Read Online The Sleepwalkers by Paul Grossman - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Paul Grossman
Tags: Fiction, Historical fiction, Suspense, Historical, Thrillers, Mystery & Detective, Crime, Mystery Fiction, Germany, Police Procedural, Berlin, Jewish, Murder, Detectives, Jews, Investigation, Murder - Investigation, Berlin (Germany), Jews - Germany - Berlin, Crimes - Germany - Berlin, Germany - Social conditions - 1918-1933, Detectives - Germany - Berlin
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drawer from one of the medical cabinets, he handed Willi a glass container.
Inside was a sparkling gold men’s lapel pin.
Willi took it out. “These gold pins, if I’m not mistaken, are only given to longtime Party members.”
“Correct,” Shurze replied.
Something about this new guy Willi didn’t quite trust. Perhaps it was the eyeglasses, so thick it was hard to believe he could really perform autopsies.
“The gold pin,” Shurze went on, apparently well versed in Nazi history, “is only bestowed upon those Party members who participated in the Beer Hall Putsch of November 1923. So whomever this belonged to was a high-ranking man.”
“What is this insignia here?” Willi asked of the small staff with a snake wrapped around it embossed just below the swastika.
“This indicates the SA Medical Corps, Herr Inspektor-Detektiv.”
“The SA.”
“Yes. The SA Medical Corps was founded in 1923.”
“And where exactly did you say you discovered this pin?”
“It was stuck—accidentally or on purpose, I couldn’t say—on the inside of the gray garment the victim was wearing.”
Willi found this hard to believe, impossible almost. Dr. Hoffnung would never have missed such a key piece of evidence.Nor would he retire so suddenly without so much as a word. Might someone, even Shurze, have planted the pin and got rid of Hoffnung? But why?
“Gunther,” Willi said, “we’re going to switch jobs for a while, you and I.”
“You mean,
I
have to order
you
about?” Gunther seemed none too pleased by the prospect.
“No. You are going to pursue the missing Bulgarian princess, and I am going to have a chat with Gina Mancuso’s old roommate. There’s an inn out in Spandau called the Black Stag. I want you to insinuate yourself into the crowd. It may take some time. Don’t rush things. Drink. Be merry with them. And find out whether the Princess Magdelena ever stepped foot in there or not.”
“Jawohl.”
Gunther wrote it all down.
“Plus, there were two fellows there the other night. One named Schumann. The other’s first name was Josef. I want anything and everything you can find about them. I have a hunch they may be doctors. Oh, and, Gunther, be careful. Very careful. It’s a real nest of Nazis. None too friendly to me.”
Gunther’s eyes widened. “Which is why you’re sending me.” His pale cheeks quivered excitedly, exactly the dogged response Willi was counting on. “Don’t you worry, Chief. I’ll find out for you. Everything there is to!”
Seven
“Paula, you’re looking for?” The charwoman glanced up in surprise. “You sure as heck won’t find her lounging about at four in the afternoon.” She dropped her brush in the bucket. “She’s a workingwoman, Inspektor. Just like the rest of us.” She stood up, wiping her hands on her apron. “What’s she done now?”
“To whom do I have the honor of addressing?” Willi was well aware that in Germany a building’s cleaning lady knew all there was to know about her tenants. But such information more often than not became ammunition in personal vendettas—and nothing, he’d learned the hard way, could derail an investigation faster.
“I am Frau Agnes Hoffmeyer.” The woman held out her skirt and curtsied, as if being introduced at a ball. “Related to the lady in question by motherhood.”
Like big-city dwellers everywhere Berliners often eased life’sgrind with the lubricant of sarcasm. Willi felt as if he’d known this saucy lady all his life.
“This is in regard to a former roommate of hers, an American named Gina Mancuso.”
The sauce evaporated. “You didn’t find her?”
She quickly offered up whatever she had on the subject, which wasn’t much. Gina had lived upstairs with Paula for more than a year, a lovely girl. Nice. Neat. Stunned by her disappearance, they were. Paula loved her like a sister. Used to be in a chorus line together. Which club? She couldn’t say. But she’d started hanging out with the
Inside was a sparkling gold men’s lapel pin.
Willi took it out. “These gold pins, if I’m not mistaken, are only given to longtime Party members.”
“Correct,” Shurze replied.
Something about this new guy Willi didn’t quite trust. Perhaps it was the eyeglasses, so thick it was hard to believe he could really perform autopsies.
“The gold pin,” Shurze went on, apparently well versed in Nazi history, “is only bestowed upon those Party members who participated in the Beer Hall Putsch of November 1923. So whomever this belonged to was a high-ranking man.”
“What is this insignia here?” Willi asked of the small staff with a snake wrapped around it embossed just below the swastika.
“This indicates the SA Medical Corps, Herr Inspektor-Detektiv.”
“The SA.”
“Yes. The SA Medical Corps was founded in 1923.”
“And where exactly did you say you discovered this pin?”
“It was stuck—accidentally or on purpose, I couldn’t say—on the inside of the gray garment the victim was wearing.”
Willi found this hard to believe, impossible almost. Dr. Hoffnung would never have missed such a key piece of evidence.Nor would he retire so suddenly without so much as a word. Might someone, even Shurze, have planted the pin and got rid of Hoffnung? But why?
“Gunther,” Willi said, “we’re going to switch jobs for a while, you and I.”
“You mean,
I
have to order
you
about?” Gunther seemed none too pleased by the prospect.
“No. You are going to pursue the missing Bulgarian princess, and I am going to have a chat with Gina Mancuso’s old roommate. There’s an inn out in Spandau called the Black Stag. I want you to insinuate yourself into the crowd. It may take some time. Don’t rush things. Drink. Be merry with them. And find out whether the Princess Magdelena ever stepped foot in there or not.”
“Jawohl.”
Gunther wrote it all down.
“Plus, there were two fellows there the other night. One named Schumann. The other’s first name was Josef. I want anything and everything you can find about them. I have a hunch they may be doctors. Oh, and, Gunther, be careful. Very careful. It’s a real nest of Nazis. None too friendly to me.”
Gunther’s eyes widened. “Which is why you’re sending me.” His pale cheeks quivered excitedly, exactly the dogged response Willi was counting on. “Don’t you worry, Chief. I’ll find out for you. Everything there is to!”
Seven
“Paula, you’re looking for?” The charwoman glanced up in surprise. “You sure as heck won’t find her lounging about at four in the afternoon.” She dropped her brush in the bucket. “She’s a workingwoman, Inspektor. Just like the rest of us.” She stood up, wiping her hands on her apron. “What’s she done now?”
“To whom do I have the honor of addressing?” Willi was well aware that in Germany a building’s cleaning lady knew all there was to know about her tenants. But such information more often than not became ammunition in personal vendettas—and nothing, he’d learned the hard way, could derail an investigation faster.
“I am Frau Agnes Hoffmeyer.” The woman held out her skirt and curtsied, as if being introduced at a ball. “Related to the lady in question by motherhood.”
Like big-city dwellers everywhere Berliners often eased life’sgrind with the lubricant of sarcasm. Willi felt as if he’d known this saucy lady all his life.
“This is in regard to a former roommate of hers, an American named Gina Mancuso.”
The sauce evaporated. “You didn’t find her?”
She quickly offered up whatever she had on the subject, which wasn’t much. Gina had lived upstairs with Paula for more than a year, a lovely girl. Nice. Neat. Stunned by her disappearance, they were. Paula loved her like a sister. Used to be in a chorus line together. Which club? She couldn’t say. But she’d started hanging out with the
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