Babylon Berlin (31 page)

‘Let’s not split hairs! This had better be important.’

‘I’m sorry, but I can hardly believe what goes on in this place!’

‘Calm yourself down!’

Rath told him what had happened.

‘Special treatment, you say?’ Wolter laughed. ‘Then you’re out of luck!’

Rath didn’t understand.

‘Someone’s bailed out one of their stoolies. The two of them must be working as police narks. That’s normal here, we don’t want our informants sitting in the can. They’re not much use to us there. That’s probably why someone’s made sure they were released.’

‘But who?’

Wolter shrugged his shoulders. ‘No idea. Political police. CID. Could’ve been anyone.’

‘There must be some way of following this up. When I catch the knucklehead who let these guys out… well, they’re in for a rude awakening!’

Wolter shook his head. ‘Follow it up? I’m afraid you’ll be banging your head against a brick wall. Our colleagues keep things close to their chest when it comes to informants. All it usually takes is a confidential letter to the commissioner, who issues the release papers, and hey presto.’

‘But Zörgiebel isn’t even on duty today.’

‘The commissioner is always on duty, remember that. He has the most urgent documents delivered to his house every morning, even at the weekend, which he signs at breakfast time.’

‘So, at breakfast time the commissioner releases the people we’ve bust our balls to catch during the night?’

‘Now, wait a minute. No-one’s released any criminals here. We detained people who were in the wrong bar for a night. Without a warrant, we can’t keep them longer than twenty-four hours anyway.’

‘They weren’t even locked up for ten hours. We didn’t let them go home last night for good reason. They’ve both got police records!’

‘If you think you’re onto something, then you can go and visit them at home.’

‘That’s exactly what they told me in the holding cells.’

‘Well, there you go.’

‘I still don’t understand. Why didn’t our colleague just warn his informants before the raid? Instead of pulling a stunt like this.’ He couldn’t help thinking back to how he had advised Krajewski against going out on Saturday night in
Haus Vaterland
a few days before.

‘Warn them? How do you think that would work? Narks are fundamentally untrustworthy. The very fact they’re working for you is proof that they have no principles. And you want to give someone like that confidential information? I’d far sooner pull a stunt like that, as you call it.’

That stood to reason. Rath decided it was best not to tell Bruno anything about his meeting in
Haus Vaterland
, about how he had warned Krajewski.

‘Believe me, it’s not such a bad idea to nab these guys once in a while. You remember how we searched Kaiser Wilhelm’s house? Something like that gets you respect. Every so often, these people need to be reminded that they’re on thin ice, otherwise they get cocky. Besides, narks are more credible with their own people if they get hassled every now and then by the cops.’

‘But not when they’re released prematurely.’

‘Who’s going to find out? To their pals in the cells, it just looks like they’re being led away for a good grilling. And after their unexpected premature release, they owe their friendly local officer a few favours again. That’s how it works. You have to bring your informants to heel. It doesn’t take long for them to get fresh. That’s when you have to show them who’s boss, that it’s you who decides whether they’re in trouble or not.’

A little while later, Rath was back in the interrogation room working his way through the list one name at a time. No-one else from their haul at
Bar Noir
had been released early; he had them brought to him one by one from the cells. The interrogations weren’t particularly fruitful, but he was nevertheless able to pass a few characters on to different departments. All of them small fry. There weren’t any criminal masterminds in that motley crowd. Rath’s last day in E Division was also one of his most boring. He was finding it harder and harder to concentrate, and noticed himself gradually taking mental leave of Vice squad.

His thoughts were already revolving around A Division. That is: they were already revolving around a particularly beautiful face in A Division.

He had had no choice but to wait, but it wasn’t only his patience that was being sorely tested. People were looking at him curiously, as he stood by the construction hoarding, gazing at the brick mountain that was police headquarters. He viewed it as fitting punishment for his idiotic behaviour yesterday, but then his waiting was rewarded as she strode energetically between the hoardings which guided pedestrians through the maze of construction sites towards the station at Alexanderplatz. Rath withdrew into a corner and waited until she had passed. She hadn’t noticed him. It wasn’t so easy to keep pace with her; several passers-by grumbled as he jostled past. But finally, he caught up with her, and was holding the bouquet of roses, purchased at the train station scarcely half an hour before, under her nose as they walked.

He could have embraced Charly on the spot as her face reflected her various states of mind in quick succession. First surprise, then, when she recognised him, something approaching indignation, and then a smile tugged at her mouth, which she nevertheless tried to repress, and which had soon entered into a duel with her indignant expression. He followed her, waving the roses and putting on his most charming ‘deep down all men are just little boys’ grin. When he saw her dimple forming, he knew he had won. He could have shouted ‘hurrah’ out loud, but managed to pull himself together. She stood still once more.

‘And there I was beginning to worry this could turn into a marathon,’ he said and handed her the flowers.

‘Did you have a good sleep?’ she asked. She smiled as she spoke, and inside he jumped for joy.

‘Why? I’ll sleep at the end of the month.’

At last she took the flowers. ‘They’re lovely,’ she said. ‘Pick them yourself?’

‘Fresh from the evidence room.’

‘And what am I supposed to do with them? I don’t see any vases anywhere.’

‘We’d better eat them here.’

She laughed and, at last, he put his arm around her.

A short time later they were standing in front of Weinert’s Buick in Dircksenstrasse. The journalist had granted the favour after Rath promised him a few pieces of exclusive information about yesterday’s raid. The press still didn’t know anything about the operation. Weinert hadn’t hesitated in bringing Rath the keys. The exchange hadn’t taken place at the Castle, of course. They had met for a beer in the
Letzte Instanz
and afterwards they had returned to their jobs, Weinert to his office in Kochstrasse and Rath, car key in pocket, to the station. He had worked his way through the rest of the names on the list in no time.

And now he was standing in front of Weinert’s Buick, jangling the keys and savouring her big eyes.

‘Yours?’ she asked.

‘When I want to impress women, I always get hold of a car.’

He opened the passenger door like a practised chauffeur.

‘Thank you Johann.’ She stretched her chin out and sounded strangely nasal. ‘You can finish work a little earlier today, and when you’ve washed the car please come to my bed chamber.’

‘Very good, ma’am.’

‘Please, I’m not married.’

‘Unmarried? Well, I’d never have…’

‘Don’t get fresh!’ She shook her head indignantly. ‘Tsk, tsk. Such impudence. It wouldn’t have been like this under the Kaiser!’

She was right about that. The chauffeur took it a step further by giving the young lady a kiss, a long one at that, before starting the engine and driving off. First port of call was Moabit as the roses needed to go in water. He didn’t mention that he was also curious about where she lived. He took the tourist route, chauffeuring her past the castle and via Unter den Linden through the Brandenburg Gate, past the Reichstag and victory column and over the Spree. They drove with the top down, and such was his joy that he felt like he could spread his wings and fly as she sat next to him, her black hair blowing in her face.

Unfortunately, it took less than quarter of an hour for them to reach Spenerstrasse. And he had to wait in the car.

‘It’s better this way,’ she said. ‘Greta still doesn’t know anything about you. We don’t want the poor girl to have a stroke. She isn’t too keen on men at the moment.’

A short time later she was back in the car. He wasn’t sure, but he could almost believe she was freshly made-up. And she was wearing a different coat.

‘Where to now?’

He glanced at the time. ‘Nearly eight. I think it’s time for a nice dinner. And since we already have a car, then we should really take a drive into the country. It’s Sunday after all.’

The restaurant
Bellevue
was situated on Lake Tegel. They sat on the terrace and watched the sun go down.

‘Nice new suit you’ve got there,’ she said.

Rath shrugged his shoulders. ‘Do you think so? I needed something new for work. I’ve got my first day in a new division tomorrow, you see.’

Her face was priceless.

‘No!’ she said.

‘Yes!’ He enjoyed her surprise. ‘I have to report to Gennat at eight on the dot. That’s an order from Lanke himself.’

‘That’s going to be hard. We’ll be running into each other the whole time.’

‘I can think of worse things.’

‘You know what I mean,’ she sighed. ‘No-one can see us together. Officially, we barely know each other. We’ll have to address each other formally.’

‘Then we’d better toast our friendship pretty soon. In front of all our colleagues I mean.’

‘My God, Gereon. I don’t know if I can do this.’ She appeared genuinely dismayed.

‘You’re not even in work tomorrow.’

‘Luckily! That way I’ve got a few days at least to mentally prepare myself for the new situation.’

‘It’s only temporary. I’ve no idea how long a stint like this usually lasts.’ He didn’t want to tell her everything, above all the role his father had played in the transfer.

‘Once I’ve got used to the fact that you belong to us, then you should stay.’ She took a sip of Riesling. ‘It’d be a good thing for our division. You wouldn’t believe how many idiots there are in A.’

‘Maybe, but there are idiots in E too.’ He thought of Lanke. ‘Probably all over the Castle.’

‘Well, at least one of them’s going now. Vain little toerag.’

‘Erwin Roeder.’

She nodded appreciatively. ‘You’re well informed! Are you eating in the canteen more often now?’

‘People know about Roeder’s story at Aschinger’s too.’

‘Do they know that he’s not just leaving A, but quitting the whole force?’

‘I’ve been wondering whether I should apply.’

‘It’d be nice if it worked out, but it’s probably pointless. I’ve heard that Dörrzwiebel already has someone lined up. Probably another arselicker or someone with connections. At any rate, they say Gennat isn’t best pleased.’

Rath was now certain he would apply. He didn’t want her to think he was an arselicker. Or someone with connections.

‘I thought Gennat only takes the best.’

‘He does, but he can only choose from the candidates the commissioner puts forward and Roeder’s already been relieved of his duties. We need people urgently.’

‘Sometimes I have the impression that A Division devours CID officers like Cronos did his children.’

She raised her eyebrows. ‘I say, classically educated.’

‘People from Cologne know their way round the antique Gods. We’re all ancient Romans after all.’

‘We’re using up a huge number of officers at the moment. Take
Aquarius
, the case I told you about last time – we have detailed knowledge about how the vehicle ended up in the canal with the corpse, we know the cause of death, and the places on the body where the injections were given…’

‘Injections?’

‘Yes. They gradually pumped him full of drugs. We can almost completely reconstruct the poor devil’s last hours. It’s taken unbelievable commitment to find all that out, and yet we still don’t know what the poor guy is called. Let alone why he had to die.’

‘And Zörgiebel still keeps on?’

‘He still calls, but less often than last week. If the press forgets about a case, at some point it becomes less important for the commissioner.’

‘Then drop it.’

‘That’s what Böhm suggested to the boss. He thinks there are more important unsolved deaths for Homicide to be concerned about. But Zörgiebel doesn’t want to know, so, for the time being Böhm has to keep going. And gather together informants who aren’t bringing us any closer to solving the case.’

‘You’ve probably amassed a mountain of files?’

‘Yes. It’s slowly becoming confusing. And it’s mostly superfluous, if you ask me. The number of people we’ve asked in the area around Tempelhofer Ufer! Countless statements, but none that point to a possible perpetrator.’

She was talking herself into a real rage. When he saw her in her element like this, he could have eaten her alive on the spot. Instead he sipped on his coffee and continued to listen.

‘At least we have two witnesses, who observed the same thing independently of one another, two men helping a third into a cream-coloured vehicle that was parked on Möckernstrasse, not far from the bridge.’

Rath’s ears pricked up. ‘Two
men
?’ He asked, almost as a reflex. His curiosity in all matters Kardakov hadn’t run dry. In his mind an image appeared of Alexej Kardakov and Svetlana Sorokina disposing of Boris’s corpse after they had relieved him of the Sorokin gold.

‘That’s what the statements say, two men. Why?’

‘Strange that one always assumes that criminals are men. The possibility that it could be a woman is all too hastily discarded.’

She considered briefly. ‘There’s something in that,’ she said. ‘Women really are constantly being discriminated against. In every field, even crime.’

The house in Nürnberger Strasse was dark when he arrived home. Charly had insisted that he take her back to Spenerstrasse, even if they wouldn’t spend the night together. Instead they had sat in the car for a long time outside the house and kissed. Rath could have bet that Greta, had she chanced to look out of the window just once, would have seen more than if he and Charly had actually gone up to the flat. But she had her principles and he wanted to respect them.