Chapter 3
Eva Heinemann
(May 2001; Dusseldorf)
Eva Heinemann showed up to the stylish cafe she suggested along the banks of the Rhine in Dusseldorf's old
town neighborhood at 6:40 PM. Despite her beauty and extremely refined manner, she had a constant glare she affixed
to the target of her attention, as if she was constantly being put into a bad mood by your presence. She was
apparently on her way home after her job as a kitchen design consultant, decked out in signs of affluence - a black
Valentino jacket, a Bulgari watch, Chaumet rings.
Actually, she had only agreed to my interview by adhering it to such strict terms as, "5:30 on the dot. And
I'll be busy, so I can only be there for fifteen minutes. If you show up late, I'm just going to cancel." I had taken a seat at 5:20, and ended up waiting over an hour past the time she stated. But Eva Heinemann's excuse for being late (although it seemed more like a complaint to me) was that someone at her office had quit without warning,
and she had to make an unscheduled meeting with a
designer. She sat down, ordered a cappucino, crossed her legs and
then lit a Marlboro Light without missing a beat.
- You and Dr. Tenma were engaged. But right before your father passed away, the engagement was cancelled. Was there some kind of political design for your
marriage?
"Hospitals and medicine, they're still a world of politics and power. At that time, my father was
preparing
to run for the German Medical Association chairman, and he would not tolerate any mistakes, whether in operations or
anything else, from his own hospital. He needed a right-hand man who he could put his full trust in."
- And that was Tenma?
"He was a perfect doctor. And the type of career worker who held no ambitions... A safe partner for my father to choose. He wouldn't need to worry about being bitten."
- And yet, he was?
"I don't know why he did it... The day before, he was supposed to do an operation on some Turkish man, but my father cancelled it and ordered him to work on a
famous opera singer. But the Turkish man died, so he became very
upset about the whole thing. And when he worries, he worries enough for two people... And I told him that people's
lives aren't equal, but he didn't get it."
- Forgive me for being so direct, but did you love Dr. Tenma?
"My father was a very politically-minded man, but he wasn't so despotic that he would force me to marry
someone if I said "nicht." I chose a man who would make me happy. And that was Kenzo... Did I love him? Yes, I did."
- Then why such a one-sided nullification of your engagement?
"I told you. My father needed a right-hand man he could trust, and I wanted to be happy. Kenzo's actions failed both of these conditions. There was nothing else to be done."
- Do you think Tenma loved you?
"He would do anything I told him to do. Even after he refused to work on the mayor and I called it off, he still wanted to get married. He was so indecisive about anything other than his work as a doctor. He needed a woman
like me who could make all the decisions."
- Do you think he was disgusted with you when you cancelled the marriage?
"Sure, he was. After my father died and I was
feeling very timid, I pleaded for him to come back to me, but
he wasn't that considerate. He was cold to me. Although I realize now that I was at fault."
- And then you were disgusted with him, after that? "Yes, I was furious."
- And you married three times since then.
"Yes, and the divorce settlements have left me with enough money to live in comfort for the rest of my life."
- What were you thinking when your father passed away so suddenly?
"I was completely panicked. My father had been fine just the day before... and when I looked into the study, he was sitting there, dead."
you two.
"Not for a second. It would be literally impossible for him to kill someone. He may have been furious, and he may have wished we were dead, but that man wouldn't kill a fly. At the time, of course."
- After that, Dr. Tenma became the head surgeon. What did you think of that?
"Nothing at all. When those in power die, the winds shift direction immediately. Next, the leader of those in opposition to my father became the top brass, and criticized my father's business decisions... Kenzo was lucky
that Father had abandoned him. He was an excellent
doctor already, so it made sense that they would appoint him."
[Picture] (sketches of Eva smiling, looking sideways, pulling on a cigarette)
Eva Heinemann was as beautiful as I had heard. Behind her haughty exterior, I could see she hid a very shrewd and
calculating mind. During the interview, she admitted that she had dealt with a terrible streak of alcoholism. She
overcame her drinking problems with the help of one of the men involved in the Johan case, Dr. Reichwein.
- Nine years after your father passed away, a
lockpicker named Junkers was shot to death by Johan in an abandoned building near the hospital. The BKA says that you and Dr. Tenma were witnesses.
"I've already told the police all about that. Why don't you ask them for the full details?"
- Was it by coincidence that you happened to be near that abandoned building?
"...yes, that was coincidental."
- And that's where you saw Johan. What was your impression of him?
"I don't want to say. I don't even want to think about that monster or the people who flocked to his side."
- You did not testify for Tenma's innocence until the very end. Do you feel that you are responsible for
making things more complicated than they could have been? "Of course; why else would I agree to such a pathetic interview? This is how I atone. Not just to him, but
to all the people who were drawn into this. All the people who died..."
I realized for the first time that she was a very vulnerable woman. Her haughty attitude was used to hide this fact. When I offered to buy her a drink, she
refused, ordering another coffee instead, and lit a cigarette.
- Let's go back to Tenma. One of his middle school friends in Japan had trouble remembering Tenma's favorite song. Would you happen to know what it was?
(instantly) "Let's Stay Together." Al Green's "Let's Stay Together." It was a good song. I don't listen
to it now, because of the memories it recalls... but it's a good song. Kenzo liked the theme of the song. Kenzo
got lonesome easily, and he was always alone. He had a longing for a regular life, a regular father and mother, regular girlfriend, regular family."
- What about friends? Did he seek friends, here in Germany?
"Surprisingly, no. When you're a surgeon working in stressful and uneven conditions, it's hard to make
friends with anyone other than your colleagues. The only person like that for Tenma was Dr. Becker... in my
opinion,
a worthless, tardy slob of a doctor, but for some reason, Kenzo opened up to him. I suppose they complained about my
father and the hospital to each other. Kenzo doesn't really pay much attention to the status or work habits of others. He likes people who can be frank about things, no matter how sly they act. He seems oddly drawn to those
who are outspoken and invasive."
- What did Dr. Becker think of Tenma?
"I don't know, why don't you ask him? Becker was probably jealous of Kenzo's life. Before all the stuff happened to him, of course. When Kenzo got into all that trouble, you'd think Becker would revel in his downfall, but he wasn't as nasty as that, after all. Everyone knew Becker was a worthless doctor. Only Kenzo treated him as an equal, and for that reason, he trusted him... I'm sure that whenever he was around Kenzo, Becker thought that
maybe he wasn't so bad after all."
- So, what was it you liked about Tenma?
"Like I said earlier, Kenzo would let me do whatever I wanted. If I acted ill-tempered, he'd just smile...
And he would apologize. Even if it was my fault. So I thought that he was a truly dependant person; that he couldn't
live without me. But it was really the opposite. When I was with him, I could do anything. When Kenzo was by my side, I felt like I had the right to live. Kenzo relied on me... He accepted people and never turned them away, and
for that reason, he was praised and respected. So when he was there, I felt like my life was worth something."
Eva Heinemann looked at her watch, and said she
needed to go. She apparently lives alone in an apartment in
the high-class part of town across the Rhine. I've got to go back to work, she said. I've hardly cooked a meal in
my life, but I'm a kitchen coordinator for the rich and famous... And I don't have any talent for utilizing others,
so I'll probably quit soon, she laughed. She said that if I had any more questions, I should send her an e-mail (Surprisingly enough, several days after sending my additional questions, I received an honest, thorough reply).
Before she left, I asked her, back then you told Tenma that human life was not equal. Do you still believe
that, even now?
