Morris sat at the table; its legs screwed to the floor by big bolts. Across from him, Alfred von Rombach, a cigarette in hand. Tadek watched him from his corner and fought the urge to stub that cigarette into one of the Nazi’s gray eyes to burn that arrogant look out of them once and for all.
“I have told you already, I have not the faintest idea where Gruppenführer Neumann is.” Alfred said the words but his smirk told another story, purposely taunting the American agent in front of him.
To Morris, it was nothing new. He appeared almost bored and utterly unimpressed with the German’s demonstratively laidback pose. “Your family was close to the Neumann family, was that not so?”
From von Rombach, a shrug. He began regarding his cuticles.
“You were engaged to their daughter, Gerlinde Neumann.”
“Ja… She broke it off with me. Not that I blame her. In her position, having a Jew as a friend is much more beneficial now.” He smiled at Tadek sweetly. “And if he comes straight from the camp – even better. I would love to get myself one of those, a girl, of course. I bet your Military Government wouldn’t be starving me to death with my category V ration card then.”
“As an unemployed young adult that’s all you’re eligible for.”
“Mhm. Three hundred grams of bread a day, twenty of meat, and fifteen of sugar? We don’t call them ‘death cards’ for nothing, you know. We fed Jews in the camps better; ask Gruppenführer Neumann, if you ever find him.”
Morris ignored the jab. “Get yourself a job.”
“Can’t. I’m not cleared by your War Department yet. They’re still trying to figure out whether I’m a Nazi or not.”
“You are. That’s why they’re not clearing you. As a matter of fact, you should be grateful you’re not in jail and that’s solely due to your age. By the way, you can always work for food. That’s permitted with your current papers.”
Judging by von Rombach’s derisive snort, it was the last thing he would consider.
“Getting back to Otto Neumann.”
“I’ve already told you; I know nothing. I was sent to the defense of Berlin in April. I haven’t a clue where exactly he fled to. I wasn’t there to bid him my farewell.”
“We have already established that. Wouldn’t your father know about his escape plans?”
“My father lucked out and kicked the bucket before all hell broke loose. The last day they bombed us, he found just the place to be for one of your Ami bomber squadrons’ eggs to drop right on top of his staff car.”
“He’s listed as missing.”
“Well, ja; we couldn’t quite gather the body – or even body parts for that matter – for proper identification or burial, don’t you think so?”
“I think he may be very much alive and on the run along with his good friend Neumann.”
“Wouldn’t that be an interesting turn of events?” The young man was outright laughing.
Once again, Tadek marveled at the cruel curve of his lips, the mocking tone of his voice. Nazi or not, laughing in such a manner when speaking of one’s father’s death made him shudder, in spite of himself.
“Your uncle is very much alive, though.”
“He is. I live with him now, after my family’s house got destroyed. He’s under house arrest though. You could at least communicate with your colleagues from the OSS before bringing me here for interrogation.”
“The OSS no longer exists, we are the SSU now. And we did communicate with them and learned that he was in touch with Otto Neumann right before the latter took flight. They met at your uncle’s villa the night before Neumann left Berlin.”
“I wasn’t there.”
“Yes, we have established that as well. However, you’ve been living with him, under the same roof, ever since your release from the POW camp.” Morris paused. “Surely, you had a lot of things to discuss.”
“Maybe we did and maybe, we didn’t.” Another provocative grin from von Rombach.
“Shall I bring him here and ask him personally or will you be so kind as to save me some time?”
“I will save you some time. I’ll tell you right now that you shouldn’t be wasting your breath. He hasn’t said anything to your colleagues – who roughed him up quite well, it should be noted – and I don’t see him being any more forthcoming with you. Why don’t you ask Gerlinde? Perhaps, she’ll tell you what she knows.”
“She knows nothing. She purposely asked Otto Neumann not to tell her where he was going.”
For some time, von Rombach was sitting silently, a smile slowly growing on his face. “It’s interesting that you believe her and not me. Is it because she’s a girl? Be so kind, satisfy my curiosity.”
“No. Because I know her as a person and have grown to trust her. She wouldn’t lie to me.”
“That’s interesting,” Alfred repeated. His grin turned outright predatory. “Did she tell you about the letter from her father that I passed to her?”
For an instant, it appeared as though the entire cell had suddenly become devoid of air. Tadek froze where he stood, feeling the blood leaving his extremities. In his chair, Morris straightened imperceptibly, squared his shoulders, cleared his throat and tried collecting himself but young von Rombach had already seen the effect his words had produced.
“I take it, she didn’t.” He leaned forward and stubbed his cigarette in a metal ashtray. “May I have another one?” With wonderful nonchalance, he motioned toward Morris’s pack. “They aren’t included in my ration card and I was ready to kill for a smoke. The sole reason why I came here, if I’m entirely honest.”
Mechanically, Morris handed him an open pack of Camels. Von Rombach took two, stuck one behind his ear and put another one in his mouth.
“What was in the letter?” Morris asked
