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Mitch shook his head.
Already it is known – you were seen with the woman in the Braünschweiger Hütte, not ten kilometers from where you were found. A striking woman, beautiful and blond, observers say.’
The mountaineers all nodded at this, as if they had been there.
‘It is best you tell us everything and we hear it first. I will tell the police in Italy, and the police here in Austria will interview you and maybe it will all be nothing.’
‘They were acquaintances,’ he said. ‘She was – used to be – my girlfriend. I mean, we were lovers.’
‘Yes. Why did she return to you?’
‘They had found something. She thought I might be able to tell them what they had found.’
‘Yes?’
Mitchell realized he had no choice. He drank another glass of water, then told the inspector most of what had happened, as precisely and clearly as he could. Since they had not mentioned the vials, he did not mention them, either. The officer took notes and recorded his confession on a small tape machine.
When he was finished, the inspector said, ‘Someone is sure to want to know where this cave is.’
‘Tilde – Mathilda had a camera,’ Mitch said wearily. ‘She took pictures.’
‘We found no camera. It might go much easier if you know where the cave is. Such a find … very exciting.’
‘They have the baby already,’ Mitch said. ‘That should be exciting enough. A Neanderthal infant.’
The inspector made a doubtful face. ‘Nobody says anything about Neanderthal. So maybe this is a delusion or joke?’
Mitch was long past the point of losing everything he cared about – his career, his standing as a paleontologist. One more time he had screwed things up royally. ‘Maybe it was the headache. I’m just groggy. Of course, I’ll help them find the cave,’ he said.
‘Then there is no crime, merely tragedy.’ The inspector rose to leave, and the officer tipped his cap good-bye.
After they were gone, the mountaineer with the peeling cheeks told him, ‘You are not going home soon.’
‘The mountains want you back,’ said the least snow-burned of the four, across the room from Mitch, and nodded sagely, as if that explained everything.
‘Screw you,’ Mitch muttered. He rolled over in the crisp white bed.
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