The Legend of The “Grau Kiefer” Inn Read online

can confirm? My family and colleagues.’” she supposedly mocked the questioning.

  I did not say a word, crossed my arms and waited for her to continue.

  “What I did was, I visited each of the households and arranged a meeting time with the whole family under the notion that they are all suspects of a murder investigation. Knowingly, I also did not reveal whether the other three families were approached in the same manner. Instead, I forbade them to discuss that with anyone else.”

  “I highly doubt that stopped them from talking.”

  “It didn’t matter,” she explained. “I just wanted to create an illusion that the police was tightening the loop. Anyway, I started with visiting the Bergs family first. They seemed to be the most laid back and friendly bunch. I remember, when I approached their house, Elēna greeted me with a kind smile and showed me the way to their living room, where Uldis and his two teenage daughters were already sitting around the table. They all looked like typical countryside folk – simple, comfortable clothing. No makeup, manicure, pedicure or dental plan for that matter. But I do recall Elēna asking me: ‘Would you like some coffee or tea?’ Among other kind gestures. I declined. Instead, I pulled out my dictaphone and informed them that this conversation will be documented for evidence.”

  “Did you also wonder how cold must you be towards them to penetrate their wall of politeness?”

  “I did not,” Rebecca answered with a stern face. “Here, put one earphone in your ear and listen.”

  The prison guard noticed the recorder and the earphones, and, seemingly dissatisfied, began to march in our direction. However, his plan, whatever it might have been, was stopped by Rebecca, who pulled out her police badge and used it to wave the man away. Meanwhile, I had to turn my head away, so that the guard wouldn’t see the giggle I had to contain as I put in the earphone.

  At first, I heard nothing but static noise, then, after roughly seven seconds, the beginning of the recording was marked by a sound of a woman clearing her throat and Rebecca beginning the conversation:

  Rebecca: ‘First thing’s first. I don’t think I’ve ever been introduced to these young ladies.’

  Uldis: ‘This is Dace and this – Līna.’

  (Indistinct greetings)

  Uldis had a very soft, but clear voice.

  Rebecca: ‘Nice to meet you, girls. What do you think about the killings?’

  Either Dace or Līna: ‘Scary.’

  Rebecca: ‘Yeah, I suppose they are. And your friends, schoolmates? What do they say?’

  Dace or Līna: ‘I get like a million texts a day, asking about any news and stuff.’

  Līna or Dace: ‘Yeah, me too.’

  Elēna: ‘I think we all get questioned a lot these days. At least the news reporters have stopped coming by that often.’

  Elēna’s voice sounded somewhat distant, but vigorous nonetheless.

  Rebecca: ‘I hope that us arresting the killer will make them focus on that, not the families. You all seem like a very positive bunch, but I suppose even you want peace from this all.’

  Uldis: ‘As believers of Christ, we trust our Christian values and don’t let anger get the better of us. That’s all. Besides, my wife and I know that the best way to teach these values to our offspring is by example. As wonderful as my two angels are, they are still very, very young.’

  Elēna: ‘We know that journalists are just doing their job, so we are patient.’

  Rebecca: ‘That’s admirable! I don’t think I could ever muster that much patience. But now I must ask you some questions related to the murders.’

  Elēna: ‘Of course.’

  Rebecca: ‘Please each account for your whereabouts between 14:00 and 16:00 on the 28th of August. Please, be as specific as you can.’

  Uldis: ‘Oh, You and your college already asked us about that and we told you, I think.’

  Rebecca: ‘My college, informally, wondered about your whole day. I’m now formally making inquiries about a specific two-hour gap.’

  Uldis: ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply disdain. It’s been a while, and my memory of that day has somewhat faded.’

  Dace or Līna: ‘My sister and I, we volunteered to help renovate our classroom at school. We stayed there until our dad picked us up in the afternoon.’

  Uldis: ‘That was that day? Then I know, where I was. I was hunting teal – since early morning till I went to pick up my girls.’

  Rebecca: ‘Can anyone confirm that?’

  Uldis: ‘I took some pictures that I sent to a monthly hunting magazine two days later. They are publishing an interview with me and asked if I can send them some pictures. Let me get my phone.’

  Rebecca: ‘For audio reference, I’m being shown a picture of two dead ducks put on a newspaper dated with the twenty-eight of august.’

  Uldis: ‘Duck is a very broad term. That’s teal. That day I got a couple of them. They are quite tricky to shoot.’

  Rebecca: ‘Okay. I’m not that familiar with ornithology. Are you an experienced hunter?’

  Uldis: ‘I’ve been hunting for, what? Twenty years at least!’

  Rebecca: ‘And teals are your speciality?’

  Uldis: ‘No, not at all. I follow the hunting seasons… Teal season began on the second Saturday of August at 16:00 and I still hadn’t tried to get one.’

  Rebecca: ‘And how about you?’

  Elēna: ‘I was at home, cleaning and making dinner.’

  Rebecca: ‘I suppose, there’s no one who could confirm it?’

  Elēna: ‘I guess not.’

  Rebecca: ‘That’s unfortunate. By the way, I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around your idea of giving up your share of the hogweed field.’

  Elēna: ‘As we’ve said before. It’s more trouble than it’s worth. Besides, if there’s someone, who can make genuine use of it, we will be glad. We earn enough to sustain us, and that’s all the money we need. Money sparks greed and greed is a sin.’

  Rebecca: ‘I understand. That will be all. Thank you for your cooperation’

  Rebecca switched off the recording.

  “Really?” I asked.

  “What?”

  “You understand that money sparks greed and greed is a sin?” I teased her.

  “That’s being polite! They are pretty serious Catholics. I noticed all of them wore cross necklaces and have all kinds of religious items scattered around the house.”

  “I know, I know,” I tried to put us on the same page. “It’s just that I know a bit about your spending habits. How much money you left on the counter at the last party?”

  “None of your damn business! At least I can live my life the way I please. Can you?”

  I responded with a dry laugh.

  “So, can we get on with the case?”

  “As you wish.” I answered. Yet, I did not like her previous remark. It bugged me and made me recall all the other unpleasant pieces of information Rebecca had recently shared with me.

  “Now, the article on Uldis Bergs was indeed published, it’s boring. But they didn’t use that duck image for it. Anyway, this was the longest recording. Apine insisted that if I wanted to question her and her husband, I should officially take them to the police station. Of course, I couldn’t do it because I was putting on an act and didn’t have legal grounds to do so. Meanwhile, the other recordings, which actually took place, are fairly short, but we can listen…”

  “By the way, I fail to understand how could the children be more resilient and get further away from the place they were released in than the adults?” I interrupted her.

  “Ah, yes,” Rebecca exclaimed. “I made inquiries about that myself. There are two options, I think, that could explain it. As you know, it’s not actually hogweed that causes blisters and burns, but the ultraviolet rays from sunlight, which come in contact with the part of skin that has touched the plant.”

  “Are you suggesting that some of the victims were brought to the field on dull days?”

  “O
r at night since there were only three cloudy days in Tukums area that month.”

  “And the other possibility?” I asked.

  “The children were overdosed with painkillers; they don’t know what hogweed is, so they march further without feeling the horrific pain.”

  I shook my head.

  “Why not?” She puckered her forehead.

  “Even if they couldn’t feel the pain, they must have seen what is happening to their skin. Plus, if the stuff gets in one’s eyes, it can cause blindness, which inevitably happened because all the children are much shorter than the plant.”

  “Then, you are assuming the dull day scenario?”

  “No,” I shook my head again. “Night. The man was dumping his victims there at night. That interlocks well with my theory of a low self-esteemed coward. Furthermore, there’s just more sense in committing crime at night.”

  “Didn’t you do a fair share of your crimes in broad daylight?” Rebecca grinned.

  “... Except for the adults.” I thoughtfully mumbled.

  “Sorry, what?”

  “Oh, I mostly did break-ins on daytime because everyone assumes perpetrators are always wearing a mask, sneaking and nervously looking around. Meanwhile, a man, who leisurely tinkers around a lock, while humming a song, seldom registers as a threat or subject of suspicion to passers-by. That doesn’t work when harming other people – they scream, resist and draw attention.”

  “Smart.”

  “I know!”

  “You were saying something about adults?”

  “Huh?” For a second I was puzzled.

  “Just before the Introduction to Criminality.”

  “Indeed! I was wondering why the adults weren’t dumped during the