‘Good, good. Well come on up.’
Tayte followed Kaufmann up to his offices and through to the same back-office area he and Jean had visited before—to the Strobel room, as Kaufmann had called it. There was no sign of Herr Kaufmann senior on this occasion.
‘The police contacted me this morning,’ Kaufmann said as they sat down.
‘I know,’ Tayte said. Then he told him about the text message he’d received the night before and how it had been the catalyst to a series of events that saw him being arrested for murder. ‘It was a set up, of course,’ he added. ‘I believed the message I received must have been either from you or your insider at the FWK, which was clearly what I was supposed to believe. When I saw the dead body lying at my feet, I realised what was going on. I told the police I thought you might know something about who their murder victim was.’
Kaufmann drew a sharp breath. ‘He was our insider, yes. He was also the son of a good friend of mine.’
‘I’m very sorry to hear that. I had no idea.’
‘No, of course you didn’t. I suspect now that this whole story about Strobel coming to Munich was just a ruse to draw him out. I fear that his is yet another life to chalk up to the Strobel death toll. I sincerely hope it will be the last, but of course we’re no closer to finding him.’
‘My partner, Jean Summer, found an interesting piece of information last night,’ Tayte said. ‘Right now I don’t know if it means anything, but—’
‘I’d be glad to hear it,’ Kaufmann cut in, clearly eager to listen to any new leads.
‘Well, I can’t prove anything just yet,’ Tayte said, ‘but I believe that Trudi Strobel’s daughter is Johann Langner’s personal nurse, Ingrid Keller.’
‘I see,’ Kaufmann said, raising his eyebrows. ‘We know a little about Trudi Strobel, of course. Although she’s never given any statements about her husband. She consistently refuses to talk to anyone about him. One thing that’s always struck me as odd is where her apparent wealth comes from. She’s set up very nicely, and yet she was left close to penniless after the war.’
‘Yes, I read about that,’ Tayte said. ‘The Strobel fortunes were seized and her family disowned her, cutting her off from any inheritance. Although there’s been plenty of time to make a little money between then and now.’
‘Well, that’s just the thing. Trudi never remarried, and we know from various records that she’s neither worked nor owned a business. There’s a lot of speculation suggesting she gets her money from Volker Strobel, for her silence perhaps, but nothing has ever been proven.’
Another possibility occurred to Tayte. ‘Or the money could be coming from Johann Langner,’ he said. ‘We know Langner is a very wealthy man, and I believe there’s a strong possibility that Langner is Ingrid Keller’s father. What if he’s been paying her child maintenance, off the record?’
‘Hmm . . .’ Kaufmann mused. ‘An affair between Trudi Strobel and her husband’s former best friend?’
‘It fits well enough,’ Tayte said, ‘and I can’t see how else Keller came to be Langner’s personal nurse. I’d put Ingrid Keller in her mid-fifties, so she was born around 1960. Langner served ten years in prison for war crimes from 1945 to 1955, so maybe he went to see Trudi soon after he was released. Whether it’s true or not, I aim to bluff it and tell Trudi Strobel I know Langner’s the father. I’m hoping neither she nor Langner will want that made public, at least enough for Trudi to agree to see me.’
‘I’d love the opportunity to talk to Trudi Strobel,’ Kaufmann said, ‘and I wish you luck, but as I’ve said, she’s never given any interviews about Volker Strobel before.’
‘I figure it’s got to be worth a shot,’ Tayte said. ‘And I’ll be coming at it from a new angle—Johann Langner.’
‘Anything’s worth trying at this stage,’ Kaufmann agreed. He began to pull thoughtfully at his beard. ‘If this discovery does get you an interview, be sure to come back and tell me all about it, won’t you?’
‘Yes, of course,’ Tayte said. ‘That’s if I can get in touch with her before I head back to London with Jean.’
‘You’re going home? When?’
‘As soon as Jean can leave the hospital and it’s safe for her to fly. She was in a car accident this morning. She says it was deliberate.’
‘Is she okay?’