“He couldn’t have known much about it,” Chavasse said. “He must have been killed instantly.”

“At least we now know who we’re working against,” she said.

He nodded. “According to Schmidt, Steiner was a group leader in the SS. Kruger was probably a camp doctor or something of the sort.”

“Do you think they’ll be mentioned in Bormann’s memoirs?”

He shook his head. “I shouldn’t think so. My hunch is that they’re both simply active members of the Nazi underground. The people they take their orders from probably figure in Bormann’s book.”

“And you think they’ll have Muller at this clinic in Blankenese?”

“Let’s hope so.” He put down his coffee cup and got to his feet. “And now, if I can have the use of your couch?”

She went into the bedroom and came back carrying several blankets and a pillow. As he watched, she quickly made a bed for him. She turned with a smile. “I think you’ll find it’s pretty comfortable and I can promise you won’t be disturbed. I could sleep for a week myself.”

Suddenly, she seemed very close and he felt tired – really tired. “You’re very sweet, Anna,” he said.

She raised a hand and touched his cheek, and he bent his head quickly and kissed her on the mouth. For a moment, she responded, but as soon as she felt his hands on her waist, she pulled away and rushed across to her bedroom.

The door closed behind her. For a moment, Chavasse looked at it, and then he sighed and started to peel off his clothes. By the time he had finished, fatigue had seeped into his brain. He had barely enough strength left to crawl between the blankets and switch off the table lamp before he dived into darkness.

CHAPTER 6

He awakened slowly from a deep, dreamless sleep to an atmosphere of brooding quiet. Pale autumn sunlight reached in through the window, and faintly in the distance he could hear church bells and remembered it was Sunday.