He led them a couple of metres along the drainage ditch to a concrete tunnel through which the waters of the ditch – if they weren’t frozen solid – would normally flow. On the left-hand – nearest – side of the tunnel was a concrete platform, possibly there so workmen could enter easily to do any necessary repairs.

Tilsner crouched low. ‘I don’t want to bang my bloody head again.’ He got out his pocket torch. A few metres into the tunnel someone had made a rough sleeping area. There was a sleeping bag, blankets, a cooking stove, even a plastic washing-up bowl with a few pots, pans and plates neatly stacked alongside. ‘Quite the home from home,’ said Tilsner. ‘Though I can’t say I’d fancy it in this weather.’

‘So is this where Lotti’s been hiding . . . was it her who attacked you when you discovered her lair?’ asked Müller.

‘No,’ insisted Tilsner, almost shouting. ‘Ouch! I can’t really raise my voice until this headache clears. But I’ve already told you that. I was talking to Lotti when someone else hit me from behind.’

‘Possibly the person who is living here?’ asked Schmidt.

‘Possibly,’ said Tilsner. ‘I didn’t see him . . . or her.’

Müller wiped her hand across her face, trying to concentrate. ‘The other possibility, of course, is that it’s our undercover British agent. After all, the boatman saw him coming this way.’

‘Possibly,’ said Tilsner. ‘We’d better seal it all off, then Jonas you need to photograph the scene and dust as much of it as possible for fingerprints.’

‘Of course, Comrade Oberleutnant. I’ll get onto that right away. Can I suggest Comrade Müller takes you to hospital for a check-up while I get to work? Concussion can be a nasty thing, even if you feel all right. And I can easily get the tram back to the city centre when I’ve finished up.’

‘Jonas is right, Werner. Why don’t we do that?’

‘I’m fine,’ growled Tilsner. ‘Let’s just try to work out where the fuckers have got to. I’d like to see both of them behind bars.’

Chapter 28

28

Stasi HQ, Normannenstraße, East Berlin

August 1981

Oberst Rainer Specht had prepared his case meticulously, and now he was about to present it to his superiors in one of the meeting rooms in House One in Normannenstraße. Perhaps even Comrade Minister Mielke himself would be in attendance.