Contents

Copyright

Also by Nick Buckets

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Also by Nick Buckets

About the author

FADING ECHOES

NICK BUCKETS

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2023 by Nick Buckets

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the author except for the use of quotations in a book review.

Book design by Nick Buckets

www.nickbuckets.com

ALSO BY NICK BUCKETS

Detective Olaf Bauer Series

Berlin Seeds

Break Even

Chapter 1

“TWENTY BUCKS SAYS HE WON’T SHOW up,” Olaf said.

“You’re gonna lose this one.”

Olaf shook his head. “Not a chance. He should’ve been here by now.”

The alleged exhibition event was scheduled to start at 8 pm. It was well past nine, but their target was nowhere to be seen.

“Olaf Bauer,” Mayer said. “The most nihilistic homicide detective in the history of homicide detectives. You never told me what killed the optimism in you. Was it a specific event, or was it that you grew up in the most paranoid country that ever existed?”

She was right. After working with Anna Mayer for nearly two years, he hadn’t yet shared how he lost his mother. How his childhood innocence was uprooted in a single day. “That’s a tale for another time. Maybe something to chat over the beers you’ll owe me after tonight.”

“You’re gonna lose this one.”

His glance settled on a passing railway train, crossing the river bridge as it rolled toward the central station. The glow from its illuminated carriages diffused through the night like the trail of a burning fuse, until the train vanished behind the imposing museum building.

Olaf reached for the thermos tucked under the seat. “Up for another round?” he asked, his breath steaming in the squad car’s cold atmosphere. “I’m going to freeze if we stay put all night long.

“Bring a hat to cover your bald head next time instead of complaining,” Mayer said. Her eyes were locked onto the museum entrance. “That’s where you lose heat from.“

The entire plan had been a long shot, but they weren’t flooded with alternatives either.

Some nuthead had been targeting prominent figures in the local art community. The victims included the owner of a famous art gallery, the assistant stage director of the Deutsches Theater, and a talented violinist, all of whom had suffered stabbing assaults. While they had all survived, the violinist was still fighting for her life in the ICU.

Following each attack, a video was circulated on social media, in which someone disguised as a plague doctor was dancing near the victims.

It soon became evident that the link between the victims was the Berlin University of the Arts, where all three had been teaching courses during the previous semester. At this point, they didn’t care if it was a frustrated artist who had lost it, or another deranged individual. What mattered was to prevent the next strike.

“I’m not sure about Museum Island being the right choice for the setup,” Olaf said.

“You don’t support your own idea anymore?”

“I still like the advantage of barricading the bridges if things go south. Isolate the island, trap him inside. But an evening event inside the Pergamon Museum? Who falls for that?”

Mayer shrugged. “It was the only building that fit the bill. The only place in which we could construct an isolation space.”

“And who the hell did they hire t o create the website and advertisement poster? It looks as if a teenager made it.”

Mayer sighed. “Damn it, Bauer. Can’t you let your negativity aside for a change? I’m growing sick of it. I’m quite sure we generated enough buzz to attract his attention.”

“How much time are you going to give it?” he asked, handing her the cup of steaming tea.

“Until he arrives. You know damn well he will.”

And that was exactly the issue with Mayer. Sure, she was a bit older and a tad more seasoned than him, but it wasn’t her age or her experience that set her apart. It was her aura. That bold sovereignty which made him question his own beliefs.

Because as he observed her, scanning the area while sipping tea, he knew it too. He might as well have set fire to those twenty bucks instead of betting on their plan failing.

He was about to open his mouth and tell her so, when his phone buzzed within his pocket. It was Tina, calling for the fourth time that evening.

Mayer gave him a sideways glance. “You’re still running around with this brick of a phone? You could at least buy yourself a smartphone if you stopped losing bets left and right, you know.”

Olaf shot her a get-out-of-here look as he answered the call.

“Tina?”