‘Alone?’
‘I doubt it. They’re hoping you can find out how well he’s being guarded.’
Shchepkin seemed lost in thought for some time.
‘Well?’ Russell asked eventually.
‘Yes, we’re sitting on Schreier. He’s agreed to work in our country, in Yaroslavl, if I remember correctly. His laboratory is being packed up for moving. I don’t know the details, but the procedure is the same in all such cases — two men with him around the clock, in three shifts. For his protection,’ the Russian added wryly.
‘That doesn’t sound good,’ Russell observed.
‘Mmm, no. But why? — that’s the question. The Americans must have a thousand Schreiers. Just to deny us, I suppose. Why are they being so petty?’
Russell let that go. ‘I’ve been wondering whether this has more to do with me — or us — than Schreier. I think they’re testing us. Giving us a chance to prove our loyalty.’
‘You’re learning,’ Shchepkin said. ‘And speaking of proving our loyalty, I’ll have something for them in a few weeks. But in the meantime…’
‘Can you help me?’
‘I don’t see how. And I will have to tell Nemedin about this.’
‘Why, for God’s sake?’
‘Because our lives will be forfeit if he hears it from somebody else. We can’t assume you’re his only American source.’
Russell supposed not.
‘It depends on how important Schreier is,’ Shchepkin went on, ‘whether we really need his skills or might just find them useful. If he’s expendable, then perhaps I can convince Nemedin that it’s in our interests to let you take him. Your success will please your American control, and the more he trusts you, the more use you will eventually be to Nemedin. Or so he will think. You must remember,’ the Russian said, turning towards him for emphasis, ‘we need to keep proving our loyalty to both sides.’
Yes, Russell thought, after you through the looking glass. Shchepkin’s world made him feel dizzy.
He reverted to practicalities. ‘So Nemedin will remove the guards?’
‘Oh no, that would make the Americans suspicious. How many men are you coming with? And when?’
‘Saturday evening. No numbers have been mentioned.’
‘I would send a four-man team,’ Shchepkin said, as if this was the sort of operation he organised every week. ‘There shouldn’t be any problems, especially if the guards have been told to only offer token resistance.’
It sounded promising, until Russell remembered the original premise. ‘What if Schreier is vital to the future of the Soviet Union?’
‘Then he won’t be there when you come to call. Other than that, I don’t know. If I was in charge I’d put on some kind of show, and make sure you got marks for trying, but if I suggest that to Nemedin he’ll find some reason to do something else. He doesn’t trust me any better than he trusts you.’
‘That’s almost an honour. So let me get this straight — when I arrive at wherever it is I’ll either find Schreier and two amenable guards or no Schreier and… what?’
‘Whatever Nemedin decides. You’ll be safe enough — he may not like you, but you’re still his best hope of a career boost. And he’s not impulsive — if he ever comes after you it won’t be on a whim.’
‘That’s comforting. So what do I tell Dallin?’
‘Just say that I thought there’d be two guards, and that if there’s anything I can do to help without raising suspicions then I’ll do it.’
‘Okay. Now, something personal. Just before the end of the war, here in Berlin, Effi was asked to shelter a Jewish girl whose mother had just died. She’s still with us, and we’re trying to find out what happened to her father. His name is — or was — Otto Pappenheim, and someone of that name was given a transit visa to Shanghai via Moscow sometime in the six months before Hitler attacked you. Is there any way you could confirm that he actually took the trip? And if he did, whether he ever came back. We’re not at all sure he’s the right Otto Pappenheim, so knowing his age would be useful — there must have been a date of birth on the visa.’
Shchepkin had a weary look in his eyes. ‘I’ll do what I can,’ he said.
They both got up and surveyed the crowd in front of them, as if reluctant to leave each other’s company.
‘I don’t suppose you’ve uncovered any useful secrets lately,’ Russell said.
‘No, not yet.’
An hour or so later Russell was sitting in Scott Dallin’s office. In future, Dallin told him, they would meet in less official surroundings — the Grunewald seemed conveniently close. Two reasons were offered. First, that ‘the Russians might know, but we’re not supposed to know that they know.’ Second, that Crosby had been asking questions about Russell. His interest might be completely innocent — Crosby might simply want to recruit him — but the more separate their two organisations were, the better Dallin liked it.
Why, Russell wondered, did governments delight in creating competing intelligence organisations? They always — always — ended up spending more time fighting each other than the enemy.
‘So what did Comrade Shchepkin have to say?’ Dallin asked.
Russell trotted out the pre-arranged answer.
‘A team of four, then’ Dallin said, fulfilling Shchepkin’s prophecy. ‘Brad Halsey will be in command. I’ll get him down here.’ He reached for the internal telephone.
‘And the other two?’ Russell asked once he’d put it down.
‘A couple of GIs.’
‘Out of uniform, I assume.’
‘Of course.’
‘Shchepkin said that Schreier has agreed to work in the Soviet Union. What if he refuses to come with us?’
Dallin gave him a disbelieving look. ‘He’ll jump at the chance. Why wouldn’t he?’
A thought occurred to Russell. ‘It is just him? There’s no wife or girlfriend? No children?’
‘Not as far as I know.’
Amateurs was about right, Russell thought. ‘What if there are? Should we bring them as well?’
‘If he wants them to come, then yes, I suppose so.’
It didn’t seem worth a debate. ‘So we just bring him back on the U-Bahn, and deposit him where?’
‘That’ll be up to Brad.’
Russell supposed it would be. He himself was on probation, useful if they got lost, but otherwise only along for the ride. He wondered out loud whether any of the others spoke German.
‘No,’ Dallin told him, causing Russell to wonder what the powers in Washington had been doing for four years. Had Germany’s defeat come as a surprise?
Brad Halsey arrived. He looked and sounded like a typical Midwestern kid — athletic-looking and open-faced, with neat, almost golden brown hair — but there was someone else behind the bright blue eyes, someone the war had shut down. His opening glance was hardly friendly, causing Russell to wonder how much of his chequered past Dallin had passed on.
‘I still don’t have the address,’ Russell told them both.
‘It’s in Friedrichshain,’ Halsey answered. ‘Lippehner Strasse 38. Do you know it?’
‘I know the street,’ Russell told him. ‘And it must be almost two kilometres from the nearest U-Bahn station.’
‘That won’t be a problem. But we need somewhere close by for a rendezvous point. The less time we spend as a group, the less chance the Russians will notice us.’
Halsey might be a cold fish, but he clearly wasn’t a fool. ‘The western entrance to Friedrichshain Park,’ Russell suggested. ‘It’s about a five minute walk away.’
‘Sounds good.’
Dallin also nodded his agreement. ‘And the time?’
‘Eight o’clock?’ Halsey suggested. The eyes glittered at the prospect.
Effi was still awake when he arrived home, but only just. ‘If we stay in, I’ll be asleep in an hour,’ she told him. ‘Let’s go out.’
‘Okay, but where? Do you have any suggestions?’ Russell asked Thomas, who had followed him in.
‘The cabaret on Konigin-Luise-Platz is pretty good, and it’s not that far to walk. The Ulenspiegel is better, but…’
‘Where’s that?’ Effi asked.
‘On Nurnberger Strasse.’