Then he realized he was making too fast a judgment.
They sat in a back booth of the dimly lit cocktail lounge, the Cararras across the table from Noel. Before they’d gone inside, Holcroft had remembered that the embassy was supposed to call him back. He told the desk that if the call came, it was to be relayed to him in the lounge. But only the embassy—no one else.
«Tell me first how you learned I was looking for the Von Tiebolts,» said Noel after their drinks arrived.
«I told you. A clerk at Immigration. The word was passed discreetly, last Friday, among the sections, that an American would be coming in asking about a German family named Von Tiebolt. Whoever took the request was to call in another, a man from the polícia do administração. That’s the secret police.»
«I know what it is. He called himself, a ‘translator.’ I want to know why you were told.»
«The Von Tiebolts were our friends. Very close friends.»
«Where are they?»
Cararra exchanged a brief look with his sister. The girl spoke.
«Why do you look for them?» she asked.
«I made that clear at Immigration. It’s nothing out of the ordinary. They were left some money by relatives in the United States.»
Brother and sister again looked at each other, and again the sister spoke. «Is it a large amount of money?»
«I don’t know,» replied Holcroft. «It’s a confidential matter. I’m merely a go-between.»
«A what?» Again the brother.
«Un tercero,» answered Noel, looking at the woman. «Why were you so frightened on the telephone yesterday? You left your number, and when I called you back, you told me I shouldn’t have. Why?»
«I made a … mistake. My brother said it was a bad mistake. My name, the telephone number—it was wrong to leave them.»
«It would anger the Germans,» explained Cararra. «If they were watching you, intercepting your messages, they would see that we called you. It would be dangerous to us.»
«If they’re watching me now, they know you’re here.»
«We talked it over,» continued the woman. «We made our decision; we must take the risk.»
«What risk?»
«The Germans despise us. Among other things, we are Portuguese Jews,» said Cararra.
«They think like that even now?»
«Of course they do. I said we were close to the Von Tiebolts. Perhaps I could clarify. Johann was my dearest friend; he and my sister were to be married. The Germans would not permit it.»
«Who could stop them?»
«Any number of men. With a bullet in the back of Johann’s head.»
«Good Christ, that’s crazy!» But it was not crazy, and Holcroft knew it. He had been a target high in the hills; gunshots still rang in his ears.
«For certain Germans such a marriage would be the final insult,» said Cararra. «There are those who say the Von Tiebolts were traitors to Germany. These people still fight the war three decades later. Great injustices were done to the Von Tiebolts here in Brazil. They deserve whatever can be done for them. Their lives were made most difficult for causes that should have died years ago.»
«And you figured I could do something for them? What made you think that?»
«Because powerful men wanted to stop you; the Germans have a great deal of influence. Therefore you, too, were a powerful man, someone the Graffs in Brazil wanted to keep from the Von Tiebolts. To us that meant you intended no harm to our friends, and if no harm, you meant well. A powerful American who could help them.»
«You say the ‘Graffs in Brazil.’ That’s Maurice Graff, isn’t it? Who is he? What is he?»
«The worst of the Nazis. He should have been hanged at Nürnberg.»
«You know Graff?» asked the woman, her eyes on Holcroft.
«I went out to see him. I used a client in New York as an excuse, said he wanted me to look over Graff’s house. I’m an architect. At one point, I mentioned the Von Tiebolts, and Graff went out of his mind. He began screaming and ordered me out. When I drove down the hill, a pack of attack dogs came after the car. Later, Graff’s guard followed me. He tried to kill me. In traffic, the same thing happened again. Another man shot at me from a car window.»
«Mother of God!» Cararra’s lips parted in shock.
«We should not be seen with him,» said the woman, gripping her brother’s arm. Then she stopped, studying Noel closely. «If he’s telling the truth.»
Holcroft understood. If he was to learn anything from the Cararras, they had to be convinced he was exactly who he said he was. «I’m telling the truth. I’ve also told it to the American Embassy. They’re sending someone over to take the car as evidence.»
The Cararras looked at each other; then both turned to Holcroft. His statement was the proof they needed; it was in their eyes.
«We believe you,» said the sister. «We must hurry.»
«The Von Tiebolts are alive?»
«Yes,» said the brother. «The Nazis think they are somewhere in the southern mountains, around the Santa Catarina colonies. They’re old German settlements; the Von Tiebolts could change their names and melt in easily.»
«But they’re not there.»
«No…» Cararra seemed to hesitate, unsure of himself.
«Tell me where they are,» pressed Noel.
«Is it a good thing you bring to them?» asked the girl, concern in her voice.
«Far better than anything you can imagine,» replied Holcroft. «Tell me.»
Once again, brother and sister exchanged glances. Their decision was made. Cararra spoke. «They are in England. As you know, the mother is dead…»
«I didn’t know,» said Noel. «I don’t know anything.»
«They go by the name of Tennyson. Johann is known as John Tennyson; he is a journalist for a newspaper—the Guardian. He speaks several languages and covers the European capitals for the paper. Gretchen, the oldest, is married to a British naval officer. We don’t know where she lives, but her husband’s name is Beaumont; he is a commander in the Royal Navy. Of Helden, the youngest daughter, we know nothing. She was always a little distant, a bit headstrong.»
«Helden? It’s an odd name.»
«It fits her,» said Cararra’s sister softly.
«The story is that her birth certificate was filled out by a doctor who did not speak German, who did not understand the mother. According to Senhora von Tiebolt, she gave the child’s name as ‘Helga,’ but the hospital staff was rushed. They wrote down ‘Helden.’ In those days, one did not argue with what was written on papers. The name stayed with her.»
«Tennyson, Beaumont…» Holcroft repeated the names. «England? How did they get out of Brazil and over to England without Graff finding out? You say the Germans have influence. Passports were needed; transportation had to be arranged. How did they do it?»
«Johann … John … he’s a remarkable man, a brilliant man.»
«A homen talentoso,» added his sister, her strained features softening with the words. «I love him very much. After five years we still love each other.»
«Then you’ve heard from him? From them?»
«Every now and then,» said Cararra. «Visitors from England get in touch with us. Never anything written on paper.»