“What can I help you with?” he asked, lowing himself into the chair next to the German officer.
“You are acquainted with an Agent Whitaker, yes?”
The man’s accent was thick and pronounced. His accent was not to the Colonel Klink level, but it was noticeable enough that he would have made a fair bond villain.
“Yes, we’ve worked on several cases together.”
“My understanding is your connection goes deeper than that.”
“We were engaged for a short time.”
“You are no longer engaged?”
“Not at the moment. What is this about?”
“Have you been in contact with her?”
Taylor looked at Joe. He was all for cooperating with other law enforcement agencies, but clearly, something was going on that involved Whitaker and estrangement or no, he wanted to know what that was.
“There’s been an incident in Berlin,” Joe said in response to Taylor’s look.
“What kind of incident? Is Whitaker ok?”
“We don’t know, that’s the problem,” Graf said. “I take it from your response that you haven’t heard from her.”
“No, we aren’t on the best of terms at the moment. I knew she was going to Europe, but not specifically where, and I didn’t get a number for where she’d be. Someone needs to tell me what’s going on. What kind of incident.”
“Three days ago, an older woman was murdered in her apartment in Berlin. This picture was taken a few minutes before the woman’s time of death.”
Graf pulled a picture out of a leather folio he’d been holding and handed it to Taylor. The picture was dark, and Whitaker was lit from the open doorway. He could tell it was her, but she was mostly obscured, head down, walking with purpose.
“This picture was taken about fifteen minutes later. No one else was seen entering or leaving the building for several hours before or after, only Agent Whitaker.”
Graf pulled out a second picture and handed it to Taylor. Whitaker’s face was turned up in this picture. Taylor could clearly see an expression of concern on her face. She was not turned to look at the camera and seemed to be looking around her. There was a small smudge on her neck that could have been blood, but the quality was not good enough to be sure.
“Who was the woman?”
“Her name was Frieda Wissler. She apparently was a distant relative of Agent Whitaker from an old and very rich German family. Frau Wissler was from a lesser branch of the family, but she was still worth millions.”
“I can tell you now, without a doubt in my mind, that Whitaker had nothing to do with this woman’s death.”
“While I’d like nothing more than to believe that, we still need to talk to her. At the moment, she’s only considered a witness, but that could change. We’ve been able to track her movements before Frau Wissler’s death. After the murder, your agent Whitaker - how do you say - dropped off the radar? Going into hiding does not seem like the actions of an innocent woman.”
“I’m sure there’s a good reason for it.”
“Which is one of the things we will be asking her about; once we find her. A warrant has been issued for her arrest, again as a material witness in the case and not as a suspect. If she remains in hiding, however, that may change.”
“John,” Solomon said, “Inspector Graf would like for you to accompany him back to Berlin and assist in finding agent Whitaker.”
“I have been told you are talented at finding people who do not wish to be found, and I read in your papers about the events with you and the terrorist. While I normally would not allow a member of a foreign law enforcement agency to work on an active case, your personal connection to agent Whitaker, her ability to remain hidden, and my superiors' desire for progress in the case has left me with little choice.”
“As I said before,” Director Solomon said, “John is as non-law enforcement as you’re going to get inside the Bureau. While events pushed the Attorney General to want him working for us, he still remains largely outside the chain of command.”
The statement made Taylor wonder just what the two men had discussed before he arrived. Taylor had no illusions of what Solomon thought of him and was certain the director had tried to convince Graf to not take Taylor. He did not particularly like Taylor operating inside the US. Taylor was sure his representing US law enforcement in a foreign country was not something Solomon would have allowed if he had the choice.
Graf did not seem to be giving him a choice, at least not without denying the German government US assistance when it was requested. Solomon was too much of a political animal to allow his personal reservations to get in the way of diplomacy.
“I appreciate your concern, but agent Taylor not being a typical representative of your agency makes his assisting us easier.”
“Special Assistant Taylor.”
Graf looked at Solomon with a questioning expression.
“I didn’t go through the academy or get promoted to the position of agent. To find a place for me, they created a position called Special Assistant. People like Joe here, who came up through the ranks, take the title 'Agent' very seriously. Please just call me Taylor, that’s what everyone else does.”
“Fine,” Graf said, looking from Taylor back to Solomon. “I’ve heard your concerns, but I still request Taylor’s assistance in this matter.”
Taylor looked at Joe. If the decision had been up to him he would have said no, gotten on a plane to Berlin, and found Whitaker on his own. He was certain she had not murdered anyone, but he did not know Graf or
