A Death in Berlin (CI Schenke) by Simon Scarrow

Author:Simon Scarrow [Scarrow, Simon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2025-03-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

7 May

Schenke smiled as he saw the Horch limousine turn the corner onto the street where he was waiting. Like many of the police pool cars, it had been appropriated from a wealthy Berlin family on the outbreak of war, and he looked forward to arriving at the Radinsky villa in style. He had long since learned that the Nazi Party measured a man by the trappings of material success, and being chauffeured to the party would confer some status on him. A driver in the garb of the Gestapo would no doubt improve that status still further. As the car drew closer, he could see Liebwitz through the windscreen, hunched forward in anxious concentration as he steered the car towards the kerb and pulled up sharply enough to lurch forward.

Schenke climbed into the passenger seat. ‘Good morning, Liebwitz. How is your head feeling?’

The Scharführer, still gripping the wheel tightly in his left hand, while the right was closed about the handbrake, looked at him with a strained expression. ‘I was feeling fine until I started driving, sir.’

‘Look, you got here in one piece. Have some confidence in yourself.’

The words were spoken in an encouraging tone, but Schenke was struggling to maintain his composure as he regarded the other man’s appearance. The Scharführer’s wide-brimmed black hat had been pulled down over the bandage as far as it would go, with the result that his ears had been pushed out slightly and his head looked like a wingnut. A trickle of sweat was running down his cheek, and he removed his hand from the wheel long enough to cuff it away. Schenke’s sense of amusement gave way to sympathy for his subordinate.

‘You’ll do fine. The more practice you get, the easier it becomes, as with all things.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Then let’s be on our way.’

Liebwitz released the handbrake and reached for the gearstick, engaged first and lifted the clutch. The Horch moved smoothly away from the kerb.

‘Very good,’ said Schenke, then grabbed the side strap as the car gave a sharp jolt. The Scharführer muttered something to himself and resumed his earlier hunched posture as he concentrated on the route ahead, only changing gears when the revs built up to a loud volume. As they navigated their way out of the city, Schenke grasped the strap firmly in one hand and the edge of the seat with the other, and tried to look nonchalantly out of the window to distract himself. Poor Liebwitz, he thought. If only they could have sailed to Wannsee instead.

Emerging from the suburbs of Charlottenburg, they passed into open country before the road entered the Grunewald and the trees of the ancient forest closed in on either side. Glancing at his watch, Schenke saw that they were already running late, and ordered the Scharführer to increase his speed. At length they emerged from the trees into a smart residential area with large houses lining the road. Liebwitz slowed as they crossed the bridge onto the island where Berlin’s wealthiest had built substantial houses and villas on the shoreline.

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