pleasure to see you,” he declared, extending a hand towards her. This too was something he only did when no one else was present.
“What can I do for you?” asked Sybille Bachner with some reserve.
“Your very existence makes all other needs superfluous,” Kater assured her exuberantly. He had worked out this phrase some time before. This Bachner girl was important, she had to be flattered.
“Is there any information I can give you, Captain? I'm afraid Lieutenant Bieringer isn't here at the moment. But if you have a message for him, I can take it for you.”
“I have a problem, my dear Fräulein Bachner, which may in the end prove somewhat complicated—I wouldn't like to say yet.”
“You wish to speak to the General, Captain? I don't think that's possible just now.”
“I’m sorry about that,” said Captain Kater with visible relief.
This was probably the best solution, for the time being. It saved him from having to make a decision. It was in fact a development on which he'd been reckoning.
“If it's something particularly urgent ... “
“No, no, not at all!” the Captain hastened to reassure her. “I really can't say that. It will be enough, my dear Fräulein Bachner, if you could simply confirm if necessary that I have been here.”
Sybille Bachner saw at once what was up: the Captain wished to cover himself a familiar situation. Types like Kater were always wanting to cover themselves—by little memos, by pushing responsibility on to others, or by pretending that they had made every effort to deal with some matter, though alas in vain.
“I’ve an uncommonly high regard for you,” Kater assured her, winking confidentially. “It’s a real pleasure to work with you. And I'm certain the General knows how to appreciate you.”
This was a clumsy piece of insinuation. For what Kater meant was that after all the General was a man too. But Captain Kater—so his wink conveyed—was a gentleman and knew how to keep his mouth shut so long as it seemed politic or profitable to do so.
“Captain,” said Sybille Bachner coolly, “I shouldn't like to think I've given you occasion for the slightest misunderstanding.”
“But of course not!” cried Kater with an expansive gesture. “Quite the contrary! There's no question of any misunderstanding.”
“May I once again assure you,” said Sybille Bachner, “that I am not in a position either to take any decision or to influence one. My job here is simply that of secretary.”
“You’re made of sterling stuff!“ cried Kater with enthusiasm. “You must stay like that. Don't you think we ought to be friends? And if there's any little wish you should have, no matter how private—come to me.” And in the next breath he added: “What did you say the General was doing?”
“He’s expecting Herr Wirrmann and Herr Krafft,” explained Sybille, caught off her guard. The next moment she was appalled by what she had revealed.
Delighted with his cunning, Kater said quickly: “Well, if you should want someone you can really trust—don't hesitate to come to me. You can rely on Kater, you know.”
“You’re keeping me from my work, Captain,” she said coldly.
Kater didn't take offence. He drew a little closer and smiled at her. “I knew a girl once,” he said, “a fine girl she was, all you could ask for. And she had an affair with a lieutenant colonel—a really splendid fellow, one must concede that. The two of them got married later. They had no alternative. There had been too many witnesses, you see. There's not much one can do about that.”
“How awful! “ said Sybille Bachner indignantly.
“You can't really go wrong if you're clever about it. I know a thing or two. And if you should need any advice, my dear young lady, you always know where to find me.”
“Herr Judge-Advocate Wirrmann,” said Major-General Modersohn, “I should like a report please on the progress of your investigation into the death of Lieutenant Barkow.”
The General stood with Judge-Advocate Wirrmann and Lieutenant Krafft before him. At the back of the room at a little table of her own sat Sybille Bachner with a shorthand notebook in front of her.
Wirrmann began evasively: “Might I be allowed,” He said, “to draw the General's attention to the fact that I consider it inadvisable just now to make such a report in the presence of a third party?”
“I note your point,” said the General. “Would you kindly begin your report?”
Sybille Bachner took down every word in shorthand, including all the various flowery turns of phrase. As far as possible she kept her eyes on the three men before her as she worked: the upright figure of the General, the court-martial expert, wily and tense, and Krafft, relaxed almost to the point of slovenliness. For Krafft imagined himself unobserved, and felt superfluous there, though he was wrong on both counts. Sybille Bachner saw that the General was noting every one of the Lieutenant's reactions carefully.
“As far as any investigations into the matter are concerned, General,” Wirrmann began, choosing his words carefully, “I’m inclined to think they can be regarded as closed. Apart from the preliminary summary of evidence against person or persons unknown, drawn up by yourself, General, I had the following relevant material at my disposal: a sketch map and three photographs; a store inventory; the doctor's postmortem; three affidavits from experts, including those of two officers who had concluded their pioneering training and had had practical experience of explosives at the front. In addition, nine personal statements, two of which came from officers on the teaching staff of the training school, the remaining seven from cadets who can be regarded as eyewitnesses.”
“I’m familiar with the documents in the case,” said the General. “What interests me is the result of your investigations, Judge-Advocate.”
Wirrmann nodded. It was plain from his expression that he felt offended. Once again the General had obviously intended to humiliate him.
“Well, General,” he said, “ after an exhaustive study of all the available documents, and after a thorough examination of all doubtful and -debatable points, or points that were from my own point of view obscure, I have come to the following conclusions. Lieutenant Barkow died a violent death. It was caused by the selection of a fuse for the charge which was not only a fast-burning one but of insufficient length. The only real point to be decided was how this fast-burning fuse, of insufficient length, in fact came to be employed. Now here a number of alternatives present themselves. First: a fuse of insufficient length was selected through inadequate expert knowledge. This alternative is excluded because Lieutenant Barkow was an officer of considerable experience in this field. Secondly: the correct and properly selected length of fuse was replaced by another which detonated the charge prematurely. In this case the only possibility is that one of the cadets was responsible. By the very nature of things, however, this too, it seems, can be excluded or at least regarded as extremely improbable. For the cadets' statements all tally. Moreover there seems no indication of what must always be the decisive factors in such cases: motive and opportunity.
