‘He’s missing?’
I nodded.
‘Then he’s probably been caught!’ She got to her feet, running out of momentum halfway out of the room, convinced she should run but unsure, now she’d set off, as to where.
‘If he has, he certainly wouldn’t reveal you, you’re safe,’ I said. I wished I sounded more convincing.
‘How can you possibly know that?’ she asked.
‘Because I’ve known him for years,’ I told her, ‘and I trust him. He’s also a good friend. That’s why I’m here. To find him. To help him if he needs it.’
She didn’t quite relax but I could tell she wanted to. When presented with two options: panic or calm, most people want to choose calm; they just have to be given enough of a reason to do so. I kept trying to find her one.
‘You know how good Robert is,’ I told her. ‘He’s a professional, and it’s entirely possible that he’s on the trail of something. We know he was following up some leads, he might just have had to keep his head down for a while. We shouldn’t worry yet.’
‘You are obviously worried or you wouldn’t be here.’
‘I’m here because I was sent,’ I told her. ‘Our people like to boss us around. It makes them feel important.’
‘I know people like that,’ she admitted. ‘They make you work just because they can.’
‘Precisely. Robert was looking into something on his own time, our employers don’t like that sort of thing, so they throw me at him. But I know him and I’m just here to see whether I can be of any use. But I can’t go wandering around the streets of East Berlin without somewhere to sleep, can I? Robert told me you were the most reliable of his friends so I came to you.’ Now I was throwing flattery into the mix, shameless.
It worked. She offered a half smile and sat down again, this time on a rigid-looking armchair. I imagined she was the sort of woman who often found reasons to flit between the furniture, like an actor on a theatre set, shifting location with every damn line.
‘I like working with him,’ she said. ‘He’s a kind man.’
‘He is,’ I agreed, wondering quite how much Robie’s influence had affected her. No doubt she was besotted with him, like everyone he came into contact with. ‘So can I stay for a short while? I promise I’ll be gone as soon as possible. Just a day, maybe two, so that I can look into things.’
She nodded. ‘Of course. Robert would want me to look after a friend.’
‘He would. How was he when you last saw him?’
She shrugged. ‘The same.’ Having given her automatic answer she then thought for a moment. ‘Actually, no, he was excited. Normally he is very calm, gentle. He pays attention but nothing you say can ever really surprise him… not that I have had much to tell him for a long time. But that day he was full of energy, he was…’ she clearly couldn’t think of a better word than the first that had occurred to her, ‘…excited.’
‘Did he give you any clue as to why?’
‘He was talking about the soldier,’ she said. ‘You know the one? He went mad and shot some people.’
‘I know the one.’
‘I thought it was a strange thing to be excited about, it was so horrible, but Robert must have had his reasons, he wasn’t someone who took pleasure in unpleasant things.’
‘No,’ I agreed, ‘he wasn’t. Did he give you any idea what he was doing about it? Anyone else he was talking to?’ He shouldn’t have done, an officer really shouldn’t discuss anything with their agents other than the material the agents bring to them but I didn’t know how closely Robie stuck to protocol. Given his advantage, the desire everyone had to please him, he may well have grown sloppy about certain aspects of his work.
‘No,’ she said. ‘I don’t think he was doing anything about it. What could he do? The subject just came up, everyone was talking about it.’
‘Did you know the soldier?’
‘No, he was only a lieutenant.’
The implicit snobbery was
I nodded.
‘Then he’s probably been caught!’ She got to her feet, running out of momentum halfway out of the room, convinced she should run but unsure, now she’d set off, as to where.
‘If he has, he certainly wouldn’t reveal you, you’re safe,’ I said. I wished I sounded more convincing.
‘How can you possibly know that?’ she asked.
‘Because I’ve known him for years,’ I told her, ‘and I trust him. He’s also a good friend. That’s why I’m here. To find him. To help him if he needs it.’
She didn’t quite relax but I could tell she wanted to. When presented with two options: panic or calm, most people want to choose calm; they just have to be given enough of a reason to do so. I kept trying to find her one.
‘You know how good Robert is,’ I told her. ‘He’s a professional, and it’s entirely possible that he’s on the trail of something. We know he was following up some leads, he might just have had to keep his head down for a while. We shouldn’t worry yet.’
‘You are obviously worried or you wouldn’t be here.’
‘I’m here because I was sent,’ I told her. ‘Our people like to boss us around. It makes them feel important.’
‘I know people like that,’ she admitted. ‘They make you work just because they can.’
‘Precisely. Robert was looking into something on his own time, our employers don’t like that sort of thing, so they throw me at him. But I know him and I’m just here to see whether I can be of any use. But I can’t go wandering around the streets of East Berlin without somewhere to sleep, can I? Robert told me you were the most reliable of his friends so I came to you.’ Now I was throwing flattery into the mix, shameless.
It worked. She offered a half smile and sat down again, this time on a rigid-looking armchair. I imagined she was the sort of woman who often found reasons to flit between the furniture, like an actor on a theatre set, shifting location with every damn line.
‘I like working with him,’ she said. ‘He’s a kind man.’
‘He is,’ I agreed, wondering quite how much Robie’s influence had affected her. No doubt she was besotted with him, like everyone he came into contact with. ‘So can I stay for a short while? I promise I’ll be gone as soon as possible. Just a day, maybe two, so that I can look into things.’
She nodded. ‘Of course. Robert would want me to look after a friend.’
‘He would. How was he when you last saw him?’
She shrugged. ‘The same.’ Having given her automatic answer she then thought for a moment. ‘Actually, no, he was excited. Normally he is very calm, gentle. He pays attention but nothing you say can ever really surprise him… not that I have had much to tell him for a long time. But that day he was full of energy, he was…’ she clearly couldn’t think of a better word than the first that had occurred to her, ‘…excited.’
‘Did he give you any clue as to why?’
‘He was talking about the soldier,’ she said. ‘You know the one? He went mad and shot some people.’
‘I know the one.’
‘I thought it was a strange thing to be excited about, it was so horrible, but Robert must have had his reasons, he wasn’t someone who took pleasure in unpleasant things.’
‘No,’ I agreed, ‘he wasn’t. Did he give you any idea what he was doing about it? Anyone else he was talking to?’ He shouldn’t have done, an officer really shouldn’t discuss anything with their agents other than the material the agents bring to them but I didn’t know how closely Robie stuck to protocol. Given his advantage, the desire everyone had to please him, he may well have grown sloppy about certain aspects of his work.
‘No,’ she said. ‘I don’t think he was doing anything about it. What could he do? The subject just came up, everyone was talking about it.’
‘Did you know the soldier?’
‘No, he was only a lieutenant.’
The implicit snobbery was
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