He sat back in his chair, still staring at the paper in front of him. The raid on the seminary was set. He had to make sure the fellow wasn’t accidently brought into that net or his blackmail scheme would be thwarted. On the other hand, he had to keep close tabs, to make sure his charges were accurate and well justified.

He ruminated on the implications a few moments longer, then sat forward, picked up his phone, and spoke into it. Then he sat back waiting.

A moment or two later his call was answered.

“Yes… very well, yes… right! Say, do we have anyone up north of here, across the river… the farming country on the other side of Stettin?”

He listened attentively while the voice on the other end spoke.

“No… doesn’t have to be Gestapo—though of course if we do have someone—”

Another wait while he listened.

“Of course… I understand, I didn’t expect there would be… in Stettin, you say—right… yes… but out in the country—how about any party loyalists?… yes, I’ll wait.”

A long pause followed. Korsch leaned back and lifted his feet onto his desk. Two or three minutes passed. The look on his face presently indicated that the voice on the other end of the phone had returned with an answer to his question.

“I see… attached to the Luftwaffe, you say… Niedersdorf? Yes—good… hmm… Schmundt, you say… yes—seems to me I have heard of him. Loyal?”

He listened a moment, mind spinning rapidly with the information he had just heard. It was the very same village!

“Family?”

A brief pause.

“A son? How old… hmm… that’s interesting—anything on the boy’s affiliations?… hmm… yes, a very good age—yes… right—yes, thank you… you’ve been very helpful.”

Emil Korsch hung up the phone, pondering the new wealth of information. This little nest he’d stumbled into had all sorts of interesting twists and turns! He’d send someone up to Niedersdorf right away and see if contact could subtly be made with the count’s son. For reasons of the Dortmann girl, this young Schmundt might be just the angle he was looking for. It would be best if he didn’t get involved personally himself just yet. If the young fellow proved suitable, he would step in when the time was right.

In the meantime, he saw no reason to delay on the matter of the banker. It was time to pay Herr Otto von Dortmann a private visit.

30 A Most Difficult Question

30

A Most Difficult Question

Not many days after Matthew’s departure, Sabina received a letter from him. After reading it, she sought her father.

“Well, what does Matthew have to say?” he asked when she told him that he’d written. “How is his leg?”