was difficult to be sure whether the man was trying to make a fool of Löwenherz or of Blessing. When Löwenherz walked forward again the others kept by his side.
Löwenherz said, ‘Since Blessing pointed out the Medical Centre to you, I deduce that you have not seen it before. So it was’ – Löwenherz feigned difficulty with the SS rank and pronounced it in a precise and ponderous manner – ‘Untersturmführer Blessing who set a trap for the thief but was outwitted.’
‘Sunt lacrimae rerum,’ said the man to Blessing. ‘Tears are a part of life, as I said to Blessing at the time.’ Blessing scowled.
‘Is it someone on my Staffel?’ said Löwenherz.
‘There you go again,’ said Starkhof. ‘Straight to the heart of the problem. Yes, it’s someone on your Staffel.’
‘Unteroffizier Himmel,’ supplied Blessing.
‘Young Himmel,’ said Löwenherz. ‘Why, that’s impossible. I’d stake my life on Himmel.’
‘Is that your considered opinion, Herr Oberleutnant?’ asked Blessing weightily. They walked in silence for a moment, then Starkhof said, ‘Of course not, the Herr Oberleutnant was speaking merely as a comrade in arms. Such sentiments nobly become front-line soldiers.’
‘Would you stake your life on this thief Himmel?’ persisted Blessing.
‘My dear Blessing,’ said Starkhof. ‘The Oberleutnant often does exactly that. For isn’t Himmel one of his most experienced pilots and thus essential to the safety of the whole Staffel?’
‘Young Himmel is a fine pilot, hard-working and loyal,’ said Löwenherz.
Blessing said, ‘You went to breakfast at a few minutes to ten?’
Löwenherz said, ‘I spoke with you.’ He said it quickly and defensively, and was angry at himself.
‘And you gave Himmel your dog?’
‘Himmel took my dog to the dispersal.’
‘Did Himmel often walk your dog?’ asked Blessing. He smiled at Löwenherz and filled the simple question with complex innuendo.
‘The dog chooses carefully the people with whom it will walk,’ said Löwenherz.
‘Himmel was one of the chosen people?’ said Blessing.
‘You seem better provided with malice than with evidence,’ said Löwenherz. ‘Perhaps it’s merely that Himmel is easier to apprehend than the real thief who seems to have eluded you so effortlessly when the crime was committed.’
‘Dear comrade Löwenherz,’ said Starkhof wearily. ‘You are not the judge in this case and, even if you were, it is not Blessing who would be on trial. We have asked your assistance merely to recover the documents which we believe – with excellent reason – Himmel stole from the Medical Centre.’
‘How can I help?’
‘Thank you, Herr Oberleutnant. That is what I was hoping that you would say.’
‘Earlier,’ added Blessing.
‘Blessing,’ sighed the older man, ‘there are times when I believe that making witnesses hostile is your sole creative endeavour.’ He turned again to Löwenherz. ‘Last night Unteroffizier Himmel had this document in his bedside locker. This morning when Blessing arrived at his billet to arrest him he was not there. Neither was the document. The only person he met this morning was you …’
‘What do you suspect Himmel did?’
‘There are many possibilities: he might have learned it by heart and then destroyed it; he might have buried it so that he could return to retrieve it; or he might have handed it to an accomplice.’
‘You don’t seriously think Himmel is a spy?’
Starkhof shrugged.
Löwenherz said, ‘How did he gain access to this document?’
‘By accident, we think. He was due for a routine medical check on the fourteenth of the month. Eighteen NCOs attended the Medical Section that morning. Himmel was tenth; when he saw the Medical Officer to have his card signed the document was on the desk.’
‘Sounds circumstantial,’ said Löwenherz.
‘I don’t think so,’ said Blessing.
‘I rather agree with Löwenherz,’ said Starkhof. ‘The way the evidence is at present it would be difficult to put a very good case.’
‘Impossible to put a case at all unless you mean against Blessing for incompetence.’
‘That’s rather severe, Herr Oberleutnant,’ said Starkhof. ‘But I must say, Blessing, you will come out of this looking rather foolish, and your chiefs are probably expecting you to prove that a young SIPO officer can run circles around an antique Abwehr Feldwebel like me.’
Blessing said, ‘I will take that chance.’
‘There’s the Medical Officer too,’ said Starkhof reflectively. ‘He was undoubtedly negligent. Secret papers should go into the safe.’ He noted Löwenherz’s face. ‘Never mind, as long as the culprit is caught and the papers recovered there will perhaps be no need to bring any of Himmel’s colleagues or superior officers into this. You hear me, Herr Oberleutnant?’
‘I do.’
‘Splendid. Young Blessing and I searched along the perimeter this morning. In the hedge, in the ditch, and then retraced our steps on the far side of the fence. Nothing there, I’m afraid. I’m glad to see you’re concerned about the fate of the doctor. A charming man, I thought, something of an aristocrat one might almost think.’ He smiled. ‘If it wasn’t for that unfortunate Austrian accent.’
‘Where are you taking me?’
‘Taking you? My goodness we’re not taking you anywhere, Oberleutnant. You have your duties for the Third Reich just as we do, but if you can spare us a moment, the Kommandeur was kind enough to take an interest in our problem.’
Löwenherz looked carefully into the man’s wrinkled face. Starkhof stared back coolly with an amused contempt for all the world. On the estates in Prussia Löwenherz had seen the same easy-going manner among the senior farm hands and foresters. It was the quality one looked for when employing or promoting such men. Some policemen had it and so did high-court judges, It came from dealing with many people and being able to predict their reactions well in advance. It came from the certainty that no one would ever disobey the suggestions that made orders unnecessary.
They walked into the Operations Building, Blessing in the lead. The Kommandeur must have seen them through the window for he stepped out to greet them. He was dressed in boots, breeches and grey uniform shirt. At his throat dangled the coveted Knight’s Cross. ‘My good Untersturmführer Blessing,’ he said, ‘and Herr Doktor Starkhof.’
‘Heil Hitler,’ said Blessing.
‘Heil Hitler,’ said the Kommandeur.
‘Heil
