‘Good day,’ Alex said, dropping a curtsey. She could be a good little girl when she wanted.
The woman looked her up and down. ‘Good day, young lady,’ she replied. ‘Are you looking for Fräulein Ritter?’
Alex nodded.
‘She left ten minutes ago.’ The woman painstakingly closed her door, turning the keys twice before saying, in a mildly disparaging tone: ‘In the company of several gentlemen…’
There could be any number of things a woman might do on a Sunday afternoon in the company of several gentlemen, and evidently she disapproved of them all.
‘I have a message for Fräulein Ritter,’ Alex said, pretending she had to write something on the envelope. She waited until the woman had descended the stairs before fetching a picklock, acquired for the Wertheim break-in, from her bag. Only when she heard the front door close did she take the picklock and prise open the door to the flat.
Perhaps it was bravado, but she wanted to surprise the court woman by returning the money to the pot. It was possible, of course, that she hadn’t even noticed it was gone, and wouldn’t realise the amount had increased by thirty marks. Alex was picturing Charlotte’s face when she noticed the mess. The flat was like a bombsite.
All the drawers had been pulled out, their contents strewn across the floor. Books were torn from shelves, letters and files were scattered everywhere. Total chaos. It looked like a break-in, but hadn’t the old woman said Fräulein Ritter had only left a few minutes before?
In the company of several gentlemen.
Alex racked her brains. What had happened here? Which gentlemen had Charlotte left with? Were they the ones responsible for this chaos? Perhaps they were cops who had found out she was sheltering a wanted criminal?
She put the envelope back in her bag and looked around, hoping to find an answer. There were no traces of a struggle, although someone had clearly been looking for something. It couldn’t be the little handheld pistol that must have rolled out of some drawer or other, Charlotte’s weapon from the tannery. Cops would have taken something like that with them, wouldn’t they? She picked it up. The cool, heavy metal felt good. She pulled the magazine out. It was empty, though the rounds lay close by. She had to fiddle around, but soon the magazine clicked back into place.
She didn’t want to leave the money in this chaos. Who could say if it would ever reach Charlotte? She left the envelope where it was in her bag and stowed the pistol next to it. It wouldn’t hurt to own a thing like that, if Kralle’s crew came looking for her again. She knew a handbag wasn’t the best way to conceal a weapon, but there was nothing about her new summer dress that could serve as a holster.
She was just about to open the door when she heard footsteps in the stairwell. Since she didn’t want to have to explain what she was doing coming out of an empty flat, she listened at the door. Someone was coming up the stairs with a heavy tread. A man. Another instant, and he would be past. The coast would be clear.
When the footsteps approached the door to the flat, she instinctively retreated a few metres on tiptoes. The doorbell rang and she tried to hold her breath.
There was another ring. Away, she thought, go away! Can’t you see there’s no one home?
A key turned in the lock, and her heart almost stopped. She fumbled for the pistol, looked for the safety catch and aimed, just as the man appeared in the doorframe. His hands were already in the air.
Rath had been prepared for anything, but not a girl standing in the hallway with a little pocket pistol trained on his chest. The inside of the flat looked as if a bomb had been dropped. ‘What’s all this then?’ he asked.
The girl looked at him suspiciously. She was like a cornered beast of prey. Rath had recognised her immediately. The fake hair dye couldn’t fool him, nor the smart summer dress.
‘It’s Alex, isn’t it?’
Her answer was a tentative nod.
‘Charly told me about you.’
‘Charly?’
At last she spoke to him, but her pistol was still raised. He debated whether he could get to his Walther, but it was hopeless. He had to talk. ‘Charlotte Ritter. The woman who lives here.’
‘I see.’
He pointed his chin at the pistol. ‘Does it have to be like this?’
She let the weapon drop. ‘No, I just thought that…’
That was all she had time for. Rath made a full-length dive, reaching with both hands for her firing arm. He felt the little minx kick and punch, but absorbed the blows until he had control of the weapon, letting it slide across the hall floor into the kitchen and under the table. He held her arms tight and used his body weight to press her flailing legs to the floor. It was an unfair match, and the struggle was soon over.
‘Now, how about telling me what you’re doing in this flat, threatening me with a pistol.’
She spat at him and he dodged just in time.
‘I’ve had enough wrestling matches for one day,’ he said. ‘Shall we bring this to a peaceful end, or do I have to spend the next three hours on top of you?’
Her eyes looked daggers. ‘The first one,’ she said.
He stood up and kept a close eye on her, but she made no move to punch, kick or spit again. He picked up her handbag.
Alex stood up and held her hand.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘but it’s what you have to expect when you threaten someone with a gun. It’s no laughing matter.’
‘I know that but, shit, life is no laughing matter.’
Rath couldn’t help but smile. ‘What are you doing here, and where’s Charly?’
‘I could ask you the same thing.’
‘I’m her… fiancé.’
‘What are you going to do? Are you going to call the cops?’
‘I am the cops.’
He had said it casually enough, but noticed how she gave a start, squinting towards the exit as if she might hightail it at any moment.
‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘I’m one of the good guys. You don’t have anything to fear from me. Charly told me all about you, and about the business in KaDeWe with the cop. I’m sorry about your friend.’
Rummaging in her bag he pulled out a set of picklocks, and his compassion came to a sudden end.
‘Did you break in here?’
‘Did you think I crawled in through the keyhole?’
‘Are you responsible for this chaos?’
‘I didn’t take anything.’
‘What’s this?’ He pointed to her envelope and fished out a dozen ten mark notes.
‘I was returning it. I borrowed money from your fiancée.’
He shook his head in disbelief.
‘Take a look if you don’t believe me. There’s a letter inside.’
He skimmed what she had written. Thank you for everything, it said. I’m sorry about the money. I found it by chance and borrowed it because I needed it. I hope this will make up for it. Sorry.
‘You borrowed it, did you?’
‘I pay my debts. The money doesn’t belong to you, anyway. Put it back in the envelope and give me back my bag.’
She had a big mouth, no doubt about it, but she was right too. He replaced the envelope and returned the bag.
‘Take your time, and tell me what happened.’
‘I’ve only been here a few minutes. This is how it looked when I got here. Maybe those men have something to do with it.’
Rath felt an alarm bell sound in his head. ‘What men?’
‘Your girlfriend went off with a couple of men. That’s all I know.’ Alex shrugged. ‘Ask the woman, your neighbour. She saw them.’