“Be that as it may, as you can see, we’re busy here.”
“Donnelly isn’t on shift till tonight,” a policeman from behind the counter said, as he walked by.
“Oh, no!” She caught the policeman’s eye. “This is urgent. I filed a missing person’s case with him last night. And I have a lead on who might have kidnapped my friend.”
The policeman stopped and looked back at her. “Listen, Ma’am, just wait your turn, and somebody will be with you shortly.”
She squeezed through to the counter. “Please, Officer, I can’t wait. Every minute counts. The longer my friend is missing, the less likely it is that we find her alive. Please!” This time, she allowed the tears to well up in her eyes.
The police officer sighed. “Fine.” He waved to the door on the other side.
As she made her way there, several of the people in the waiting area grumbled about her jumping the line. But she ignored them. If only they knew what she’d found out.
The policeman opened the door for her and let her in. “I’m Officer Carter. What’s your name, Ma’am?”
“I’m Lilo Schroeder. I was here last night.”
He motioned to one of the cubicles. While he took the chair behind the desk, Lilo slunk into the one next to it.
“So, what can I help you with?”
Lilo leaned forward. “I think I know who took my friend.”
“So we’re talking about a kidnapping?” His gaze was steady and almost disinterested.
“Yes, well, I filed a missing person’s report last night, but now I’m pretty sure she was taken.”
“How’s that, Miss Schroeder?”
“I saw the man who attacked me in her apartment.”
“You were attacked in your friend’s apartment?”
She nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes, I told Officer Donnelly all about it last night. He’s got it in his report.” She pointed to the computer. “It’s all in there.”
“Hmm, well, let’s check then.” He put his fingers on the keyboard. “You don’t happen to have the case number?”
She shook her head.
“No worries. How about the name of the missing person?”
“Hannah Bergdorf.”
He started typing, then glanced at the screen. “Hmm.” He looked back at her. “Hanna with an h or no h at the end?”
“An h.”
He typed again, pressing his lips together. “Hmm. That’s odd. There’s nothing in here. Maybe it was entered under your name.”
“Lieselotte Schroeder.”
He entered her name, then shook his head. “Nothing. You said you were here last night and you filed a report?”
“Yes.” She leaned forward to look at the monitor. “There must be something. I also reported the break-in.”
“A break-in?”
“Yes, in my friend’s apartment. By the guy who attacked me.”
The policeman tossed her a skeptical look. Did he not believe her?
“Please, you need to help me. I think I know who took my friend.” She dug into her pants pocket and pulled out the USB stick, showing it to him. “It’s all on here. It’s on video. It’s horrible.” She looked toward the counter, where civilians were getting impatient. “But you have to look at it somewhere in private. If people see what’s on there, there’ll be panic.”
He reached out his hand, taking the memory stick from her. “Mm-hmm.” His voice was a little softer than before, as if he was trying to calm her down.
Suddenly a hand swooped in and snatched the USB stick. “Why don’t I take it from here?”
She whirled her head to the man, who’d spoken and sighed with relief. “Officer Donnelly.”
“Miss Schroeder.”
“Donnelly, what are you doing here?”
Donnelly shrugged. “Thought I’d come in early. Heard it was busy.”
“Yeah, you can say that again.” The police officer paused for a moment, then pointed to the screen. “Couldn’t find the missing person’s report Miss Schroeder here was talking about.”
Donnelly cleared his throat. “Yeah, my system crashed after I entered it. Gotta reenter all the data.” Then he turned away from his colleague. “Now, Miss Schroeder, why don’t we go to my office. It’s way too loud out here to have a proper conversation.”
Relieved, she dropped her shoulders, relaxing a little. Donnelly would help her.
When Donnelly closed the door to his office behind them, shutting out the voices from the waiting area, it felt soothing.
“So, what’s going on, Miss Schroeder? Has something happened since last night?”
He pointed to the chair next to the desk and she sat down, while he leaned against the desk.
She pointed to the USB stick in his hand. “I found this in Hannah’s appointment book. I think she was hiding it in case something happened to her.”
“What is it?”
“A video. It shows her boyfriend arguing with the man who attacked me last night.”
He straightened. “Oh. That’s quite a find. And you recognize the man with one hundred percent certainty?”
“Yes. It’s him. There’s no doubt. But there’s something else. It’s horrible. At first, I couldn’t even believe my own eyes. But there’s no doubt.”