the money I’m likely to see now.’
‘Are you saying you’ll settle for that?’
‘It’d be the smart move, I guess. What he put me through here was the stick. This is the carrot.’
‘You’re going to let him get away with it?’
‘Sit down, Richard. You look like a man with a mission. It doesn’t suit you.’
Eusden sat down. ‘You promised me an explanation, Marty.’
‘Yeah, but this money . . . changes everything.’
‘How?’
‘It means I don’t have to go away empty-handed. Terminal illness alters your perspective on life, take my word for it. I could have my own fortnight in the sun now. Several fortnights, in fact.’
‘And that’s enough?’
‘What d’you want me to say? At heart, I’ve always been a hedonist. It makes no sense to put you in the picture if we’re not going to do anything about it.’
‘ We? ’
‘I can’t go on alone, that’s for sure. All in all, it’s probably best to end it here. Take the air fare back to London out of this lot. You’ll be behind your desk again by Wednesday morning, sipping a coffee freshly brewed by your curvaceous PA, glad your excursion to Hamburg is just a brief, bad memory. Then, in a few weeks, if you feel like it, come over to Amsterdam and we’ll spend some of Werner’s dosh on a pub crawl.’
‘You seem to have forgotten you owe me most of this in bail money.’
‘Ouch.’ Marty’s expression suggested he really had forgotten. ‘OK. It’s a fair cop. You have first call on it, no argument. Help yourself. Don’t worry about me. Dying penniless is a piece of cake.’
‘I’m not interested in the money, Marty. I’m interested in the truth. You surely don’t think you can get away with stonewalling me like this, do you?’
‘Why not? You’re not planning to tie me up again, are you?’
‘I knew Clem almost as well as you did. What did he have that a creep like Straub could sell now for a small fortune?’
‘Not so small, in all likelihood.’ Marty smiled wryly. ‘Sorry. It really is best if I say nothing.’
‘How did you meet Straub?’
‘Our research interests . . . coincided.’
‘Research into what?’
Marty’s smile assumed a pained fixity. He did not reply.
‘Clem came to Hamburg once, didn’t he?’
‘Did he?’
‘You know he did. While I was on the train, I remembered him talking about it. One of his hush-hush Special Branch missions, some time after the War. We used to think he made them up. I’m guessing he didn’t make this one up.’
‘Guessing? You certainly are.’
‘Tell me I’m wrong, then.’
More silence. Marty’s smile faded into blankness.
‘Why did you come to this flat on Sunday evening?’
‘Werner said there was something here that might interest me. He was lying, naturally.’
‘But why were you taken in?’
‘I’m a gullible guy.’
‘Come on, Marty. You thought it was likely to be true. Why? Something to do with Straub’s father, maybe? What did he do for a living?’
‘Journalist. Worked on the local daily. The Hamburger Abendblatt .’
‘At the time of Clem’s visit?’
‘Probably. If there was a visit.’
‘What was in the case?’
‘You’re not going to give up, are you?’
‘No, I’m not.’
‘Oh God.’ Marty rubbed his face and took another gulp of beer. He gave Eusden a long, studious stare. ‘You’ll regret getting involved in this, y’know, you really will.’
‘I’m already involved.’
‘No. Affected by it. But not involved. There’s a big difference. I’m not chasing a quick buck, as Werner seems to think. I’m chasing . . . meaning, I suppose. When the doc told me I was on the way out, I considered how I ought to spend the small amount of time I have left. More of the same in Amsterdam. Or something . . . different. That’s when I remembered Clem’s attaché case.’ (Marty had always referred to his grandfather as Clem, making him seem more of an old friend than a relative.) ‘It ended up with
‘Are you saying you’ll settle for that?’
‘It’d be the smart move, I guess. What he put me through here was the stick. This is the carrot.’
‘You’re going to let him get away with it?’
‘Sit down, Richard. You look like a man with a mission. It doesn’t suit you.’
Eusden sat down. ‘You promised me an explanation, Marty.’
‘Yeah, but this money . . . changes everything.’
‘How?’
‘It means I don’t have to go away empty-handed. Terminal illness alters your perspective on life, take my word for it. I could have my own fortnight in the sun now. Several fortnights, in fact.’
‘And that’s enough?’
‘What d’you want me to say? At heart, I’ve always been a hedonist. It makes no sense to put you in the picture if we’re not going to do anything about it.’
‘ We? ’
‘I can’t go on alone, that’s for sure. All in all, it’s probably best to end it here. Take the air fare back to London out of this lot. You’ll be behind your desk again by Wednesday morning, sipping a coffee freshly brewed by your curvaceous PA, glad your excursion to Hamburg is just a brief, bad memory. Then, in a few weeks, if you feel like it, come over to Amsterdam and we’ll spend some of Werner’s dosh on a pub crawl.’
‘You seem to have forgotten you owe me most of this in bail money.’
‘Ouch.’ Marty’s expression suggested he really had forgotten. ‘OK. It’s a fair cop. You have first call on it, no argument. Help yourself. Don’t worry about me. Dying penniless is a piece of cake.’
‘I’m not interested in the money, Marty. I’m interested in the truth. You surely don’t think you can get away with stonewalling me like this, do you?’
‘Why not? You’re not planning to tie me up again, are you?’
‘I knew Clem almost as well as you did. What did he have that a creep like Straub could sell now for a small fortune?’
‘Not so small, in all likelihood.’ Marty smiled wryly. ‘Sorry. It really is best if I say nothing.’
‘How did you meet Straub?’
‘Our research interests . . . coincided.’
‘Research into what?’
Marty’s smile assumed a pained fixity. He did not reply.
‘Clem came to Hamburg once, didn’t he?’
‘Did he?’
‘You know he did. While I was on the train, I remembered him talking about it. One of his hush-hush Special Branch missions, some time after the War. We used to think he made them up. I’m guessing he didn’t make this one up.’
‘Guessing? You certainly are.’
‘Tell me I’m wrong, then.’
More silence. Marty’s smile faded into blankness.
‘Why did you come to this flat on Sunday evening?’
‘Werner said there was something here that might interest me. He was lying, naturally.’
‘But why were you taken in?’
‘I’m a gullible guy.’
‘Come on, Marty. You thought it was likely to be true. Why? Something to do with Straub’s father, maybe? What did he do for a living?’
‘Journalist. Worked on the local daily. The Hamburger Abendblatt .’
‘At the time of Clem’s visit?’
‘Probably. If there was a visit.’
‘What was in the case?’
‘You’re not going to give up, are you?’
‘No, I’m not.’
‘Oh God.’ Marty rubbed his face and took another gulp of beer. He gave Eusden a long, studious stare. ‘You’ll regret getting involved in this, y’know, you really will.’
‘I’m already involved.’
‘No. Affected by it. But not involved. There’s a big difference. I’m not chasing a quick buck, as Werner seems to think. I’m chasing . . . meaning, I suppose. When the doc told me I was on the way out, I considered how I ought to spend the small amount of time I have left. More of the same in Amsterdam. Or something . . . different. That’s when I remembered Clem’s attaché case.’ (Marty had always referred to his grandfather as Clem, making him seem more of an old friend than a relative.) ‘It ended up with
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