"Hello, how can I help you?"
"Hi, I'm Marie, the doctor who's been taking care of you these past few days. I came to see if you're doing better, and from what I can see, you are." A 28-year-old woman with long brown hair and a flowing red dress.
"Oh, it's you. Thank you so much for everything. I'm Lars." He shakes Marie's hand.
"That's great, I'm glad. But don't thank me—thank Rebecca instead."
Lars sees Seck approaching with his family. "Look, there they come. Good afternoon—how did it go?"
"Tiring, but good. Hey, what are you doing here?" Rebecca starts chatting with Marie.
Suddenly, Seck tells the kids to go inside and greets Marie. He then looks at Lars and places a hand on his shoulder. "We need to talk." They both enter the house. Seck asks, "How are you feeling?"
"It hurts, but it's bearable."
Seck brings two glasses of water to Lars's room, and they begin talking.
Seck closes the door. "Alright, Lars, I'd like to know what really happened."
"Well, it was just some thieves trying to steal my car. I struggled with them, they beat me, and threw me into the river."
"Judging by how you cried yesterday, and how you're acting today, I doubt you're that upset over a car. There's more to it." He turns serious.
"I'm telling you the truth. That's what happened." Lars speaks while staring at the floor the entire time.
Seck didn't like being lied to, and he noticed Lars wouldn't look him in the eye. "Look, I'm not trying to meddle, but I saw something yesterday that bothered me—your tattoo behind your ear. It looked familiar. It's from the Meyerns."
Lars grows nervous, then looks Seck straight in the eye. "How do you know this tattoo?"
"It's a past I'd rather not remember. But the real question is: should I be worried? Especially for my family?"
Lars has no choice but to tell him everything that happened three days ago—except for what happened to his daughter. Seck becomes extremely concerned when he realizes this involves the Meyerns mafia.
Seck sits on the bed, distressed. "Don't take it the wrong way, but as soon as you recover, you'll have to leave my house. I don't want any problems—especially not with the Meyerns."
"Don't worry. You don't have to say it—I'll leave as soon as I can. Besides, they probably think I'm dead." Lars remembers Florian and gets very angry.
I'll make your life hell once I get out of here!
"Don't say anything to my wife. Just tell her you got mugged. Got it? Nothing more." He gets up and leaves the room.
That afternoon, Lars's mother, Melissa, arrives at a police station in downtown Munich. She sees an officer and explains the situation.
"Good afternoon. I haven't heard from my son and granddaughter in three days. I've called, went to their house—no answer." She's clearly desperate, but the officer barely pays attention.
"Did you hear what I said? My son and granddaughter are missing!" She starts crying, and a detective collecting information nearby approaches.
"Calm down, ma'am. Come sit here." He guides her to a chair. "Tell me what happened."
Melissa repeats everything she told the officer, still crying. "Please, I need to know if they're okay." She suddenly notices the detective's ID badge. "Please tell me you'll help me, Mr. Schulz."
"I've got a lot on my plate right now, but I'll try to help as best I can." Then he feels her grab his hands.
"Thank you so much." Melissa begins to calm down as she holds Niklas Schulz's hands. She continues speaking with the officer and the detective for a while.
Back at Seck's house, after finishing their talk, Lars and Seck leave the room to eat, but Seck goes to the bathroom.
"What's in that room? I better not go near it—it gives me a bad feeling," Lars asks curiously.
"It's a basement. Only Seck goes in there," Rebecca replies while preparing dinner.
Seck returns and hears Lars and Rebecca talking.
"Don't even think about going in there, Lars," he says, a little upset, and begins helping his wife with dinner.
"Relax, why are you so worked up? I was just asking. It's not like you've got something to hide."
Seck laughs sarcastically. "I'm just warning you."
Rebecca looks at him. "Come on, Seck. Now's not the time for one of your moods. Let's just eat."
"Sorry, I'll be back in a minute." He heads to the bathroom again.
Something's bothering him—he's in a bad mood. Must be because of what we talked about.
Rebecca notices Lars is deep in thought. "He just doesn't like anyone near that door, that's all."
"And what's in there that makes him so nervous?"
"I don't really know. I just know he keeps a lot of books in there. But don't worry—it's nothing bad. He does a lot of research."
Lars thinks, Could he be a detective? Is that why he knows about the Meyerns? "Is he a detective?"
"Let's say he used to work in something similar."
Rebecca finishes making dinner and shouts, "Food's ready, everyone to the table!"
They all gather at the table and eat. Later, they stay chatting while the kids play in the living room.
"Great kids. Where are their parents?" Lars asks Seck.
"They were old friends of ours who died in an accident six years ago. Alex was four and Bruno had just been born. We decided to take them in."
"Why didn't you raise them as their parents?"
"Well, they were our friends, but more than that—they were like our children. We knew them since they were young, and we didn't want to take their parents' place. So we're raising them as our grandchildren."
"I understand. Sorry for bringing it up."
After a long conversation, everyone heads to bed—it's very late. Before Lars can sleep, there's a knock on his door.
Knock knock
"It's Rebecca—I have something for you." Lars opens the door and Rebecca hands him the clothes he was wearing when they found him. "Here—your clothes. There were these earrings and a bracelet in the pockets."
Lars looks at the jewelry. These are Jenny's! How did they get here?! He smiles with teary eyes. "Thank you so much." They say goodnight, and Rebecca closes the door. Lars puts the clothes on the desk, takes the jewelry, and begins remembering moments with his daughter. Lost in thought, he eventually falls asleep.
Two weeks later, Lars has mourned the loss of his daughter and is recovering well. He's grown close to Seck, Rebecca, and Marie—the doctor who helped him heal—though she knows nothing of what really happened and just thinks he's a family friend.
Meanwhile, Detective Niklas Schulz and his team are making progress. They've found clues and gathered information about Lars and Jenny's whereabouts. Security footage showed Lars's car the day he disappeared, and his phone was found near a river thanks to GPS. That led them to the warehouse.
On November 30th, 2018, Niklas Schulz and his team arrive at the warehouse to inspect the place thoroughly.
Susanne, one of the investigators, finds what appears to be blood on the floor. "Niklas, look—this seems like blood. There are stains near the edge of the table too."
Niklas listens carefully. "Alright, if you find anything, collect the samples."
Susanne gathers the samples. "Done. I'll send them to the lab for testing." She hands them off to a colleague, who heads to the lab. Hours later, Niklas tells everyone to rest.
A few weeks go by. The results come back—positive. It's Lars Braun's blood. Once confirmed, Niklas heads to the warehouse alone that night.
He walks through the entire place. We've come far. Now I just need to know what happened here.
No cameras nearby. Nothing to help with the case. There's only one way.
Niklas gets into his car and closes his eyes. "Gusion, can you hear me?" He enters a trance. In total darkness, a glowing doorway appears, and a voice echoes.
"Speak, Niklas. What do you seek?"
"I need your help with a case."
"You know what must be done."
"You don't have to say it. Look—I'm in the place where the crime may have occurred."
"Through the shadow that never sleeps, Gusion, show me what was."
"Truth is punishment, Niklas."
"There's a girl on the table in the back. A man in a hat argues with another man who's tied up. Then they beat him. A woman injects something into the girl. They all leave, leaving the girl and the tied man behind." Gusion narrates and shows him the events.
"I saw it clearly. Can you show me the vehicles they used?" The demon reveals the cars, and Schulz writes down the license plates. "Any other clue I can use?"
"One of the men threw a cigarette at the entrance."
"That's enough, thank you." Suddenly, Niklas starts bleeding from the nose. He opens his eyes, wipes the blood, steps out of the car with a small bag, picks up the cigarette, and gets back in the car.
I think I know who those cars belong to.