Shout in the Dark (22 page)

Karl peered down into the screen as he
swung the camera around the studio. Kessel knew he would have to
work this one out alone. "You are right of course, Herr Bayer, this
is most embarrassing. Sometimes the right hand does not know what
the left is doing. It would seem that my friend from the Italian
end has been overzealous. We work for the same publisher, and this
should have been my part of the investigation -- Germans working
for the German department and all that." The lie sounded
pathetic.

"
Yes, of course." Otto's answer was indistinct. His mind
seemed to be on the swinging camera. "Please be careful, young man,
there is film in there."

Damn Karl. "Go and wait outside!" Kessel
used his voice of authority. The idiot would do some damage, and
they would be asked to leave before they could get details of the
Italian.

Shrugging his powerful shoulders, the youth
left the shop.

Otto smiled arrogantly. "The Italian asked
if I had pictures of the killings."

"
You had photographs of
killings?
" This was not what Kessel wanted to
hear.

"
No, my father had not taken any. That sort of thing could
be used in war trials, so I believe."

Who the hell had been snooping into the
past -- his father's past? "And there were no negatives showing a
close view of the head?"

"
Only the distant shot you have already, or one very like
it. You heard my father: he can remember running out of
film."

"
Your father's memory, it may not be too reliable." Kessel
tried to put it tactfully.

Otto laughed, tapping his head. "Oh yes,
he is fine up here."

"
But in the apartment..."

"
You saw an act, Herr Kessel. My father is afraid my mother
will lose interest in him if she cannot fuss over him all the time.
He lets her do it because it makes her happy."

Kessel was not totally convinced, although
it did explain some of the rational statements the Untersturmführer
had made. "What exactly did my Italian colleague want?"

"
He wanted me to enlarge a small portion showing the white
bust, but the result was rather disappointing. I enlarged it as
much as possible, and printed it quite dark in an attempt to show
detail. Wartime film was not anything like the emulsions you get
today." Otto waved a hand towards the adverts for modern German
film as though to prove his point. "I would know it if I saw it in
real-life. Even if the paint has been removed, some of the features
were so distinctive I could not mistake them. Do you know where
this monastery is, Herr Kessel?"

Kessel shook his head. "It has to be near
Rome. That's all I know."

"
There were also some of views of a monastery on the
negatives," said Bayer tantalizingly. "What a shame I didn't make
copies from those negatives."

"
You didn't make
any
spares?"

Otto looked surprised. "Why should I? I
had a few scrap prints last night, but the
Müllwagen
, the garbage truck, calls early in the
morning."

"
Perhaps you could let me have a description of my colleague
from Rome, Herr Bayer."

"
A description? I can do better than that. I have his name,
Herr Kessel, here in my diary. Let me see. Yes, Bastiani. Bruno
Bastiani. You know him?"

Kessel felt the blood leaving his face.
His Jewish half-brother must have bugged the room in the hotel to
get here first; perhaps even bugged the telephone. Bruno's job with
the press would give him all the equipment needed.

"
You want me to help find that head,
ja
, Herr Kessel? That surely is why you are
here."

Kessel's breath caught in his throat, like
a panic attack. "Why should I want to do that?"

"
Business is slow. There might be money in it for me if I
were to help you?"

"
The publishers..."

"
You cannot even lie convincingly, Herr Kessel. You are not
here for any publisher."

Kessel opened the door. "Herr Bayer, you
have overstepped the mark!"

"
Well, you know where to find me," countered the
photographer, unabashed. "I would be able to recognize the
monastery and the head, if I saw either of them in real life. I
have a good memory, and if I am reading the situation correctly you
want to get there before Herr Bastiani."

"
My publishers will..."

"
Cut the publisher crap, Herr Kessel. Yesterday you phone up
asking if my father was in Italy in the war. Last night an Italian
comes here and asks about a monastery. Then this morning you turn
up with the same questions. My father thinks he knows you, and you
say your father worked with mine in the SS. I do not have to be a
genius to know you are after something. A religious relic perhaps?"
He laughed loudly. "Do you think I never watch television? TV Roma
is nearly as famous as our own national broadcasters
right now."

Holding the door partially open, Kessel
drew himself erect, the way his father would have done if ever a
subordinate stepped out of line. "So?" he snapped.

"
So you will have to reward me properly if you want my help.
I am not interested in all this Nazi muck, but I could do with some
money right now."

"
Nothing doing!" Kessel retorted, slamming the door behind
him. That would make the greedy pervert think twice before using
such tactics on the ADR. But he remembered Otto Bayer's words. Yes,
if it came to it, he
would
know where to find him again.

Karl stood on the opposite side of the
street, sheltering in a doorway from the rain. He crossed over to
meet Kessel. "Well, Herr Kessel?"

"
Well what?" Kessel felt angry and wanted the boy to know
it.

"
Do you know who's beaten us to it?"

At least Karl had been listening while
fiddling with that damn camera. Kessel wondered if he had
underestimated the overweight neo-Nazi. He regarded him closely. If
he had dared have a child of his own, then maybe Rüdi's son here
had some of the attributes he would have wished for. Perhaps
the
Jungling
could
become a positive member of
Achtzehn Deutschland Reinigung
.

Hesitantly he reached out an arm, withdrew
it, and finally placed it on Karl's shoulder. The act did not come
naturally to him and he reddened.

"
Karl my son, this is serious. Yes, I do know who it was. I
have an enemy in Rome. We grew up together, but I sometimes think
he would like to kill me. So, how would you like to keep us both
safe -- and kill him first?"

Chapter
19

Köln

KARL ORDERED a large bowl of
Gulaschsuppe
followed by
Wurst mit Senf und
Brot
. Either meal should
have been enough on its own, but Karl ate both greedily and
noisily.

The smell of sausage was overpowering.
Kessel watched the youth with a certain amount of disgust, relieved
that he had ordered just a coffee and pastry for himself. The
meeting with the Bayers had been unsettling, and was probably the
reason why his breakfast gherkins had been repeating for the last
two hours.

Immediately after lunch Kessel phoned the
number on Otto's business card. The man answered after one ring and
sounded so eager he must have been waiting for the call. Otto
offered to collect them from the restaurant in his Audi.

In spite of Otto's shortage of faith, the
new partnership could be promising. The photographer's Audi station
wagon was equipped as a mobile office. From the ADR's point of view
Helmut Bayer's son would be seen as a failure. He was morally weak
and short of funds. The idea of a Shrine of Unity for the ADR would
doubtless leave Otto Bayer unmoved, but he was all too ready to
close his studio for a few days at the prospect of getting his
hands on some ready money.

Kessel was convinced that if
the bronze head showed the
features he expected, it would prove that Jesus Christ had not been
a Jew at all, an idea that was popular with true believers in
pre-war Germany. With hard evidence, the ADR and Church could at
last accept it as fact, and unite. This truth would be the
foundation stone of the Shrine. In the 1930s Professor Ernst
Bergmann re-examined the origins of the Christian faith and hailed
Adolf Hitler as the new Messiah. The members of the New Faith in
pre-war Germany immediately accepted the Swastika as the Cross, the
symbol of German Christianity, helping many in the Church to join
in with enthusiasm. The Swastika could not be used today as the New
Cross, but the early examples of the
Kriegsflagge
, the German Imperial War flag, had not been
banned in all German states, as far as he knew. Even if it had, by
cleverly adapting parts of it with the colors of Germany and the
Christian cross, it would make a very acceptable and legal symbol
of Christian unity in the ADR.

Yes
, one day the bronze head of Jesus Christ would be the
magnet, drawing independent neo-Nazi groups into one glorious,
united whirlwind of change. Phönix would be supportive when the
time came, but unbelievers like Otto could never be part of it.
They were totally lacking in vision.

Kessel was beginning to appreciate that
his Italian birth was not a misfortune, but an essential component
of his destiny. In no way should he should think of himself as
a
Mischling
. The
neo-Nazi groups were all narrow minded, too prejudiced to
understand the whole European picture. Thanks to his mixed
parentage he was one of few who were able to see the need for an
Aryan brotherhood with no geographical boundaries. The birth of
Jesus two thousand years ago had been in similar circumstances --
born in a derelict building, with a humble family upbringing. Then,
after years of preparation, the times of teaching and recognition.
Disciples. Miracles. Converts and new followers: local at first,
then world-wide. Finally books about his life.

He felt a surging excitement in his chest.
Was this his destiny too? It had seemed possible when Rüdi talked
about it as he was dying in hospital. Whatever lay ahead, there was
no need to accept orders from men like Phönix.

Otto Bayer's memory of some essential
information in the photographs was almost certainly deliberately
vague, and no doubt it would improve if he was offered sufficient
financial incentive. Kessel recognized that having Otto Bayer's
help in the search for the monastery in Italy could eliminate a lot
of problems over the next few days. And he already had a plan to
deal with agnostics like Otto -- when the time was
right.

Kessel made a rapid assessment of Otto's
Audi station wagon. It was nearly new, deep metallic red in color,
and equipped with a telephone, a fax machine and personal radios.
This car would become their communications
Wagen
, and he would be in command of all
activities.

The journey back to Rome soon became
tedious, with the first leg down the autobahn towards the Swiss
border. Kessel insisted on an overnight stop just short of Basel
where he offered to be generous with the expenses. He lay in bed
that night wondering if Phönix would ever learn of his involvement
with the appalling incident at TV Roma.

As they continued on to Rome the next
morning, Karl Bretz put himself in the front passenger seat. The
car phone obviously intrigued him. He kept lifting it from its
cradle, pretending to make calls while checking that the occupants
of other cars were watching. Kessel shut his eyes and tried to
ignore the boy.

By the afternoon they reached the
Autostrada del
Sole
, with Kessel in the
back of the car feeling more at ease, learning to live with the
discovery of Bruno's involvement. His Jewish half-brother would be
dealt with. He glanced at Karl who was still playing with the
phone. That would be a task for the
Jungling
.

Otto turned in the driver's seat to
announce he was already remembering a lot about the monastery, from
what he had seen on the photographs. And even if he failed to find
it, he said there would be plenty of scenery to boost his library
of stock photographs. From the way he spoke he'd brought enough
film for a month.

A few more hours and they would be in Rome.
Kessel tried to relax, his legs sideways across the back seat. The
stupid photographer seemed to think he was coming out of this a
winner.

Chapter
20

Rome

KESSEL WAS SHORT of temper. Otto Bayer
seemed to be treating this trip to Italy as a holiday, wanting to
photograph the sights at every opportunity.

Two fruitless days spent driving round the
Roman countryside looking for deserted monasteries, with a
Hasselblad camera and an equipment case full of lenses, was a
shameless combination of business with pleasure: Otto Bayer's
business
and
Otto Bayer's
pleasure. This man was making money whether they found the relic or
not. Kessel needed things to happen fast. The longer the search
took, the more time there was for either Bruno or Phönix to
interfere.