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‘You’re certain it was the SA?’

‘They dragged him out of his flat in the middle of the night and beat him while his girlfriend looked on.’

‘There isn’t a great deal I can do.’

‘The SA calls itself auxiliary police, and it is precisely in this capacity that they are making our lives difficult.’

‘Even the Nazis have their plus points.’

‘Have you any idea what happens in these SA basements? They make my men look like choir boys! Find Juretzka before they beat him to death!’

Find Juretzka! As if it were that easy. The peremptory tone Johann Marlow used was getting on Rath’s nerves, but the man had him by the balls. Still, at least he showed gratitude, unlike the police, who had been stalling his promotion for years. The most he could hope for from Böhm was a misanthropic grunt.

Rath wondered if Charly might be right. Perhaps this business with Böhm was political. After the purge of the police executive last year, he’d heard that Social Democrats in mid-level positions were having a tough time. Even so: Böhm, a Social Democrat? No, there must be other reasons. Weinert’s article, Böhm’s refusal to cooperate fully with the Reichstag task force… Whatever, it was hardly his problem.

Too early for work, he parked in Dircksenstrasse. He took Kirie for a turn around the block but, even so, they were first in the office. He fetched a bowl of water for Kirie, and hung his things on the stand before taking Roddeck’s statement and the list of names from the desk and going through to his room. It was a shame Erika Voss wasn’t there; he could have used a cup of coffee. Instead, he lit an Overstolz and skimmed through the transcript. He wanted to be prepared for briefing; wanted to show Gennat he could work well in Böhm’s absence.

He was trying to recall the complicated series of events that had led to the murder of two civilians and a German recruit, when he gave a start. Reinhold Gräf was standing in the doorway, looking as surprised as Rath was himself. Unpleasantly surprised. ‘Gereon, you’re early.’

‘Looks that way.’

It felt strange to be alone in a room with Reinhold Gräf. He hadn’t given what had happened much thought, but now the images returned with a vengeance: the blond Nazi, freshly showered, the strange looks, the breakfast table, the second toothbrush.

‘Is it true about Böhm?’ Gräf asked, as he hung his coat and hat. ‘Erika says it’s as if he’s disappeared from the face of the Earth.’

‘He was summoned by the commissioner yesterday. Seems serious, two auxiliary officers came to fetch him.’

‘What?’

‘SA types with white brassards. Our new colleagues.’

‘Don’t be so disparaging, Gereon. The SA and Stahlhelm help out as best they can. You can’t expect fully-trained police officers. I’m just happy we have their support against the Reds.’

As well you might, Rath thought, all those pretty SA youths. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘right now we’re hunting a killer.’

‘Without the auxiliary police, even more of our colleagues would be forced to help out against the Communists.’

Why was everyone so interested in politics these days? ‘Anyway, Böhm hasn’t been seen since.’

‘We’ll catch up with him soon enough, in twenty minutes at the latest.’

‘I fear you could be right.’

But there was no sign of him in the conference room, and it wasn’t until briefing was underway that Rath learned why. Ernst Gennat hadn’t finished his introductions when an unannounced guest burst in and requested the floor. Erich Liebermann von Sonnenberg had been one of CID’s clandestine Nazis, and was now a personnel officer in the Interior Ministry.

‘I am here to inform you,’ he began, looking around the room, ‘that Detective Chief Inspector Böhm has left A Division, and will be discharging his duties from Köpenick until further notice.’

A murmur passed through the room as Liebermann continued. He spoke of Böhm’s transfer as if it were a kind of decoration, even though it was abundantly clear he was being put out to pasture. Köpenick was the Siberia of the Berlin Police and this was a form of banishment. Liebermann said nothing about how long Böhm would be gone.

All sorts of emotions could be read on the faces of Rath’s colleagues, from indifference and dismay to undisguised schadenfreude. About his own feelings, he was unsure. Yesterday schadenfreude had been uppermost, but today he felt something more akin to pain or shock. The man must have fallen seriously out of favour to suffer a fate like this.

Buddha, too, had been shocked, even if he wore his usual stoical face. Liebermann whispered something in his ear before leaving, at which point the murmuring started again.

‘Gentlemen, you have heard the news,’ Buddha began. ‘Detective Chief Inspector Böhm will be unavailable for the foreseeable future. The Nollendorfplatz team will be dissolved, and its remaining members, Detective Inspector Rath and Detective Gräf, assigned to the Reichstag task force…’

‘With respect, Sir.’

Gennat furrowed his brow. His gaze fell on Rath, who had stood to speak even though he knew Gennat couldn’t abide being interrupted. For a moment the small conference room was eerily quiet.

‘My apologies for interrupting, Sir, but with respect, there have been new developments since yesterday in the Wosniak investigation, and I think I should have the chance to present them before the case is shelved.’

‘Have you found the trench dagger?’

‘No, but as a result of the press coverage a witness has come forward, who identified the dead man and advanced a motive for his murder.’

‘Go on.’

Rath related the strange tale of Lieutenant von Roddeck with fluency, having practised it earlier on Charly. He was greeted by sceptical faces. ‘It sounds pretty far-fetched,’ Gennat said.

‘True, Sir, but we’ve checked a number of his claims, and so far they’ve all been borne out. Though this Captain Engel was in fact declared dead by his wife, his body was never found.’

‘The witness requested police protection?’

‘Indirectly. He takes himself rather seriously.’

‘A stuffed shirt then? A busybody?’

‘Hard to say.’

‘This is something we need to decide here and now,’ Gennat said sternly. ‘If we are to pursue this case against the instructions of the Interior Ministry, I need to say why. So, I would ask again: is this lieutenant a serious witness, or simply vying for attention?’

‘Possibly both.’

‘You decide, Inspector. You’ve seen and spoken with the man.’

Rath wasn’t so much concerned about Achim von Roddeck’s character as the circumstances of the case. Pursuing an investigation that had already seen off Böhm, with only Gräf as back-up… Was that something he wanted? To go against the instructions of the Interior Ministry and engage in the potentially futile search for a trench dagger, a phantom, a dead man who might not have fallen after all? For what? To get summoned by the police commissioner and exiled to Köpenick?

It seemed more sensible to join the hunt for Communists. To put his career first and make a good impression on the new commissioner. To avoid attracting the suspicions of the Daluege Bureau.

‘He does seem a little paranoid, Sir, and he’s certainly a busybody.’

‘Thank you,’ Gennat said. ‘Then for the time being, the case is shelved. Collate and file everything you have. After that you and Detective Gräf are to report to Section 1A. Dr Braschwitz is expecting you.’

‘Yes, Sir.’

Another murder investigation placed on the back burner. These days the only cases being worked were political. Take a Nazi murdered by a Communist, and the manpower was guaranteed, but as far as regular cases went, suicides, crimes of passion, quarrels ending in death, Gennat was operating with a skeleton staff. Even Buddha, respected though he was, could do little about it. The new commissioner and his fellow party members in the Interior Ministry held the whip hand.