When the moon rises over Berlin

      Two weeks have passed since Ingrid’s death and funeral. In the meantime, little by little, the relationship in their small team had began to recover. Ehrman at the moment looked at Wieland and Adler in a different way. Wieland, as the oldest one, had always held in his eyes a pedestal of respect and the place of the person who could always give you advice and remind you who you were. Adler was no longer a pompous idiot, but a man with endless energy, no matter what happened in his life. His manner of always keeping his head and back straight was what set him apart from the others.       Ingrid was buried on a cold winter morning, in a half-cold church. Low floating clouds were thickening outside, a cold December wind was blowing, and the sun was piercing the cathedral with its rays. A lot of people gathered in the hall where those present gathered to honour the memory of the deceased, but for the most part there were people who had passed through her life and never stayed in it for a long time. Three men were standing a little way off. They were dressed in black suits and behaved emotionlessly and coldly.       Ingrid, what did you do to be killed without any explanation. Ehrman, standing at the service and at the procession, looked at Ingrid’s stabbed coffin, the only thing he regretted was that he was so little interested in her and that he could not help her in any way. A chandelier towered above his head, swinging on a rope from the rare breeze that entered the church from an open window, which with a mosaic painted on it reminded Ehrman of his childhood blanket.       Oh, Ingrid! You were so stupid. You should have looked for someone to help you instead of blindly trusting only yourself. If it we hadn’t done it, your family would have helped you for sure. Adler could barely move from the smell of incense and censers standing in the church. He was about to get a runny nose, he was sniffing diligently, which made Ehrman and Wieland think that he had started crying. But he pointed at the nose, the two realised it at once.       Adler’s feet were frozen, he tried hard not to move anything so as not to waste precious heat. Why did you need to make such a spread in your movements? Maybe you wanted to confuse someone. But who? Someone who could know a lot about you and follow you. Wieland glanced at the passing guests who saluted Ingrid. Someone surely had to know more about her life than the three of them. Wieland kept glancing at the clothes of those present, so as not to drown in his own dark thoughts. It must be terrible to know that you’re going to die and still put everyone in such danger. Ehrman wanted to scold Ingrid if she appeared in front of him at that moment. But he knew it would not do any good. At that moment the coffin was carried to the churchyard to be buried.       Even if there were conflicts between you, why did you decide to cut everything off? Why did you decide to disappear from the lives of everyone who cared about you; why did you decide that no one would notice your absence? Adler looked down at his feet, carefully stepping onto the icy half-sloping road, which went down with its cliffs. It is difficult to find a job in Norway and Finland, you would hardly go there to live. Maybe you were planning to go to England. But again, why do people who have a lot of money and who make money deals go there? You don’t have anything to do with money. Wieland stopped a little. For him the injury he received in battle made itself felt and he could not stand for long.       Ehrman and Adler stopped and waited for him. There was no hurry anyway. Wieland stretched the slightly stiff and sore part of his body, then they moved on at a slow pace.       Maybe the killer is already coming for me. Or for Adler. Or for Wieland. Why didn’t you leave anything for us to investigate your death. You knew everything about us. Ehrman looked out over the landscape. It was a good place. The city with its buildings was somewhere behind, the clouds were lazily moving from place to place, there were hardly any dogs. Trees planted in the cemetery covered the graves. However, the wind was too strong today.       Ehrman felt his cheeks go numb from the strong wind.       Yes, Ehrman was right: we were complete fools to have been with you for such a long time without paying attention to your moods. Although I have to admit, you were a great actress. A wonderful actress with a dark past. Adler moved his lips a little from the cold as they approached the grave, which had already been buried. Only the tombstone remained.       Maybe you found out some secret of your father and brother and decided to run away so that you wouldn’t be picked up to work in the family business… Wieland was looking at the dark and small grave where the years of the girl’s life were marked. The three of them stood in silence, thinking about her.       You decided to run away, but you chose to do it by car. Not by plane, but by car. Maybe Adler was right, saying that you didn’t want to involve us in this. Ehrman reflected on the way back, where the rest of the guests had already gathered, saying goodbye to the brother and father of the deceased, wishing them strength.       I still can’t understand why you needed that jewellery? Even if you wanted to run away with them to Norway, why did you send the money to Austria? Who did you send it to? Why did you fly there? And why did you give your brother your diary if you knew that it was a valuable thing. There’s something wrong here. Also, it’s worn jewellery. Could you sell it? Hardly, they are rarely sold. Who needs them from the black market? Adler heard the soft sighs of those present, looking around the room with his eyes. He did not like places like this, it was too peaceful and too sick for him. Adler did not like funerals. The tears irritated him as did the general atmosphere of oppression, which made it difficult to think.       Did you really decide to get to Norway by the slowest transport. Where did you want to go? What did you want to do with a stolen car anyway? And why exactly did your brother bring it to you? You didn’t want to make a fuss, right? No, I don’t think so, rather you didn’t want a new car, because it would have been found faster if you went missing. Thoughts raced through Ehrman’s head like wasps, a new theory came by itself, taking out the previous one.       The day when Ingrid was buried was cold and dry.       Wieland stood next to him on his right hand, while Adler was by his left one. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts and looked only ahead.       You didn’t have anyone outside Germany. Maybe your friends know more. Maybe you trusted them more than you trusted us, keeping us at arm’s length. You were the unhappiest woman in the world. But when you were in our arms, did you pretend to be happy or did you want to seem like that and deceive yourself? Wieland sighed heavily, the disparity of facts and the complete lack of logic bothered him. It seemed to him that they were all missing something important. They are digging information for Ingrid, but it was as if she was something not physical, there were many other things connected with her. It was necessary to move away from Ingrid herself. ***       After the procession and the farewell ceremony everyone began to slowly disperse. The guests got dressed, started their cars and drove away.       Adler, Ehrman and Wieland began to think about what to do next. Adler insisted on talking to her friends. Ehrman was on his way out of this ceremony. Wieland accepted Adler’s proposal, considering it prudent.       “We should talk to her friends, not to all of them, of course, but at least to a few.       “And what are we going to tell them?” Ehrman waved his hand around the room. “No one knows us here. Besides, I don’t think we can squeeze out much right now. People are impressed.”       “Yes, I agree with Ehrman. And the interviewee should clearly not be a woman. A man would be better. He’ll be the easiest person to talk to. We need someone who communicates with her family the most,” Adler supported Ehrmann, he smiled a little.       “Which one?”, Wieland continued to ask questions, even though he was the oldest of them and with a lot of experience. He wanted to relieve himself of the responsibility placed on his shoulders at least for today.        “With that guy,” Ehrman pointed to a young man standing and talking to his brother. They were talking about something, but they looked worried. “Come on, Wieland. I’m not in any shape at all today,” Adler honestly admitted while Wieland reluctantly stood up.       “Okay, fine,” Wieland walked with the easy gait of a military man, with a straight back. Approaching both of them, interrupting the conversation, he took a stranger a little further away and began to ask questions.       Adler and Ehrman were watching intently. The stranger was very scared at first, but then he relaxed a little and even tried to laugh it off with gestures. Wieland was as strict as always. They were not allowed to make much noise or have long conversations. However, Adler noticed one detail: as soon as Wieland took the stranger aside, Wilhelm disappeared somewhere, he was nowhere to be seen.       “Ehrman, did you see where Wilhelm went?”, Adler whispered in his ear.       “No, is he missing?” Ehrman began to look around.       “It looks like he left the funeral, it’s strange. Okay, we’ll find out later,” Wieland was already approaching them with a look filled with interest.       “Gentlemen, I have learned something. I think we should discuss this somewhere else.”       The two nodded, understanding him without explanation. ***       Wieland tossed the folder with Ingrid’s case and another one on the table, opening a carafe of water on his desk. Adler and Ehrman stared at him with curiosity.       “So what did you find out, Wieland?”       “I found out the following. The man I spoke to is called Herman Jan, he is a colleague of Wilhelm, but he knows his sister Ingrid indirectly, they have never met, but he has seen her photo. However, one point turns out to be very interesting,” Wieland opened folder #67346. It was Herman’s file. “He told me the story of how he and another friend of his, together with Wilhelm, flew to Austria, just at the time when Ingrid arrived. But they did not fly there for holidays, but for smuggling jewellery which was exported from Germany in boxes with mines. But that’s not the most interesting psrt. What’s interesting is that it stopped as soon as the jewellery theft investigation began.       “Are you saying that her brother was involved in smuggling?” Ehrman asked again       “Yes, most likely. This Herman was sentenced for six months and has only recently been released. However, he was not imprisoned for this, but the fact itself,” Wieland finished. Adler was rubbing his temples. He began to remember the case and to understand what was what. The puzzle was coming together.       “I was in charge. They were transporting jewellery. Of course!”, exclaimed Adler. “Now everything becomes clear. Her brother and his friends were smuggling jewellery to both Austria and Norway. Maybe Ingrid found out about it and decided to threaten her brother by telling her father.       “There’s more. He said, this Herman, that he drove Wilhelm to Ingrid’s apartment on the day of her murder in the evening,” Adler sat down on a chair again, such a chain of events was not something he had accepted or considered.        “I think we need to know about the jewellery case first, Adler.”        “Then request the file from the archives, it’s a long story there,” the man said in a half-whisper. Then Wieland reached for the phone.