Chapter 2
Steve tried to reach Mel for the sixth or seventh time. In the meantime, it was 9:00 p.m. in Hawaii, and around 9:00 a.m. in Germany, so Mel should have been awake long ago. But his calls always went nowhere. Slowly he began to worry. It was not Mel's way at all not to answer the phone. Restless, he dialed her number again. Again his call was not answered. Steve tried the reception and the house phone, but the call was not answered either.
He scrolled through his contacts, hesitated briefly, then pressed 'call'.
"Steve? Are you all right?"
After the second ring, Mattes answered the call.
"I don't know. I can't reach Mel, the call goes out but she doesn't answer. Last night we were still talking on the phone."
"Maybe she's in the shower?"
"I've been trying since seven o'clock now. There's something wrong."
"That is indeed strange. Where did she get off?"
"The flight was diverted to Frankfurt yesterday. She got a hotel room at the airport."
"Okay, I know someone at the airport, I'll send him over there."
"Thank you, Mattes."
"All good, I'll get back to you."
Twenty minutes later, Police Chief Inspector Markus Frings knocked on Mel's room door.
"Dr. Kinsella?"
After no one answered, he signaled the hotel manager and he opened the door with the central key card. Frings entered the room first. There was no one in the room. Mel's cell phone was connected to the charger on the nightstand. The bed was rumpled, so someone had slept in it. Frings became suspicious when he discovered the clothes neatly folded for the next morning and Mel's prosthetic leg. He pulled out his cell phone and called Mattes back.
"Mattes, something is wrong here. All her things are here, including her prosthesis and her clothes. Her cell phone is still on the charger. I'll lock up here and call C.S.U. When can you be here?"
"Thanks Markus. We are about to leave. I think in two hours we will be on site."
"All right. See you in a bit."
Mattes and Chris were already sitting in Mattes' blue BMW, driving through the heavy rush-hour traffic with special authorization. It wasn't until they got to the freeway that the traffic slowed down a bit. Mattes had delayed his call until here, but he couldn't avoid telling Steve the truth.
"Mattes?" He heard Steve's concern through the phone.
"Chris and I are on our way to Frankfurt. My colleague didn't find Mel in her room. Her things are all still there, though."
He heard Steve gulp.
"What do you mean their stuff is all still there?"
Mattes sighed. There was no fooling Steve.
"Her cell phone, her backpack with papers, her travel bag with clothes and ..."
Mattes did not dare to say it.
"... her prosthesis?"
Quietly, Mattes confirmed Steve's assumption. He could almost hear Steve running his hand over his face.
"I'm coming."
"Steve, now let Chris and I be on the scene first. There's no point in you getting on the plane now. I'll get back to you as soon as we know more."
"Okay, thanks. ... Mattes?"
"Yes?"
"Please find her."