SIGI
There was a knock at the door of the hotel room. It was a soft, short knock. Only three or four times, no more. He had just showered, and put on a white bathrobe. Barefoot, he walked toward the door, hesitating briefly on the way. He didn’t know who might be visiting him now. He opened. Outside stood a severely dressed woman, about 35, with a stressed expression on her face. Are you Siegenthaler, the private detective, she asked him. He answered in the affirmative. Would you accept an assignment, the pay would be very good. “Come in,” said Sigi, as he was commonly called. “I only take on serious stuff, though”. They then sat. He pulled the bathrobe over his legs as best he could. She did not look at all. Stressed, she then looked him in the eye and clarified. My twelve-year-old daughter Nadja has been missing for five days. The police have set up a special unit, but they haven’t found out anything about her whereabouts yet. An acquaintance told me to go to you. You had special methods. She pulled a thick envelope out of her pocket. Here, if you find her, I’ll give you the same again. Or more, if you might have to pay people. I am quite wealthy. Sigi looked inside, he saw a thick wad of big notes. “Does she have a boyfriend, maybe she just eloped,” he asked. “No, no, Nadja would never do that. She’s very smart, and we have a good relationship. Someone must have kidnapped her”.
“Please wait here, I’ll go get dressed”. A short time later Sigi returned, equipped with various utensils. A writing pad with a pen was also among them. “Do you have a picture of her with you?” she handed it to him. “A pretty girl, please don’t get me wrong. I now need all the details down to the smallest about your daughter. From height, weight, clothing, just about anything you can think of. Does she have a best friend at school or outside?”,
Sigi asked many more questions. He meticulously noted down every little thing. Sigi then, “Well, I’ll take the case. But every hour counts now, are you available anytime?”, he asked. She gave him her card, “I can’t sleep anyway, you can always call.”
Sigi then: “The way it’s been described so far, she must have fallen into the clutches of a mean white slaver Ring, or some nutcase. I’ll get in touch with the police chief, whom I know well, first. He will give me her information. Then I will contact a company that specializes in trafficking. They specialize in tracking human traffickers. They are very discreet and have highly qualified Internet specialists in their ranks. If there is a new offer for sale on the Internet, they will find it. However, half of their money will probably go for it. They are expensive”
She immediately, as I said before, if you need more, tell me. If necessary, I’ll give everything I have.
Sigi, “I’ll call you as soon as I know anything. As a first step, I’ll go to the police chief, he’ll tell me everything he’s allowed to.” You, day and night, they can always call. Sigi then spent the evening at the police station, where it turned out that despite the special unit, they were totally in the dark. But the chief promised him that if he had any suspicion about Nadja’s whereabouts, he would immediately set hundreds in motion to search for her. Sigi thanked him. Then he called the said company, gave a password. It was not the first time he used their services. The company with a meaningless name was specifically looking for child traffickers, whether girl or boy. Sigi told the case to one of the specialists. He made the payment. They took over the case and started a targeted search. Sigi spent the whole night there. Once someone brought him a drink which he accepted with thanks. Towards morning, one of the employees said, I’ve got something. There is a twelve-year-old girl for sale. Sigi was immediately wide awake. The head of the company came to him. We have experience with such cases. We always use our employee Hassan. He will act as the buyer. However, you should be able to have a large suitcase of cash ready. Sigi immediately contacted the police chief and informed him about the situation. The promised an immediate call back, he just had to make clarifications. The chief then called back, I can release one million euros, it is confiscated counterfeit money though, which only specialists can recognize as such. We will spray it over, after 12 hours it will dissolve. Offer a million, he said. The specialists did so, and promptly won the bid. The handover was to take place in the afternoon in a remote area. The chief of police immediately ordered two snipers there. They camouflaged themselves, brought their high-powered rifles to bear, and lay there for hours, invisible. Sigi then drove to his mother. She opened the door for him in her robe, “Come in,” she said, Sigi explained to her the current situation and that she would have Nadja back in the afternoon. By the way, I am Eva, may I just call you Sigi, she asked. He nodded. she then, I’ll make us a coffee, why don’t you sit there in the comfortable armchair. Sigi sat down. When she came back with the coffee, he was asleep. She covered him. After a short time he woke up, no, I can’t sleep now, every hour counts. She went into the kitchen and brought him a fresh strong coffee. Sigi, I’m going back to the company now and see how things are going. She looked at him, but you look totally overtired. He, I’m not giving up until I find her. She leaned on him a little. I like you, she said. Sigi reported to the police chief first. The whole area is being monitored inconspicuously over a large area. Special forces have been called in. They will not be seen. Everything is prepared. Afterwards he went to the company. They had already prepared everything. Sigi was dressed in an expensive suit. He would go to the meeting together with Hassan, taking the money with him. A big limousine with a driver was ready. He would play the rich buyer, Hassan his servant. In the afternoon, exact data about the meeting place came in. Sigi immediately forwarded them to the police chief. he issued a hidden general alarm. Sigi called Eva briefly and informed her, she was crying. Hopefully everything will go well. In due time, they drove to the agreed meeting place. Sure enough, a van appeared, two men got out. One of them had a submachine gun on his shoulder, the other one was acting relaxed. Sigi got out of the expensive limousine, condescended. Do you have the dough, the looser asked. Sigi gave Hassan a quick signal with his head. He then hurried and went to get the suitcase. It was opened and all the money could be seen. The loose one seemed satisfied, and then signaled to the submachine gun man. He went to the van, and brought a girl with her hands tied, she had a cloth over her head. Sigi nodded again to Hassan. He went to the girl and pulled the cloth off her head. To Sigi’s great surprise, it was not Nadja, but a completely different girl. Sigi pressed the button in his pocket. That was the signal to intervene. From all sides forces came running, which were camouflaged somewhere before. The one with the MP started shooting, but didn’t hit anyone. One of the snipers had put him out of action with a well-aimed shot. Helpers immediately attended to the totally frightened girl and took care of her. The loose one was overpowered and arrested. Sigi was desperate, he knew he was back to square one. He drove to Eva and told her everything. She began to cry loudly. He hugged her and held her as tight as he could. Slowly she calmed down. Sigi then to her. We can’t give up now, we have to hang on. “Can you?” he asked. She nodded. “Good, we’ll go through your entire circle of acquaintances now, do you have something to write with?” She brought paper and a pen. He wrote down all the data of her acquaintances. Afterwards they went to the relatives. Sigi knew that such acts were often committed by people one would never have thought of. Everything was meticulously recorded, and he immediately sent everything to the chief of police for verification. It will take some time, Sigi said. She prepared breakfast, which they ate together. Did you notice anyone in particular around you, he asked her. Not really, was her answer. All nice people. But if you ask, my ex’s brother, Edward, he was a bit of a weirdo. Sigi immediately noted down Edward’s name and address. What is his profession? The answer, he is a forester. He is responsible for an area north of the city. Sigi immediately passed this information on to the chief of police. The chief of police issued a general alarm, and a team of hundreds with search dogs was set in motion. Only this was a very large area. Sigi explained to Eva what was going on. She could not believe that Edward would do anything to Nadja. Sigi: We have to consider everything. I won’t stop until I find her. Where have you been all this time, she asked. Sigi then set off and joined the search team. The police chief in front. He also had a daughter, so he knew the situation. Sigi asked him how he was going to proceed. His answer, here are many old tunnels, that will be a difficult task. The dogs have shown nothing so far. But we do not stop until we have combed through the rest. Systematically they proceeded. For kilometers they went through the forest. But they found nothing. At a tunnel they went in, but there was nothing inside except garbage. They went on. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man came jumping. He had a knife in his hand and stabbed one of the policewomen in the shoulder. Pulled it out and went after others with it. The police chief pulled out his service pistol and shot him. One recognized the. That’s the forester, he said. They searched him, in a side pocket they found a girl’s handkerchief. Sigi gave it to a German shepherd to smell. He started barking. On a long leash, he raced ahead, obviously having picked up a scent. It went up to two kilometers, there the dog stopped before a tunnel. He did not go further, but barked loudly.
Sigi took hold of a strong lamp. Together with the police chief they went into the tunnel. They called for her, called Nadja, are you there. At some point they heard a faint voice from a side tunnel. Immediately they ran there. Then they found Nadja. She was tied to a chair with her hands and feet, and looked very weak. The chief took his radio and ordered emergency forces to help. Sigi took his knife and freed her from her bonds. She looked at him fearfully. He said, we are the good guys. Everything will be all right. She looked at him and seemed to believe him. Then she passed out. As quickly as possible, she was taken away on a stretcher. A helicopter called by the boss landed on a nearby meadow, helpers took Nadja there, and immediately she was flown to the nearest hospital on an emergency basis. Sigi, totally exhausted, made his way to Eva. He gave her the news. Immediately she fell around his neck. Can we go to her, wait, I’ll just put something on. Together they took a cab to the hospital. Sigi no longer felt fit to drive. He had not slept for 36 hours. There they waited a long time in the emergency room, as it is in most hospitals. Then a doctor came. How is she Eva asked. I am the mother. The doctor gave information. She has had little to drink and hardly any food. She is weakened, but her organs are functioning normally. She will be sleeping for about 12 hours. She gets infusions for everything she needs. Please don’t worry, it will be fine. But it needs some time. Come back tomorrow afternoon, she might be awake by then. And you two, you’d better go home quickly. You both look totally exhausted. Otherwise you will both be lying here in the hospital soon. They took a cab and went to her home. I don’t have anything with me, Sigi said. You, I still have such a travel set, for brushing your teeth, you can use that. You don’t need pajamas, it’s warm enough. No sooner said than done. As soon as Sigi was covered up in bed, he fell into a deep sleep. He didn’t notice that she crawled under the covers with him. Later in the morning he woke up. She was lying beside him. »Breakfast is ready«, she said.
My Kyushu 