Hidden Depths (14 page)

Chapter Twenty
: Birthday Surprises

A
T THE END OF
J
ANUARY
, 2005, Felix Baum celebrated his 30th birthday with his friends and family at their golf club. He was no longer Felix Waltz: he had changed his name to Baum when he was 21 after inheriting his Oma's house in Motzen. Felix lived there with his wife Martha and their two-year-old daughter, Peonie. The past decade had been kind to the former Torgau boy. Felix had a happy marriage and enjoyed fatherhood, and the profits from the golf club and the lake had made him and his family comfortable beyond their dreams.

Now in their early 50s and semi-retired, Onkel Klaus and Tante Ingrid remained fairly active. They were happy to oversee the management side of their business and enjoy the profits, along with Onkel Bernd, who was still the Mayor in nearby Zossen. Axel was now a bright young man of 15 with long fair hair, who outside school hours enjoyed helping wherever he could, working alongside his Onkel Felix who was now the manager of the family enterprise.

These days Felix sported short, fair hair just long enough to cover the small but visible scars on his ears. He had married Martha once she'd finished her law degree. They took a gap year and backpacked their way around Britain, Europe, the USA and Australasia. On their return, Martha got a job as a junior lawyer in a large, Berlin law practice and commuted daily from Motzen.

Felix, Axel, Klaus and Bernd shared a love of golf and as well as playing together liked to take annual trips to prestigious golfing events: the British Open, the US Masters and Open and – the one they enjoyed the most – the bi-annual Ryder cup between Europe and the US. These trips served to strengthen their close bonds.

Peonie had been due to be born in late September 2002, around the same time as the Ryder Cup Golf tournament was due to be played in England at The Belfry. This tournament had been cancelled in 2001 after the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the tournament had switched to even years. It had been a three-year wait for their anticipated trip and Martha insisted Felix went with Axel, Klaus and Bernd, as it wasn't far to travel home should she go into labour. They felt the break was worthwhile especially after seeing their fellow German, Bernard Langer, win his singles match, and Europe won the Ryder cup by three points. Felix returned home and his daughter, overdue, was born a few weeks later on 11th October.

Peonie Angele Sofie Baum was the image of her mother, a beautiful, energetic and happy child. All the adults fussed over her and she was a source of great pride and joy to her family. Klaus and Ingrid were helpful, first-time grandparents and Ingrid caught glimpses of her beloved sister Sofie's smile when Peonie laughed.

Dr Jens Wissemann had recently retired and Martha's mother, Angele, took the role of looking after her first grandchild when her daughter eventually returned to work. Angele drove down daily from Kopenick to look after Peonie, sometimes accompanied by Jens. Their son Friedrich had married a local girl, Heike, and lived close by Jens and Angele in Kopenick. They were expecting their first child in the summer and Jens and Angele would be in demand as babysitters.

Felix awoke on his 30
^th
birthday morning to his wife bringing him breakfast in bed.

‘Thank you, sweetheart,' he said, smiling broadly and putting the breakfast tray aside to kiss Martha and pull her into his arms. Felix never wanted their kisses to stop and often it turned amorous but sometimes they were interrupted by the patter of tiny feet.

‘Papa!' Peonie squealed, rushing in and jumping on the bed, separating the lovers.

Felix listened to his wife and daughter singing ‘Happy Birthday' to him before applauding them. ‘Thank you, my darlings,' he said.

Martha pulled a bag from under the bed filled with presents. ‘I was thinking, what do you give the man who has everything? Hopefully, I've come up with a few surprises. Peonie helped me wrap them, didn't you sweetie?'

Felix kissed his daughter. ‘What a lovely surprise. I wonder how many more surprises I'll have today?' he asked, looking at his wife.

‘Who knows?' Martha replied and her eyes held a mischievous glint.

It was a change for Felix to lie in bed. He was usually up at the crack of dawn, but today was his birthday and a Sunday and he was taking the day off. He had not forgotten about his twin sister in any of the many celebrations he'd experienced since her death and wondered how different life would have been if Susi were alive and sharing this birthday with him. He was in good health and had a good life. He loved his family and felt lucky to have a loving wife and daughter, and then there was Axel. He loved his nephew in a different way to Klaus and Ingrid, and the bond Felix shared with Axel had remained special.

His Torgau life now seemed foreign to him. He'd read somewhere in an opening line of a book, ‘The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there'. Felix was different back then but he had changed and grown up. Nevertheless, there was always something nagging away in the dark recesses of his mind to remind him of who he was and what he'd done. Over the years, Felix had hidden his secrets well.

Klaus, Ingrid and Axel came for lunch, bringing more presents. Felix felt boyishly happy to be spoilt by his family. After a jovial meal, they sat around the fire, together, with a freshly made pot of coffee and pastries. The lunchtime news came on. Dominating the headlines was the news about the Lady of the Lake. Felix almost choked on hearing the breaking bulletin and spat out the coffee. ‘
Scheisse!'
he shouted, surprising everyone in the room. ‘Sorry,' he apologised. ‘I burnt my mouth.'

Ingrid wasn't so sure it was the coffee. She paid attention to how intently Felix watched the news and for the first time since he was 17 and had returned home with rope burns on his neck, she had an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

The newsreader made the following announcement.

‘Earlier today, the police announced that the “Lady of the Lake”, Fraulein Lotte Holler, is now recovering in hospital in Berlin having awoken from a coma on New Year's Eve. Attacked by an unknown assailant in 1992, she was left to die in freezing temperatures in her car on the banks of Muggelsee, near Kopenick. At the time she was seven weeks pregnant but the baby did not survive. Fraulein Holler is responding well to treatment and is now helping police with their inquiries.'

The archive television footage showed Lotte's car on the banks of Muggelsee. The rest of the family was only half listening to the news but Felix was feeling sick and desperate for some fresh air.

‘Who's up for a walk?' he asked. ‘Or a boat ride?'

‘It's snowing!' Martha replied. ‘I know it's your birthday but you don't mind if I stay by the fire, do you sweetheart?'

Axel chirped up. ‘Onkel, I'll go out on a boat with you.'

‘You're on,' Felix told him, and hurried out to the entrance hall where he put on his coat and boots. He ran out of the door, managing to reach a nearby tree just in time to vomit behind it, hopefully unseen by his family.

Felix and Axel took turns steering a small, motorboat with a cabin out onto the lake. They both enjoyed being out on the water. There wasn't a need for conversation: they could be quiet together, taking in nature and their environment. It was just what Felix needed to gather his thoughts and try to calm himself.

God! he thought, the go-between had come back to haunt him, on his 30
^th
birthday of all days. Was this more than just a coincidence? Lotte Holler had been telling the truth about her pregnancy. Would she remember any details that could lead to his door? Regurgitating it all in the whirling torments of his mind, Felix worried about the clues he'd left behind at the scenes of his crimes.

In Plaumann's car was his aqua shoe but more importantly, he had mislaid his boat knife when he was with Lotte Holler. It wasn't an ordinary knife; it was a Herbertz, a classic, top of the range, German knife made of stainless steel with rivets elaborated with a cocobolo wood handle. It had a lanyard hole, a rescue gut hook blade, a razor sharp, three-inch, serrated blade, a marlin spike and sturdy pliers attached to it. Felix had kept his knife proudly in a black leather sheath with a Herbertz crest emblazoned on the handle as well as the blade – and his fingerprints were all over it. This boat knife, which the newspapers reported had been found by Lotte Holler's car, would have indicated to the police that the perpetrator of the crime had more than a keen interest in water sports and boats. He knew that clues that seemed innocuous in the beginning could magnify and profiles of perpetrators would be formed and trails followed.

Felix reminded himself that he'd never been in trouble with the police and they didn't have his fingerprints on file, yet he knew that if he was discovered he stood to lose all that he had, and especially the love of his family and the life he had built with them. He tried to block out the many imponderables and ‘what ifs' from his mind. His family would be disappointed if he wasn't enjoying himself on his birthday and was looking troubled and unhappy.

When he returned home after his boat ride with Axel, all the family had disappeared. Felix knew Martha was plotting a surprise party for him and was glad to be alone for a while, so he steadied his nerves with a beer and a bath.

His thoughts raced around in circles as he went over the details of the murders and Lotte Holler's abduction. He believed he'd successfully diverted the police away from his doorstep by sending them the list of names in Horst's diary. The Musketeers' prolonged absence from their families as well as the police wanting to question them meant there was substance to the charges against them. Evidence pointed to the belief that the Musketeers had fled the country or were in hiding under a pseudonym. No one thought they had been murdered and were hidden in watery graves.

As Felix lay in the bath, he asked himself if a person deserves to die. Death, he reasoned, is, after all, everyone's final destination but what if a person does not respect the sanctity of life? Our behaviour towards others is a measure of ourselves. If there is not any dignity, compassion and respect of personal boundaries for others, there is always a ransom to be paid – and a forfeit.

But who decides the forfeit? Felix had decided the price to be paid. He had played God, judge and jury. Who gave him this right? But then who gave the Musketeers the right to abuse him? This question could be asked of anyone in the annals of time who had participated in genocide, murder, crimes against humanity and rape, to name but a few. It came down to choices, personal preferences where it was the individual's free will that decided their actions. The Musketeers and the go-between had made their choices and Felix had made his. And he was resolute: he had no regrets about it. The forfeit he chose for them was to pay with the most precious thing anyone can ever have: life itself. Except for Lotte.

When he heard Lotte Holler had woken up on the news he was at odds with what he was feeling. He had thought about her regularly over the years but without remorse, and the case remained unsolved as the years passed and Lotte remained in a coma. Felix found himself strangely glad that she would have a second chance at life. All the hate inside him had long since subsided and although he was anxious she'd give the police clues that might incriminate him he was fairly confident he'd got away with it.

The press had revealed Lotte Holler was pregnant at the time of her attack and Felix felt a certain vindication because he hadn't actively killed an unborn child. No, he felt the price she'd paid was justified. Her forfeit for her years as the go-between had been 12 years in a coma and the loss of her unborn child and possibly the rest of her childbearing years. As for himself, he hoped that losing Susi and all the abuse he'd suffered at Torgau balanced up what he'd done to Lotte. Maybe he'd be lucky and there would be no further price for him to pay.

Felix sank under the warm water. Retribution was morally wrong and unlawful, he told himself, but if Axel or Peonie were threatened he would do it all over again. No qualms about it. He had never prayed before but now he prayed not to be caught. A crucifix had helped him survive when Harald was choking him to death and he had nearly drowned along with the Musketeer. Maybe, Felix thought, a little prayer might help him now.

Felix heard movement in the house and Martha came into the bathroom.

‘Hi, sweetheart. You OK?' she asked him. ‘You've been miles away today.'

‘Sorry. I'm tired, that's all,' he lied.

‘Why don't you have a siesta? We've a late night planned.'

‘Oh, you have, have you?' he winked. ‘What's happening later?'

‘Wait and see. All you have to do is put on a nice shirt for me, and smile!'

Felix smiled. ‘OK.'

‘Tante Ingrid's got Peonie for a while… and I'm joining you in bed.'

Later that day the family threw a party at the golf club. They waited patiently in the dark when they knew the VIP's arrival was imminent. Axel relayed a message to the guests that his Onkel had just pulled into the car park. The lights were swiftly turned on when Felix, Martha and Peonie walked through the door.

‘SURPRISE!'

Everyone who was important to Felix seemed to be present. Bernd, Ute and his cousins Anna and Heidi with their spouses, his parents-in-law, Dr Jens and Angele, Martha's brother Friedrich and his pregnant wife Heike. The relatives from Rugen had made a surprise visit: Gisela, Nadia, her husband Olaf and their son, Lutz, with his wife; and Felix's friends Carsten and Paul came with their girlfriends.

Ingrid pushed a trolley with a two-tiered chocolate cake out of the kitchen. Stevie Wonder's ‘
Happy Birthday'
came over the loud speakers and everyone began to sing before an excited Peonie helped her Papa blow out 30 candles.

The family had a good time together dancing to the music that Axel had mixed on a computer console in his role as the disc jockey for the night. Felix, with various members of the family watching him, opened a pile of presents. His face dropped for a second when he unveiled Bernd's present: a top-of-the-range Herbertz boat knife in a beautiful case.