Present day.
Tayte was waiting in a small reception area when Jan Statham came in to meet him. She wore navy blue trousers and a cream blouse with a gold and blue scarf at the neck. He put her somewhere in her forties. She pushed her shoulder-length auburn hair back off her face with her glasses as she approached, greeting Tayte with a warm smile as he rose to meet her.
‘Those are lovely flowers,’ she said once she’d introduced herself, shaking Tayte’s hand with enthusiasm. ‘This is all a bit exciting, I must say.’
‘It sure is,’ Tayte said, reminding himself that it was proving to be more than a little dangerous, too. ‘I’m very pleased to meet you.’
‘Likewise. It’s not every day I get to help track down a war criminal.’
‘No,’ Tayte agreed.
He knew that was how Jan must have been briefed. He also knew that it was exactly what the Kaufmanns hoped his research might lead to, but while he would have loved to help bring the Demon of Dachau to justice, he remained focused on trying to find out why his mother and Karl had gone to see the Kaufmanns in connection with Karl’s family—his family. He didn’t say anything to Jan about that, having decided it was best not to get into his own issues, which he thought would only complicate matters.
‘What’s that accent I’m picking up?’ he asked. ‘It’s subtle, but it’s familiar. Whereabouts in the UK are you from?’
‘I grew up in Wales,’ Jan said. ‘Although I was born in Cheshire.’
They left the reception area, taking a flight of stairs.
‘I expect you’re keen to get stuck in,’ Jan said. ‘I was given the names of some of the people you’re interested in, so I’ve jumped the gun a bit and started without you. I hope you don’t mind.’
‘Not at all,’ Tayte said. ‘Anything that saves time is a bonus in my book.’
‘Super,’ Jan said, still smiling. ‘I’ve managed to pull a few records together for you. Are you familiar with German family history?’
‘A little,’ Tayte said. ‘But it’s not exactly my specialty.’
‘I’m sure you’ll be just fine. The records aren’t so different, apart from the language, of course. Do you speak German?’
‘No, I don’t,’ Tayte said. ‘I’m afraid my German is appalling. I’m glad to have someone like yourself to translate things for me.’
They left the stairwell and went through into one of the office areas.
‘The main thing to keep in mind,’ Jan said, ‘is that there’s no central repository in Germany for civil records. Most of the information useful to genealogists here is stored at local level. That can make things a little tricky as you need to know in which town, city or municipality the event you’re looking for took place, but there are ways to help identify where German ancestors lived. Church records and gazetteers can be very useful there.’
Tayte already knew some of the things Jan was telling him as they made their way through the office area, but there was plenty he didn’t know and he was keen to learn as much as he could. He noticed that many of the desks were vacant, which he supposed was because it was lunchtime.
‘It becomes more difficult if you need to go back prior to Germany’s unification in 1871,’ Jan continued, ‘when the country was made up of several independent kingdoms, each with their own way of doing things. I think you’re only interested in the last century, though. Is that right?’
‘Yes, I think so,’ Tayte said, ‘For now at least,’ he added, considering that if Karl was his father, then in time he would be very interested in going back as far as he could. But not today.
‘Mind you,’ Jan said. ‘It can get a little tricky again from 1945, when the country was split into East and West Germany. And because of the war parts of what was once Germany now belong to other countries altogether, so records for German ancestors may no longer be in Germany as we know it today at all.’
Jan showed Tayte into a room that could ordinarily have been a meeting room, but which for today’s purposes appeared more like a personal reading room. There was a single large table in the centre with several chairs arranged around it. There was a keyboard and screen, a couple of notepads and pencils, and what appeared to be a folder of documents.
‘Do make yourself comfortable. Would you like some tea or coffee before we get cracking? I don’t drink coffee myself, but I’m sure I can find you some.’
‘Coffee would be great,’ Tayte said, thinking that a sandwich would go well with it. With all that had happened that day, he’d had no time or inclination for breakfast and his stomach was beginning to protest.