Silesian Station by David Downing

Author:David Downing [Downing, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781906964498
Publisher: Old Street Publishing
Published: 2010-08-31T23:00:00+00:00

‘Why?’ Russell asked simply.

‘I will tell you, but I ask you not to repeat any of this. Except to Herr Schade, of course. And please ask him not to repeat it to anyone else.’

‘I will.’

Kuzorra leant back in his chair. ‘A few days ago I received a visit from an old colleague – a man whom I disliked intensely when we worked out of the same office. He is still on the job, a Kriminalinspektor now. He was always a brown-noser – an old term, and one that gained a double meaning when Hitler’s thugs started running things on the streets.’

Frau Kuzorra muttered something under her breath.

‘In my own home I will speak the truth,’ Kuzorra told her. He turned back to Russell. ‘I won’t tell you the man’s name because it’s not relevant. Anyway, he came to see me last Sunday – he was waiting outside when we returned from church. He told me there had been complaints from railway staff at Silesian Station – and from some of the stall-owners – that I had been harassing them. He wanted to know why I was trying to cause trouble over some miserable Jewish girl. Her disappearance – if she really had disappeared – was police business, and I should keep out of it. I argued with him, said the police had done nothing. He just smiled and said they had done everything that needed doing, and that there was no need for a retired private detective to waste his time on such a business. I said it was my time to waste, and my living to earn. He said not anymore, that my license to operate as a private detective had been withdrawn. I tell you, the bastard was really enjoying himself. And there was more. If I carried on with the investigation I would be putting our pensions at risk. Our pensions, you understand. Not just my police pension, but both our pensions from the state. We could not live without them. So…’ He spread his hands in a gesture of resignation. ‘I am sorry.’

‘So am I,’ Russell said. He was wondering whether Thomas had also been leaned on. ‘The last message you left for me – you said Miriam had been seen with a man.’

‘I have been told to tell you I discovered nothing,’ Kuzorra said, ‘so please, be careful how you use what I tell you. The witness…it wouldn’t help you to know who he is. This witness thought he recognized Miriam from the picture you gave me.’ He took it out of his wallet and gave it back to Russell. ‘He wasn’t absolutely sure, but he thought it was her. And he saw her talking to a man. A man he has seen before at Silesian Station. He’s about fifty, average height, a little overweight perhaps. He has closely-cropped grey hair, a little like mine, the man said.’ The detective ran a hand across his grey stubble. ‘And eyebrows which are darker than his hair. He was wearing some sort of dark blue uniform – my witness thought it might be a chauffeur’s.

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