Rath’s office on the first floor was still locked. He ought to have remembered that his secretary, Erika Voss, didn’t arrive until eight. He had no choice but to bring Kirie into the conference room. It was already busy, with the meeting due to start in a few minutes. He pushed through the crowd, as far as possible towards the back. A few colleagues were amazed to see him with Kirie on her lead, but what else could he do? He could hardly tie her up outside.
‘Are they introducing the new police dogs as well?’ an officer asked. The bystanders laughed, and Rath forced a grin. To his astonishment, he brought the nervous-seeming Kirie to heel with a sharp ‘sit’, as the cadets started filing in: the latest batch of candidates for inspector. Lange was third, followed at the end of the line by Charly and another female officer, with Bernhard Weiss taking up the rear. Even though he had known she’d be here, his heart started beating faster. Despite wearing an unremarkable mouse-grey ensemble, she still contrived to look stunning, and Rath felt as if all eyes were on her. For a moment he actually thought the male officers were whistling, although nothing of the kind occurred. Seeing them gawp like that, he felt the old rage returning and gritted his teeth until it passed.
The cadets took their seats, out of sight in the front row, as Dr Weiss climbed on stage and the whispering subsided to a murmur. The deputy commissioner waited until the final coughs had abated.
‘Before we turn to happier affairs, allow me to say a few words on the current situation,’ he began. Owing to his thick spectacle lenses, it always felt as if Bernhard Weiss were looking you straight in the eye. ‘It is no coincidence that, in the two weeks since the SA and SS have been allowed to display their uniforms and march again, the situation has become spectacularly worse. This weekend alone political confrontations in Wedding and Moabit resulted in five casualties and a death, and that is merely in Berlin.’
‘Wasn’t the dead man an SA officer, gunned down by the Reds?’ a colleague whispered, careful to ensure he couldn’t be heard up front.
‘There were good reasons for the uniform ban,’ Weiss continued. ‘Deprived of it, SA men could be seen for what they are: a brutal gang of thugs. In their uniforms, however, they don’t regard themselves as criminals. Indeed, some even presume to act as police officers. More and more often, SA members are taking the liberty of carrying out house searches in Communist apartments. There are reports from Friedrichshain that an SA troop stormed an ice-cream parlour and attempted to carry off all members of the Reichsbanner, as though it were a police raid. Fortunately, our colleagues were able to intervene in time.
‘Such behaviour, ladies and gentlemen,’ Weiss said, casting a friendly glance towards the front row at the word ladies, ‘must be nipped in the bud. We cannot allow the mob to rule the streets, whether they are dressed in red or in brown.’
Weiss paused, and a few colleagues began to clap. The applause soon died, making it more awkward than if there had been none at all.
‘Sadly,’ he continued, ‘the new government’s policies seem to have emboldened the National Socialists to carry out such initiatives. For two weeks now, since – not to put too fine a point on it – the lifting of the SA ban, the safety on our streets has been severely compromised.’
‘I always thought the police were apolitical,’ grumbled an officer in front of Rath. ‘He’s sticking his neck out a little too far for my liking. We do work for the government after all.’
‘We answer to the Free State of Prussia, not the German Reich,’ the man behind him hissed. ‘And no one would deny this government’s missing a few screws.’
‘At least it is a government. Prussia doesn’t have one any more, at least not a functional one.’
‘Oh, shut your mouth, would you!’
‘Shut my mouth!’
Before the dispute could escalate, two colleagues pulled the men apart, at which stage the noise and grumbling reached Weiss’s ears. He gazed sternly into the room and it ceased. The two officers who had nearly come to blows contented themselves with exchanging angry glances.
When all was silent again, Weiss continued. ‘Now let us move on to the real purpose of our meeting. Please welcome the new cadets, who will henceforth be serving as your colleagues in CID.’
He reached for a list and read the names of the new recruits, each one dutifully approaching the stage as they were called, until all stood in line at the front. Most grinned nervously. Lange blushed, but Charly, who stood next to a blonde woman, smiled self-assuredly into the horde of male officers. Rath thought her smile a little over-friendly.
The deputy preached the usual sermon, stressing the importance of treating the novices with consideration and offering assistance when it was required, before closing with the same joke he always made: ‘Remember that, in years to come, one of these men could be your superior.’
The officers laughed obediently, even if most of them had heard it all before. No one expressed surprise that Weiss had chosen to exclude the two women. The fact was that, even if Charly and her colleague did make a career for themselves, they would never get out of G Division; nor, irrespective of their capabilities as police officers, would they ever issue orders to men, at least not in the Castle. ‘On this occasion it gives me particular pleasure,’ Weiss said, when the polite laughter died, ‘to introduce two female cadets, who will be augmenting the ranks of G Division.’
So, that was what Charly’s future with the Berlin Police had in store: G Division, the women’s branch of CID, who dealt mainly with youth crime and female offenders. There was no doubt she’d have been better deployed in complex murder investigations, but they wouldn’t be seeing her in Homicide, unless she started working as a stenographer again.
‘I’d like to teach those honeys a thing or two,’ Rath heard someone mumble, recognising the voice. ‘That brunette’s a sight for sore eyes, isn’t she, eh, boys?’
Rath craned his neck but couldn’t make out the man’s face. He felt the same helpless rage as before, especially since the remark was greeted with subdued laugher. Couldn’t the bastards keep their mouths shut? But, of course not. The police was a boys’ club; women had no place here. Rath was suddenly glad Charly would be working with other women, rather than troublemakers like this.
He had stopped listening, but by the ever louder murmuring the meeting had been adjourned. He joined the throng of colleagues drifting slowly towards the exit. Reaching the door, he realised that Kirie had started pulling on her lead. ‘To heel,’ Rath hissed, but she whimpered and pulled even harder.
Seeing a mouse-grey ladies’ hat a few metres ahead he realised what was up: the bloody dog had recognised Charly’s scent. Now she was wagging her tail like crazy, pulling harder and harder on her lead so that Rath could barely keep hold. Suddenly she issued a brief woof, as loud as it was reproachful, as if to say: let me at her!
All eyes turned to Kirie and her master, Charly’s included. Rath saw how she grinned, only for her grin first to freeze and then disappear altogether when she realised what was happening. Kirie was almost upon her, there was no holding her back. She was full-grown now, no longer the sweet, little furball she’d once been. Charly couldn’t bear to see her suffer any longer. She stepped towards her, stroked her and let her lick her hands.
After an extensive greeting Kirie settled down again, allowing Rath to regain control. ‘Tut, tut,’ he said, wagging his index finger and ordering her to sit. He now stood directly opposite Charly, hardly daring to look in her eyes. He saw her dimple, then the curious glances of those standing by. Half of CID had witnessed Kirie’s passionate greeting. This wasn’t how he and Charly had envisaged their first meeting at the Castle.