Kronberg Crimes 01 - The Devils Grin

may reveal interesting details about you.’
    ‘I don’t believe you,’ I whispered.
    ‘It is about time you got to know me.’ He stood there unmoving, with superiority seeping out of every pore. He was a good actor.
    ‘How curious,’ I said softly, gazing up into his face. There were only inches between us now. ‘I had the impression I knew you inside and out. I thought I could touch your soul.’ I dipped my fingertips into his shirt, there where the heartbeat was. His gaze flickered, his hand released the door, and I slipped away.

    ~~~

    At home I had a quick snack, dressed in my rough wear and sturdy boots, packed a few provisions plus a blanket for the night, and was off to catch the last train to Crowthorne; but not before paying a quick visit to Garret to fetch a rope. He was rather puzzled when I told him I needed it to climb a tree.
    Close to midnight I reached the Berkshire. Clouds covered the dark sky, making it the perfect night for a burglary. I had noticed Holmes as I got off the train in Crowthorne; his presence didn’t surprise me. He kept his distance and neither of us acknowledged the other.
    It took me fifteen minutes to reach the edge of the pitch-dark forest. I slipped into the woods, took cover behind a large tree, and listened. Quiet footfall announced Holmes. Quickly, I took my shoes and socks off, stuffed them into my rucksack which I then strapped tightly onto my back. Any noise coming from things moving within had to be avoided. I rolled my trousers up to my knees. Holmes was dangerously close behind me now. He could probably touch my shoulder if he stretched out his hand.
    I ducked and started running. Behind me I heard him growl a quiet ‘Anna!’ and had to smile. I had finally rattled his composure.
    I wasn’t too worried about Holmes catching up with me. I had spent my childhood in the large forest surrounding our village. Climbing slick trees was not a great challenge and I enjoyed running silently through the woods. A city dweller wouldn’t stand much of a chance against me here.
    After roughly ten minutes, the canopy lightened and the intimidating outer wall of Broadmoor Lunatic Asylum looked down on me. I ran along it and found a tree that suited my purpose — a mighty oak, split in two by lightning with one half still alive. One of its thick branches reached over the wall.
    I climbed up and nestled close to its torso with my legs hugging the thick branch.
    The entire asylum stretched like a small city below me. I knew this place well, because one of my first assignments as an epidemiologist had been the annual hygiene inspection of Broadmoor.
    To the left I saw the main building Holmes must have visited today. It was the oldest, and now had the function of the lowest security block. It housed harmless cases such as female petty thieves with depression or a nervous tic. Farther to the right were the five male blocks built a year after the first. Most of these inhabitants were harmless, too.
    And then, far to the right, were the two high security blocks, one for women, and one for men. Many of these inmates were insane murderers who got their daily ration of groats pushed through a hatch at the bottom of a heavy iron door. Well away from me a chimney poked into the nights sky, much like a scorched tree trunk — the central heating facility. I started wondering whether this building could serve as a hiding place during the summer months.
    After a moment of consideration, I decided to first check on the high security blocks that lay at some distance from the remaining complex and would be most suitable for any secret undertaking. Hopefully, I could get some information on Broadmoor’s medical experiments without running into the two security men, each armed with a club and a revolver.
    I heard a quiet crack and peered down. There was the gaunt figure of a man, and I was surprised at how easily he moved in the dark. Holmes walked around looking at the ground as though he was trying to find my footprints, and I observed him curiously. What would he be able to see in this darkness? The soil was dry, and I had been running without shoes. I held my breath and waited for him to stop and bend down. But he never did. After he had passed me and disappeared behind the bend of the wall, I took the rucksack off my back and strapped it onto the tree. Then I balanced along the branch, carrying a length of rope. Just above the fifteen-foot-high wall, I tied the rope onto the branch