Philip Kerr - Berlin Noir

‘Sure,’ I said, unnerved by this latest revelation of Becker’s involvement with Colonel Poroshin. ‘What do you want me to do?’

‘Speak to König,’ Nebe instructed, ‘give him some advice on how he might try and find Heim. If you get time, you could even give him some help.’

‘That’s simple enough,’ I said. ‘Anything else?’

‘Yes, I’d like you to come back here tomorrow morning. There’s one of our people who has specialized in all matters relating to the MVD. I have a feeling that he will be especially keen to talk to you about this source of yours. Shall we say ten o’clock?’

‘Ten o’clock,’ I repeated.

Nebe stood up and came round the table to shake my hand. ‘It’s good to see an old face, Bernie, even if it does look like my conscience.’

I smiled weakly and clasped his hand. ‘What’s past is past,’ I said.

‘Exactly so,’ he said, dropping a hand on to my shoulder. ‘Until tomorrow then. König will drive you back to town.’ Nebe opened the door and led the way down the stairs back to the front of the house. ‘I’m sorry to hear about that problem with your wife. I could arrange to have her sent some PX if you wanted.’

‘Don’t bother,’ I said quickly. The last thing I wanted was anyone from the Org turning up at my apartment in Berlin and asking Kirsten awkward questions she wouldn’t know how to answer. ‘She works in an American café and gets all the PX she needs.’

In the hallway we found König playing with his dog.

‘Women,’ Nebe laughed. ‘It was a woman who bought König his dog, isn’t that so, Helmut?’

‘Yes, Herr General.’

Nebe bent down to tickle the dog’s stomach. It rolled over and presented itself submissively to Nebe’s fingers.

‘And do you know why she bought him a dog?’ I caught König’s embarrassed little crease of a smile, and I sensed that Nebe was about to crack a joke. ‘To teach the man obedience.’

I laughed right along with the two of them. But after only a few days’ closer acquaintance with König I thought that Lotte Hartmann would as soon have taught her boyfriend to recite the Torah.

The sky was grey by the time I got back to my rooms. I heard a handful of rain against the french windows, and seconds later there was a short flash and a huge clap of thunder that sent the pigeons on my terrace flying for cover. I stood and watched the storm as it rocked the trees and flooded the drains, discharging the atmosphere of all its surplus electrical energy until the air was clear and comfortable again.

Ten minutes later the birds were singing in the trees, as if in celebration of the purgative squall. There seemed much to envy them in this swift climatic cure, and I wished the pressure I felt on my own nerves could have been as easily resolved. Trying to keep one step ahead of all the lies, my own included, I was rapidly coming to the end of my own ingenuity, and I was in danger of losing the tempo of the whole affair. Not to mention my life.

It was about eight o’clock when I called Belinsky at Sacher’s, a hotel on Philharmonikerstrasse requisitioned by the military. I thought it might be too late to catch him, but he was there. He sounded relaxed, like he’d known all along that the Org would take his bait.

‘I said I’d call,’ I reminded him. ‘It’s a bit late, but I’ve been busy.’

‘No problem. Did they buy it? The information?’

‘Damn near took my hand off. König drove me to a house in Grinzing. Possibly it’s their headquarters here in Vienna, I’m not sure. It’s certainly grand enough.’

‘Good. Did you see anything of Müller?’

‘No. But I saw someone else.’

‘Oh? And who was that?’ Belinsky’s voice got cool.

‘Arthur Nebe.’

‘Nebe? Are you sure of that?’ He was excited now.

‘Of course I’m sure. I knew Nebe before the war. I thought he was dead. But this afternoon we spoke for almost an hour. He wants me to help König find our dentist friend, and to go back to Grinzing for a meeting tomorrow morning to discuss your Russian’s love letters. I’ve a hunch that Müller’s going to be there.’

‘How do you make that out?’

‘Nebe said that there would be someone there who specialized in all matters relating to the MVD.’

‘Yes, coming from Arthur Nebe that description might well fit Müller. What time is this meeting?’

‘Ten o’clock.’

‘That only gives me tonight to get things organized. Let me think for a minute.’ He was silent for so long that I wondered if he was still on the line. But then I heard him take a deep breath. ‘How far is the house from the road?’

‘Twenty or thirty metres at the front and the north side. Behind the house to the south is a vineyard. I couldn’t tell you how far the road is on that side. There’s a row of trees between the house and the vineyard. Some outbuildings as well.’ I gave him directions to the house as best I remembered them.

‘All right,’ he said briskly. ‘Here’s what we’ll do. After ten, I’ll start to have my men surround the place at a discreet distance. If Müller is there, you signal to us and we’ll close in and pick him up. That’s going to be the difficult part because they’ll be watching you closely. While you were there, did you happen to use the lavatory?’

‘No, but I walked past one on the first floor. If the meeting is in the library where I met Nebe, as I imagine it will be, that will be the one in use. It faces north, towards Josefstadt and the road. And there’s a window, with a beige roller blind. Perhaps I could use the blind to signal.’

There was another short silence. Then he said: ‘Twenty minutes past the hour, or as near as you can manage, you go to the music-room. When you’re in there you pull the blind down and count for five seconds, and then push it up for five seconds. Do it three times. I’ll be watching the place through binoculars, and when I see your signal I’ll sound the car horn three times. That will be the signal for my men to move in. Then you rejoin the meeting, sit tight and wait for the cavalry.’

‘It sounds simple enough. A bit too simple really.’

‘Look, kraut, I would suggest that you hang your ass out of the window and whistle “Dixie” but that might attract attention.’ He gave an irritated sort of sigh. ‘A swoop like this needs a lot of paperwork, Gunther. I have to work out code names and get all kinds of special authorizations for a major field operation. And then there’s an investigation if the whole thing turns out to be a false alarm. I hope you’re right about Müller. You know, I’m going to be up all night arranging this little party.’

‘That really knocks over the heap,’ I said. ‘I’m the one on the beach and you’re bitching about some sand in the oil. Well, I’m really blue about your damned paperwork.’

Belinsky laughed. ‘Come on, kraut. Don’t get a hot throat about it. I just meant that it would be nice if we could be sure that Müller will be there. Be reasonable. We still don’t know for sure that he’s part of the Org’s set-up in Vienna.’

‘Sure we do,’ I lied. ‘This morning I went to the police prison and showed Emil Becker one of Müller’s snapshots. He identified him immediately as the man who was with König when he asked Becker to try and find Captain Linden. Unless Müller is just sweet on König, that means he must be part of the Org’s Vienna section.’

‘Shit,’ said Belinsky, ‘why didn’t I think of doing that? It’s so simple. He’s certain it was Müller?’

‘No doubt whatsoever.’ I strung him along like that for a while until I was sure of him. ‘All right, slow your blood down. As a matter of fact, Becker didn’t identify him at all. But he had seen the photograph before. Traudl Braunsteiner showed it to him. I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t you who gave it to her.’