‘Any luck?’ she asked.
‘I hope so,’ said Conrad. ‘We’ll see. At least I know now that Theo didn’t kill Millie.’
‘I’m so glad to hear that,’ she said. ‘As must you be.’
Conrad moved towards the drinks tray. ‘I really need a drink. Do you want one?’
‘Why not? A gin and It, please.’
Conrad poured her one, and himself a whisky and soda. He wanted to sit on the sofa next to Anneliese, but decided she might prefer some distance, and so took an armchair.
‘I’ve been busy too,’ said Anneliese. ‘I’ve visited the Russian Tea Rooms. Twice.’
‘Did you meet Constance Scott-Dunton?’
‘I did the second time. The first time I went was Tuesday. I spoke to a girl called Marjorie Copthorne. I told her I was a German, that I was living here with my family, and that I was stuck in this country because of the war. I made out I was a committed Nazi and I had heard that the Tea Rooms had English people who were sympathetic to modern Germany. So I had come there to meet some of them. Marjorie had all sorts of questions about Germany, which of course I could answer.’
‘Did she believe you?’
‘She did. But then a Russian woman sat with us. Her name was Anna Wolkoff; she is the daughter of the owner. She asked me right away if I was Jewish; she claimed I looked Jewish. She said that she had become an expert in Russia at identifying Jews.’
Anneliese didn’t look particularly Jewish to Conrad, but then he had never set himself up as an expert on racial matters. ‘What did you say?’
‘I said my father was an atheist who was racially Jewish, but my mother was Christian and so was I. I told them I hated my father for running away from our country, and I wanted to return to Germany, but my parents insisted I work in London to pay for their keep. I was planning to return anyway, if the German authorities would let me back in, when the war broke out.’
Conrad raised his eyebrows. Like all good lies, the story had an element of truth to it, but knowing Anneliese, she must have found it painful to publicly denounce her father, for whom she had done so much.
‘I know,’ said Anneliese, noticing Conrad’s reaction. ‘I didn’t like it. But I almost convinced Anna and I definitely convinced Marjorie. So I decided to have another go. I returned to the Tea Rooms last night, and this time I met Constance Scott-Dunton.’
‘What did you think of her?’
‘You are right, she is queer. I mean, she is lively and friendly, but she has such intense dark eyes, they unsettle me. She seemed to like my stories of modern Berlin. Then Anna Wolkoff arrived again, with a good-looking American man named Kent, I think. She was clearly still suspicious of me.’
‘I assume Constance didn’t tell you about her trip to Holland?’ Conrad asked. Even Anneliese couldn’t get that out of a stranger on first meeting.
‘No. But I did talk to her about Henry Alston and Captain Maule Ramsay. I had read back copies of the newspapers in the Golders Green Library with my father to learn something about their backgrounds. It turns out that Marjorie is the niece of a good friend of Alston, and that she introduced Constance to him. Constance seems to think that Alston is a great man. It was almost as if she was in love with him, although he has a terribly damaged face, doesn’t he?’
‘He does,’ said Conrad. ‘Attacked by a lion in Africa, I believe. He’s clever; my father has always had a great deal of respect for him. They are both directors of Gurney Kroheim.’
‘From what Constance says, Alston is a strong supporter of Germany. As is the other one, Captain Maule Ramsay, although he is much more blatant about it. I said how pleased I was to hear that some British politicians had sensible views.’ Anneliese shuddered. ‘I think she likes me.’
‘The policeman I met in The Hague thinks she might have murdered Millie.’
‘Really?’ Anneliese eyes opened wide. ‘Does he have proof?’
‘Some. Not enough. The knife that was used to stab Millie was taken from the kitchen of the hotel she and Constance were staying in. Also, it appears Constance lied to Millie about Theo wanting to meet her in the sand dunes. And the policeman thinks she lied to him about seeing Theo leaving the scene of the murder.’
‘Sounds pretty clear evidence to me,’ said Anneliese. ‘Why didn’t he arrest her?’
‘He was told to send her back to England. Dutch intelligence are convinced Theo killed her. Or at least that’s what they say.’
‘Did the policeman have any idea why she would want to kill Millie?’
‘No. And that’s the key question. Perhaps you can find out?’
‘Perhaps I can.’ Anneliese frowned. ‘It’s strange to see Nazis again. Oh, I know they might not strictly speaking be Nazis, but it reminded me of the attitude of so many Germans. It’s odd how a hatred of the Jews seems to nourish people like that. It’s almost as if they thrive on it; they feed off hatred to sustain their political views, give them some shape.’
‘I’m sorry you had to pretend to think like them,’ said Conrad.
‘That’s all right,’ said Anneliese. ‘I mean, it is a vile way to think, or even to pretend to think, but it feels good to be able to do something to stop those people. It’s better standing up to them, even claiming to be one of them, than denying that they exist or that they matter.’
‘You don’t have to see them again if you can’t face it,’ said Conrad.
‘You want to find out what happened to Millie and you think Constance knows?’
‘That’s right,’ said Conrad.
‘Well, in that case I will get her to tell me. It might take a while, but she will trust me eventually.’
‘Thank you,’ said Conrad, smiling. ‘Here — take some money. You might need it if you are hanging around there trying to make friends.’ He pulled a couple of notes out of his wallet.
Anneliese hesitated but she took the money. She didn’t have any, Conrad was right that she would need some, and there was no point in pretending otherwise.
‘And thank you for whatever you said to my mother,’ Conrad said. ‘She was in a bad way. You have cheered her up.’
‘I like her,’ said Anneliese. ‘And I do feel so sorry for her.’ She got to her feet. ‘Now, I must be going back to Hampstead.’ She said it firmly, as if she didn’t want to be contradicted.
Conrad was tempted to contradict her. He would much rather take Anneliese to the cinema and have supper with her somewhere than face his own family. She seemed different this evening, different than she had seemed for months, really since she had arrived in England. But perhaps his father was right. Conrad didn’t want to risk breaking her new-found confidence. He should back off, and wait for her to come to him when she was ready.
So he let her go.
32
The Tiergarten, Berlin, 24 November
Admiral Canaris rode in the Tiergarten almost every morning, sometimes alone, sometimes with his fellow Abwehr officers, and sometimes, like that morning, with SS Sturmbannführer Walter Schellenberg.
The two men knew each other well. Like Heydrich, they lived in the wooded Schlachtensee suburb of Berlin, and they had met socially through the Gestapo chief. As effective head of the new foreign-intelligence branch of the Gestapo, Schellenberg was a rival. Although at that point much smaller than the Abwehr, Canaris knew Schellenberg’s nascent organization was bound to grow rapidly given the ambitions of his bosses Heydrich and Himmler. But rather than make an enemy of his rival, Canaris treated the younger, junior officer as a friend, something Schellenberg appreciated.
The Tiergarten had originally been preserved as a hunting forest, and in parts of its wooded heart, in the cold foggy murk of a November dawn, it still felt like one. Except one stumbled across occasional statues of dead composers rather than the odd hind or stag. Here one could think, away from the hubbub of Berlin traffic or War Ministry gossip. Here one could talk.