‘I suppose so,’ I said, and flicked my cigarette out of the open window.

Marianne shook her head. ‘No, wait,’ she said. ‘There was someone. About three months ago Kindermann dismissed one of the male nurses for being drunk. He was a nasty piece of work, and I don’t think anyone was sad to see him go. I wasn’t there myself, but I heard that he used some quite strong language to Kindermann when he left.’

‘What was his name, this male nurse?’

‘Hering, Klaus Hering I think.’ She looked at her watch. ‘Hey, I’ve got to be getting on with my work. I can’t stay talking to you all morning.’

‘One more thing,’ I said. ‘I need to take a look around Kindermann’s office. Can you help?’ She started to shake her head. ‘I can’t do it without you, Marianne. Tonight?’

‘I don’t know. What if we get caught?’

‘The “we” part doesn’t come into it. You keep a look-out, and if someone finds you, you say that you heard a noise, and that you were investigating. I’ll have to take my chances. Maybe I’ll say I was sleepwalking.’

‘Oh, that’s a good one.’

‘Come on, Marianne, what do you say?’

‘All right, I’ll do it. But leave it until after midnight, that’s when we lock up. I’ll meet you in the solarium at around 12.30.’

Her expression changed as she saw me slide a fifty from my wallet. I crushed it into the breast pocket of her crisp white uniform. She took it out again.

‘I can’t take this,’ she said. ‘You shouldn’t.’ I held her fist shut to stop her returning the note.

‘Look, it’s just something to help tide you over, at least until you get paid for your overtime.’ She looked doubtful.

‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t seem right somehow. This is as much as I make in a week. It’ll do a lot more than just tide me over.’

‘Marianne,’ I said, ‘it’s nice to make ends meet, but it’s even nicer if you can tie a bow.’

4

Monday, 5 September

‘The doctor told me that the electrotherapy has the temporary side-effect of disturbing the memory. Otherwise I feel great.’

Bruno looked at me anxiously. ‘You’re sure?’

‘Never felt better.’

‘Well, rather you than me, being plugged in like that.’ He snorted. ‘So whatever you managed to find out while you were in Kindermann’s place is temporarily mislaid inside your head, is that it?’

‘It’s not quite that bad. I managed to take a look around his office. And there was a very attractive nurse who told me all about him. Kindermann is a lecturer at the Luftwaffe Medical School, and a consultant at the Party’s private clinic in Bleibtreustrasse. Not to mention his membership of the Nazi Doctors Association, and the Herrenklub.’