‘I think my father is. And I think sooner or later I’ll be able to prove it if I just keep digging. That’s why I went to that address tonight. I was hoping for information in connection with a wanted war criminal called Volker Strobel. I’m convinced there’s a connection either to him or to a friend he had during the war called Johann Langner. I just need more time to make sense of it all.’
‘Sounds complicated,’ Eckstein said.
‘Fortunately, we have plenty of time,’ Brandt added. ‘Why don’t you explain it to us. There’s no rush. Start from the beginning and bring us up to date. I’d like to know everywhere you’ve been and I’d like the names of everyone you’ve spoken to.’
Tayte drew a deep breath and tried to rub the tiredness from his eyes. Then he told Brandt and Eckstein everything that had happened since he and Jean stepped off the plane the day before. It took close to an hour to go over everything in detail, and to answer the questions the detectives kept firing at him as Brandt wrote everything down. By the time Tayte had finished he felt exhausted.
‘The contents of my briefcase will confirm everything I just told you,’ he said. ‘And you can check your own records to confirm that I didn’t just make up everything about this man who threatened Jean yesterday. I believe he’s called Max Fleischer, and I believe he’s working with the FWK—The Friends of the Waffen-SS War Veterans. He threatened us again earlier today. He flashed a handgun at us.’
‘Did you report that, too?’ Brandt asked.
Tayte wished now that he and Jean had gone straight to the police to report it. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I didn’t want it to spoil our evening any more than it already had. We were going to report it first thing in the morning.’
‘I see,’ Brandt said.
She stood up and Tayte gave a sigh of relief to think that for now at least the interrogation appeared to be over.
‘So what happens next?’ Tayte asked as Brandt and Eckstein made for the door.
Brandt turned back. ‘You’ll be taken to a holding room. Then you’ll be allowed your phone call.’
Tayte was beginning to think that detective Brandt had been teasing him about getting his phone call. For close to forty minutes he’d been sitting in another sparsely furnished room at Munich’s police headquarters with only a sour faced, uncommunicative uniformed officer standing by the door for company. It felt as though hours had passed by the time the door finally opened again and Detective Eckstein walked in. To Tayte’s almost overwhelming joy after everything he’d been through since he’d last spoken to Jean, he was carrying a telephone.
‘Five minutes,’ Eckstein said, handing the phone to Tayte.
Tayte was smiling as he took it. Not at Eckstein, but at the telephone because he was looking forward to hearing Jean’s voice again. As he entered the direct number for their hotel room, he hoped she was still awake. The clock high up on the wall told him it was now just after one o’clock in the morning. The phone only rang twice before it was answered, and it was Jean who spoke first. She sounded overwrought.
‘JT!’
‘Jean! It’s okay. I’m all right.’
‘Thank goodness. I’ve been worried sick.’
‘I’m sure you have, and I’m sorry. That text message. It was a setup. I’ve been arrested.’
‘I know.’
‘You do?
‘Yes, the police called about twenty minutes ago. They wanted me to confirm what you’d told them. They wouldn’t give me any details. Is this serious?’
‘It’s about as serious as it gets,’ Tayte said. ‘A man was killed—probably the man I was supposed to meet tonight. I’ve been arrested for his murder.’
‘Christ,’ Jean said. ‘Do you want me to find you a solicitor—a lawyer? Maybe I should go to the American Consulate.’
‘I sincerely hope it doesn’t come to that. I’ve not been charged yet, but as I was told earlier, the night is young. I don’t know what the local rule is around how long I can be detained without charges being brought, but they’re keeping me in for now. You should try to get some sleep.’
‘Will you be able to call me tomorrow? Can I come and see you?’
‘I don’t know,’ Tayte said. ‘I guess I’ll find out more in the morning.’ He paused, and then in a lower voice he said, ‘I’ve got to go. The detective is tapping his watch at me.’
‘Wait,’ Jean said. ‘I found something after you left—something about Trudi Scheffler. I think it’s important.’
‘I’d love to hear it,’ Tayte said, but he knew he didn’t have time. Eckstein was now holding his hand out for Tayte to pass him the phone. ‘Hopefully you’ll be able to tell me all about it tomorrow,’ he added. ‘I’ve really gotta go.’
‘Okay. So, I’ll wait to hear from you?’
At that moment, Eckstein reached out and grabbed the phone. ‘Time’s up.’
Tayte didn’t want the time to be up. He held on to the phone between his cuffed hands just long enough to say, ‘Goodbye, Jean. I miss you.’
Then the call was over.
Chapter Twenty-Four