Waterproof

— J. Chr. de Vries

From the notes ‘Cold Cases’ by Rudi Bistpelz:

On March 17, 1992, Üfie Hader returned to the port of Bremerhaven after a sailing trip with her husband to Bergen in Norway. Her husband Menne Hader had fallen overboard two days earlier and was presumed drowned. A search was launched, to no avail, and her husband was reported missing. The police in Regensburg, the couple’s place of residence, only filed a report.


Two years later, on March 16, 1994, the case was reopened following a report from an insurance company that a sum of two million DM had been paid out to Üfie Hader, based on a life insurance on both their names. This insurance had been taken out two months before the accident. Furthermore, it appeared Üfie Hader had emigrated to Norway and started a relationship with a certain Herald Bieber. This raised suspicions with the police if there might have been foul play involved.


Inspector Steinerd Prok from the Homicide Division traveled to Bergen to interrogate Üfie Hader and her lover. It turned out that the Hader couple had met Herald Bieber in the summer of 1992. Bieber, originally from Hammerfest, lived a reclusive life and had been residing in Marseille on his yacht since 1990. He was into deep-sea diving. He had family nor friends until he met the Hader couple during a sailing competition in Marseille in 1992. They became friends and embarked on various sailing trips together in the Mediterranean Sea. Prok noticed the resemblance between Hader and Bieber when he looked at some photos from a joint sailing trip. He observed that both men wore expensive-looking watches. It was difficult to discern, but they appeared identical.

Under one of the beds in the cabin of the Haders’ yacht, a watch was found. It turned out to be a Rolex Yacht-Master, a model from 1992, and Prok wondered who would be the owner of this watch, Hader or Bieber? The answer most likely depended on whether it was a genuine Rolex or an imitation. In the first case, it would withstand a pressure of 20 bar, and thus be waterproof, while in the second case, it would not, therefore making it unsuitable for deep-sea diving. During the interrogation, Prok asked about the watch and if he was allowed to examine it further.


Differentiating between a genuine Rolex and a fake one is rather difficult, but if you delve into it, it’s not too big of a problem. A fake Rolex can be recognized by its weight; it’s too light. Other factors include whether the back of the watch is transparent or not, a possibly poorly readable date, imperfections in the letters which can bee revealed under a magnifying glass, and whether the ticking sound of the clock is not too loud. Prok had delved into this.


Üfie Hader handed the watch to Prok. The watch turned out not to be waterproof, which thus provided the proof of Üfie Hader’s innocence. In the summer of 1994, Danish fishermen found the remains of a body in their nets. The body was examined for DNA. In January 1995, DNA analysis revealed that it was Menne Hader’s body. Üfie Hader was wearing her husband’s imitation Rolex, who, as Üfie had stated, had indeed been knocked overboard in an accident. Bieber had taken Menne’s place.

— J. Chr. de Vries, Februari 16, 2024, Bonnemort