"Are you sure he was hiding here?" They were standing along the gentle slope of the knoll where the grass grew to knee-height and Major Salles was beginning to have doubts as to whether Walther was right all along.
"Of course. This is about 500yards away, which fits the time lapse between the whip-crack and the report we heard over the radio earlier. From here you can see the building where your sniper was hiding. A poor place I may add, for he would have been clearly outlined against the skyline by lying over there. Also, they left behind some indelible signs." Walther started to indicate small details that were almost invisible until he pointed them out. A bent blade of grass, a broken twig and some depressions in the ground spoke volumes about the people who accidentally left them there.
"Daniela, start searching for anything out of the ordinary," ordered Walther. Then he turned to Major Salles. "There are four depressions where they placed their elbows, indicating that we're dealing with two men. I'd say that they planned to shoot a policeman to show that they are above the law. Your sniper was just unlucky."
At that moment, Daniela spotted a wisp of fabric caught on an exposed root. She picked it up and silently handed it to Walther. It was light brown and Walther felt a touch of fear as he examined it. This really did not bode well at all.
"What is it?"
"Major, this is jute. It is grown in some places in the East and is used to make ropes, sacks and the like. More importantly, it is used by military snipers to make ghillie suits. They take their uniform and laboriously sew jute fibres onto every square inch of it. After that they wear it and crawl through a mile of mud, spending most of the time fully submerged in it until their suit is never really clean. Ever. This can take up to a week of suffering and mud, but the result is a disguise that gives you the power to hide in foliage.
"Major, the pair here uses 7.62mm NATO bullets, shoots at ranges up to 500yards or more, even under strong wind conditions and wears ghillie suits. I admit that my initial guess was that they were some Padania crack shots but this means that the two are professionals." Walther paused for this to sink in, and then continued, "Major, I would like to be personally involved in the next operation."
Major Salles was taken aback, for it was not the norm for advisors from other departments to take part in police work. He shook his head, "I thought your role here was to give me advice."
"And I am advising you to let me do it, because right now there is no one else in Italy that can conduct a sniper duel in a built up area with civilians about," Walther said quietly. A long and uncomfortable silence hung in the air between the two men as Major Salles considered carefully what the German in front of him was saying. Finally with a sigh Major Salles relented. "Wise choice. I'll send you a list of things I'll need soon," Walther said to Major Salles as he walked off with Daniela.