. We need to speak with Mr. Carter regarding the current investigation, and we must do this as soon as possible.”

The receptionist looked skeptically at them for a moment longer, but then sighed and picked up the phone on her desk. She dialed a number and spoke rapidly in German. After a moment, she hung up and gestured for them to follow her.

“He’s in a meeting right now, but I’ll take you to his office,” she said, leading them down the hallway.

Juliette exchanged a quick glance with Sierra and Wyatt. They were getting closer, but still not close enough.

They arrived at a door with “H. Carter” engraved on a brass nameplate. The receptionist knocked sharply and opened the door without waiting for a response.

Inside, to Juliette’s dismay, was not Heinrich Carter, but instead, another gray-haired secretary who could have been the receptionist’s older and worse-tempered sister.

“There are some police officers here to see Mr. Carter,” the receptionist said brusquely, before turning and marching back down the hallway.

The older secretary looked up from her computer screen with a frown. “Mr. Carter is currently in a meeting and cannot be interrupted,” she said in a clipped tone.

Juliette could feel the tension rising in the room. They had come all this way and now they were being blocked at every step. She needed to think fast.

“This is police business, and it’s in relation to the murders in Berlin,” she said. “Mr. Carter is a person of interest to us because of his past history with the American police. If Mr. Carter is not available, then we’ll need you to give us his calendar and his movements over the past few days, to see if we can clear him that way. Where is he? Through that door?” There was only one other door in the room and she was now eyeballing it with a view to bursting through.

“His history?” The secretary sounded incredulous. “That was two years ago and it was blown out of all proportion! Do you not think that we, the German government, did not obtain his side of the story?”

“What was his side?” Wyatt asked, sounding interested.

As she did in these cases, Sierra was not asking questions, but was keeping a couple of steps behind, with her phone open. Juliette knew she’d be ready to confirm anything that needed quick online research.

The secretary folded her hands. “He got involved in a fight between his assistant and her boyfriend, who came onto the premises illegally and drunk. He started assaulting her, and Mr. Carter stepped in to try and defend her. He managed to injure the boyfriend, and police were called. However, the boyfriend was angry, and he later persuaded the assistant to report Mr. Carter for assault. We are naturally opposing those charges. Lawyers are involved. Mr. Carter deserves to be cleared, without being forced to travel back to America as a criminal.”

Juliette drew in a thoughtful breath. That did present a different version, and explained why so far Germany had resisted the extradition charges.

“Thank you for telling us that,” she said. “But we still need to speak to Mr. Carter, regardless of his past history. If he’s innocent, he has nothing to worry about.” She glanced again at that closed door, which seemed to be calling to her.

“He is in a meeting, and not on the premises,” the secretary said, dashing her plans. “His meeting is at the city sewerage plant. It is an organized meeting, and he is there with several city officials and the repair crew. He’s been there since early this morning, and in fact, called me just an hour ago to say it was taking longer than he’d expected.”

Juliette felt her heart sink. They had wasted too much time already, and now they had to make their way to the sewerage plant.

“Did he have any meetings in his calendar after hours, for yesterday evening, or either of the two previous nights?” she asked. This wasn’t ideal, but if the proof on the calendar gave them a chance to either rule him out or solidify his status as a suspect, then it would be worthwhile.

Reluctantly—or so Juliette perceived it—the secretary checked the diary.

“I do see here that he had something,” she said. “Two nights ago, he was out of town. He left the office at five p.m. and he took the train to Dresden. There was a conference in that city which he attended, and I booked him a hotel trip overnight. The conference was a government function and he was confirmed as attending on the register. If that helps you?” There was a hint of challenge in her gaze.

Juliette’s mind was racing. If Heinrich Carter had left town the night of that murder, then he would have had an alibi. An alibi for one night meant he wasn’t the killer. The killer had been in town every night.

It was enough to rule him out, even though she wanted to know more about that alibi.

But then, from her jacket pocket, her phone started ringing loudly.

Excusing herself, she turned away, seeing to her surprise that it was Fischer calling once more.

She picked up hurriedly. Another call so soon after the last meeting didn’t promise to be good news, and she was worried the political situation had escalated, but she guessed there was always the chance of a breakthrough.

“Agent Hart, we have a big problem,” Fischer said, sounding tense but excited. “There has been a new development in the case. An attempted murder has just occurred. We are at the scene now. How fast can you get here?”

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