‘Do you? Do you really see?’
Volker Strobel removed his barber’s gown in a flourish. Beneath it was not a smart business suit as Tayte had expected the old man would be wearing for his anniversary, but the uniform of a Nazi officer of the SS-Totenkopfverb?nde, replete with its Death’s Head Unit skull insignia on the right collar tab.
It was suddenly clear to Tayte what kind of anniversary Strobel was being prepared for. An overwhelming flood of questions raced through his mind as he wondered how Strobel had managed to pull this change of identity off. Right now, though, he had other things to worry about. He had unwittingly walked straight into the lion’s den with little to no hope it seemed of getting out alive. He thought about Jean, and he realised she would have no idea where he was. He hadn’t even told Jan Statham at the record office where he was going. He’d been so caught up in the chase that he hadn’t given it a thought, or felt the need to. As far as he knew he was visiting with Johann Langner, whom he had rightly believed was his grandfather.
Keller put her gun away and wheeled Strobel closer. She left the two of them facing one another and was replaced by Christoph, whom Tayte had not seen enter. He was still aware of Fleischer to the side of him though—still aware that the man had his gun pointed at him. For now at least Tayte understood that he was at Strobel’s whim.
Strobel sighed so heavily that Tayte could smell his decaying breath. ‘I had long since thought this business was over,’ Strobel said. ‘But here you are. When you came to my gates and said you knew about Karl Schr?der, I had to find out what you knew, and I quickly realised you knew very little. You should have taken the opportunity to walk away when it was offered to you, but you’re so persistent, aren’t you, Mr Tayte? Now I expect you’d like some answers for all the trouble you’ve gone to?’
‘What does it matter if you’re going to kill me?’
Strobel raised his eyebrows, as if shocked by the idea. ‘Who said I was going to kill you, Mr Tayte? On the contrary, I’d like you to do something for me, in return for which I’ll give you all the answers you could wish for, and your freedom.’
‘And what if I won’t do what you ask?’
That seemed to amuse Langner. ‘Oh, I’m sure you will, but if you truly can’t then of course I’ll have to kill you. The choice will be yours to make.’
Tayte was understandably sceptical. ‘My choice? Really? So what is it you want me to do?’
‘That’s the spirit,’ Strobel said. ‘But first I’m going to finish my story. Don’t you want to know what happened after I killed your grandfather?’
Tayte just gritted his teeth, supposing it didn’t matter whether he wanted to know or not. He was going to hear the rest of the story anyway.’
‘Afterwards,’ Strobel continued, ‘I’m going to tell you about the time a young couple came to see me, much as you and your lady friend came to see me a few days ago. Their names were Karl and . . .’ He trailed off. ‘Now what was his wife called?’
Tayte wasn’t about to remind Strobel of his mother’s name, but it didn’t take long for the old man to recall it.
‘Sarah!’ he said as the name came to him. ‘That was it—Karl and Sarah. It was in 1963, when I opened my education centre. You remember, don’t you? I’m sure you want to hear more about that.’
Tayte felt suddenly claustrophobic, as if the walls and ceiling were closing in around him. Knowing that his parents had unwittingly had anything to do with Volker Strobel made him fear what the old man was going to tell him.
‘But, all in good time,’ Strobel said. ‘I’m running late.’
Tayte’s stare was fixed on Strobel. Right there and then he wanted to reach out and wring the rest of the story from his scrawny old neck, but even if he could have been so brave, or foolish under the circumstances, the opportunity was quickly denied him. He saw Strobel nod his head briefly, not at Tayte, but past him. Then Tayte felt Ingrid Keller’s cool hand press down on one side of his neck as a needle was thrust deep into his skin on the other. He winced, then his head rolled back and he saw Keller grinning down at him, right before he blacked out.
Chapter Forty-Four