“IT WAS MID-AFTERNOON when we exited the back door of the storeroom and walked out into the alleyway: me, my father, my mother and Grethe with Isabel in her arms. Each of us was holding a bundle. Make no mistake; we looked every bit like the classic picture of refugees on the run. If we were spotted by the Gestapo or an informer, we’d have been captured, loaded into a truck and taken away. And we knew it.
“My father suggested that we take back streets toward a small residential hotel where he knew the operator. We needed a safe and secure place to stay until we could figure out our next move. But the hotel was several blocks away and the risk of exposure was considerable. My father, as a prominent member of Parliament, was a recognizable figure. Maybe not to the Gestapo but certainly to local residents, some of whom had turned informant. Hendricksen had already taken the Gestapo to Lukas. The last thing we heard as we were walking out the door was the Gestapo agent saying, ‘Lukas Holstrum, you will now come with us. We have questions and you will give us answers.’
“We proceeded down the side street, anxious and afraid. Walking as a group of runaways in broad daylight, it seemed as though any minute we’d be stopped. As those thoughts were going through my mind, a woman came out of building right in front of us. She stood there looking at us, sizing us up, and as we approached her, she said, ‘Jewish? Are you Jews?’ My father looked at her but did not answer. She took that as an affirmation and nodded. ‘Yes, you are. You are Jewish,’ she said, and she opened her door. ‘I am a friend, do not be afraid. Come this way. Hurry.’
“Her apartment was on the second floor of a four-story building that was at least eighty years old. The stairs creaked as we ascended. The doors, transoms and woodwork were dark walnut, and the hallways had that musty scent of old wood and carpeting common in old apartment buildings. She opened her door and waved her hand quickly, ushering us in. ‘You will be safe here,’ she said. ‘There are no Jews in this building and no reason for the Germans to come here.’
“‘There are five of us, maybe six,’ my father said.
“‘We will make room,’ she said. ‘I am Rosalyn.’ She shrugged. ‘Just Rose.’ She showed us to a back bedroom. ‘This used to be my son’s room. It will be crowded for you, but you can stay as long as you need.’ She looked at Isabel and smiled. ‘How old is this precious thing?’
“‘She’s ten months; her name is Isabel. I am Grethe, this is my father, Joseph, my mother, Nora, and my sister, Britta. I’m afraid my husband, Lukas, has been taken by the Gestapo.’ Grethe’s eyes filled with tears and she began to cry. And so did Isabel.
“‘My, my,’ Rose said, taking Isabel in her arms. ‘Such tears, little one. Does she eat solid food yet? Cereal? Mashed vegetables? I’m very good at making mashed peas and carrots. My son loved them.’
“‘Rose, thank you so much for your generosity,’ my mother said. ‘We will leave as soon as my husband can make arrangements, but we are forever grateful for your kindness.’
“Rose brushed it off. ‘I am a Danish woman, no more, no less. You would do the same.’
“THAT NIGHT I took my father and Grethe aside. ‘I know what Lukas was talking about when he was arrested. His words were meant for us.’
“My father nodded. ‘I know. He told us to go out the back door. That was a good warning.’
“I shook my head. ‘That’s not all. He talked about Ole and his sister Elizabeth, remember? And Ole said he didn’t have a sister Elizabeth?’ My father nodded. ‘Well, that was a clue for us. Lukas was telling us that he wants us to go St. Vincent’s Hospital and Sister Elizabeth will hide us. And he will know where to find us. We know her. She will help.’
“My father realized I was right. ‘How are we supposed to get all the way up to Fredensborg?’ he said. ‘It’s thirty miles away and I’m sure the train stations are filled with Gestapo agents and their spies.’
“‘What about Tommy?’ Grethe said. ‘He would take us.’
“‘I don’t know how to contact him.’
“‘I know where he lives,’ Grethe said. ‘I’ll go there tonight.’
“That was a bad idea, and everyone knew it. Isabel needed her mother. The Gestapo had long ago been alerted to Grethe, and they had her husband in custody. With Grethe in their clutches, they could get Lukas to say anything. My father couldn’t go, he was too recognizable to be on the streets. It fell to me to contact Tommy. I left a little before ten o’clock.
“Tommy’s house was five miles away and I didn’t get there until after midnight. The neighborhood was quiet, the lights were all off in Tommy’s house and I hesitated before knocking. I didn’t know who lived in the house with Tommy, or who would be at home. To tell the truth, I wasn’t positive I had the right address. What if Grethe was wrong? I knocked very softly at first. Then louder. A young woman came to the door in her robe, opened the door a crack and looked at me for an explanation, as if to say, ‘This had better be good.’
“‘Is Tommy home?’ I said.
“‘I should hope so. Who are you?’
“‘Britta Morgenstern, Lukas Holstrum’s sister-in-law.’
“She swung the door open and stepped aside with a look that said, ‘I should have figured.’ She gestured for me to take a seat in the front room and said, ‘I’ll get him.’ A moment later, he came out in his T-shirt and pajama bottoms, rubbing his eyes. ‘Britta? What’s happened? Where’s Lukas?’
“‘The Gestapo. They took him for questioning this morning. We need your help.’
“‘Where is your family? They’re not still in the bookstore, are they?’
“‘No, we’re staying in a woman’s apartment. She rescued us off the street this afternoon. We need you to drive us up to Fredensborg as soon as possible. Can you do that?’
“He nodded. ‘I have to work, but I can take you tomorrow night.’ He got dressed, grabbed his jacket from the front closet and said, ‘Come on, I’ll give you a lift back to wherever you’re staying.’ He turned his head toward his bedroom and shouted, ‘Marta, I’m going to drive Britta home; I’ll be back in a … I’ll be … be … be…’” Britta stops suddenly.
Emma jumps to her feet. Britta is blinking her eyes, giving her head a quick shake, as though she could clear away a cobweb. She tries to speak but she has difficulty forming her words. She can’t seem to articulate. She tries again. “Tommy drive … Tom…” Her jaw is moving erratically. Finally, her head flops back and her eyes roll upward.
“Bubbe!” Emma screams. “Bubbe!”
Catherine dashes out of the room and returns in an instant with the nurse, who immediately calls in a code. As they wheel Britta’s bed out of the room, she is attended by two other nurses. Emma is hysterical and Catherine wraps her arms around her.
TWO HOURS LATER, Catherine is on the phone. “They don’t know exactly,” she says. “They think she may have had a mini-stroke, the doctor called it a TIA. It’s related to her congestive heart disease. She’s sedated. Emma is staying by her side. I’m going to go back over there in a few minutes.”
“I’m so sorry,” Liam says. “You’ve been telling me that her health is failing, but I hoped that she would have been strong enough … Damn, I guess the case is over.”
“That’s the last thing I’m thinking about right now, Liam.”
“I know, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just that the last several weeks have been so focused on finishing her narrative and preparing for a trial that … I’m sorry. I’ll come home tomorrow.”
“Did you finish your work? Do you have some evidence of Ole’s betrayals? Can we prove anything at all? If Britta doesn’t recover, you’re all we have.”
“I’ve got some. Didn’t you say that Britta had a notebook? Doesn’t it have the whole story in it?”
“You can’t read a notebook to a jury, Liam. It’s not testimony.”
“Well, you can get a continuance, right. If she’s too ill to come to court? Sparks can’t object to that, can he?”
The conversation pauses and Liam listens while Catherine sobs. “I’m not thinking about a continuance, or about Sparks or anything else, Liam. All my thoughts are with Britta and Emma. Right now, I couldn’t care less about this damn trial.”
“All right. All right. I have one more appointment in the morning and I’ll take the evening flight home. How is Ben doing? I miss him.”
“He misses you too. Susan has been very generous with her time and has been practically living at the house during these past weeks.”
“Tell her I’ll be home soon. I love you.”
“Love you too.”