Upon their arrival at the jewelry shop, the two inspectors were greeted at the door by a well-dressed shop assistant. When they explained the purpose of their visit, the assistant nodded and went to fetch his boss.
Leopold Galinsky emerged from the back room less than a minute later. He was still in shirtsleeves as he stepped through the curtain, but he had a dress jacket clutched in his right hand. He stopped for a moment to pull on the jacket before proceeding to where the two inspectors stood. As he walked, he smoothed out his jacket and his tie to produce the proper appearance.
Galinsky had obviously been expecting the two visitors. He wore a friendly but cautious look as he offered his hand and greeted them with a melodious ‘Servus’.
“So, how can I help you, gentleman?”
“Actually, we were hoping that you could give us some assistance identifying some items that were purchased here at your shop.” Dörfner then opened the police department packet and carefully poured out the three rings.
“Would you happen to recognize any of these rings?”
Galinsky peered down at the three pieces on the counter for no more than five seconds before picking up the ruby ring. He then inspected it for another three seconds.
“This one certainly. It belongs to Frau von Klettenburg.”
“Excuse me?”
Galinsky looked back up. “Frau Anneliese von Klettenburg.” He then turned to another assistant standing at attention a short distance away. “Franzl, could you please fetch the book with the von Klettenburg accounts. It’s the dark green book on the far right shelf.”
“Jawohl, Herr Galinsky,” the assistant replied before disappearing into the back room.
Stebbel was still trying to line up that name with a swirl of vague associations. “Von Klettenburg … as in …?”
“The wife of Karsten von Klettenburg. The privy counselor.”
“Privy counselor?” Dörfner had a bit of smugness knocked out of him on hearing that this case might have a link back to the imperial palace.
“Not to forget, also one of our city’s richest citizens. A big industrialist. Though most famous, I think, as the head of the Vienna Trust Bank.”
“Absolutely stinking rich, in other words,” said Dörfner.
“If you care to phrase it that way. Personally, I find that wealth has a rather sweet fragrance.” Just then, the assistant re-emerged, clutching the accounts book. He had already opened it to the section with the von Klettenburg purchases and payments. This he placed in front of Galinsky before disappearing back into the other room.
“And the Klettenburgs, they were frequent customers of your establishment?”
“Yes, indeed. For a long time, in fact. Herr von Klettenburg’s father and uncle were already clients back when I was a young man, just starting out in the trade.” All this time, Galinsky’s attention was divided between the inspector’s questions and the scribblings in his accounts book. He reached over and picked up the other two rings, checking them against some entries.
“Yes, yes, just as I thought. All three rings belong to Frau von Klettenburg.” He gazed back up at the inspectors. “I could give you the dates of purchase if you like.”
“Later perhaps. But could you … could you describe the lady.”
“Lovely lady. Always polite, warm … ready with a kind word.”
“I was thinking more along the lines of a physical description.”
Galinsky gave a soft laugh. “As lovely on the outside as within. Let’s see … dark hair, shoulder-length, pulled to the side. Large blue eyes. High cheekbones, a fine aquiline nose. A strong chin, but not too strong, you understand. Everything becoming to a lady.”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“Is there some problem regarding the Frau von Klettenburg?”
“She met with an unfortunate accident yesterday.”
“Ach, du liebe Zeit. Nothing serious, I hope.”
“She … succumbed to her injuries. She’s no longer with us.”
Galinsky reacted as if Stebbel had slapped him viciously across the face. Tears formed in his eyes, and for almost a minute, he seemed to have trouble speaking. When he did manage to get out some words, the first several were all limp, almost mangled.
“That’s terrible. Just terrible.” He then struggled to get out more words even as the tears increased in size. “And I’m sure Herr von Klettenburg must be devastated by the news.”
“He hasn’t been contacted yet. You see, Frau von Klettenburg was found lying on the street.” Galinsky winced, as if this was the most ignominious fate a human being could suffer. And he still had no idea of the circumstances.
“That’s why we sought your assistance, Herr Galinsky. She wasn’t carrying any other identification and we weren’t able to identify the body. Not until now.”
“I see.” Tears now started trickling down his cheeks. Dörfner tried to console him.
“Of course, we’re still not absolutely sure it was this … Frau von Klettenburg. It’s possible that it was somebody else.” He turned to Stebbel to second the possibility. “Maybe a friend that she had lent the rings to.”
“Lending rings like this? To a friend who looked just like her? I don’t think we’re in the realm of likelihood, gentlemen.”
Stebbel stepped back in. “No, probably not. But we’ll go now and notify Herr von Klettenburg and others. We still need to get a positive identification. But rest assured, we’ll provide you with any information we have as soon as it becomes confirmed fact.”
“Thank you, gentlemen. I would appreciate that.” He had already pulled out a handkerchief and started brushing tears from his cheeks.
Having a good deal of important work to do now, the two inspectors bade their farewells and started towards the front door. Before they reached it, Herr Galinsky had moved quickly to the other side of the counter and hurried towards the policeman as he called out.
“Yes, Herr Galinsky?”
“I just wanted to say … that if you need any more assistance from me in dealing with this matter, please don’t hesitate to ask. Don’t hesitate for a moment.”
Stebbel offered a sad smile. “Thank you for that assurance. We will certainly contact you should we need any more information.” Galinsky then stepped around the two and opened the door for them. They both nodded their thanks and turned to step out.
“Oh, and please give my deepest condolences to Herr von Klettenburg when you break the news to him.”
“We will. We certainly will.”
And then they were back on the street and in a rush to return to police headquarters. There was much more work to do on this, but they were buoyed just to have made such progress so early.