“Guten Tag. It’s Scott Brodie.”
“Mr. Brodie. How can I help you?”
“Ms. Taylor and I have uncovered some information that will be helpful to the investigation which should not wait until tomorrow’s briefing. In the days before his death Harry Vance was with a German woman named Anna, last name unknown, brunette in her mid-thirties, who lives in the neighborhood of Prenzlauer Berg.”
Butler processed that and asked, “How did you come across this information?”
Brodie explained about the schnapps store, making it clear that they did not present themselves as CID agents. He added, “What we’d like to do is hit every bar, restaurant, and shop in this area with Harry Vance’s picture and see who else might be able to provide a description or full name of this Anna.”
“This is a job for the Berlin Police, Mr. Brodie.”
“Right. Giving us information that we ask for is another part of their job. So Ms. Taylor and I would like to see all the CCTV footage in Prenzlauer Berg that the German authorities have access to, beginning from sixA.M.Saturday morning, up until the early morning hours of Sunday when Vance likely boarded a train from here in Prenzlauer to Neukölln, and including the three metro stops of Eberswalder Straße, Schönhauser Allee, and Prenzlauer Allee.”
“I can put in that request for you. Though I wonder what you believe you’ll find that the Germans could not.”
“Well, we already found something that the Germans could not, and we’ve only been in town a few hours.”
Jason Butler did not respond for a moment. Then he said, “I’m sure the German investigators will find your information useful. Thank you for sharing.”
“I want the CCTV footage.”
Butler replied, “Even if they honor the request, you’ll be disappointed with what you get. Public security cameras other than those in metro stations have been legal in Germany for less than two years and are still not widespread. Given their history, the Germans have a lot of… sensitivities about surveillance.”
Well, that sounded like a good instinct in the birthplace of the Gestapo and the Stasi.
Butler continued, “This lack of surveillance cameras has caused a lot of problems for the authorities, particularly in investigating terrorist attacks that have occurred in public places that you might assume have surveillance cameras but actually don’t. But that is beginning to change because of terrorism and crime. The police are starting to experiment with facial recognition software.”
“Maybe they had the right idea the first time.”
“I’m surprised to hear a CID agent say that.”
“I surprise myself sometimes.”
Scott Brodie probably had more of a libertarian streak than a government employee and military criminal investigator should, and he sympathized with where the German public was coming from. Thank God neitherthe Nazis nor the East German Communists had lasted long enough to get their hands on facial recognition software, not to mention surveillance drones and satellites. The problem was, there’s always another evil around the corner. Technological innovation might be a line trending ever upward, but history is a circle.
Butler continued, “All this is to say, if the Germans agree to your request and then don’t give you much, please don’t misinterpret that as a lack of candor or cooperation.”
Apparently Jason Butler had internalized Scott Brodie’s distrust of authority and he was already doing damage control.
Brodie said, “Understood. Thank you for your assistance, Jason.”
“Of course. Is there anything else?”
He thought about filling Butler in on the narcotics case that Vance had worked, but he decided to wait and see if Schröder brought it up in the briefing. “Nothing else.”
“I will let you know what the police say about the CCTV footage.”
“You need to be less diplomatic. Push them.”
Brodie hung up and turned to Taylor. “Butler is putting in a request. Though apparently the Germans had their fill of Big Brother and don’t like being watched, so there might not be much security camera footage outside the metro stops.”
“I haven’t noticed any on our walk.” She added, “It’s check-in time at the Art Hotel.”
“If our bags got stolen, can we stay someplace nicer?”
“If we only have the clothes on our backs, the Art Hotel is where we’ll fit in best.” She added, “If we are following Harry Vance’s late-night journey through Neukölln later, I need a nap. I suggest you do the same.”
“Good idea.”
