I was none too pleased to see him myself. He was tall and blond and handsome with an easy smile and manners as polished as his boots—lighting Noreen’s cigarette as urgently as if her life had depended on it, and standing up with a click of heels that was as loud as a champagne cork when I presented myself at their table. The SS officer’s matching black Labrador shifted uncertainly on his haunches and uttered a low growl. Master and dog looked like a warlock and his familiar, and before Noreen had even begun the introductions, I was hoping he might disappear in a puff of black smoke.

“This is Lieutenant Seetzen,” she said, smiling politely. “He’s been keeping me company and practicing his English.”

I fixed a rictus smile to my jaw, affecting pleasure in our new friend’s company, but I was glad when he finally made his excuses and left.

“That’s a relief,” she said. “I thought he’d never go.”

“Oh? You looked like you were getting on very well.”

“Don’t be an ass, Gunther. What could I do? I was reading through my notes, and he just sat down and started speaking to me. All the same, it was kind of fascinating in a sort of creepy way. He was telling me that he’s applied to join the Prussian Gestapo.”

“Now, there’s a job with prospects. If only I didn’t have any scruples, I might just do the same.”

“Right now he’s on a training course in the Grunewald.”

“I wonder what they teach them. How to use a rubber hose on a man without killing him? Where do they get these bastards?”

“He’s from Eutin.”

“Ah, so that’s where they get them.”

Noreen tried to stifle a yawn with the back of her elegantly gloved hand. It was easy to see why the lieutenant had spoken to her. She was easily the best-looking woman in the café. “I’m sorry,” she said. “But it’s been a hell of an afternoon. First von Tschammer und Osten, and then that young lieutenant. For a clever people, you Germans can be awfully dumb.” She glanced down at her reporter’s notebook. “Your leader of German sports is so full of bullshit.”

“That’s how he got the job, angel.” I lit a cigarette.

She turned some of the pages of shorthand, shaking her head.