Simon Tolkien - Orders from Berlin

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I don’t want the person who did it to get away with it. I want him to pay.’

With what? With his life? She was surprised at her own vehemence. It was as if she hadn’t chosen her words, but that they had been pulled out of her by some force beyond her control. She felt as though she hadn’t meant anything she’d said about the murder until now.

‘I understand,’ said the stranger. ‘I felt the same when my father died, except that he was killed in the last war and so there was no one to take responsibility, no one to punish. I was angry, but there was nothing I could do.’

‘I’m sorry,’ she said. She felt she should step back or look away, but she didn’t. The stranger’s crystal-blue eyes drew her, held her where she was. ‘How did you know my father?’ she asked.

‘We worked together. Not for very long, but there was enough time for me to understand his value even if others did not.’

‘What work? What did my father do?’ Ava asked the question quickly, without thinking, and then immediately dropped her eyes, ashamed at the way she’d revealed her ignorance; mortified that this complete stranger should know more about her father than she did. But Seaforth didn’t seem to notice her discomfort, or at least he didn’t show that he did.

‘I can’t tell you, I’m afraid,’ he said apologetically. ‘It’s against the rules.’

‘I understand,’ she said hurriedly, trying to hide her confusion. ‘Really I do. I’m sorry I asked. I-’

‘Don’t be. It’s not easy. Nothing about death is ever easy,’ he said, laying his hand on her arm for a moment. It made her skin tingle, even through the cloth.

She felt tears spring into her eyes. This stranger was the first person since the young policeman on the night of the murder to show her any genuine sympathy. She wanted to thank him but couldn’t find the words. And there was no time. People were converging on her. She could see Bertram making his way through the crowd, but first there was Alec, come to express his condolences. She breathed hard — she knew that this was going to be a difficult conversation. But then she realized that he wasn’t even looking at her; his attention was focused on Seaforth, and he looked angry, angrier than she had ever seen him before.

He took hold of Seaforth’s arm and pulled him around, away from Ava.

‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ he demanded with cold fury, making an obvious effort to keep his voice in check. ‘Why are you here?’

Seaforth’s reaction surprised Ava. He didn’t say anything; instead he smiled, looked down at Thorn’s hand on his arm, and then slowly took hold of Thorn’s wrist with his free hand and lifted it away. He acted as though he had all the time in the world. Ava could see that Thorn was trying to resist, but he was powerless in the face of Seaforth’s superior strength.

Seaforth held Thorn’s hand suspended in mid-air for a moment. Thorn’s face was screwed up as if he were in pain, and then Seaforth let go and Thorn sagged over to one side.

‘I’m here for the same reason I assume you are,’ Seaforth said evenly. ‘To pay my respects to Albert Morrison and to express my sympathy to his bereaved daughter. Perhaps you should consider doing the same.’

‘You hardly knew him,’ said Thorn through gritted teeth. He was still nursing his wrist.

Seaforth’s face was turned away from Ava, so she didn’t know if he was going to respond, but there was no opportunity in any event. Bertram had now appeared at her side, apparently unaware of any trouble. He looked unfamiliar for a moment. She thought perhaps that it was seeing him in a black suit and necktie instead of his customary bow tie and tweeds. If pressed, she’d have said that the new outfit was something of an improvement.

‘We need to go, my dear,’ he said, rubbing his hands. She couldn’t tell if it was against the cold or because he was pleased with the results of his meticulous planning of the day’s events — both, perhaps. ‘Father Harris has gone on ahead with the undertaker. I must say I think Hodson has done a first-class job with the arrangements. I wasn’t sure whether to instruct him or the funeral directors up on Lavender Hill, but I really think my choice has been fully vindicated. Everything has gone like clockwork,’ he added pompously.

‘Where’s the car?’ Ava asked, wanting to get away. She realized with surprise that she didn’t want Seaforth to see her with her husband.

‘Over there,’ said Bertram, pointing to the other side of the road.

She allowed Bertram to take her arm and started to walk away, but then she stopped, hearing Alec calling her name. ‘Go on ahead,’ she said to her husband. ‘I won’t be a minute.’

Bertram scowled, looking back and seeing Alec Thorn coming up behind them. He’d never liked Thorn, sensing that he had more than friendly feelings towards his wife, and he’d welcomed Thorn’s increasing absence from their lives since his marriage. But now was not the time to make a scene. ‘Don’t be long,’ he said to Ava. ‘We don’t want to be late.’

She turned around to face Alec and felt an unexpected wave of anger pass through her. What business did he have making a scene at her father’s funeral? Had he no respect? No sense of decorum?

‘I’m sorry,’ he said, looking abject. ‘I don’t know what possessed me.’

‘Nor do I,’ she said coldly. She wanted to leave, to get the whole awful day over with.

‘Listen, Ava, if there’s anything I can do to help, you know you can call me. Look, here’s my phone number,’ he added, pushing his card into her hand as if it were some kind of peace offering.

But she wasn’t looking at him. Instead she was staring over his shoulder to where Charles Seaforth was standing, watching her. He smiled as he caught her eye, and at that moment, almost as if it were scripted, the sun peeped out from behind the thick grey clouds that had been swirling across the sky ever since the rain stopped, and picked him out in its beam. It was as if he were being shown to her, she thought; identified as someone who was going to be significant in her life. As if he were some kind of angel sent down from heaven. She laughed at the thought. There was no such thing as angels. Not in this God-forsaken world.

‘Ava!’ Bertram was calling to her. She had to go. She nodded half to Alec, half to herself, as if registering all that had happened, and then she turned to walk away, catching sight as she crossed the road of the young policeman Trave, watching her intently from the steps of the church. She wondered how much he’d seen of what had passed.

The next morning, Seaforth was waiting for Ava on the other side of the street from her flat when she went out to do her shopping. She was shocked and even a little alarmed to see him. It made no sense that this complete stranger was suddenly so interested in her, unless it had something to do with her father’s death. Anyone could be the murderer. It could be Bertram; it could be this man, except that he didn’t feel like a killer to her — which was a stupid way to think, she told herself. Seaforth’s sparkling blue eyes, which seemed to promise humour, tenderness, and understanding all at the same time — everything that had been missing from her life up to now — had nothing to do with it. She needed to watch herself, to stay on her guard. Now more than ever.

‘I’m sorry to show up like this. Unannounced, I mean,’ he said, falling into step beside her as she walked towards the bus stop. ‘I got your address from the phone book. I wanted to see you — to apologize.’

‘Apologize?’ she repeated, surprised. ‘Apologize for what?’