I stared uncomfortably at the elaborate, red-painted case, probably built by some loyal readers, with its vivid slogans proclaiming: ‘German Women: The Jews are your Destruction’, and the three double-page spreads from the paper under glass. It was bad enough to ask a girl to act as bait, without having to expose her to this kind of trash as well.

‘I suppose you’re right, Becker.’

‘You know I am. Look at her. She’s reading it already. I swear she likes it.’

‘What’s her name?’

‘Ulrike.’

I walked over to the Sturmerkasten where she was standing, singing quietly to herself.

‘You know what to do, Ulrike?’ I said quietly, not looking at her now that I was beside her, but staring at the Fips cartoon with its mandatory ugly Jew. No one could look like that, I thought. The nose was as big as a sheep’s muzzle.

‘Yes, sir,’ she said brightly.

‘There are lots of policemen around. You can’t see them, but they are all watching you. Understand?’ I saw her head nod in the reflection on the glass. ‘You’re a very brave girl.’

At that she started to sing again, only louder, and I realized that it was the Hitler Youth song:

‘Our flag see before us fly,
Our flag means an age without strife,
Our flag leads us to eternity,
Our flag means more to us than life.’

I walked back to where Becker was standing and got back into the car.

‘She’s quite a girl, isn’t she, sir?’

‘She certainly is. Just make sure that you keep your flippers off her, do you hear?’

He was all innocence. ‘Come on, sir, you don’t think I’d try to bird that one, do you?’ He got into the driving seat and started the engine.

‘I think you’d fuck your great-grandmother, if you really want my opinion.’ I glanced over each shoulder. ‘Where are your men?’

‘Sergeant Hingsen’s on the first floor of that apartment building there,’ he said, ‘and I’ve got a couple of men on the street. One is tidying up the graveyard on the corner, and the other’s cleaning windows over there. If our man does show up, we’ll have him.’

‘Do the girl’s parents know about this?’

‘Yes.’

‘Rather public-spirited of them to give their permission, wouldn’t you say?’

‘They didn’t exactly do that, sir. Ulrike informed them that she had volunteered to do this in the service of the Fiihrer and the Fatherland. She said that it would be unpatriotic to try and stop her. So they didn’t have much choice in the matter. She’s a forceful sort of girl.’

‘I can imagine.’

‘Quite a swimmer, too, by all accounts. A future Olympic prospect, her teacher reckons.’

‘Well, let’s just hope for a bit of rain in case she has to try and swim her way out of trouble.’