Traitor's Gate Read Online Free

conceive of Theo as a follower of the man.
    ‘That’s good to hear,’ said Joachim. ‘I had made up my mind in Moscow that Theo was the right person to speak to once I got here. After the other night, I thought perhaps I was wrong. But if I trust anyone, I trust you, and if you think he’s all right...’
    A group of three girls squeezed past their table. One of them, a tall brunette with a suggestive swing of her hips, paused to ask Conrad for a light. As he obliged, she murmured her thanks, dark eyes under long lashes briefly meeting his, and joined her friends at a table not too far away.
    ‘I’m impressed. It’s good to see married life hasn’t dulled your talents,’ Joachim said.
    Conrad ignored him. ‘Anyway, what did you want to talk to Theo about?’
    ‘Have you heard of General von Fritsch?
    ‘Yes. He was commander-in-chief of the army, wasn’t he? Resigned a couple of months ago. Ill health or something?’
    Joachim snorted. ‘They accused him of being born on the seventeenth of May.’
    Conrad frowned. ‘I don’t understand.’
    ‘Seventeen five. Article 175 of the Penal Code.’
    ‘Is that the one dealing with homosexuality?’
    ‘The very same,’ said Joachim. ‘I know it well. But the Gesta­po were framing him. They had an elaborate story about him picking up a male prostitute at the Potsdamer Station. There was a secret trial in March and von Fritsch was acquitted, but he resigned anyway. I understand that the army is still very upset about it.’
    ‘I never heard about that.’
    ‘Of course not,’ said Joachim. ‘But it caused quite a stir in the army, or so I am told.’
    ‘And that’s what you were talking to Theo about?’
    ‘That. And something else I heard in Moscow, something even more interesting.’
    Conrad raised his eyebrows.
    ‘Oh, look, he’s leaving,’ said Joachim. The deaf man with the rabbit teeth was indeed on his way out of the club. ‘I’m glad he’s gone. Look, Conrad, are you planning to see Hertenberg over the next few days?’
    Conrad nodded. ‘I was intending to get in touch with him tomorrow, in fact.’
    ‘Could you do that? And when you do, could you tell him I’m sorry about the other night and I really must speak to him before I go back to Moscow next week. Tell him I have some friends who can help him.’
    ‘Help him do what?’
    ‘He’ll know what I mean. Please. It’s terribly important.’
    Conrad examined his cousin closely. He thought Joachim and Theo made unlikely conspirators, a view that seemed to be shared by Theo. But it clearly mattered to his cousin, and Theo could make up his own mind whether he wanted to speak to Joachim. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘I will.’
    ‘Thanks, old man.’ He refilled Conrad’s glass.
    ‘Now. Tell me about Veronica. You said in your letters it was all a little unexpected.’
    ‘That’s an understatement.’
    ‘You do have a tendency to understate these kind of things,’ Joachim said.
    Conrad smiled. ‘I do, don’t I?’
    ‘It’s all very well keeping a stiff upper lip, but if it was me who was walked out on, I would be furious.’
    Conrad glanced at his cousin. He hadn’t spoken to anyone properly about Veronica. He told himself and others when they asked that he didn’t want to burden them. But Joachim had shared so many of his own confidences with Conrad when they were younger.
    ‘Actually, it wasn’t much fun,’ he began.
    Joachim was a good listener. Conrad must have been talking for ten minutes when he became aware of two shapes hovering over the table. Two men looked down at them, both wearing leather trench coats and gloves.
    ‘Herr Mühlendorf?’
    Joachim’s eyes widened in fear when he recognized who they were. ‘Y-yes?’
    ‘My name is Kriminal Assistant Dressel of the Geheime Staatspolizei,’ said one of the men. He had a hard, pinched face, close-cropped red hair and freckles. ‘We would like you to accompany us.’
    ‘Where to?’
    ‘You will find out,’ said