“Unbelievable.” Ostermann shook his head and looked at Pia. “If I understand things correctly, it means that Tobias’s mother legally owns half of Altenhain.”
“Precisely.” Pia nodded. Before them on the table lay the three-page last will and testament of Wilhelm Julius Terlinden, signed and notarized on April 25, 1985, in which he disinherited his wife Daniela Terlinden, née Kroner, and his brother Claudius Paul Terlinden. Amelie had handed the document in a thick envelope to an officer before she got into the ambulance that would take Tobias Sartorius to the hospital. The young man had been very lucky. The gun Daniela Lauterbach had used to shoot him hadn’t caused a fatal wound because of its low penetration power. Still, Tobias had lost a lot of blood, and even after the emergency operation he was not entirely out of danger.
“I don’t really understand completely why Wilhelm Terlinden’s will was in Hartmut Sartorius’s possession,” said Pia. “It was drafted only a couple of weeks before he died.”
“That’s probably when Wilhelm first learned that the two had been cheating on him for years.”
“Hmm.” Pia did her best to suppress a yawn. She had lost all sense of time and was dead tired, yet in high spirits. Tobias and his family had been the victims of evil intrigues and the greedy lust for money and power. But thanks to the will that Hartmut Sartorius had kept in his safe, Tobias and his mother could look forward to a relatively happy ending, at least financially.
“Go on, get out of here,” Ostermann told Pia. “The paperwork can wait till tomorrow.”
“Why didn’t Hartmut Sartorius ever make this will public?” asked Pia.
“He was probably afraid of the consequences, or maybe he had skeletons of his own in the closet. Somehow he’d gotten hold of this will—most likely not in a legal manner,” Ostermann replied. “Besides, in a village like that, other laws apply. I know all about it.”
“What do you mean?”
Ostermann grinned and stood up.
“Don’t tell me you want to hear my life story now, at three thirty in the morning.”
“Three thirty? My God…” Pia yawned and stretched. “Did you know that Frank’s wife left him? Or that Hasse was friends with the cultural minister?”
“Yes to the first one, no to the second,” said Ostermann, turning off his computer. “Why do you ask?”
“I don’t know.” Pia shrugged. “But we seem to spend more time with our colleagues than with our partners, and yet we know nothing about each other. Why is that?”
Her cell rang with the special ringtone reserved for Christoph. He was waiting for her down in the parking lot. Pia got up with a groan and reached for her purse.
“I’m really having a tough time with this.”
“Now, don’t go getting all philosophical,” Ostermann said from the doorway. “Tomorrow I’ll tell you everything about me that you need to know.”
Pia gave him a weary grin.
“Everything? Really?”
“Sure.” Ostermann switched off the light. “I’ve got nothing to hide.”
* * *
On the short ride from Hofheim to Unterliederbach, Pia’s eyes closed from exhaustion. She didn’t notice when Christoph got out to open the gate. When he shook her shoulder gently and kissed her cheek, she opened her eyes in confusion.
“You want me to carry you inside?” Christoph offered.
“Not a good idea.” Pia yawned and grinned. “Then I’d have to drag the feed sacks myself all next week because you gave yourself a hernia.”
She got out and staggered to the front door. The dogs greeted her with happy barking, demanding to be petted. After she hung up her jacket and pulled off her boots, she suddenly remembered the appointment with the zoning office.
“What actually happened at the meeting today?” she asked Christoph. He turned on the light in the kitchen.
“Nothing good, I’m afraid,” he answered seriously. “Neither the house nor the barn were approved when they were built. And it’s next to impossible to obtain retroactive approval because of the overhead power lines.”
“But that can’t be!” Pia felt like the rug was being pulled out from under her feet. This was her house, her home! Where was she supposed to go with all these animals? She stared at Christoph, shocked. “Now what? What happens now?”
He came over to her and took her in his arms.
“The demolition order still stands. We can file an appeal that will delay it for a while, but unfortunately not forever. And there’s also another little problem.”
“Oh, please no,” Pia murmured, close to tears. “What else?”
“Actually the state of Hessen has the right of first refusal for the property, because at one time an autobahn exit was supposed to be built here,” Christoph told her.
“Oh great. Then I’m going to be dispossessed.” Pia wriggled out of his arms and sat down on the kitchen table. One of the dogs nudged her with his nose, and she patted his head absentmindedly. “All that money I paid goes down the drain.”
“No, no, listen to me.” Christoph sat down facing her and took her hand. “There’s actually some very good news too. You paid three euros per square meter. The state will pay you five.”
Pia looked up in disbelief.
“Who told you that?”
“Well, I happen to know a lot of people. And today I made a lot of phone calls.” He smiled. “And I learned something interesting.”
Then Pia had to smile too.
“If I know you, you’ve already found us a new farm,” she said.
“You do know me well, I’ll admit,” Christoph said, amused, but then turned serious. “The thing is, the vet who used to take care of our animals at the zoo wants to sell his former horse clinic in the Taunus. I went out to see the place a while back, because we were looking for someplace to house new animals under quarantine. The farm isn’t suited for that, but … for you and me and for your animals it would be a dream. I picked up the key today. If you want, we can drive out and see it tomorrow. What do you think?”
Pia looked into his brown eyes. Suddenly she felt overcome by a deep, warm surge of happiness. It didn’t matter what happened. Even if they had to tear down the house and leave Birkenhof. Because she wasn’t alone. Christoph would always stand by her, the way Henning had never done. He would never leave her in the lurch.
“Thank you,” she said quietly and reached out her hand to him. “Thank you, my darling. You’re simply incredible.”
He took her hand and held it against his rough cheek.
“I’m only doing all this because I want to move in with you,” he said with a smile. “I hope you realize that you can’t get rid of me that easily.”
Tears welled up in Pia’s eyes.
“As if I’d ever want to,” she whispered, smiling too.