DANGER ZONE | Kenzou Tenma

Chapter 21: Thinking too much

The following afternoon, I was meeting with Richard again. Unlike our previous meetings, we weren't planning on going to a cafe so he wouldn't be tempted to drink again. This time, I picked him up from his counsellor, an older man named Dr. Reichwein.

His secretary was very friendly. She was clumsy, to be honest, but the initial uneasiness I felt when stepping into this new place faded when she started talking to me.

"Oh, so you're Mr. Braun's new friend? I didn't expect that friend to be a woman!" I smiled politely. "Well, we're both policemen. That's how me met. I've only known him for a couple of days, though." That's when the door opened and two men entered the reception, one of them being Richard. He seemed astonished at first, but then smiled when he saw me. "I shouldn't be surprised that you are on time." He then stepped aside, making space for the older man. "Helene, this is Dr. Reichwein. I've told you about him already." I reached out my hand to the man. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I've heard a lot about you from Richard." "I can only return that", he answered with a smile. "Richard thinks very highly of you." I couldn't help but smile a little. "That's nice to hear. I feel the same way." Richard got a little shy at my words. "Anyway, Doctor. We'll see each other next week, right?" "Have you eaten already, you two?", I asked them. "If not, we can go out together. It's on me today." "That's very kind of you, but I'll pass", Dr. Reichwein answered with a smile. "After all, it is the two of you that planned to meet." "Why not join us, Doctor?", Richard asked. "I don't mind if you come with us. I know a good restaurant." Dr. Reichwein shrugged with a shy smile. "Well, if you insist..."

Richard guided us to a Bavarian restaurant. It was small and cozy, and the smell of food made my stomach growl. The three of us sat down at a small table next to the windows.
"So you're a policeman, too?" Dr. Reichwein looked at me curiously. I nodded. "Yes, I'm a detective. I used to live in East Germany, but I'm currently working in Düsseldorf." "Düsseldorf? Interesting. That means you probably know of the Dr. Tenma case, right?" I nodded as I went through the menu. "Yes. Is there a reason why you ask?" "Dr. Tenma is a former student of mine." I looked at him with widened eyes. "Y-You used to teach at university?" "Yes, a long time ago. Now I'm just a counsellor, but I used to hold lectures at Düsseldorf University. And if I may be honest... it's hard to believe for me that Doctor Tenma is supposed to be a murderer. People can change... they can change a lot. But I refuse to believe that a person like Tenma went from a timid man to a ruthless killer. It doesn't make sense to me."

I was relieved to hear him talk so well about Doctor Tenma. That meant my intuition hadn't proven me wrong. Still, I didn't know whether to trust Dr. Reichwein. But he was a friend of Richard's, so I decided to share my opinion with him.

"I think the same way, Doctor Reichwein." I took a sip of water, then continued. "He is not the culprit in any of the cases he's involved in. He just happened to have a lot of bad luck, one might say, being at the wrong place, wrong time. And now, he's on the run to catch the real culprit."

Both of them listened to me in silence. I sighed quietly. "We have to find them. Both Doctor Tenma and Johan, before anything worse happens. I fear that Doctor Tenma might not have the intention to prove his innocence. Because if that would be his objective, he wouldn't have gone underground for such a long time." "So you're saying that he wants to take down the actual serial killer?", Richard asked. I nodded hesitantly. "I'm not entirely sure about that, but that's what it seems to be. I offered him my help, but he refused it."

The mere thought of the current situation saddened me for some reason. I decided not to express this feeling in front of the two men, though, because I did not want to come across as obsessive. I wondered how Doctor Tenma was doing at the moment, where he was and whether he was safe. And he also had Dieter with him... I was genuinely looking forward to seeing them again.

"What's wrong, Helene?"
I looked up, meeting Richard's eyes. I forced a small smile on my face. "Nothing. I was just... thinking. Thinking too much about something."

Or someone.

The sound of my phone broke the silence. Looking at the screen, I recognised the number immediately. It was the phone number of a certain colleague who kicked me out of his car. I stood up from my chair.

"I have to answer this one. I'm sorry." "It's fine", Richard said, "we'll be waiting."

I stood outside the restaurant, picking up the call. "Hello, Helene", a deep voice greeted me. As always, he went straight to the point. "We need you here for a certain case and it would be suitable if you would be back by the day after tomorrow. I don't know where you are at the moment, but I won't ask you to tell me."
"Thank you. That's very considerate of you. I'll be ba-"
"I'd be curious to know, though."
I raised my eyebrows and was lucky he couldn't see me at the moment. Shut up.
"Anyway", I answered with a passive aggressive undertone, "I'll drive home so I'll be back on Saturday. Until then." And I ended the call. I felt instant regret doing this, knowing it was pretty rude, but I was starting to lose my temper with inspector Lunge and I didn't have the energy to hide it anymore. After taking a deep breath, I returned to our table, where the others waited for me.

We had a good time that evening. Dr. Reichwein told us many stories of the past and told me about how Doctor Tenma used to be as a student, while Richard joked around most of the time. I liked his humor and enjoyed listening to him, but I sensed the sadness he hid underneath his behaviour. In that case, he was the opposite of me; he laughed his sadness away while I tended to become very silent when I had a bad time. Often, I felt like Richard wasn't even sad about losing his job; his pain mostly came to the surface when he talked about his daughter.

"So you have to leave?", Richard asked as we left the restaurant. I nodded. "Unfortunately. My colleague needs me in Düsseldorf. But I'll be back as soon as I'm finished. It should take me two weeks at most." "What a shame that it happened in the midst of this interesting case..." He shrugged. "Well, it can't be helped. I'll call you if I need your help, so you won't get rid of me, unfortunately." "I think I can live with that." I chuckled. "Richard, there's something else I want to say."

He looked at me in a surprised manner. Dr. Reichwein seemed lost in thoughts while standing next to us. I took a breath and faced Richard. "Give your daughter time. I'm sure she will reach out to you, eventually. I know it's hard, being separated from your family. But you're her father... and despite everything that happened, she still loves you. Keep being patient, and she will call you someday."

Richard answered me with a surprisingly broad smile. Still, I could see something shimmering in his eyes.

"Thank you, Helene."