‘Please, sit down. This is hard for me, and it will be hard for you.’

Slowly, he took the seat, his eyes fixed on Matilda Kuhn’s face, but she wasn’t meeting his eyes. ‘Doctor?’

‘Lieutenant, I have to tell you that Miriam Berenbaum is – or was – a greifer, God rot her wicked soul.’

‘Greifer? Catcher? What do you mean by that?’

‘She betrayed Jews, her own people, to save her skin. Hundreds of them. She lured them with promises of food and shelter, and handed them to the Gestapo for transportation to the death camps. I did not wish to tell you, but that is what your friend did.’

‘No, I don’t believe it, not Miriam.’

‘I’m sorry, I understand why you don’t wish to hear this, but pictures don’t lie, and the photograph you showed me is of Miriam Berenbaum.’

‘The picture was taken in 1939. She must have changed.’

‘No, it’s her. I would swear to it before a court of law in this world or to Jehovah on the Day of Judgement.’

‘You knew her well?’

‘This hospital was one of her favourite hunting grounds. Yes, I knew her. She was so sweet, so beautiful and so treacherous. We were all taken in by her for a long time. It was only when one of her victims escaped from the assembly camp for deportation and returned here that we learnt the truth.’

Heck couldn’t believe it. Yes, he had only met her that once in Switzerland but they had corresponded for three years, and this Miriam Berenbaum could not be the same person. Could it?

‘I can see what you are thinking, Lieutenant. But I am older than you and I perhaps know more about the human heart than you. In extremis, people will do terrible things to save themselves. We are already learning how Jews in the camps helped the Nazi extermination machine in the hope of living a little longer themselves.’

That was true enough. Heck had heard many such stories in his journeys around the DP camps. It was said that some Jews had been formed into special commandos to push the Jews into the gas chambers and burn their bodies afterwards. But Miriam? No, it could not be. For if she, the love of his young days, was guilty of such betrayal, then what was the point in life itself?

He put away his gun. ‘Please, forgive me for threatening you like that.’

‘I confess I didn’t enjoy it.’

‘Did you see this Miriam Berenbaum again after her duplicity was discovered?’

‘Oh, indeed, yes. She denied it at first, but then she laughed and said that we would have done the same in her place. She had been promised her life and her freedom in return for her work. She spat at my feet, and then went away, still laughing.’

‘Have you any idea where she is now?’