Chapter 7
He waited.
She looked at him, standing by the door which was ajar.
They couldn't take it anymore.
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The block of flats was surprisingly close to the murder scene. Closer than they had initially anticipated. Frost's private office turned out to be only a few streets away from the Embassy, in a rather secluded, non-touristy residential area of Berlin.
As the inspector met Harry and Nikki just outside the building, she explained to them that they got a call from the landowner, who had called to report a missing person, that of a certain British young lady who had been renting one of the smaller flats. She had not returned for a over a week and getting rather worried, and upon receiving no contact from her cellphone, he eventually phoned the police. The landowner also added that despite all that had happened, it was not unusual for her to be out for several days at a time, due to "work". He assumed that she would be back within 2 or 3 days, which explained his initial hesitation to call the police.
"Doesn't look like much of a murder scene to me," murmured Harry quietly into Nikki's ear, which made her slightly jump. She felt him smirk behind her before entering the flat ahead of her, as she stood in amazement, taking in how calm and untouched the place looked. But appearances can be severely deceiving.
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"So, what did you find? Anything?" asked the inspector, upon meeting the pathologists at the stairs; they were looking for her in turn.
"Yep, a hell of a lot in fact," said Harry, smiling towards Nikki.
"The living room carpet was scraped, indicating struggle against her killer. We found the same type of material under her fingernails. I'm guessing that she was either dragged or she was dragging herself away from something. However that was not where the murder to place," said Nikki.
"How can you make such an assumption," questioned the inspector.
"No blood," said Harry. "Not that we didn't find anything. We found dried blood on the tape and sink, only a little, but nevertheless it's enough to get a DNA test from. The murderer washed away most of it, hide the evidence. It's quite clear that whoever killed her had only one motive, and that was to kill her. The hinge on the front door is slightly broken. He or she barged in, but that door is pretty sturdy. I think her killer was probably a male. I suspect she was immediately put in that bin bag, hence the lack of blood. Perhaps she was killed in the bath tub," said Harry bluntly. Too blunt, thought Nikki.
"Very good to get your opinion. Once we get the DNA result, all will hopefully become much clearer to us. I just had another talk with the landowner, and he told me that that flat was rented by an anonymous member of the Daily Mail. It so happens that Bridges has told me one name that might be useful, somebody Frost mentioned a couple of times. Joe Barnes, head of foreign affairs at the Daily Mail. Bridges wants to talk to you again Nikki. Don't ask, just go. I'm just as ignorant as you are."
Harry narrowed his eyes. Why had Bridges developed such an interest in Nikki? Unconsciosly, he put him arm around her, still trying to read the inspector's passive expression. Nikki stared at the inspector too. Why did she feel like she suddenly couldn't trust this woman?
