She tried the engine again but it didn’t even cough. She gathered her coat more tightly round her.
‘Cor,’ she whispered. ‘Come on, Leo. You don’t half put a strain on friendship.’
In the black Opel a tiny light went on and off like a signal. Turner said nothing, but his thick fingertips lightly touched the spanner in his pocket.
‘A schoolgirl letter. Thank you for being so attentive. Sorry for claiming all your time and please remember about the hair-dryer. Then a lovely long made-up story about how I went shopping in the Spanischer Garten and an old lady dropped a two-mark piece into an orange-crate and no one could find it and she said it was payment because she’d left it in the shop. I delivered the letter to the Embassy myself and he rang up that afternoon. There were two models, he said, the more expensive one had different speeds and you didn’t need an adapter.’
‘Transformer.’
‘What about colour? I just listened. He said it would be very difficult to make a decision for me, what with the speeds and the colour. Couldn’t we meet and discuss it? It was a Thursday and we met up here. He said he came up every Thursday to get some fresh air and watch the children. I didn’t believe him, but I was very happy.’
‘Is that all he said about coming up here?’
‘He said once they owed him time.’
‘Who did?’
‘The Embassy. Something Rawley had taken away from him and given to someone else. A job. So he came up here instead.’ She shook her head in real admiration. ‘He’s as stubborn as a mule,’ she declared. ‘ “They owe it me,” he said, “so I take it. And that’s the only way I live.”‘
‘I thought you said he didn’t say things?’
‘Not the best things.’
He waited.
‘We just walked and looked at the river and on the way back we held hands. As we were leaving he said, “I forgot to show you the hair-dryer.” So I said, “What a pity. We’ll have to meet here next Thursday too, won’t we.” He was enormously shocked.’ She had a special voice for him as well: it was both mocking and possessive and it seemed to exclude Turner rather than draw him in. ‘ “My dear Mrs Bradfield-” I said, “If you come next week I’ll let you call me Hazel.” I’m a whore,’ she explained. ‘That’s what you’re thinking.’
‘And after that?’
‘Every Thursday. Here. He parked his car down the lane and I left mine in the road. We were lovers but we hadn’t been to bed. It was very grown-up. Sometimes he talked; sometimes he didn’t. He kept showing me his house across the river as if he wanted to sell it me. We’d go all along the path from one little hilltop to another so that we could see it. I teased him once. “You’re the devil. You’re showing me the whole kingdom.” He didn’t care for that. He never forgot anything, you see. That was the survivor in him. He didn’t like me to talk about evil, or pain or anything. He knew all that inside out.’
‘And the rest?’
He saw her face tilt and the smile break.
‘Rawley’s bed. A Friday. There’s an avenger in Leo, not far down. He always knew when Rawley was going away: he used to check in the Travel Offfice, look at the Travel Clerk’s bookings. He’d say to me: he’s in Hanover next week… he’s in Bremen.’
‘What did Bradfield go there for?’
‘Oh God. Visiting the Consulates… Leo asked me the same question: how should I know? Rawley never tells me anything. Sometimes I thought he was following Karfeld round Germany… he always seemed to go where the rallies were.’
‘And from then on?’
She shrugged. ‘Yes. From then on. Whenever we could.’
‘Did Bradfield know?’
‘Oh God. Know? Don’t know? You’re worse than the Germans. It was in between. You want things spelt out for you, don’t you? Some things can’t be. Some things aren’t true till they’re said. Rawley knows that better than anyone.’
‘Christ,’ Turner whispered. ‘You give yourself all the chances,’ and he remembered he had said the same thing to Bradfield three days ago.