Private matter

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A private matter is a novel by Horst Ehmke that was published by Eichborn Verlag in 2003 .

action

A murdered prostitute is found in Cologne . Martin Gassen, a specialist in communications systems , is interested in the murder because he believes the murdered woman is an old friend from his childhood as a development worker in Sierra Leone . He falls into the sights of the chief detective Limbach as the main suspect, as he investigates in the Crown Club , the brothel in which the murdered woman, Victoria , worked. There he meets Victoria's sister , Cynthina . Martin asks his friend Thèrese to investigate in Antwerp , since he suspects that Victoria came into the country through an escape aid organization. Meanwhile, ignoring the police summons, Martin travels to Sierra Leone to repair a radio under the pretext for GTZ.

In Sierra Leone, Martin is accompanied by the mercenary Crocker . He suspects Martin's real reasons, and after Martin's confession the mercenary decides to help him with the intention of tracking down a RUF leader who was believed to be dead , the so-called invulnerable . They visit the nurse Kordula , whom Victoria still knows as a kindergarten teacher. This gives the two of them a photo in which Victoria is shown with the youthful invulnerable. They also get the tip to go to Victoria's home village . There they meet the caretaker Siddie , who tells them that the invulnerable, real name Sahr Kandeh , is still alive. On the return flight in the helicopter of the Executive Service, the mercenary organization of Crocker , they fall into the hands of the Kamajores . You can free them and fly back to Freetown . Martin also visits an old friend, Claude Dubois , who is now the head of the escape aid organization Escape . He knows Victoria and her sister, but I'm sure he's acting strange and doesn't reveal much.

Meanwhile, Thèrese visited the refugee center Fair Heaven in Antwerp with Payoke , a human rights organization . They don't find out anything, but learn from girls who have been placed as dancers through a personnel agency called Personell Line .

While Martin is back in Germany and traveling to Belgium, Crocker spies on Escape alone . He finds a secret door that leads to a room full of mysterious documents. Among other things, he finds out that Refugium , the umbrella organization of Fair Heven , donates large sums to Escape .

The police find out that Victoria was murdered with a poison of African origin. The Crown Club was searched with no real results. In Belgium, Martin speaks to Pier Sakker , an accountant from Refugium . He convinces him to disclose data that prove that the refuge is active in the trafficking of women. Payoke also has the theory that women with diamonds are smuggled out of Africa via Escape .

Back in Africa, Martin and Crocker go to a rehabilitation center for child soldiers , where they learn that the invulnerable man is being held in a gold mine. They go to the mines occupied by the Kamajores in order to free the invulnerable from his prison. During interrogation, they learn that Cynthia and Victoria lived in the Invulnerable RUF's camp for a while and that Cynthia injured Victoria and that is why she was hospitalized at the time. Sahr also tells that Dubois is a former prisoner and is now active in the diamond trade and that Cynthia Victoria took with her to Germany.

Back in Germany, the police tried to convict Dubois . They send Martin , who is equipped with a bugging device, to Dubois , who is married to Cynthia , but they get so furious that they reveal spicy information to him, including that Dubois had murdered Victoria and that Cynthia was deeply involved in the trafficking of women is. The police storm the house and arrest them.

At the end of the story, Martin decides to go back to Sierra Leone and spend the rest of his life there.

characters

Martin Gassen

Martin Gassen, 34 years old, is the protagonist and is celebrated as a hero at the end of the story. Martin works in a company that wants to develop a new UMTS device. He has an unstable relationship with Therèse , a youth colleague. Martin worked as a development aid worker in Sierra Leone for two years. There he had a relationship with Victoria , from which he had to part. However, he still raves about her to this day. When he saw a picture of a murdered woman in the newspaper one day and identified her as his Victoria, the adventure began for him. He wants to uncover the murder and flies to Sierra Leone. With a little help, he also succeeds in uncovering a women trafficking ring.

David Crocker

He is a mercenary in Sierra Leone who works for the British mercenary agency Executive Services . He is Martin Gassen's companion and protector in Sierra Leone and goes through many dangerous adventures with him. At first he is very suspicious of Martin. After uncovering Martin's real intentions, he helps him, as the research also seems to be related to his goals of killing the invincible. They develop a close friendship and stay in contact when Martin leaves Africa again.

Victoria

She worked as a kindergarten teacher in Sierra Leone. She met Martin while working as a kindergarten teacher. She has a close relationship with Martin. However, it is not common in their tribe to have a relationship with a white person or a non-believer. Because of this, she and Martin are cursed and Martin is predicted that he will die in Africa. That's why Victoria wants Martin to leave the continent as soon as possible and breaks up with him. She is threaded into the trafficking of women and ends up in a German brothel. However, she is killed because she wanted to blow up the human trafficking.

Jupp Kempernich

Work colleague and good friend of Martin. Supports Martin in his investigations. Is more cautious and often wants to keep Martin from his ideas. Has a relationship with Commissioner Maren Weiser , who keeps reporting information about the course of the investigation. Together they form a development team at C&T Communications . At the beginning of the book he meets Maren , who happens to be involved in solving the Victoria's murder case. They come together, and through this relationship, inside information from the police initially comes to Martin .

Therese

Is the girlfriend of Martin Gassen . Can't understand why Martin mourns his murdered love so much. Nevertheless, she is getting information for him in Antwerp. In the end she decides against a life in Africa and so against Martin .

Cynthia Stevens

Is very jealous of her sister Victoria, which is why she lets Victoria die in a noble brothel. She is married to the Escaspe boss Claude Dubois and is also involved in the murder of her sister.

Claude Dubois

He smuggles women and diamonds with his refugee aid organization Escape . Helps Victoria and Cynthia leave Sierra Leone. Was also in Sierra Leone when Martin was there for 2 years. Is the killer of Victoria. Claude Dubois is the murderer of Victoria Sia Stevenson and the head of Escape in Sierra Leone. Escape smuggles diamonds, which are sent with the refugees to Antwerp in Belgium. Martin and Dubois know each other from Martin's time as development workers in Sierra Leone, although Dubois was a Red Cross employee at the time . He was later captured by the RUF , met Cynthia, and Escape's diamond and women trafficking network (based on Cynthia's idea) developed.

Maren Weiser

Is an employee of Limbach and the friend of Jupp . You get to know each other at the beginning of the book, at which point Martin learns a lot about the work of the police through Jupp and Maren . Jupp and Maren later declare the murder case and the progress made in the investigation to be taboo in their relationship.

literature

• Horst Ehmke: Private matter . Eichborn Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2003, ISBN 3-8218-0932-9 .