Philip Kerr - Prague Fatale

He turned slowly and then sat down on a chair by the door, like a man awaiting a doctor’s appointment. He took off his glasses and turned several shades of white before settling on the colour of a goat’s cheese that seemed to reflect the greenish wallpaper.

‘Yes. Sit down. Good move, General.’

‘How did you find out?’ he whispered.

For one glorious moment I thought I was about to hear a confession of murder.

‘About the girl.’

‘You idiot, I’m a cop not a brass monkey. If you’re going to keep a joy-lady in a hotel then make sure she’s the kind of girl who can keep her peep shut.’

It was good advice. I hoped I was paying attention to it myself.

The spectacles in his hand were trembling. Four years later, while being held by the Americans at the military barracks in Pilsen, Konrad Henlein would use the glass in those spectacles to cut open his veins and kill himself. But for now they were just a pair of harmless, trembling specs. Then he started to cry, which was tough because I’d put him through all of that without the least suspicion he’d shot Captain Kuttner. You get a feel for these things: Henlein was a lot of things — a pompous ass, a Nazi agitator, a womanizer — but he wasn’t a murderer. It takes a lot of nerve to pull the trigger on a man in cold blood, and if his tears proved anything, it was that he didn’t have what it takes.

‘Relax. We’re not going to tell anyone, are we, Kurt?’

I went over to the piano and offered Kahlo a cigarette. He took one, stood up and lit us both.

‘No sir,’ he said. ‘Your little secret is quite safe with us, General. Provided of course that you cooperate.’

‘Of course. I’ll do anything you want. Anything. But I am telling you the truth, Herr Commissar. I didn’t kill the Captain. It’s as I told you. I was drunk. I went to bed around two. Even that’s a blur, I’m afraid. I’m only aware of what I said to the unfortunate Captain because one of my brother officers drew it to my attention this morning. I feel terrible about what happened. But the first I knew that Captain Kuttner was dead was when Major Ploetz came and told me this morning. I’m not the type of person to kill anyone. Honestly. I’m almost a vegetarian, like the Leader, you know. It’s true I do have a gun. It’s in my room. But I am certain it’s never been fired while it’s been in my possession. I can fetch it now if you like and then perhaps you can check for yourself. I believe that we have scientists in police laboratories who can determine such things.’

Somewhere during the course of Henlein’s miserable, pleading speech I stopped listening. I stared at the keys of the piano for a moment and then I stared out of the window, all the while wondering what the hell I was doing with my life. At least the cigarette tasted good. I’d reacquired a taste for good tobacco, and I told myself that when this was all over and Heydrich had Kuttner’s murderer I was probably going to have to get used to the ration line again, and three Johnnies a day. Because I had the strong feeling that finding Kuttner’s killer was going to impact upon my becoming Heydrich’s bodyguard after all. I couldn’t see how I was going to keep a job like that when I’d finished insulting all of his closest colleagues; at least, that was my earnest hope.

Then Kahlo was talking again and Henlein was answering him and it was another moment or two before I realized that the subject had changed. We were no longer speaking about Captain Kuttner or even Betty Kipsdorf but something entirely different.

‘Your friend Heinz Rutha,’ said Kahlo. ‘The furniture designer. He hanged himself in prison, didn’t he? In 1937, wasn’t it?’

‘Yes,’ said Henlein.

‘Because he was queer, too.’

‘I wouldn’t know about that.’

‘Is that why you decided to work for Admiral Canaris and the Abwehr? Because of what happened to your friend? Because you held the Nazis responsible for that?’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘But maybe not just Canaris, eh? Maybe because of that you went to work for the British. Maybe you’re a British spy. Maybe you’ve always been a British spy, General Henlein. You help to destabilize the Czech Sudetenland for Hitler while all the time you’re really working for the Tommies. Good cover, I’d have thought. I mean it doesn’t get better than that, does it? Frankly I can’t really say that I blame you. The way you were passed over first by Frank and then by Heydrich, you’ve every reason to feel aggrieved, haven’t you, sir? So, how about it? Are you spying for the Tommies?’

‘Please.’ Henlein looked desperately at me. ‘I really don’t know anything about this.’

‘Neither do I,’ I said.

‘I’m no more a spy than I am a murderer.’

‘Says you,’ said Kahlo.

‘That’s quite enough,’ I told Kahlo.

‘Suppose we let the Gestapo find out,’ persisted Kahlo. ‘Suppose we were to hand you over to Sergeant Soppa. You’ve heard of him, haven’t you, General? He’s the specialist they brought in to question the Three Kings. I haven’t seen him in action myself but apparently he uses this technique he calls the Bascule. They strap you onto a wooden board, just like the one they use on a guillotine-’

‘Thank you General Henlein, that will be all for now, sir.’

Kahlo was still speaking, only now I was talking over him. Not only that but I had Henlein by the arm and I was steering him out to the door of the Morning Room.

‘If there’s anything else you think we need to know then please don’t hesitate to contact me, sir. As for your friend at the Imperial, my advice would be to get her out of there. Find somewhere else for your trysts. An apartment, perhaps. But not a hotel, General. If I know about Betty, it won’t be long before someone else does, too.’

‘Yes, I understand. Thank you, Herr Commissar. Thank you very much indeed.’

Henlein glanced uncertainly at Kahlo and then he was gone.

I closed the door behind him and, for a moment or two, Kahlo and I faced each other in awkward silence.

‘What the hell was all that about?’

‘You heard.’

‘I guess I did at that.’

‘You had him on the ropes.’ Kahlo shrugged. ‘It seemed a pity not to take advantage of that, sir. I thought that there might never be a better opportunity to ask him some questions that needed asking.’

‘It’s those questions that I’m interested in, Kurt. You see, I thought I was supposed to kick the ball. Only it turns out that you’re allowed to pick it up and run with it. That makes me wonder what kind of game we’re playing here.’

Kahlo looked sheepish. ‘We’re on the same side, sir. That’s all that matters, isn’t it?’

‘Actually I wonder about that, too. This VXG. The Traitor X Group you mentioned. The one that Heydrich was setting up to find the high-level spy who’s been giving information to the Czechos. You wouldn’t be part of that group, would you, Kurt?’

‘Didn’t I say?’

‘You know you damn well didn’t.’

‘I should have thought it was obvious after what I told you over lunch about the VXG. About how Captain Kuttner came down to Kripo HQ to brief us about it. How would I have known about those OTA radio intercepts if I wasn’t part of the group? That stuff is highly sensitive. By rights I shouldn’t have told you about that at all.’

‘So what else haven’t you told me?’

‘Frankly, I thought that enjoying General Heydrich’s confidence as you do, you knew about traitor X yourself. That you knew that and that you knew-’

‘What?’

‘That everyone in this house is under suspicion.’

‘Of being traitor X?’

‘Yes sir. I assumed you would certainly know that much, at least.’