Munich Wolf by Rory Clements

Author:Rory Clements
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zaffre Publishing

CHAPTER 26

For such a high-profile case, Seb had expected the courtroom in the Palace of Justice to be packed, but the attendance was quite sparse.

Rosie Palmer’s English friends were there – Unity, of course, Adam Rock, Frances de Pole – and a dozen others from the Haus Gertrud student hostel and elsewhere. Also Unity’s SS shadow Fritz Mannheim. But Rosie’s brother had gone home, so there were none of the dead girl’s relatives. Nor did there seem to be any of the accused’s family, certainly not his mother or father.

Seb assumed they were still under lock and key in the Presidium cells.

But there were reporters, both German and foreign.

The trial, such as it was, was brief and to the point. Friedlander was brought in. He had been allowed to wear his own clothes – a smart suit and tie – and his hair had been brushed and combed, but he looked a lost and beaten man. His good looks had vanished. His lawyer, Herr Brühne, the one hired by Uncle Christian, caught Seb’s eye and smiled at him as though everything would be all right.

The prosecutor read out the charge and the judge asked Friedlander for a plea. He looked towards his counsel, who nodded, then said, ‘Guilty, your honour.’ The prosecutor spent five minutes outlining the gory details of the murder.

The judge spoke of an unspeakable crime which shamed Germany in the eyes of the world and warranted nothing but the full force of the law. He then pronounced sentence. Execution by guillotine within the confines of Stadelheim prison.

The court was silent. Seb gazed around and all he saw was the satisfied smirk on the face of Unity Mitford.

Karl Friedlander’s expression did not change, but tears flowed down his cheeks.

It was all over. With brutal efficiency, a man’s life was declared over. The prisoner was led away.

Outside the court, Seb breathed deeply of the fresh air. He felt dirty and complicit in something dreadful simply by witnessing the trial. By not standing up and demanding a rethink.

‘They don’t hang about, do they? Straight to the point.’

He turned. It was Ernie Pope. He had been with the other journalists on the reporters’ benches in the court.

‘Short and not very sweet, Ernie.’

‘How long until he gets the chop?’

‘Well, it’s Friday, so probably not until Monday at the earliest. Difficult to know these days – so many of the old rules have gone out the window. How do you think this will this play out in England?’

Pope shrugged. ‘Difficult. I know Donald Gainer doesn’t feel good about it, which is why he didn’t turn up this morning. But the problem is the guilty plea. Who can argue with it? The ghastly reality is that no more will be said and there will be no repercussions for Anglo-German relations.’

‘I still don’t understand why he changed his plea. The evidence wasn’t overwhelming. Even if he is, indeed, guilty, he must have had a shout at getting off.’

‘Hmm.’

‘What is it, Ernie?’

‘Well, just between you and me, I heard a little whisper from one of my BPP buddies about that.

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