The Coldest Case by Martin Walker (mobi reader android txt) 📕

making money in the strawberry fields and planned to move on to work in the vineyards. They were camping sauvage near St Denis. They picked up a couple of girls and then disappeared. Max’s body was found the next year after a storm uncovered his grave in the woods. He’d been hit over the head with a camping shovel.’

‘This murder was in the summer of ’89?’ she asked. Bruno nodded. ‘That was the summer before the Wall came down, when thousands of young Germans were getting out to the West through Hungary and Austria. Maybe Max and Henri realized the Democratic Republic was collapsing and fled to a new life in France.’

‘Those faces in the Belleville Mairie you recognized from the Clara Zetkin orphanage, do you recall their names, anything else about them?’ Bruno asked.

‘No, we weren’t encouraged to make enquiries. If any employment records or payslips from the registrations department still exist, I might be able to identify them by means of elimination but I’m pretty sure those files were destroyed.’

‘Looking back, what do you think they were doing in Paris?’

‘I assume they were planning to start new lives in France while continuing to serve the socialist revolution.’ There was just a trace of irony in her voice. ‘Perhaps they were used as underground organizers or spies, or as postboxes for other spies to communicate through.’

‘Are you in touch with any other former employees of the Mairie who might be able to help us?’

‘Not still in touch, but I know one or two who moved on to other Party strongholds in the Red Belt after they lost Belleville: one to Malakoff and the other one to Kremlin-Bicêtre.’ She gave a half-smile and shook her head regretfully, as if recalling memories of happier or perhaps simpler times. She seemed suddenly aware of Balzac at her feet, gazing up at her sympathetically, and she bent down to stroke him. ‘I won’t give you names but I doubt they’ll talk to you anyway. They’ll probably retain more of the old political loyalties than I do.’

‘Do you recall anything else that might be relevant?’ Bruno asked, handing her his card when she shook her head. ‘Well, if anything comes to mind, please let me know.’

‘Is that it?’ she asked. ‘You aren’t going to arrest me?’

‘Why would I want to do that?’ he asked, genuinely surprised by her question. ‘You haven’t committed any crime. You were a member of a legal party, working in a mairie controlled by that party after it won elections. You might have had suspicions that some of your comrades were conspiring to commit or assist espionage, but you only began to suspect when it was far too late to matter. You’ve been very helpful – and you keep an admirable garden. What’s more, you like my dog and he seems to like you so he’d probably object if I tried to arrest you.’

She laughed aloud. ‘That’s a relief. I’d hate to go to jail for views I no longer hold.’

Before leaving he took down a brief statement from her, confirming that she believed she saw the murdered man at the Clara Zetkin orphanage in East Germany, where he was a pupil of Jacques and Sylvie Lefort.

After signing it, she asked, ‘Do you think you’ll be able to bring his killer to justice?’

‘I hope so. But proving murder thirty years after the event is going to be difficult.’

20

Bruno put in his earphones, propped his mobile in the cradle on the dashboard and called Isabelle. He waited until he had the double green light that said their call was secure before setting off to drive from Carlux to Périgueux. He spent the first few minutes briefing Isabelle on the Clara Zetkin orphanage, on Jacques and Sylvie Lefort and on the new eyewitness placing the murdered Max in the former East Germany as a youth.

‘The witness is – don’t laugh – Rosa Luxemburg Delpèche, a disaffected old Communist who worked for the Mairie in Belleville,’ he added. ‘These East German orphans were being raised as native French speakers, equipped with French identities and then installed into France while their loyalties were to East Berlin.’

‘So we have the Stasi connection, but one with nothing to do with the Rosenholz dossier,’ Isabelle replied. ‘That’s particularly interesting because I also have news for you. Our old friend General Lannes was called to the Elysée yesterday evening to be told that they had just received a visit from the trendy and very political lawyer Maître Vautan. He arrived with a startling offer. He had a client who was prepared to give the Elysée a special version of the Rosenholz dossier relating to Stasi operations in France in return for immunity for any crimes committed on French soil.’

‘What did Lannes say?’

‘He said he would have to consult the Interior Minister and colleagues in the Department of Internal Security. The Elysée didn’t like that. They want to keep this in-house for security reasons, even though we all know the Elysée staff are the most notorious leakers in Paris.’

‘Obviously they agreed and he then briefed you.’

‘Yes, along with the minister and two people we think we can trust at Internal Security. And now I’m briefing you. Do you think these Clara Zetkin orphans are part of the Rosenholz dossier or were they off the books, some special Stasi project that didn’t get into the main files?’

‘I don’t know, but you said something about Maître Vautan suggesting his client had a special version of Rosenholz.’

‘That’s how Vautan described it. The problem is there’s no indication of the crimes for which Vautan’s client seeks immunity. It’s a blank cheque. They could be signing up to forgive a paedophile serial killer and heaven help anyone in the loop if this ever gets out. Understandably, the Elysée wants some cover which is why they want to be able to say they consulted the security services.’

‘I know this is quite a leap but something described as a special version of the