It was a road, however, that had served him well. Kepner’s house was three stories high, set off from the street, and with a pleasant garden out front. Aside from the Tiergarten, Hoffner had forgotten the last time he had seen this much grass in one place. He released the latch on the fence and followed the path of stones to the front porch. Fichte followed behind. Hoffner knocked at the door.
After several more attempts, the door finally opened and a man, younger than Hoffner had expected, stepped from the shadows. It was unusually dark inside the house; even so, Hoffner could tell that the man was not in a servant’s uniform. The man seemed puzzled by the appearance of someone on his stoop.
“Yes?” he said warily.
“Forgive the intrusion, mein Herr. I am Detective Inspector Hoffner, with the Kripo. I’m looking for Herr Emil Kepner.”
The man grew more reticent. He looked over at Fichte, then back at Hoffner. “I am Herr Kepner’s son-in-law, Herr Brenner. Can I help you?”
“Ah,” said Hoffner. “Herr Brenner. Is Herr Kepner available?”
Brenner spoke as if to a child. “It’s Friday night, mein Herr.”
“Yes. Again, I apologize, but this is Kripo business. Herr Kepner will, I’m sure, understand.”
The man seemed to take offense at the suggestion. Hoffner was about to start in again, when a man’s voice called out from behind Brenner: “Is something the matter, Josef? Just tell them we are not seeing anyone tonight.”
Brenner turned back to the voice. “I have. It’s an inspector from the Kripo.”
There was a rustling of chairs and a low rumble of voices. Brenner moved out of the way as a man, perhaps in his early sixties, stepped through to the doorway. He was agitated. “Herr Inspector. Has something happened with the shop?” Brenner remained just behind him.
“Herr Kepner?” said Hoffner.
“Yes.” Kepner was small, but well fed. “Has something happened?”
“Nothing to do with your shop, mein Herr, but if I might have a word with you inside?”
For a moment Kepner seemed torn by the simple request. Hoffner was losing his patience: were the burghers of Charlottenburg beyond the sway of a Kripo badge? Finally Kepner nodded. He extended a hand and welcomed the two men into the house. “This way, gentlemen, please.” He led them along a hallway. A few paces on, he turned to his right, through an arch, and into a sitting room. Hoffner was following when he glanced to his left. Directly across the way was a second arch which led into the dining room. A table was set, with perhaps ten people seated around it. Each of the faces stared back blankly at him. Hoffner noticed the two candelabra standing on the sideboard. He saw the skullcaps on each of the men’s heads. He turned to Fichte. “Wait here, Hans.”
Fichte did as he was told. Brenner remained with him.
Kepner was by the fireplace when Hoffner stepped into the sitting room. “Another apology, mein Herr,” said Hoffner. “The Sabbath. I didn’t think to ask.”
Kepner nodded curtly. “Yes.” He motioned to two chairs. “Please.” The men sat. “You will understand, then, if I wish to keep this as brief as possible.” Hoffner nodded. “So what is it that I can do for the Kriminalpolizei, Herr Inspector?”
Hoffner felt foolish now asking about the lace. He had been looking forward to interrupting a nice Charlottenburg dinner party with his request-the rich needed to be kept on their toes-but this was something entirely different. Police and Jews were never a good mix. Jews saw only the threat, never the protection. Sadly, they probably had little reason to see it any other way. The irony of his career choice had never been lost on Hoffner.
He chose candor out of some skewed sense of penance for having reminded the man’s family of just how tenuous its position remained. “We’re in the midst of an investigation, mein Herr,” he began. “We believe you may be able to shed some light on a piece of evidence we’ve recently uncovered.”
“How did you get my name?” Kepner was being cautious.
“A clerk at KaDeWe.”
Kepner nodded knowingly. “Taubmann.”
“He was explaining the point tude when your name came up.” Hoffner saw the slight lift in Kepner’s eyes. “I have a rendering of a single design which I’m hoping you’ll examine.”
“A point tude. You know how rare these things are?”
“Yes.”
“And I shouldn’t ask why this is important, should I?”
“No, mein Herr. You shouldn’t.”
Again, Kepner took a moment. A Jew this old knew to leave it at that. “I can look at this for you, now,” he said. “But I can’t work on it for you. You understand.” Hoffner shook his head. “Not until after sundown tomorrow.”
For the second time in the last few minutes, Hoffner felt foolish. He was smarter than that. Of course not until after sundown. He hated appearing the amateur. He said, “I’ll need your word that this evidence will remain in your possession at all times. That you will tell no one about it. That you will show it to no one.”
Kepner remained stone-faced. “You don’t need my word, Herr Inspector. You see how I live.”
Hoffner felt another twinge of conscience; this time, however, he was unsure if it was because he should have known better, or because he knew only too well. Did Kepner actually believe that his place was so secured that his life could speak for itself? Could a Jew grow that comfortable in Berlin? Hoffner had no answer. He reached into his coat pocket and produced Wouters’s design. Kepner pulled a pair of glasses from his pocket and took the page. He began to examine it. His expression remained unchanged.
“Crude,” said Kepner. “But yes. This is a design for a point tude.” He removed the glasses. “I can’t tell you which specific design it is. I will need more time for that.” He folded the page and placed it in his jacket pocket. “But you knew as much before coming to me.”
“I was hoping.”
“Yes,” said Kepner guardedly. “I don’t suspect that your hopes are ever that far off, Herr Inspector.” Hoffner said nothing as Kepner studied him. “A Kripoman who apologizes for intruding on a Sabbath dinner. Now, that’s a rarity, isn’t it?” Kepner was not expecting an answer as he began to get to his feet. “I will do what I can for you, Herr Inspector. You will give me a telephone number, and we will talk tomorrow.” The two men stood.
A minute later, Hoffner was at the door with Fichte. Brenner had moved them on as quickly as he could. He watched them all the way down the stone path.
Out on the street, Fichte was the first to break the silence. “Bit of a cold fish, don’t you think, that Brenner? I suppose Kepner was the same?”
“No,” said Hoffner. “He wasn’t.”
“Oh.” Fichte seemed disappointed by the response. “Took me through the whole thing, Brenner did. I’d never heard about a Jewish ritual before.”
Hoffner continued to walk. “It’s just a meal, Hans.”
“The servants turning the lights on and off for them. And all done in Jewish-”
“Hebrew,” Hoffner corrected. “They speak in Hebrew.”
“Right.” Too pleased with himself, Fichte continued, “I’ll tell you, he was surprised I had so many questions.”
Hoffner said blandly, “Or maybe he was just surprised that you needed to ask them.”
The subtlety was lost on Fichte. He asked, “Did the old Jew have what we wanted?”
Hoffner found himself slowing. He stopped and stood there, deciding whether he wanted to take Fichte down this road. Fichte had stopped, as well. Not exactly sure why, Hoffner turned to him and said, “Herr Kepner has offered to bring his expertise to our case, Hans.” He spoke with no emotion. “What have you brought to it, so far?”
The sting of the comment took a moment to register. When it did, Fichte’s surprise quickly gave way to a look of injured pride. “I don’t know,” he said icily. “I suppose nothing at all, Herr Kriminal-Kommissar.”