The house on Nonnengraben
Das Haus am Nonnengraben is the title of a 2007 crime novel by Karin Dengler-Schreiber . Das Haus am Nonnengraben is Karin Dengler-Schreiber's first novel, which was published under the pseudonym Anna Degen . He continues a series of detective novels set in Bamberg .
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prolog
At the beginning of the novel there is a short prologue , which gives the reader the wrong impression that he is getting an insight into the minds of the murderer of the story. In reality, the reader is being told the thoughts of a male who plans to murder but does not commit it because someone else is ahead of it. The alleged murderer ponders the "perfect alibi" for the murder of a woman. His motive is also revealed. He is interested in a house that he would like to own.
Tanja and a dead woman
In the actual novel, which is written from the perspective of a narrator, the acquaintance of the protagonist Hanna Tal with a young bag girl is described. The historian Dr. Hanna Tal is busy with a cellar property when a Bamberg newspaper offers her an additional job. She is supposed to write an article about the neglected "house on Nonnengraben". A number of readers had complained to the newspaper about the condition of the house, which is why they should now be investigated. While doing research on site, she meets the almost eighteen-year-old stray woman and orphan Tanja, who has found shelter in the house with her baby. The girl tells her that she previously lived with her aunt, but that she was abused by her. A little later, Hanna Tal makes a cruel discovery. The house owner, Mrs. Rothammer, an elderly lady, has been sitting murdered at her kitchen table for weeks. Tanja assures that she has nothing to do with the murder, the old lady would have tacitly tolerated her presence and even put a baby bottle in front of her door once. The murder happened while visiting a friend for a few days. She begs Hanna Tal not to report her to the police. Hanna Tal gets into a conflict of conscience, on the one hand she has to report the murder, on the other hand she believes the young woman. She manages to persuade her aunt Kunigunde to take Tanja and her little son in for a few days.
Public Prosecutor Benno Berg
Hanna Tal does not report the murder to the police, but turns to the public prosecutor Benno Berg, whom she recently met at a party. At the party, she clearly felt how pleased he was with her. She tearfully tells him that she found Frau Rothammer dead in the house on Nonnengraben, but invents a story of lies to hide the existence of the girl with the baby. The feminine sophistication does not work out, the conversation goes very differently than planned. Benno Berg, who has felt butterflies in his stomach since the party and is drawn to the attractive Hanna, immediately sees through that she is not speaking the truth and is unusually cool and distant towards her. When the forensics department proves that Hanna was in the house with another person, he pays her an angry visit. He is sure that Hanna is covering a man, presumably the murderer. His tone of voice reveals to Hanna that he is plagued by feelings of jealousy towards this supposed man. Flattered by this, she tells Benno the true story. Yet again Benno Berg does not react as expected. He believes that the girl Tanja is a liar and maybe even the murderer. Unfortunately, he threatens to take the child away from Tanja to get her to talk, but above all he wants to know where she is. Now Hanna Berg is beside herself with anger. She doesn't want to betray Tanja under any circumstances. The two split up in an argument.
Aunt Kunigunde
Hanna Tal would like to prove Tanja's innocence and collect further information for the article. She resolves to research the background of the Rothammer family and their descendants and rummages through the books in the State Library. In doing so, she finds out that the property on Nonnengraben was owned by the Dechant family for many years until it was finally acquired by Adalbert Rothammer in 1836 and has been owned by the Rothammer family ever since. Aunt Kunigunde, who immediately took Tanja's little son into her heart, takes care of the two new housemates. She knew the murdered Elfi Rothammer from her youth. However, the otherwise kind-hearted Kunigunde speaks anything but kind of the dead. Elfi was a bitch, a refugee child who always wanted to be something better and who made many people unhappy. But she was also stunningly beautiful, she had cast a spell over all the boys, which in turn earned her the mockery of the girls. Aunt Kunigunde remembers how Elfi “caught” Arthur Rothammer. Arthur and Karla Rothammer, the two children of the rich Rothammer family and stars of their clique at the time, would have made friends with another pair of siblings, Anton and Christine Dechant - Arthur and Christine or Anton and Karla seemed to be a couple. But something unforeseen happened. Elfi made himself the mockery of the gang with a clumsy expression, but Arthur stood by her side and accompanied her home. A short time later the wedding of the two was announced. Aunt Kunigunde gives Hanna the tip to talk to Anneliese Kurt, the former housekeeper of the Rothammers. Anneliese Kurt was a maid for the Rothammers for decades until Elfi fired her.
Pumpkin
Hanna pays a visit to the ninety-year-old, who now lives in the workers' welfare retirement home. The little white-haired woman looks very nice and well-groomed to Hanna. Anneliese Kurt's opinion of Elfi Rothammer is in no way better than that of her aunt. She sees something like a compensatory justice in Elfi's death, because Elfi destroyed everything that was important to her: the family, the house, Arthur. Anneliese Kurt, called "Kürtchen", was a kind of surrogate mother for Arthur and Karla Rothammer after their birth mother had left them. Kürtchen tells Hanna that it hit Karla terribly that her brother married this Elfi. Karla and Elfi hated each other. Elfi couldn't stand it that Arthur loved his sister. When Karla got pregnant and did not want to say who the father is, there was a terrible argument between Arthur and Karla, as a result of which Karla left the house and never came back. Anneliese Kurt remembers the satisfied face of Elfi, who was happy to have rid of her hated sister-in-law. At the end of the conversation, she lends Hanna Tal the letters that Karla has written to her over the years since leaving the house on Nonnengraben. Based on the letters, Hanna realizes the extent of the tragedy: Karla's first son died three weeks after he was born. She then had a son again with another man, whom she named Joschi. Karla tormented herself over the years because she loved Arthur not as a brother but as a man. She suffered terribly from breaking up with Arthur, not knowing that he had just as deep feelings for her. In his will three days before his death, he bequeathed her a considerable fortune as well as all of his books and records. In it she found poems dedicated to her, which revealed his love for her. The grief over Karla's loss had finally driven him to suicide. Karla's son Joschi, who initially caused great difficulties, improved and became a dentist. Twenty-one years later than her brother, Karla died of breast cancer. Hanna Tal is deeply moved by Karla's fate. Karla did everything possible to avoid a sexual relationship with Arthur. But she also feels sorry for Elfi. It must have been bad for her to be married to a man who only took her to get rid of his love for his sister, and who then fails to do so, but, while married to Elfi, desperately loves his sister .
Illegal monetary transactions
At the same time, prosecutor Benno Berg and the police are pursuing a completely different lead in their research. Benno Berg searches Elfi Rothammer's documents that were found in the house on Nonnengraben. In doing so, he comes across Arthur Rothammer's will. He is amazed when he reads that his wife Elfi was practically disinherited by the will, while a missing sister and another woman, Mrs. Anneliese Kurt, received the same amount together. Last but not least, there was also talk of an Arthur Rothammer Foundation, the administrator and board of which was determined by Rothammer's friend, lawyer Norbert Böschen. He learned from the city's current foundation officer that no such foundation was recorded in the official documents. Investigations reveal that the relevant file was available but has disappeared. What is interesting for Benno Berg is that in 1979, of all places, City Director Karl Bolz was the foundation officer. Karl Bolz has long been suspected of allowing bribes to wander into his own pockets on a large number of construction projects. Most likely, it was Bolz who took the relevant file from the Foundation Office's archive with him.
Benno visits lawyer Böschen in his office and questions him about Elfi Rothammer and the foundation. Böschen raves about the former beauty of Elfi Rothammer, who was the wife of his friend Arthur. However, he also says that Elfi flirted with him - Böschen - in an almost aggressive way, which he found out afterwards, she did so to make Arthur jealous. However, Elfi was rather indifferent to Elfi, the house at Nonnengraben was really important to him, with which he had an incredible cult. When Benno talks about the will, Böschen's round face changes color. Apparently he didn't know there was a second copy. Benno learns from Böschen that the purpose of the foundation was to promote art. After Elfi's death, the house on Nonnengraben was to be set up as a meeting place for artists. The foundation was an idea by Arthur Rothammer to ensure that Elfi does not sell the house after his death. The house should have his name so that he would be remembered. Elfi raved when she found out about the foundation, but she had the right to live and inherited a lot of money. Benno demands the deed of foundation and the accounts of the use of the funds from Böschen. But Böschen, who is visibly uncomfortable with the matter, initially refuses, but then points out that some of the files are with the actual board of the foundation, Karl Bolz, and promises them for the next day. Benno, who also realizes that Böschen and Bolz are talking on the phone, tries to catch Bolz in his office immediately, but he has already said goodbye under a false pretext. Benno receives the files the next day, but he is sure that they have been manipulated in the meantime.
City director Bolz speaks similarly derogatory about Elfi Rothammer. After the standard hymn of praise for Elfi's former beauty, he notices that over time she became more and more weird and greedy, sometimes he thought she might be crazy. He wonders why she needed the money so badly, so rotten as she was. Arthur Rothammer, who was very wealthy, put a large part of his fortune in this foundation, presumably because he knew his wife's greed. Part of the foundation's income was supposed to be used to maintain the house and garden. But Elfi did not let the craftsmen into the house or insulted them. After all, he and Böschen could not have found a craftsman who was ready to take on a job. His boastful remark that Elfi was susceptible to "consolation" after the death of her husband is confirmed a little later when Benno is called by Bolzen's secretary, Mrs. Grüner. She was dismissed by Bolz the day before and said that Bolz, Böschen and Ms. Rothammer had "agreed on the foundation" and that they probably also had a sexual relationship with each other. In the end, however, it was the case that Bolz and Böschen blocked contact with her, much to Ms. Rothammer's chagrin.
Benno worried about Hanna
Of course Benno Berg has not forgotten that he has to determine the whereabouts of the young woman with the baby, but at the moment he thinks he is following a hot lead with the illegal financial transactions in connection with the Arthur Rothammer Foundation, which will help more to solve the case could. He has long been ashamed of the not very sensitive conversation with Hanna. Although he had told her to keep herself available, since she is an important witness in this case, he has not reached her for days. He's very worried about her now.
Dentist Joschi Schneider
Hanna doesn't even think about showing up. She made an appointment with Mr. Anton Dechant, a retired high school teacher, in Munich for the afternoon. As a descendant of a family of gardeners from Bamberg, he is the owner of various properties that she processed for her cellar cadastre. He also had documents from the house on Nonnengraben. She had agreed with him to inspect the documents in his apartment. Since the time fits, she decides to visit the dentist Joschi Schneider, Karla's son and Elfi's heir, beforehand. After all, he was the only living relative of the Rothammer family. Hanna enters the highly fashionable dental practice of what she is amazed to discover, the beautiful doctor Joschi Schneider. Joschi Schneider is also impressed when he sees Hanna and gives her preferential treatment. Hanna explains that she bumped her face and therefore has her teeth checked, which are, however, perfect. Shortly thereafter, she tricked him into being a journalist supposed to report on changes in the leisure time behavior of dentists, and asks him for a private interview in a café. Joschi Schneider has a different idea: he invites her to dinner at his home that same evening. Although his intentions are clear and she thinks it is possible that he is the murderer, she accepts his invitation. Her curiosity is too great, she really wants to find out what he knows about his aunt.
Hanna remembers the appointment with Mr. Dechant, who lives not far from the practice in a tenement house. The old man, who has been a widower for two years, lets them in, but Hanna doesn't have to restrain herself because of his bad breath. But he also tried to dress up for his visit and got cake. While Hanna immersed herself in the files, she was disturbed in her concentration by the incessant chatter of the old man. She is therefore glad when he disappears into the kitchen to make coffee. When he stays away for a surprisingly long time, she comes into the kitchen and sees him having three different newspapers in front of him and reading the article with the lead story “The corpse at the kitchen table”. While they have coffee they chat for a while, Hanna can hardly endure Mr. Dechant's narrow-minded, narrow-minded views. When asked about Elfi Rothammer, he expressed his incomprehension about the fact that Arthur, at that time the most sought-after young man far and wide, of all people, Elfi, of all people, let himself be captured by a refugee. Hanna is happy when she can finally leave the house.
In the evening she slips into her new dress and makes her way to Joschi Schneider, who is already waiting for her with a delicious cold buffet. She entangles him in a short conversation about his mother, and he notices a few times that she reminds him of his mother in some ways. He says that, unlike his father, his mother took good care of him, but somehow he was never the number one he would have loved to be with her. Otherwise he only reports that he no longer has any relatives. When Hanna is alone in the living room for a few minutes, she sniffs around on Joschi's desk. When he suddenly comes back, she hides the letter she's holding in her hand in her dress. Surprisingly, Joschi tells Hanna about his financial worries, but moments later he kisses her hard on the mouth. She pretends to want to go to the toilet, but instead escapes from Joschi's house and escapes into her car.
But that's not all, Hanna decides to visit the Bad Wiessee casino the next day, because she saw a matchbox with the casino's advertising at Joschi's. At first she has a hard time because she is not familiar with the rules, but then she even manages to make a small profit. Suddenly Joschi shows up, throws two fifty-five hundred on the table and loses the amount almost completely. Hanna escapes. Joschi, however, watches her in the corridor, pushes her against the wall and presses her. He insulted her because she left him the day before, but was spying on him again today. When a security guard arrives, she manages to escape and reach her car. So Joschi is a player who is dissatisfied with his life because he cannot change it for financial reasons, and there is a certain brutality in it. Hanna is looking forward to telling Benno about what she has experienced. In her eyes this lead is far more promising than poor Tanja.
Elfi the refugee helper
Public prosecutor Benno Berg meets an acquaintance, Franz van Vinden, in Café Luitpold. He is a department head at Deutsche Bank, a friendly young man who has been Elfi Rothammer's customer advisor for many years. Benno finally hears something positive about the murdered woman. Van Vinden describes her as headstrong and scratchy, but once you got through her, you had to like this lonely person. She had managed to increase her considerable fortune through her incredible business sense. He also portrays her as a kind of saint who gave all of her profits to refugee organizations. Another proof of Elfi's generosity is the note the officers found. Accordingly, shortly before her death, Elfi intended to invest a sum of 3,000 euros for "the girl with the green hair and the baby" (Tanja).
In the afternoon Benno was talking to his friend, Chief Detective Werner Sinz, about the files Bolz had given him. You find it striking that Arthur Rothammer founded the foundation in February 1979. He was dead 10 months later. He also died three days after making his will. It is known that Bolz, Böschen and Frau Rothammer joined forces closely after Arthur's death. Benno is convinced that they have divided the foundation money, or at least the income, among themselves.
Benno then looks for bank documents in the house on Nonnengraben and finds them. Elfi has repeatedly transferred considerable sums, which had recently been received from various accounts to her current account, to various refugee organizations. But he also finds her children's poetry album. The diary is shocking; as a child she experienced terrible things while on the run. Arthur was the beginning of a new life for her, she loved him with all her heart. But he only had eyes for his sister. Elfi writes, among other things: “How did I hate this house because I couldn't hate it .. the walls have become so silent .. even Karla is gone. She died in May. Anton wrote it to me. It's lonely without her, without her arrogance that made me grow. ”Benno realizes that it must have been some kind of subtle revenge on her husband that she systematically let the house go to pieces. For Arthur the house was something like the symbol of his love for Karla.
Hanna and Benno make up
On the way home to Bamberg, Hanna calls both her aunt Kunigunde and Benno. Benno is overjoyed because Hanna has reported to him, unharmed and happy. When she walks into his office after a few hours, Benno's heart is racing with joy. She tells Benno about her experiences of the last few days, but above all about Joschi, Elfi's only living relative. Benno scolds Hanna a little for not considering the danger of her own investigation, when Attorney General Daum suddenly comes into the room. City director Bolz had complained to him that Benno was poking around in the old foundation matter. Benno then orders to take care of Frau Rothammer's nephew and only heir instead. Benno - knowing that the city manager and the attorney general are close friends - realizes that something is wrong with the matter. But Benno doesn't let his mood spoil and invites Hanna Tal to dinner tonight. Now Hanna has also been hit. She can't stop thinking about Benno.
Little Mr. Ernst
Hanna asks her aunt Kunigunde whether repairs have ever been carried out in the house on Nonnengraben and which craftsmen were involved. Kunigunde said, slightly blushing, that the roof was repaired there once and then that of her own house as well. The workers complained about how Elfi harassed them so that they finally gave up the job. Mr. Karl Ernst, foreman at the roofing company Simanc, known as "little Mr. Ernst", complained about his suffering about Elfi, her eggnog alone would have appeased him.
Following this conversation, Hanna visits Mr. Ernst on the premises of the Simanc company. Not only Aunt Kunigunde, Hanna is also impressed by the nice and polite manner of the short Mr. Ernst. He remembers with joy the daily tea break at Aunt Kunigunde's during the construction period and confirms that Elfi did not let the workers into the house. This also seemed to be the purpose of the exercise. Incidentally, Mr. Ernst burdens his former boss: He would have seen a receipt that was many times higher than what they actually did. Mr. Ernst promises Hanna the files from the company archive for the next day. At the end of the conversation, Hanna realizes that she was being watched by City Director Bolz.
In the evening Hanna and Benno meet to dine together in the "Rockenbach's Garden". Hanna can hardly wait to tell Benno about her conversation with Mr. Ernst, that there were documents, inflated bills, which might prove how the fraud with the Arthur Rothammer Foundation went. Benno is visibly impressed. They continue to talk about the Elfi Rothammer case and enjoy the good food. Later they go for a walk and kiss on the pier in front of the concert hall.
A night burglar assaults Hanna
The following night Hanna hears strange noises in her little house in the picturesque row of fishermen and boatmen's houses. After checking room by room and not discovering anything suspicious, she takes a sleeping pill and goes back to bed. Suddenly she is startled. A male person kneels over her and begins to choke her. With the last of her strength, she manages to ram her attacker's right knee into the abdomen. He lets go of her and escapes through the front door. Hanna dials Benno's number and with a laborious croak creates a cry for help. When Benno arrives a short time later, he sees that the whole living room has been ransacked and covered with paper. Hanna's eyes are dark red, full of broken veins, and her throat is swelling. Benno notifies a doctor, the permanent detective service and the forensics department. Hanna will soon feel a little better under the circumstances, which is why the doctor agrees that she can stay at home and not have to go to a clinic. He orders bed rest for a few days and that she cannot be left alone. A police officer watches over her for the rest of the night.
Since city director Bolz has a flawless alibi for the time of the attack on Hanna, Benno decides to turn his attention to Joschi Schneider. He is currently staying at the Hotel Nepomuk in Bamberg, supposedly to clarify the affairs of his late aunt Elfi. Benno's friend Chief Detective Werner Sinz advises him not to go to Joschi Schneider alone. So they arrange to meet at a quarter past ten in the hotel lobby to interview him together.
Mr. Ernst is dead and a shed is on fire
It is also Werner Sinz, from whom Benno learns a short time later that the foreman of the Simanc company, Karl Ernst, had been run over and killed by a young nurse the night before. And it doesn't look like a coincidence that that same night an old shed on the Simanc premises caught fire, presumably because of arson. There was no major damage because the fire brigade prevented the fire from spreading. Benno's mood is still gone, because if that shed was the company's archive, valuable evidence may have been lost. The files there were so far the only evidence he was able to find for the foundation's history. An important witness, Karl Ernst, is dead.
Hanna receives the terrible news of the death of little Mr. Ernst over the phone from Aunt Kunigunde. Kunigunde, who is informed by Hanna of the nightly attack on her, visits her niece in her house. She tells Hanna that the waitress from the “Sternla” said that little Mr Ernst drank too much over the thirst the previous night, contrary to his habit and with a happy look. With his eggnog bottle in his arms, which he had already brought into the pub, he ran straight into a car after leaving the pub.
When Tanja and her little son rings at Hanna's a little later, they first have a leisurely breakfast and also invite the "watch out police officer" Ms. Kröner to join them. Tanja, who has settled in well with Aunt Kunigunde, is still a bit shy. But she agrees to go to the public prosecutor's office together with the nice police officer Mrs. Kröner to make her statement. Kunigunde agrees to stay close to Hanna in the meantime.
All of a sudden, Hanna remembers the note that she had left with Joschi Schneider. It is a reminder from the player luck Bad Wiessee credit institution for 120,000 euros. A schedule was noted on the back of the document, handwritten notes about a mountain hike on a weekend, only briefly interrupted by a “detour to Hamburg”. It is therefore clear to Hanna that the murderer - Joschi Schneider - was looking for this conclusive document when he broke into her house.
Hostage taking in the Hotel Nepomuk
Hanna wants to warn Benno about Joschi Schneider. When she finds out that he intends to meet Joschi in the Hotel Nepomuk, she cycles to the hotel in a panic and finally stands in front of Joschi's room door. This opens suddenly, and Joschi pulls it into the room. He ties and gags her and pushes her into the bathroom, where he ties her to the shower bar in the shower cubicle. The very drunk Joschi pulls out a knife and gives her to understand that he is going to punish her for leaving him. Hanna struggles to understand his confused talk, but finally she realizes that he must have read his mother's letters on her desk last night. Joschi now believes he is Arthur and Karla's child, brother and sister. In his madness, Joschi confuses Hanna with his mother, which is why Hanna fears that he would now let her suffer instead of his mother.
Suddenly there is a knock on the door. It is Benno who would like to ask Joschi a few questions. Concerned that he might miss Joschi, he didn't want to wait for the police chief inspector Sinz to arrive. Joschi locks his victim Hanna in the bathroom and after a brief hesitation lets Benno enter the room. Benno asks him immediately about the reason for his stay in Bamberg and wants to know when he found out about his aunt's death. Joschi replies that two days ago he was informed about her death by his aunt's lawyer, Mr. Böschen, and that he had traveled to Bamberg to talk to him. He did not know his aunt, he only found out about her existence after his mother's death in May, when he looked through his mother's papers. Meanwhile, Hanna desperately tries to draw attention to herself by kicking the shower cubicle, but the soundproof door prevents Benno from noticing her.
Benno interrogates the visibly nervous Joschi Schneider with concentration. He explains that he is investigating the violent death of his aunt and asks him for an alibi for the previous night. Interestingly, Joschi is not in the slightest surprised what this has to do with his aunt's case. Benno uses another trick to get Joschi to admit that he broke into Elfi's house on Sunday, August 12th: He simply claims that Joschi was seen by a neighbor in front of Ms. Rothammer's house. Joschi does not deny this, but admits that he viewed the house on August 10 or 12. He immediately improved and said that it couldn't have been August 12th because he had an alibi for that day that he was there on a mountain tour. Benno issues an arrest warrant against Joschi Schneider, because no one knew the exact date of his death - only one person could know, namely the murderer.
Benno allows Joschi to go into the bathroom for a moment, as he himself had stayed in this exact hotel room once and knows that the bathroom window is too small to escape. Joschi grabs Hanna hostage by holding a knife to her neck and locks Benno in the bathroom. Then he sets a heap of speed handkerchiefs on fire on one of the beds and escapes with his hostage. Despite the hopelessness of the undertaking, Benno tries to squeeze his way through the bathroom window when he sees police chief inspector Werner Linz walking towards the hotel. Due to the loud noise of the neighboring Mühlbach, Benno almost fails to draw Werner's attention, but at the last moment he manages to tell Werner what happened with finger language. Shortly afterwards, Joschi Schneider and Hanna appear. In a surprise attack, Werner Linz succeeds in separating Hanna from Joschi and overpowering Joschi. Hanna, who is deeply concerned about the trapped Benno because of the burning handkerchiefs, makes sure that the door to Joschi's hotel room is opened. Fortunately, she only finds a softly glowing sheet. Benno is released and takes Hanna in his arms.
Joschi is being interrogated
In the presence of Benno, Joschi (actually Josef Arthur) Schneider is questioned by Chief Detective Sinz. Joschi says that he only found out that he had an aunt after his mother's death. Only a few people were present at his mother's funeral, strangely enough, however, his landlord Anton Dechant, who must have known her from before. Unfortunately he - Joschi - forgot to write about the death of his mother to Anneliese Kurt, whom he has not seen since he went to boarding school. Joschi vehemently denies the accusation of killing his aunt. However, he reveals that he “visited” his aunt twice. At first he lies and claims that he got along very well with his aunt the first time he visited, but then he admits that in reality there was a heated argument with her. She didn't want to give him any money or a view of the house. But he urgently needed money to satisfy his creditors. They called him a "legacy sneak" and kicked him out. "I chased your mother away and you are disappearing now too" she is supposed to have even said.
Joschi admits that three weeks later, on Sunday, August 12th, the day he was allegedly in the Alps, he forcibly entered Elfi Rothammer's house. He had pocketed 3,000 euros that he saw lying on Elfi's desk. Benno suspects that this money was actually intended for Tanja, because the police had found a note with the inscription "For Tanja and the little one" on Ms. Rothammer's desk. Joschi also admits that he broke into the house with the intention of killing him, which is why he made the alibi. However, to his astonishment, his aunt was already dead when he arrived. It was noticeable that there was a fresh bouquet of flowers on the table in front of her.
That Joschi's statements were true is confirmed when Benno speaks to Tanja Steinhübel, the girl from the house on Nonnengraben, a short time later. Tanja says that it was she who put the bouquet of flowers that she wanted to give Frau Rothammer on the table in front of the corpse. So Joschi Schneider was not the murderer of Mrs. Rothammer.
The killer confesses
While Hanna Benno was always one step ahead in her investigations, it is now Benno who is following a decisive lead. He found out from Anneliese Kurt that it was Anton Dechant who informed her about Karla's death. Mr. Dechant missed Mrs. Kurt at the funeral and therefore wrote to her.
Benno drives to Mr. Dechant's, and the old man willingly tells him his "story": It comes to light that Anton Dechant was a friend of Arthur Rothammer and had fallen madly in love with his sister Karla. When Karla was so unhappy about her brother's imminent marriage to Elfi Patzig, Dechant did everything to comfort her. Karla got involved with him on a night of love and then expected a child from him. After that night, however, she never let him get close to her again. After an argument with Karla that Elfi had overheard, he let Elfi seduce him. He could not give in to her because of his feelings for Karla, whereupon Elfi called him a failure and a wimp. The actually unforgivable thing was that Elfi told Karla about the night of love afterwards, while she was the only one who knew that Karla was pregnant by him, not even he knew that at the time. Karla then turned away from Dechant for all time. They named their son, who died three weeks after his birth, not after him, but after her brother. Karla only went to Dechant once to ask him to help her second son Joschi. He fulfilled this wish and rented out the rooms for his practice to Joschi at very favorable conditions. On the same day he told Karla that after the death of her brother Arthur, the house on Nonnengraben now belonged to him and her as heirs of their deceased child. Karla didn't want to know anything about it.
In the end, Dechant admits that he visited Elfi in her house on Nonnengraben. He would have given her anything for the house, even all of his other houses. The house would have been like the dream of returning to paradise for him. But with the same malicious grin as she had watched when Karla sent him away, she said: "I'm not selling the house, especially not to a cuckold like you." Then he strangled her.
→ Note: The novel is divided into 27 chapters - the headings used in the article are used for structuring, they are not available in the novel. The historical buildings shown next to the text are mostly mentioned in the novel, but are also only accessories.
particularities
“Hanna walked across the Obere Brücke as if in a trance, under the crossing Gothic arches of the Old Town Hall. She felt strange. Something crucial had happened. But what?"
Cathedral, old court, new residence, Geyerswörth island, little Venice - these and many other characteristics of Bamberg fit harmoniously into the history. Such a wonderful, old, historical city is brought closer to Bamberg connoisseurs, but also to readers who have never visited Bamberg. But this local color is only an accessory to the multifaceted crime story. Between the love and hate of the present and the past there is murder. The murder of Mrs. Elfi Rothammer, a woman whose nature remains a mystery to the last. Right from the start, the slightly superstitious public prosecutor Benno Berg saw the antithesis "mountain" and "valley", which results from the names of the protagonists, as a lucky coincidence. He was right. Benno Berg and Hanna Tal became a couple.
The author, Karin Dengler-Schreiber, who shows parallels to the protagonist not only because of her training as a historian, uses the name “Anna Degen” as a pseudonym for her novel. Ultimately, however, it remains a secret why the author uses a pseudonym when everyone can read the author's real name on the back of the novel.
literature
- The house on Nonnengraben . Emons Verlag ("Franken-Krimi" series), Cologne 2007. ISBN 978-3-89705-494-3
More Bamberg crime novels
- Detective novels about the private detective Katinky Palfy by Friederike Schmöe , Gmeiner Verlag
- Detective novels about the theologian Philipp Laubmann by Stefan Fröhling and Andreas Reuss, Knecht Verlag
- Detective novels about the detective chief David Schreiber by Peter Ritter, Verlag M. Naumann
- A corpse in the fermentation cellar by Thomas Kastura , Verlag Fränkischer Tag