Faruk did not respond.
“Guy comes in and has a coffee and leaves. Maybe ten minutes later someone shoots him dead. That doesn’t make you or anyone in this place guilty.”
Faruk looked him in the eyes. “It’s not about him. It’s about the other people here. There were two… powerful men here, sir. If I tell the police that this American came here, they want to know who else was here at that time, then I have to give them names, and then some people who don’t like the police attention so much, they get attention, and this is not so good for me. Not so good for my uncle.”
Brodie nodded.Powerful men. In other words, members of a local crime syndicate. “Tell me about these men.”
Faruk shook his head. “I can’t.”
“You can and you will.”
“I have done nothing wrong.”
“I disagree. You are in the process of obstructing justice.”
Faruk looked back into the lounge.
“Look atme, Faruk.”
The young man looked at him. Sweat was beading on his brow. If Taylor were doing this, she probably would have gone for a softer approach. Maybe he should ease up. He said, “Forget names. Tell me about these powerful men in Neukölln. Who are they? What kind of business are they in?”
Faruk nodded, grateful to be asked a question he could answer. “Theyare Arabs. From Lebanon, mostly. They have been here awhile. There are ten families here in Neukölln. They run gambling, prostitution, drugs… sometimes robbery. Bad things. They keep to themselves. They take care of… problems without involving the police.”
“And the guys who were here, did they take notice of Harry Vance?”
“They take notice of everyone.”
“Did they arrive before or after him?”
“Before. Maybe an hour before.”
“How long did they stay after he left?”
“A while. Until about four-thirty.”
“I thought you closed at four.”
“We do. But men like that, you don’t kick them out.”
Brodie thought a moment. Did Harry Vance fall down an investigative rabbit hole that brought him to the attention of the Arab crime families? Was that why he got clipped? The whole thing could have been a setup to get him into a park alone, late at night.
He looked at Faruk. He could keep pressing, but since he had no jurisdictional leg to stand on here, it might be better to kick this up to Schröder and let him make whatever threats were more specific to German law.
Brodie said, “Thank you, Faruk. You’ve been helpful. You’ll be hearing from the police, who will be looking forward to your cooperation.”
Faruk looked at the floor. “I did nothing wrong.”
“I’ll need your contact information.”
Faruk gave Brodie his cell phone number, which Brodie typed into his phone. He said to Faruk, “Look at me.”
The man looked at him.
“You are doing the right thing. And I promise you that the police will be discreet.”
The young man nodded, then shuffled off into the back room.
Brodie returned to the table, where Taylor was sipping her beer. She looked up at him. “Anything?”
