‘Good of you to share what you did yesterday,’ Gräf said, no sooner than Rath had closed the door.
‘I stopped by. You weren’t home.’
‘Then you ought to have at least left a message in the office. If you’re going to go about pinching files.’
‘Surely you’re not annoyed that I acted on new information from Pathology?’ Rath placed the file on the table. ‘Well, from now on, we’ll be working alongside each other. As a three.’
‘That’s it?’ Gräf asked.
‘The Phantom case has been temporarily shelved, and Gennat can’t spare us any men for the corpse in Haus Vaterland.’
‘Do you have any idea how many interrogations we need to get through today?’
‘We’ll just have to share them out between the three of us.’
Gräf sighed. ‘Christ, Gereon! You know sometimes you’re a real pain in the arse.’
7
No matter how hard Charly tried, no matter how determined she was to commit herself fully to her first day on the job, she couldn’t concentrate. Gereon’s look just now as Kirie jumped on her… she couldn’t get it out of her mind. There was sadness there, a strange uncertainty which couldn’t just be from Kirie forcing them into an unexpectedly public meeting. They desperately needed to speak to one another, that much was clear. Their weekend, indeed their whole reunion, had been a disaster. She had spent all Sunday trying to reach him, but his number still wasn’t in the telephone book, and there was no one at the Castle she could have asked without arousing suspicion. She’d had no choice but to take Greta’s bicycle out to Steinplatz where the friendly porter told her that Herr Rath had left the building moments before. The first time, she believed him; the second time she began to suspect that Gereon was feigning absence. She left him a letter, the second one since her return, hoping he would call her at least, but he had done no such thing, even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to speak to her in the conference room this morning… and what on earth had he been thinking, bringing Kirie?
‘What do you think? They could be from Wedding?’
‘Hm?’
Charly looked up into the face of her blonde colleague. Karin van Almsick had no experience of police work, having come to Alex from the youth welfare department, which was as much information as they had managed to exchange between the conference room and the offices of female CID, where Superintendent Friederike Wieking gave them a stern welcome. Ernst Gennat led the Homicide division with considerably more warmth. After the briefest of introductions, Superintendent Wieking tasked them with the first item of drudge work: a band of girls had been robbing passengers on deserted underground trains, keeping police guessing for weeks. There was nothing to go on but for a few vague witness statements. Seven hold-ups, each following the same pattern, had already been placed on file, though the descriptions of the perpetrators diverged wildly. The only thing witnesses could agree on was that there were two or three girls involved, and that they used knives to threaten their victims.
‘From Wedding?’ Charly parroted unthinkingly.
Karin van Almsick didn’t seem to notice. ‘The attacks all occurred on the C Line,’ she said. ‘Most of them in the north. That’s something, isn’t it?’
Charly shrugged.
‘What do you think? Should we mention it to Wieking?’
‘What?’
‘Issuing a warrant for these girls up in Wedding. Wieking will want to hear from us, won’t she?’
Her colleague’s zeal was starting to get on Charly’s nerves. On the other hand, she could sympathise. She ought to have been capable of the same. ‘I’m afraid I haven’t got that far yet. Maybe we should exchange ideas after lunch.’
‘Or during.’
‘Or during.’
Karin clearly hoped to make friends, and Charly didn’t want to seem cold, especially since, as a trained lawyer, it could easily be construed as arrogance.
She made a renewed attempt to concentrate on the file in front of her, but, even on the first page, realised she wasn’t processing any of its content. She tried again, but all she could see were Gereon’s sad eyes; his face two days ago, as he tried to hide his disappointment. She should have guessed. After all, she had known he was planning to propose at some point, but the timing had thrown her. Ever since last summer, she’d known he had bought a ring. To think, she could have spent all those months in Paris imagining being married to Gereon Rath, and to some extent, at least at the start, she had – but work and life in a new city had taken over, and before long any such notions had vanished.
Travelling back to Berlin, her thoughts had mostly concerned her new career in CID. Marriage was the last thing on her mind. Couldn’t the stupid bastard have waited a day or two before ambushing her like that?
Realising what was happening, she couldn’t help but grin. She had finally achieved her aim of joining CID, not as a stenographer this time, but as a candidate for inspector. And what had she spent her first day doing? Thinking about Gereon Rath, instead of concentrating on the case she had been assigned. She snapped the file shut. ‘I need to make a quick telephone call,’ she said to Karin.
Her colleague shrugged. ‘Of course.’
‘In private, if that’s OK?’
A broad grin spread across her colleague’s features. ‘What’s his name?’
Charly couldn’t help but smile too, even if she was in no mood to share confidences. She raised a finger in warning. ‘Curiosity killed the cat.’
Her colleague stood up. ‘I wanted to go across to Robbery Division anyway, and ask if they had any similar cases on file.’ She gave a brief wink.
Charly smiled back, despite being irritated by the suggestive wink. She waited a moment for the door to click shut – Karin van Almsick seemed just the type to eavesdrop – and plucked up the courage to dial the extension she knew all too well.
‘Voss, Homicide. Inspector Rath’s office.’
Shit.
‘Ritter, G Division. Inspector Rath, please,’ she said, trying to sound as businesslike as possible.
‘The inspector isn’t here, I’m afraid. Can I take a message?’
‘Not necessary. I’ll try again later.’
Charly hung up. Goddamn it! Was it really so hard to talk to someone when you worked in the same building? Had she asked her colleague to leave for this? Again she turned to the file in front of her, but again her mind wandered until the telephone rang, and she gave a start. Had he simply been feigning absence, only now to call her back?
‘Ritter, G Division,’ she said, heart pounding.
‘Gennat here!’ The beat of her heart slowed again. ‘I wanted to take the opportunity to wish you all the best at the start of your training year.’
‘Thank you, Superintendent,’ Charly said politely, trying not to sound too disappointed. She thought the world of her former boss, worshipped him even, and knew that an accolade like this was no given, even if she found herself incapable of enjoying it.
‘I think I speak for all of A Division when I say we are very sorry that you are no longer with us in Homicide.’
‘I’m sorry too, but I’m afraid there’s nothing that can be done about CID’s organisational structure.’
‘Quite,’ Gennat said. ‘Not even I can help you there.’ He cleared his throat before continuing. ‘But I can make you an offer, Charly. If you agree then I’ll speak with your superior officer. If I know Frau Wieking, she’s unlikely to object.’
‘What sort of offer, Sir?’
When he told her, Charly was glad she’d sent Karin van Almsick away after all.