‘I know. I’ve been watching you.’ Max was at her side now. ‘Keep walking. Talk as we go.’
Clara told him about Brandt, about the investigation, about her fears of the authorities closing in around them. When she finished, Max was silent for a long moment. ‘I’ll look into it. At the moment we have a bigger problem to deal with. We’ve identified the policeman who has been receiving information about the work we are doing. About the women we are rescuing. We had two safe houses compromised this past month. A family arrested just hours before their planned evacuations. Now we know who the policeman is, Fuchs is his name, we can find out who the informer is.’
Clara felt sick. ‘Fuchs? I know who he is.’
Max looked across at her, his eyes narrowed. ‘You do?’
‘He works at the station I have to report to every week. He threatened me during my check-in. He’s a disgusting man.’
‘Threatened you. How?’
Clara’s shoulders tensed. ‘He suggested I could trade favours for protection. Made it clear he knew where I lived.’
‘That’s exactly his method. Intimidation, exploitation. So you know what he looks like and where he works out of?’
Clara nodded. ‘Unfortunately.’
‘We need to find out who’s feeding him information. The leaks are getting people killed.’
Clara didn’t hesitate. ‘I can follow him,’ she said, ignoring the voice at the back of her mind that Friedrich would be furious if he knew what she was saying. ‘I know what he looks like. I can move around the city easily without too much suspicion. I have a legitimate travel pass if I’m stopped.’
Max appraised Clara for a long moment and she saw a new-found respect in his eyes. ‘This is dangerous, Clara. More dangerous than copying lists.’
‘I know.’
‘Do you?’ Max leaned towards her. ‘If he catches you following him, he won’t just arrest you. A man like that will make you disappear.’
‘Then I won’t get caught.’
Max nodded slowly. ‘Listen carefully. Wait until he finishes his shift, probably at around six o’clock. Keep at least fifty metres back, use shop windows and doorways for cover. If he enters a building, note the address but don’t follow him inside. Watch for anyone who approaches him. They will be nervous, looking around constantly. Looking for someone watching them.’
‘And what next? I probably won’t recognise them.’
‘Follow the informant afterwards. Note where they go. Where they live. We need to know who is betraying their own people.’
‘And if there’s more than one meeting?’
‘Document everything. But, Clara—’ Max’s eyes were deadly serious ‘—if anything feels wrong, if you sense even the slightest danger, you abort. The information isn’t worth your life. Other people need you more.’
Clara nodded, hardly able to believe what she was getting herself into. She wasn’t the same person she was when she first came to Berlin. She barely recognised herself these days. Who was she? Was she English? German? Traitor or saviour? She no longer knew which parts of herself were real and which were merely survival.
Between Brandt’s investigation and this new mission, the walls were closing in from all sides. But she thought of the families she’d helped save, of the babies born into hiding, and those names on the list.
‘When do I start?’ she asked, feeling a surge of determination and defiance against the regime.
Chapter 26
When Clara arrived home, she was still unnerved by her encounter with Brandt and considering how to tell Friedrich about the threat. She hated worrying him, but they had sworn not to keep secrets from each other.
However, as she walked through the door, the lights were on, and she noticed Friedrich’s formal service cap on the hall table. It wasn’t his everyday field cap he had worn that morning. Was he going out tonight? Had he told her, and she’d forgotten? ‘Friedrich?’ He emerged from their bedroom, adjusting the cuffs of his crisp white dress shirt beneath his impeccably pressed service uniform jacket. The dark wool was free of any lint or wrinkles, his silver rank insignia gleamed against the fabric. ‘Are you going out?’
‘I’m sorry, it was a last-minute instruction,’ he said, coming down the hall to greet her with a kiss. ‘The major has called a meeting over dinner to discuss logistical planning.’
‘Oh, that’s a shame.’ She hugged him, trying not to let her disappointment show. She had wanted to talk to him about Brandt but didn’t want to bother him with the worry just before he was going out.
‘Is everything all right?’ he asked, stepping back to look at her.
‘Fine,’ she said, smiling.
