The Carnival Master

6.

Fabel got the impression that Scholz had allowed Tansu to come along for the Peter Schnaus interview only because it would have been out of the way to drop her off at the Presidium first. Scholz had called ahead to make sure that Schnaus would be in before heading along Aachenerstrasse. Buschbell was to the north of Frechen, he had explained, and therefore it was easier to avoid the town itself.

‘Incidentally,’ said Scholz, ‘Bedburg is out this way too – the home of the infamous Peter Stumpf.’

Buschbell and Frechen were only nine kilometres from the city centre and Fabel had been aware of a continuous urban landscape. Buschbell, however, was more open and tree-lined and clearly on the edge of the Cologne conurbation.

‘How did Schnaus sound on the phone?’ asked Fabel.

‘Guilty,’ said Scholz. ‘What of I don’t know yet, but he sure was sheepish to hear that the police were coming out for a chat.’

They pulled up outside a reasonably expensive-looking house with more garden than Fabel had seen in Cologne since he first arrived. It was the home of a high-middle-income earner. Not the dwelling of a millionaire, but substantial enough to indicate a respectable bank balance. Added to which there was the regulation Mercedes E500 in the drive.

As they made their way to the front door, it was clear that Scholz’s mind was on something else. ‘Listen,’ he said. ‘I don’t really like this idea the two of you have come up with… It’s far too risky…’

‘My idea,’ said Fabel. ‘I asked Tansu if she would do it as a favour-’

‘Like I said, I don’t like it,’ interrupted Scholz, ‘but I’ll go along with it. But I’ve got a few conditions. We’ll talk about it after we’re through here.’

The front door opened before they had a chance to knock. A man of about forty stepped out, drawing it to behind him. He was a little under two metres tall, athletically built and reasonably good-looking. A perfect fit for the description given them by Mila, the escort who’d been bitten.

‘Commissar Scholz?’ he asked Fabel.

‘No, that’s me,’ said Scholz. ‘Herr Schnaus?’

‘Yes. What’s this about? My wife and kids are here and-’

‘It’s about the website you run,’ said Fabel.

‘Oh…’ Schnaus looked crestfallen. ‘I rather thought it would be. Listen, I’ve told my wife this is to do with business.’

‘What exactly is your business?’ asked Fabel.

‘Computer software.’

Fabel looked over at the car in the drive and at the house once more and considered the decision he’d taken about his future.

‘Okay, we’ll play along. For now. Is there somewhere private we can talk?’

‘My study…’ Schnaus led them into the house and along a wide hall. The study was roomy, bright and contemporary. There was a large desk with two expensive-looking computers on it. Two more sat on workstations on the other wall.

‘You run your site from here?’ asked Fabel.

‘Listen, it’s a hobby more than anything else… I don’t do it for the money…’

‘Just for pleasure,’ Scholz sneered. Schnaus’s face reddened.

‘Listen, I can’t explain it. It’s just something…’ He let the thought die. ‘What is it you want to know?’

‘For a start you can tell us where you were on the evening of Friday the twentieth of January.’

Schnaus typed something into his computer. ‘I was in Frankfurt. At a conference.’

‘Can anyone confirm this?’

‘About a hundred people. I gave a talk there to introduce a new product.’

‘You stayed overnight?’

‘Yes. Three days in total.’

‘What kind of new product?’ asked Fabel. ‘I mean, what kind of software do you sell?’

‘We’re distributors for gaming software. Other stuff too, like interactive software for training, that kind of thing.’

‘Have you ever heard of a game designer called Melissa Schenker?’

‘No…’ If Schnaus was lying he was covering it up well. ‘I can’t say I have.’

‘What about a role-playing game called The Lords of Misrule?’

‘Oh yes… more than heard of it, we distribute it.’

‘Melissa Schenker designed Lords of Misrule,’ said Fabel.

‘Oh. I wouldn’t know that. It’s not part of the portfolio I represent. And anyway, I’m not always familiar with who designed or conceived the games.’

There was a pause.

‘Why do you do this, Herr Schnaus?’ asked Fabel. ‘I mean you have a good job, a family. Why do you feel the need to run a website like this?’

‘Inside each of us is a little chaos. Some have more than others. I have an orderly life here. I am a good husband and father and my wife knows nothing of my… well, the stranger side of my nature… If I kept that chaos completely bottled up then there’s a chance it would explode. Destroy all the order and stability in my life. So I run a harmless, non-pornographic website relating to vorarephilia and cannibalism.’

Fabel thought of another ordinary businessman with an ordered, stable life who had tried to keep the chaos within bottled up tight. Right up until he had blown his brains out in front of Fabel.

‘Where the hell do you get the idea that anything relating to cannibalism – particularly sexual cannibalism – is harmless?’ Fabel asked.

‘I don’t mean any harm…’ said Schnaus weakly.

‘I’ll tell you why we’re here, Herr Schnaus,’ said Scholz. ‘We have a complete nutter who is running about biting chunks out of women. He may also have murdered several. That, my friend, does not strike me as being a bit of harmless fun. I’ve looked at your website. I’m not surprised that you want to keep all of that filth away from your wife. My guess is that if she were to find out about your little hobby you wouldn’t see her or your kids for dust. Now I am quite prepared to get a warrant and turn this place upside down. It may be your home but your little website is run from here and that puts it right at the heart of a major murder investigation. I promise you that by tomorrow morning this place will be crawling with forensic technicians, uniformed police officers and, if anyone were indiscreet enough to tip them off, with members of the press.’

Schnaus looked as if he was about to be sick. ‘No… please, no… I’ll do anything you want. I’ll give you any information you need. And I promise I’ll shut down the site. Just tell me what you want me to do

… I just don’t want my wife and kids to know.’

‘Well, one thing we don’t want you to do, Herr Schnaus,’ said Fabel, ‘is to shut down the site. Not yet, anyway.’