‘I’m Constance. Hello.’
‘Hello,’ said Conrad. ‘Can I get you some—’
But Constance had already indicated to the waitress, whom she seemed to know, that she wanted some tea.
‘I’m so sorry about your sister,’ Constance said, taking the chair opposite Conrad. ‘I didn’t know her before we went to Holland together, but we got along famously while we were there. She was a lovely girl. It was dreadful what happened to her.’
‘Yes, it was,’ said Conrad. But it seemed to him that Constance herself looked more excited than shocked.
‘She was very fond of you. She spoke of you a lot,’ said Constance.
Conrad was pleased to hear that. ‘I was fond of her,’ he said. ‘When did you get back?’
‘Yesterday evening. They flew me back — the Foreign Office, that is. I’ve had all sorts of interviews with mysterious Dutchmen, and Englishmen for that matter.’
‘Thank you for seeing me,’ said Conrad.
‘Not at all,’ said Constance. Her tea arrived in a Russian-style glass.
‘Do you mind if I ask you what happened?’ Conrad said.
‘No, carry on. Everyone else has,’ said Constance. ‘As your father probably told you, he and Sir Henry Alston sent us over there on a confidential mission.’
‘Father did say,’ Conrad said. ‘You met Lieutenant von Hertenberg?’
‘Yes, that’s right. Millie said he’s a friend of yours from Oxford. A charming man. Or at least he seemed so at the time.’
‘Theo is charming,’ said Conrad dryly. The man and the two women Conrad had spotted earlier left the tea rooms. One of the women nodded to Constance. ‘Do you know, is that Captain Maule Ramsay?’ Conrad asked.
‘Yes, it is. And that’s his wife; they often come here. The other woman is Anna Wolkoff, the daughter of the owner.’
‘I see,’ said Conrad. ‘Sorry, go on.’
‘Yes. Well, we spoke to Theo a couple of times, including the day before Millie was killed. We were staying in Scheveningen, by the sea.’
‘I know it,’ said Conrad. ‘We went there on holiday as children.’
‘Millie said. Anyway, that night Theo saw me and asked me to tell Millie to meet him early the following morning. He said she had to go alone and I shouldn’t come with her. He wanted her to meet someone — he didn’t say who.’
Constance sipped her tea.
‘So the next morning I got up at the crack of dawn, actually it was before the crack of dawn, to follow Millie. She came out of the hotel and headed off towards the sand dunes. I kept a discreet distance behind her. The sand dunes were quite bumpy, being sand dunes, so I couldn’t see her very clearly. Then I heard a short sharp cry. Well, I was worried. I wasn’t sure whether to run towards her or away from her — it was still pretty dark. But I thought I had better take a look. And I found her on the ground with… with a knife sticking out of her chest.’
Constance looked down at her tea as she said this. Her face was grim. Then she glanced up to check Conrad’s reaction. For a moment his mind conjured up an image of Millie lying in the sand, but it was too horrible to think about.
‘Did you see anyone?’
‘Not straight away. Nor did I hear anything. I ran over to see if she was all right, but…’ Constance lowered her eyes again. ‘She wasn’t. She was… dead.’
Conrad sighed. Silence lay heavily around them, shrouding thoughts of Millie.
‘I’m sorry,’ Constance said.
‘But then you saw Theo?’
‘Yes. When I went looking for help. He was heading towards the tram stop.’
‘Did you call out to him?’
‘No, of course not! He was quite far away. But more importantly, I thought he had stabbed Millie. I didn’t want him to kill me too! So I ran along to one of the hotels on the sea front and got them to ring the police.’
This didn’t look good. ‘Are you sure it was Theo? You say he was quite far away.’
‘Pretty sure. He was tall, wearing the same kind of hat as Theo, and he walked upright like Theo does.’
‘But you didn’t see his face?’
‘Not clearly,’ Constance admitted. ‘I told the police that. And the men from the Foreign Office.’
‘So you are not absolutely sure? It could have been someone else?’
‘I suppose it could have been. But it looked like Theo to me.’ Constance smiled sympathetically. ‘I’m sorry, I know he is a friend of yours. Or was.’
Is, thought Conrad. Is. There was some doubt about Theo’s identification after all. ‘You have no idea whom Theo was bringing with him?’
‘No. None.’
‘Why didn’t Theo want you to come too?’
Constance hesitated. ‘I don’t know. I thought maybe…’
‘Maybe what?’
‘Your sister was sweet on Theo. Didn’t you know that?’
Bloody hell, thought Conrad. ‘No. I didn’t know that. Are you saying it was some kind of… assignation?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Constance. ‘It was just a feeling, that’s all. A guess. Perhaps Theo really did bring someone else along for Millie to meet.’
‘The secret service seem to think that Theo killed her.’
‘I know,’ said Constance.
‘But you can’t be certain that you actually saw him, let alone saw him stab her?’
‘I’m pretty sure it was him,’ Constance said. ‘And he is a German spy, isn’t he?’
Conrad nodded. ‘Well, thanks for telling me,’ he said. Then a thought struck him. ‘Why did you follow her?’
‘Why?’ Constance repeated.
‘Why?’
‘I’m curious. I’ve always been known for my nosiness. I wanted to know whether Theo really had brought someone to meet Millie, or if they were just, you know, meeting. An assignation. Also I suppose I didn’t like being left out.’
‘I see,’ said Conrad. But he wasn’t quite sure that he did see.
Mayfair, London
Conrad grabbed the pint of beer and the glass of gin and It and fought his way through the small pub in Mayfair to where Anneliese was sitting in a corner. He had known the place in the past as a quiet pub where they might talk, but there were no quiet pubs in London in wartime, even on a Sunday evening. At least they had been able to find a seat.
Anneliese raised her glass. ‘To Millie,’ she said.
Conrad smiled. ‘Yes. To Millie.’ They both drank.
‘I needed that.’ Anneliese put down her drink. Conrad had introduced her to gin and Italian vermouth soon after she had arrived in London and asked for something English from the bar. Afterwards he had realized it was a favourite of Veronica’s, but he hadn’t told Anneliese that. She was wearing her nurse’s uniform: the pub was full of uniforms of various types, although Conrad was still in his civilian suit.
‘I’m glad you rang me,’ he said.
‘Your mother wrote to me about Millie and I was shocked. I wrote her a note back and then I thought I must see you. I know how fond you were of your sister. I liked her; she always treated me well.’
‘Unlike Reggie?’ said Conrad.
‘Your brother is just ignorant,’ said Anneliese. ‘Millie wasn’t. She was fun.’
‘Yes, she was,’ said Conrad.
‘How do you feel?’ Anneliese asked.
Conrad was flummoxed by the simplicity of the question. ‘I’ll be all right,’ he said. ‘This is war. People will die.’
‘Oh, Conrad, don’t be so bloody British! Of course people will die. And it will be horrible for their brothers and sisters.’
‘Yes, of course,’ Conrad said stiffly. He glanced at Anneliese. His chest was churning with a turmoil of emotions to do with Millie. He hadn’t sorted them out; he hadn’t expressed them. He hadn’t even wept yet. He had been angry with his father. With Theo.