Sabine’s knees shook with terror when she stepped through the doors of Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse 8. The last two times she’d been here, she’d been in the company of Gestapo agents who’d shoved her forward.
Now, the vastness of the huge entrance hall tugged at her fear, beckoning a new wave forward. An eerie chill crept up her spine, urging her to turn on her heels and run away. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, she noticed a uniformed woman manning a reception desk.
“Good evening, I’d like to speak with Kriminalkommissar Becker, please,” Sabine said, hoping her voice didn’t betray her nerves.
“On what business?” the woman asked, giving her a once-over.
“He’s waiting on information about some subversives. Tell him Sabine Mahler is here.”
The woman reluctantly picked up the telephone and spoke a few words. Then she pointed to a line of wooden chairs. “The Kriminalkommissar will be here in a few minutes.”
“Thank you.” Sabine exhaled a deep breath, sensing how a drop of sweat trickled down her temple. She brushed it away, careful not to damage her hastily renewed make-up. Becker didn’t have to notice her tumbling nerves.
Becker arrived five minutes later, glaring at her. “Why weren’t you at the meeting place?”
Sabine stood up. “There was a problem. I came to tell you in person. It might be important.”
“Fine. Follow me,” he said, leading the way deep into the maze of hallways. Sabine almost wept with joy when he stopped short of the staircase leading up to the attic with the torture cells. He opened the door to what seemed to be his office, a huge room with windows overlooking the park behind the building. It seemed to be an oasis of peace and quiet, but Sabine knew better.
The wall behind his desk was adorned with Hitler’s photograph flanked by two flags with the swastika. Sabine stood for a moment and saluted the Führer. “Heil Hitler!” Her right hand shot forward, slightly above shoulder-height, the way she’d practiced it so many times in the Bund Deutscher Mädel, the Hitler Youth for girls.
Her salute seemed to mollify Becker, because he said with a slightly less icy voice, “Now what is so important that you came all the way here?”
“When I arrived to pick up the girl, she was gone.”
“Gone?” he asked in disbelief.
“Yes. It looked like she’d been moved in a hurry.” Sabine paused to let him process her words before she continued to tell her carefully rehearsed charade. “Someone warned those devious subversives. I can’t think of any other explanation.”
“Now you are fantasizing. Who could have done such a thing?”
“I honestly don’t know. When I found out, I searched for a working telephone booth to inform Lily Kerber, just as you ordered me to.” She gave him a tentative smile. “But then I had my doubts. What if she was the person who warned them?”
“Fräulein Kerber?” he scoffed. “She’s not working for the resistance, I assure you.”
“I can’t believe it either. Lily and I attended school together and I can’t possibly imagine her betraying the Reich…but she was the only one to know about the Aktion besides you and your men.”
“Now you’re implying my men are traitors?” Becker seemed to be amused at that notion.
“Of course not,” Sabine hurried to say. “You and your men are above any doubt. But I thought it prudent to inform you in person, so you can investigate for yourself and find out who warned the subversives.”
“Hmm…” He didn’t seem convinced.
“I’m so sorry this happened. I just hope this Jewish girl won’t be able to wreak havoc on Germany.” Sabine dabbed at her eyes to show her immense concern.
“Who told you such nonsense?” Becker exploded. “She’s a child. Vermin. How would she be able to damage our great Germany?”
Finally, Sabine felt like Becker was biting into her story. “Our Führer! He said every last Jew had the power to destroy the Master Race. And now she got away…it’s my fault…I failed our Führer…” Sabine gave a sob.
“I’m sure we’ll find her. Don’t you worry about the vermin. What concerns me more is that we have a traitor in our own ranks,” he said.
“Yes, that is very worrisome, and I can’t help but wonder…who would benefit from warning the subversives? Who could be devious enough to pretend loyalty to you when in fact she’s spying for them?” Sabine clasped her hand in front of her mouth. “You don’t think I would do this, right? You know I’d never lie to you. I love my husband and I want him back. Besides, I wouldn’t come running straight to your offices if I were the traitor. Traitors hide…they evade.”
Becker gave her a long gaze and shook his head in thought. “Hmm… you have a point there. But if it’s not you, then who is it?”
“It must be someone who knew about the handover.” Sabine nudged him to where she wanted to have him.
“We won’t jump to conclusions here, but I might have to interrogate Fräulein Kerber,” he said, making a whipping movement with his hand.
Sabine felt hot and cold shivers racing across her skin. More sins piled up on her mountain of transgressions.
He pursed his lips when noticing the obvious distress on Sabine’s face. “We don’t take these things lightly, but since Fräulein Kerber has faithfully worked for us such a long time, I’ll be gentle if she’s really innocent.”
Did the Gestapo even know the meaning of the words gentle and innocent? Sabine did her best to control her emotions and kept her voice calm when she asked, “What do you want me to do now?”
“Go home and pretend nothing is amiss. I will contact you should I need you.” He dismissed her with a wave of his hand.
Sabine itched to ask questions about her husband, but she knew better than to destroy the fragile goodwill she’d just built with the Gestapo officer.