When Anna woke up, she was lying in her bed. The shades were drawn. She looked at the bedside clock. Six P.M. The house was quiet. Too quiet. Her first thought was of the children, and terror swept through her. She rose from the bed on shaky legs, and stumbled over to the door. It was locked from the outside. She pressed her ear hard against the panel, listening. There should have been the sounds of the children. They should have come up to see her.
If they had been able to. If they were still alive.
Her legs were trembling so hard that she could barely walk to the telephone. She breathed a silent prayer, then picked it up. She heard the familiar dial tone. She hesitated, dreading the thought of what Walther would do to her if he caught” her again. Without giving herself a chance to think, Anna began to dial 110. Her hands shook so badly that she dialed a wrong number. And another. She began to sob. There was so little time left. Fighting her growing hysteria, she tried again, willing her fingers to move slowly. She heard a ringing, then miraculously a man’s voice said, “Hier ist de Notruf der Polizei.”
Anna could not find her voice.
“Hier ist der Notruf der Polizei. Kann ich Ihnen helfen?”
“Ja!” It was a high-pitched sob. “Ja, bitte! Ich bin in grosser Gefahr. Bitte schicken sie jemanden—”
Walther loomed in front of her, ripping the telephone out of her hand and hurling her against the bed. He slammed down the receiver, breathing hard, tore the cord out of the wall, and turned to Anna.
“The children,” she whispered. “What have you done with the children?”
Walther did not answer.
The Central Division of the Berlin Kriminal Polizei was located at 2832 Keithstrasse in a district of ordinary-looking apartment houses and office buildings. The emergency number of the Delikt am Mensch department was equipped with an automatic hold system, so that a caller was unable to disconnect until the line had been electronically released by the switchboard. In this way every number calling in could be traced, no matter how brief the conversation. It was a sophisticated piece of equipment of which the department was proud.
Within five minutes of Anna Gassner’s telephone call, Detective Paul Lange walked into the office of his chief, Major Wageman, carrying a cassette player.
“I would like you to listen to this.” Detective Lange pressed a button. A metallic male voice said, “Hier ist der Notruf der Polizei. Kann ich Ihnen helfen?”
Then a woman’s voice, filled with terror. “Ja! Ja, bitte! Ich bin in grosser Gefahr. Bitte schicken sie jemanden—”
There was the sound of a thud, a click, and the line went dead. Major Wageman looked up at Detective Lange. “You’ve traced the call?”
“We know whose residence it came from,” Detective Lange replied carefully.
“Then what’s the problem?” Major Wageman demanded impatiently. “Have Central send a car to investigate.”
“I wanted your authority first.” Detective Lange placed a slip of paper on the desk in front of the major.
“Scheiss!” Major Wageman stared at him. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, Major.”
Major Wageman looked down at the slip of paper again. The telephone was listed in the name of Gass-ner, Walther. Head of the German division of Roffe and Sons, one of the industrial giants of Germany.
There was no need to discuss the implications. Only an idiot could miss them. One wrong move and they would both be walking the streets, looking for a job. Major Wageman thought for a moment and then said, “All right. Check it out. I want you to go there yourself. And walk on fucking eggs. Do you understand?”
“I understand, Major.”
The Gassner estate was in Wannsee, an exclusive suburb in southwest Berlin. Detective Lange took the longer Hohenszollerndamm instead of the speedier autobahn, because the traffic was lighter. He went through the Clayalle, past the CIA building, hidden behind half a mile of barbedwire fences. He passed the American Army Headquarters and turned right on what was once known as Road One, the longest road in Germany, running from East Prussia to the Belgian border. On his right was the Brücke der Einheit, the Bridge of Unity, where the spy Abel had been exchanged for the American U-2 pilot Gary Powers. Detective Lange turned the car off the highway into the wooded hills of Wannsee.