Miriam had then begun her charming routine as Maria and had finally coaxed Bruno into giving them a complete tour of the station. She only let up on the lively banter to gaze attentively into his eyes when he pointed out details as he led the tour. Phillipe soon wilted and had to go sit down. He assured them he would be fine on that nice sofa in the Chief’s office, to go ahead without him. Bruno didn’t bat an eye and continued alone with Maria. He figured she needed a break from Phillipe as much as he did, after being forced to listen to the interminable details of Phillipe’s detached retina surgery.
By the time they returned, David had finished going through the file cabinet and was lying on the couch. He had removed the wedge from the door and no one even knew it had been in place. Maria handed Liliane some marks to order lunch for all four of them, which she did. Maria also asked her if there were other older books of mug shots because her Julio had come to Munich once several years before and he had told them about going to several nightclubs in town. He had always been a bad boy, and maybe the police had picked him up for some reason. Liliane said she would go downstairs and get them after lunch.
When Maria went through the books, she left slight lipstick smudges on the pages she wanted David to photograph.
Maria also found time to ask Liliane about the computer system. She was learning computer technology and wondered if she might get an idea of how to use one efficiently. Liliane replied that if she came back tomorrow, she would have more time to work with Maria on the computer, so they made a date to meet again for lunch.
Bruno wanted to show her the line-up room and the crime lab and they both would be free tomorrow afternoon as well. At this point, Phillipe was being tolerated as a necessary evil to the proceedings and was being roundly ignored in their plans for tomorrow.
The next day, when Bruno and Maria left, Phillipe asked Liliane who was the worst criminal they had to deal with in Munich. She immediately told him about a Nazi sympathizer who slashed his Jewish victims. He asked her if she had a picture of this fellow, and she said no, so far they had not been able to capture him, they had found no way to identify him. He might still be in Munich, or not, she added apprehensively. He had also killed two of their officers, which made it too close to home for her. Phillipe asked who was killed and who took his place. She replied with a shudder that the new officers file were in the computer, but she could not share it with him, as it was a private personnel file. He backed off and said he was just going to lie down on the Chief’s couch for a few minutes to let his eyes relax a while. He did appreciate her patience with him.
As soon as he got the door closed and the wedge in place, David got on the Chief’s computer using a disk that scanned the whole computer to look through the personnel files. This system was open, as Liliane had confided freely to Phillipe that he did not know how to use his computer, so his system bypassed the technical programs he did not want to be bothered with. He quickly located two files each for Gottschlag and Neuschondorf — the originals, then the edited ones. David copied the files onto a disk he pulled from his pocket, put the computer back to its original state, and returned to the sofa in less than five minutes, his task completed. He could not believe how lax things were in the Munich police station!
Then it dawned on David — the Chief’s briefcase! He got up from the couch, walked around the desk looking for it, and saw it sitting inside the leg space of the desk. He sat down in the Chief’s chair, bent over, and started looking through the manila folders Max had inside his briefcase. Just as he spied the document titled Huber Family Tree, Liliane tapped lightly on the door. He could see the wedge was under the door!
He quickly rose and went to the door, knowing it was Liliane — Bruno would have simply walked in. He quickly removed the door wedge, opened the door slightly, and peeked at Liliane. “I had almost fallen asleep. It’s the only thing that gives me any relief. Do you need something?”
“Well, I hate to disturb you, Mr. Sanchez. Never mind. I’ll wait till the others get back.”
“Thank you, Liliane. Call me Phillipe, remember?
“Of course, Mr. …Phillipe. Sorry to disturb you.” She pulled the door closed.
David had no idea what she wanted and he sure wasn’t going to ask. He had to get to that file he had seen. He went back to the desk, but just as he got the paper in his hands, before he could snap a shot of it, Liliane knocked on the door again. He quickly stuffed the paper in his coat pocket, shoved the briefcase back into position, and raced around the desk to the couch just as the door opened and Bruno walked in with Maria.
At dinner later that evening, David talked. “Looks to me that the Chief is making the most of the political aspects of his job, and neglecting crime prevention.”
“I agree. I found out most of the prisoners in the holding cells were petty thieves and drug dealers. No one was being held for murder, no terror suspects, only domestic cases really. When I questioned that, The Chief told me that murderers were quickly transferred out of the station jail. When I asked him who the worst murderer they’d had was, he recounted a recent axe murder.”
When they returned to their suites, David noticed Miriam’s black panties and bra lying on her bed. Did she put them there on purpose? He had not seen them before they left. Just when he was feeling safer with her, she had to go and do that. He did not pause to say goodnight this time just walking straight to his room and shut the door.
David knocked on her door to go to breakfast the next morning. As he waited for Miriam to complete her “Maria Sanchez” makeup, he began telling her about Isobel, the girl that he had been dating while they were apart. Miriam acted interested rather than jealous and wanted to hear all about her. David wished he had never opened his mouth.
“She works at the radar station in Tel Aviv.”
“So, you’ve been going with her for a couple of months?”
“Not really — maybe a month. I also go out with anyone that interests me now. Let’s get some breakfast.”
During breakfast, the Bernstein confessional floodgates opened. David told her of his exploits with every girl he had been out with since they parted. He was trying to prove something it seemed, but she did not interrupt and never mentioned a single person she had dated. However, she was certain she never would, after hearing all David had to tell. He was totally wrapped up in himself these days. Moreover, he questioned the motives for everything she did or said, so communication between them only really worked when it stayed on the subject of work. She felt a little sorry for him.
CHAPTER 28
When David and Miriam returned to Tel Aviv with the Beinschmidt files, Levi immediately turned them over to Malcolm in the Research Department to analysis and send him a report as soon as possible. He was especially interested in their analysis of the Munich Police photos to see if Research could identify Hans in any of them..
“Good work you two. I take it that the file collection went off as we planned.
“It was easier that we anticipated,” Miriam replied”, Chief Beinschmidt turned out to be lecherous enough that I was able to handle him like a charm.”
David laughed. “And you certainly turned on those charms.”