The New Vienna was bustling. The lobby’s glowing gas lights created an inviting space to welcome diners in from the gloom of the wintry midday. There was a noisy hubbub from the bar. When the doors opened a heavy cloud of cigar smoke wafted into the lobby. Swallow could nearly feel it, like a green film, on his face and hands. It was distinctly unpleasant, sickening almost, but Mossop sniffed it appreciatively. Swallow grinned in spite of his distaste.
‘I’d say that Cuban tobacco’s a bit out of your price range, Pat. You’ll have to stick to the Navy Plug.’
Stefan Werner was not pleased to be called from the dining room to meet the two G-men.
‘Gentlemen, may we please be very brief. I have been very co-operative, very gewesen. You must realise that this is one of the busiest days of the year. Every businessman in the city wants to take lunch with his friends.’
As he spoke, the bar doors swung outwards to disgorge a noisy, already inebriated band of half a dozen gentlemen making their way across to the dining room. Swallow recognised one or two of the florid faces from routine inquiries at banks or businesses around Dame Street.
‘Ye’ve a full house all right,’ Mossop observed when they had passed. ‘There won’t be much work got outta them lads for the rest of the day.’
Werner permitted himself a thin smile.
‘It is a tradition in Dublin, as you understand, I’m sure. Men of commerce use the days between Christmas and New Year to engage in a little Gastfreundschaft, hospitality, with business acquaintances and friends. For us it is very important business.’
‘I don’t doubt it,’ Swallow said. ‘And we won’t keep you from it. But something has emerged in routine inquiries that we need to clarify with you.’
‘And what is that?’
‘The Berlin police have an Irishman in custody on serious charges. He claims to have been an employee of yours.’
Werner shrugged.
‘This is possible, I suppose. But why do you tell me this? He is in Berlin. It is a matter for the authorities there.’
‘Don’t you want to know his name?’ Swallow asked.
‘Not particularly. But you will tell me, I imagine.’
‘Yes,’ Swallow said. ‘He gives the name of Michael James Carmody. Thirty-three years of age. He claims he worked here at the New Vienna and previously at the Dolphin Hotel.’
‘Yes, I believe I remember him,’ Werner nodded slowly. ‘Carmody. He was here for a short time. He left some weeks ago. He was quite difficult. Quite aggressive. He had difficulties with other employees.’
‘Difficulties?’
‘He threatened a kitchen porter with a knife. He said he would kill him after they had finished work. The kitchen porter did not want to come back after that.’
‘Why didn’t you tell us this before?’ Swallow asked.
‘It didn’t seem important. What could it have to do with the matter you came to inquire about? The death of . . . that poor girl.’
Swallow wondered if Stefan Werner had genuinely forgotten Alice Flannery’s name or if he was affecting amnesia.
‘It’s no trivial thing when one man threatens to kill another, Mr Werner. In fact it’s a crime, and a very serious one. And the girl’s name was Alice Flannery, by the way.’
‘Mr Swallow,’ Werner’s smile was condescending, ‘thank you for reminding me. My lapse of memory was very temporary, I assure you. As to that kind of language, it will be heard every day in a busy kitchen. Nobody takes it literally. Certainly nobody would regard it as a crime.’
Mossop was scribbling in his notebook.
‘Did Carmody have any dealings with Alice Flannery?’
‘I might have seen them speaking on one or two occasions.’
‘Any idea what they might have been speaking about?’ Mossop asked.
Werner shook his head.
‘Not in the slightest. How could I?’
‘But their work wouldn’t have required conversation between them?’
‘That is probably so,’ Werner agreed.
For a moment Swallow thought the restaurateur seemed somewhat distracted.
‘Yes, that is so,’ he repeated as if something had just occurred to him.
Swallow struck a deliberately grave tone.
‘Mr Werner, when I asked you for details of your employees here you did not mention the name of Michael James Carmody. You furnished my colleagues with a list of employees that did not include his name. Yet now you tell me he threatened violence against another member of your staff. That is, in spite of what you say, a crime. And I have to tell you that he has been convicted in the courts for a serious assault. This could have a bearing on a murder inquiry. Your omission may have serious consequences.’
Werner’s face darkened.
‘I hope you’re not threatening me, Detective Inspector. I am, as I say, being co-operative with you, at the expense of my responsibilities here on what you can see is a very busy day. This Carmody had left our employment when you visited me. If I were to give you the names of every kitchen porter and still-room worker who worked here in the past it would be a very long list, I assure you. I gave you a full and complete list of those employed here when Miss Flannery was killed.’
Swallow acknowledged silently that he might have a point. But he was not prepared to concede it.
‘With respect, Mr Werner, that doesn’t fully address my point. We are investigating the murder of one of your employees. I’m sure you can understand the potential significance in the fact that she worked with a man who has a record of violence.’
‘What can I do?’ Werner raised his eyebrows in a gesture of helplessness. ‘It never occurred to me. I’m sorry.’
He hesitated.
‘There is one other matter concerning Carmody,’ he said.
‘Go on please.’
‘He stole some cash, maybe as much as fifty pounds from my office. I found him in here one afternoon. He said he wanted to talk to me about a rise in his wages. Later that evening I realised the money was missing from a drawer in my desk.’
‘Did you challenge him, accuse him?’ Swallow asked.
‘Of course. But he denied it. What was I to do? If I reported it to the police I’d have the likes of you tramping around in here night and day. That would be bad for business. One simply carries the loss as a hazard of business life. And one takes better precautions.’
‘Have you any details on Carmody?’ Mossop asked. ‘Address? Family? Acquaintances?’
‘As I explained before, we do not keep records for our casual workers. They come to work, and if they do it satisfactorily I pay them. They don’t come to work or they do not work properly, I do not pay them. It is as simple as that.’
The door to the dining room opened and a bald, middle-aged waiter poked his head anxiously into the lobby.
‘Yes, Hans,’ Werner called to him, ‘I’ll be with you immediately. These gentlemen will be leaving shortly.’
He made a slight bow to Swallow.
‘As you will gather, I am required in the restaurant, Detective Inspector. I’m afraid I cannot help you any further. Please excuse me.’
He turned on his heel and vanished through the frosted-glass door into the noisy mayhem of the restaurant.