September 12, 2008 - 9:10 a.m.

I wake up, my whole body shaking, cold sweat on my forehead. What the hell had happened?

  »Where am I?«

  »Shortly before Hamburg main station«, the man with the dark suit answers with a calm voice.   »You actually slept like a log.«

  »Slept? I was only just dreaming?«

  »Exactly, but you should know one thing: Any of what the devil is promising you, is exclusively illusions. And you should not chase after any of them. Don’t sell your soul to Satan, you can only save your soul by believing in Jesus Christ. He is the only gateway to God. One soul is worth more than a million Euros, even more worth than all richness of this planet.«

The man in the black suit raises and draws a little blue book out of his jacket pocket and hands it over with a certain grin.

  »The perfect crime is all written up here, in the New Testament. It is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This all was perfectly staged by God, to save all sinning human beings. Believe me. But excuse me though, I have to leave now.«

  While stepping out of the compartment, the man turns around one more time.

  »Stay active, do something! God doesn’t bless a lazy bone and no one with indecent motives. I’m sure; you have the inner attitude of a winner. And did you ever think about, why you, being a sinner, are still alive?«

  »No, never«, I answered.

  »You’re just alive due to divine mercifulness. If this would not exist, humanity wouldn’t exist for a long time. Thus, thank your God and do penance for your sins. And thank your Lord of Peace, Jesus. He is the God of Life and the God of Transformation, the King of all Kings. And something additionally. It doesn’t matter at all, what people think about you, it is only important what God thinks about you. Just ignore all jabbering of the devil, or just mock him. You already know where those hypocrites will end up soon. Have a nice day.«

  »Good by, Mr. Michelangelo«, I respond.

Was he really named Michelangelo, or did I dream that up, too? I have to speed up now, as the train will soon reach my destination. In the corridor, a line of people is already forming, all ready to debark. But strangely, I cannot make out my travel companion anywhere.

During the train ride to Lübeck, a lot drifts through my head. Are we humans really honest? And why then are there any police officers, civil servants, lawyers, courts and jails if we are honest? Society does not live in trust and honesty, but is kept alive by tricky measures of mistrust. Who of us has not lied ever? We start out when we are kids and we lie to our parents because we are afraid of their punishment. Later, we are parents and lie to our kids. Professors at universities talk about the Big Bang and evolution. Did apes evolve into humans? When I see bad comedians on TV, it seems to me that the reverse is more likely.

If we were all honest, TV manhunter Eduard Zimmermann would be out of a job. Honesty is the best policy. There is really something in that proverb. There is no human crime existing that would be perfect. And there never will be one. Harm set, harm get. We all know this common sense wisdom and I’ll really dedicate some of my precious time to find out whether this wisdom is biblical. May all my detective story friends be disappointed, but I won’t start up or even try to invent a story about the perfect crime. I have another plan. A story that will please God, that’s the one I decided to write now. It won’t have to be a long one, but that doesn’t matter at all. There is still quality not quantity that counts, right? But somehow, I actually already wrote that story.