“On our way.” Colin glanced in the rear view mirror, then his side mirror before making an illegal U-turn.
I ended the call, grabbed the sides of my seat and tried to control my breathing. Colin turned on his hazard lights and rushed through the late-morning traffic at a most alarming speed. Experience had taught me that Colin was a competent driver and his advanced driving skills had not once caused an accident. It didn’t make me enjoy the speedy journey to Robertsau forest.
After the fifth time I gasped and strengthened my hold on the passenger seat, I decided it would be more prudent to look out of the window than to watch Colin’s driving. I thought about Adèle and her beautiful house as we passed the turn-off to her neighbourhood. The forest wasn’t too far from her house and I wondered if she’d spent any time there. Or had her focus been solely on her work and providing for Claire?
Pink had sent the exact GPS coordinates of the crime scene. It was close to the Rhine River. The nature reserve stretched across the border to Germany, the larger area on the French side of the river. Located to the north of Strasbourg, it was as popular as the Neuhof forest in the south for locals and tourists to spend their leisure time. In some places it looked like a virgin forest because of the creepers and there were many paths to choose from when hiking, cycling or even horse riding.
By the time Colin parked his SUV next to the familiar GIPN truck, my fingers were stiff from clutching the sides of my seat. I inhaled slowly and deeply while wiggling my fingers and trying to relax my shoulder muscles. The start of my day might have been routine, but getting out of the SUV in the middle of the Robertsau forest instead of sitting in front of my monitors most definitely was not.
I made a point of visiting this nature reserve at least once every summer. It was a wonderful place for a long walk in nature. Weekends saw a lot of families and cyclists, which made the paths crowded and took all enjoyment from time in nature. I preferred to spend a weekday walking a pre-planned route, stopping only to take photos when I noticed something uncommonly symmetrical in the flora.
In the colder seasons, the forest lost its attraction for most people. A few brave hikers would visit on weekend days, but weekdays left the reserve empty. With the exception of today.
Apart from Colin’s SUV and the GIPN truck, two police patrol cars, one Ford and a Seat were parked in a haphazard manner. People were milling around and three officers were standing next to one of the patrol cars, chatting.
Pink walked to us, his expression serious. “You made good time.”
Colin nodded and looked past the vehicles into the forest. “What have we got?”
“A man and a woman in their late twenties.” The corners of Pink’s mouth turned down. “They were viciously tortured. Then the bastard dumped them.”
“The old man is here.” Vinnie nodded towards Manny’s old sedan stopping next to Colin’s SUV.
As if in silent agreement, no one spoke while we waited for Manny to join us. He took longer than necessary to turn off the car and get out. I frowned. When he eventually got out, he kept his back turned on us. I narrowed my eyes—the tightness in his shoulders worried me. But when he turned I gasped and took Colin’s hand.
It was there for only a second, but the raw grief that had been etched on his face had been unlike anything I’d ever observed in his nonverbal cues. The look he gave me as he walked towards us was one I was much more familiar with. It was a warning. The almost imperceptible shake of his head made me blink. He didn’t want me to ask what was causing him such emotional pain.
“Dan, everyone.” Manny nodded. “Where are they?”
Pink pointed to our left. “Deeper into the forest. See the tourists over there?” He pointed at a man dressed in jeans and a thick blue winter jacket leaning against a patrol van while listening to three young women talking to a police officer. The women were dressed in winter hiking outfits that would protect them from temperatures much lower than this. Yet two of them were rubbing their arms as if they were cold.
“They the ones who found the bodies?” Colin asked.
“Yes.” Pink turned back to us. “The man found the bodies first. He was looking for signs of life when the ladies saw them as well and hurried over. Good thing too. The man had left his smartphone in his car, wanting a pure forest bath. All three of the women had their phones. They called it in.”
I tried. I really did. But my mind wouldn’t allow me to focus on the more relevant information. “What is a forest bath?”
“It’s actually called forest bathing.” Vinnie leaned back when we all turned to him in surprise. “What? Roxy told me all about this. It’s a Japanese thing. The idea is to consciously walk in the forest and take in the atmosphere and let it heal you.”
“Ridiculous.” Manny sliced his hand through the air. “I don’t have time for such nonsense. Take us to the scene.”
“Sure.” Daniel’s eyebrows rose at Manny’s harsh tone, but he turned and followed Pink to the copse of trees on our left.
“It’s a bit off the hiking paths, but not so far out that you’ll need snow shoes,” Pink said over his shoulder.
“Is it too much to hope for footprints in the snow?” Colin asked.
Pink nodded. “Between the tourists and the first responders, the snow is pretty trampled. There’s no way we’ll get any useful impressions now. The killer’s prints have been stomped over a million times already.”
“Impossible.” I simply couldn’t stop myself. “It would take the sixteen people I counted here a minimum of nine hours each to take a million steps.”
“Of course.” Pink laughed. “I must have been channelling Francine or Nikki with that exaggeration.”
“Definitely Franny.” Vinnie tilted his head as he stared at Manny’s stiff gait. “What crawled up your butt, old man? You and Franny had a little tiff?”
Colin smiled at Vinnie’s unsuccessful attempt at a British accent.
“Did the bodies have any ID on them?” Manny ignored Vinnie and followed Daniel deeper into the trees.
Apart from the gross exaggeration, Pink had been correct about the trampled snow. We were off the designated path, but the snow between the trees here was flattened, shoeprints visible everywhere. About twenty metres in front of us, two police officers stood guard. Both rested their gloved hands on their belts, their postures relaxed, but alert.
It was easy to spot the bodies behind them. Like Jace, they weren’t dressed in outdoor wear. Both of them were wearing jeans. The man had on a long-sleeved red t-shirt and the woman was wearing a green and orange sweater. Their feet were bare.
“No ID.” Pink’s answer was soft, his eyes on the two bodies. “No bags, phones, nothing in their pockets.”
Colin squeezed my hand. “You’re ready for this?”
I didn’t take my eyes off the two young people as we walked closer. “No. I’m never ready to see murder victims.”
“But you’ll be okay.” Vinnie poked me in the shoulder. “You always are, Jen-girl.”
“Stop dilly-dallying and get your arses over here.” Manny was leaning over the young man. He straightened and looked at me. “It’s vicious, Doc.”
I nodded stiffly and focused my mind on Mozart’s Overture from The Marriage of Figaro—one of my favourite works. Letting go of Colin’s hand, I walked closer and stumbled to a stop when I saw the young man’s hand lying on the snow. Every finger on his hand had been broken. In more than one place. His hand was swollen and deeply discoloured, which told me he’d been alive for some time after this had been done to him.
I inhaled deeply and took another step closer. In contrast to Jace’s crime scene, there wasn’t a lot of blood in the snow. I was irrationally grateful for that. The contrast of the small amount of blood on the snow surrounding the bodies was already jarring.
I looked at the man’s face and gasped. “He’s unrecognisable.”