‘A witness who’s now dead. Must be our lucky day.’
Back at headquarters, Goldstein’s reappearance caused quite a stir. Wilhelm Böhm summoned Rath and Tornow to his office. The Bulldog seemed to have a clearer take on the issue of culpability, blaming neither Tornow, the service trolley, nor the recalcitrant sister; least of all the fact that Goldstein just happened to be in the building at that precise moment. Instead, he laid the blame squarely on the shoulders of Gereon Rath.
‘Am I right in thinking you’ve let a murder suspect give you the slip for the second time in a matter of days?’ he yelled.
Rath knew it was pointless defending himself, but tried nevertheless. ‘We couldn’t have known the suspect was in the building. Officer Tornow and I received a tip-off that he had been seen at the Jewish Hospital. We then established that his grandfather…’
Böhm interrupted: ‘What tip-off, and why do I know nothing about it?’
‘We can’t go bothering you with every anonymous call.’
‘Not every one, no, but the important ones.’
‘With respect, Sir,’ Tornow said. ‘It was me who took the call not Inspector Rath, and I’m assigned to Chief Inspector Kilian, J Division, not Homicide.’
Böhm wasn’t used to subordinates interrupting. Rath was also astonished, but gave nothing away.
‘Besides,’ Tornow continued, ‘it’s only possible to judge the importance of a call like that with hindsight. In the last few days Warrants have had any number of tip-offs, and more or less every single one has come to nothing.’
It took a moment for Böhm to regain the power of speech.
‘Then tell me how the whole thing went so belly-up,’ he growled, which, for a man of his temperament, was akin to a peace offering.
‘We knew from the porter that there was a Jakob Goldstein in room 102,’ Rath said. ‘As it turned out, Abraham Goldstein’s grandfather.’
‘He was the one you wanted to question?’
‘Correct.’
‘So did you see the Yank?’
‘When we entered the room he had already escaped through the window onto the courtyard, then stole an ambulance.’
‘How the hell did he get warning? Surely he wasn’t intending to escape through the window!’
Tornow was about to say something, but Rath got there first. ‘Chance. Perhaps Goldstein opened the door just as we entered the corridor. He knows my face; we’ve run into each other a few times at the Excelsior.’
‘He recognised you,’ Böhm mumbled and nodded. The answer appeared to satisfy him. ‘In future you ought to remain in the background, so that Goldstein isn’t warned again.’
Rath nodded demurely.
‘Did you get anything out of the witness?’
‘No, unfortunately. Jakob Goldstein is dead. We found him when we entered the room.’
Böhm hesitated. ‘You’re not trying to tell me that Goldstein killed his own grandfather?’
‘It’s a strange coincidence that he should die precisely at that moment, don’t you think? After consulting with the public prosecutor, I’ve had the corpse sent to Pathology.’
‘You’re aware that an autopsy is forbidden by the Mosaic faith?’
Rath hadn’t been aware until a few hours ago, but the ward doctor had told him in no uncertain terms. ‘Dr Schwartz is Jewish,’ he said. ‘He’ll know what to do.’
‘Dr Schwartz is a goddamn agnostic. He’ll cut anything he gets his hands on.’
‘Then I’ll ask him to proceed with caution. Maybe a blood examination will be enough. The man was terminally ill. He had pancreatic cancer.’
‘You should mention that too. We don’t want Schwartz examining a man who might have been dead for hours.’
‘He can’t have been. His family was with him until just before the end of visiting hours.’
‘Goldstein has more relatives in Berlin?’
‘Two aunts, if I’m not mistaken.’
‘Damn it! Why are we only hearing about this now? Pay them a visit. Maybe they know something. You can show our cadet here how to winkle information out of people.’
Tornow rose from his lethargy and looked at Böhm in disbelief. ‘My apologies, Sir, but I’m assigned to Warrants, DCI Kilian, not DI Rath. I…’
‘I’ll speak to Kilian, everything will be fine. For the time being you’ll work with Rath.’ Böhm gazed sternly at him, trying to regain lost authority. ‘You’ve made your bed, now you have to lie in it. Goldstein is the priority for both of you. Understood?’
Rath gave a dutiful nod. The audience with Böhm was over.
‘It looks like you’re my new partner then,’ he said, when they were back outside. ‘Here’s to us.’
The cadet shook his hand. ‘I know I made a mess of things in the hospital. But you didn’t have to protect me like that. All the same, thank you.’
‘You didn’t make a mess of anything. But there’s no reason for Böhm to know every last detail.’
‘I’m here to learn,’ Tornow grinned.
‘That’s right, you’re my apprentice now. What I’m interested in, is why you became a policeman?’
‘Why do you ask?’
‘I ask every new colleague. You can give me several reasons if you’re not sure.’
‘There’s only one reason.’
‘And that would be?’
‘My sister.’
Rath waited, but nothing followed, and Tornow was so serious he didn’t probe further. ‘Fetch your things,’ he said, to end the silence, ‘and I’ll introduce you to your new colleagues.’
‘There isn’t much to fetch. Besides, I’d rather Böhm speaks to Kilian before I show up in Warrants again.’
‘Right then. We’re just around the corner.’
When Rath opened the door Kirie stood expectantly, wagging her tail.
‘You bring your dog to the office?’ Tornow asked.
‘Only when it can’t be avoided.’ He gestured towards Erika Voss, who was sitting behind her desk on the telephone. ‘Our secretary, Fräulein Voss.’
Erika Voss hung up and looked across curiously.
‘A new colleague, Erika,’ Rath said. ‘Herr Tornow is a cadet who’ll be working with us for the time being.’
The secretary returned Tornow’s smile. She seemed to like her new colleague.
65
Charly had to resist a buying frenzy in this cathedral of consumption. Tables of clothing and scents, wrap-around galleries across four floors, the enormous skylight that crowned it all, it was hard to escape the magical appeal. Wertheim on Leipziger Platz had been her favourite department store since she was a little girl accompanying her mother. Today she wasn’t here to shop, but even so caught herself browsing the summer offers. She could definitely use a new blouse…
‘Does the young lady require assistance?’
A saleswoman had noticed her.
‘I’m looking for Personnel.’
‘I’m afraid we’re not hiring.’
‘That’s not why I’m here. I just need some information.’
A little later, Charly sat in a small office overlooking the venerable row of houses on Vossstrasse.
‘Alexandra Reinhold?’ The man had introduced himself as Herr Eick, stressing the Herr as though it were his first name, and stood by a wall-high shelving unit of files. He fished one out. ‘Let’s take a look.’
Herr Eick made every effort to appear important, as well as being extremely helpful. He stole a glance at Charly’s legs before sitting down to skim through the files. ‘Might I ask why you are interested in Fräulein Reinhold?’ he said, without looking up, but he was still squinting at her out of the corner of his eye.