1503954692 (29 page)

They caught up with a confused Tobias Kaufmann in the stairwell. Tayte grabbed his arm. ‘We’ve got to get out of here!’ he said. ‘Where’s Amir?’

‘He took off,’ Tobias said. ‘That’s why I came up. The police are—’

‘They won’t get here in time,’ Tayte interrupted. ‘We have to go.’

They reached the street and Jean went straight to the parked motorcycles. Tayte gave Tobias a gentle push in the opposite direction.

‘Run!’ he said. ‘Just like Amir. Keep going and don’t stop until you’re safely away from here.’

Tayte heard a door slam in the offices above and knew Fleischer and his men were at the top of the stairwell. There wasn’t much time. As Tobias set off, Tayte ran to Jean, who was trying the key she’d picked up in one of the motorcycles. She shook her head and moved on to the next one.

‘They’re coming!’ Tayte said. ‘We need to go now!’

‘I’m going as fast as I can,’ Jean said. She’d moved on to the third bike. She turned the key and the motor fired into life. ‘It’s always the last bloody one, isn’t it? Get on!’

It was a BMW motorcycle, the same make as the one Jean had back in London, only this was much smaller. Hers was a tall, enduro machine, which was more suited to Tayte’s size, whereas this was more like a sports bike, but without the fairing. Jean kicked up the stand and revved the motor, and Tayte honestly didn’t think there was room for him on the postage stamp of a seat behind her, but a shout from behind him quickly forced him to try. He barely had to swing his leg up to mount it. The suspension sank as he lowered himself and locked his arms around Jean’s waist, and then the front wheel suddenly lifted off the ground momentarily as Jean opened the throttle.

Above the sound of the engine Tayte thought he heard sirens wailing in the near distance. As they sped off, he glanced back and saw Fleischer. He was aiming the gun at them, but he must have thought better of pulling the trigger. Contrary to how Tayte felt about riding pillion again after what had happened the last time, he was never more glad to be on the back of a motorcycle again.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Conscious of Max Fleischer’s threat to find him again, and not wishing to discover what the man was going to do to him if he did, Tayte had suggested to Jean that they relocate to a different hotel for their last night in Munich. Following another restless sleep, he was now back at the hospital with Jean, sitting in the waiting area with several walk-in patients.

After their ordeal at the offices of
Kaufmann und Kaufmann
the evening before, Jean had ridden the motorcycle hard until Tayte felt the need to tell her they were safe and that she could stop. If he hadn’t, he thought her adrenaline would have kept her going until the bike ran out of fuel. They had abandoned it somewhere close to the city centre, and from there they took a taxi to the police station to report what had happened. Tayte let the police know where the motorcycle was, and Jean forwarded a copy of the licence plate photograph she’d taken in the hope that it might help to identify the members of Fleischer’s gang, although Tayte figured the bikes had probably been stolen or had false plates.

On the way to the hospital that morning Tayte had asked the taxi to stop off at Tobias Kaufmann’s office to check that he was okay. He also wanted to collect his briefcase. Since leaving it behind he’d felt as if a part of him was missing and he was keen to get it back, but he’d found that the entrance to the premises had been secured with a heavy chain and padlock, and he couldn’t raise an answer from within. He’d tried Tobias’s mobile phone a few times that morning, but every call had gone straight to voicemail. Tayte had learned from the police that Tobias was okay; he’d been picked up at the end of the street as the police arrived. Tayte hadn’t been surprised to hear that Max Fleischer and his two sidekicks had fled the scene just moments before the authorities arrived.

‘Jean Summer!’

Tayte’s ears pricked up at hearing Jean’s name.

She stood up. ‘Shouldn’t take long,’ she said, and then she went over to the nurse who had called for her.

Tayte watched them talk for a moment. Then Jean came back.

‘That was quick.’

‘I wish,’ Jean said, frowning. ‘Some of yesterday’s test results were inconclusive and they want to run them again. It could take a while.’

‘Inconclusive? What does that mean? You’re okay, aren’t you?’

‘It doesn’t mean anything yet. Just that they don’t know. They said they would hurry things through so we don’t miss our flight.’

Tayte checked his watch, aware that he’d told Jan Statham he’d be with her at the Munich
Standesamt
first thing.

‘Look,’ Jean said. ‘I know you told me you weren’t letting me out of your sight until we’re back in London, but we don’t have a lot of time left. Why don’t you go to the record office while I do what I have to do here? We can meet up afterwards.’

Tayte shook his head. ‘I don’t want to leave you. After what happened last night these people know we’re still digging.’

‘Good,’ Jean said, a little indignantly. ‘Personally, I’m tired of these people trying to scare us off. Remember they’re only doing it because we’re on to something. We must be.’

Tayte liked her spirit, and he couldn’t argue with her logic. ‘I suspect Tobias Kaufmann must be on to something, too,’ he said. ‘Why else turn his place over like that?’ Tayte had been wondering about the motive and the timing of the attack on the Kaufmanns’ offices all night. He figured the reason had to be connected with whatever Tobias had found from ‘following the money’ as he’d put it.

Jean agreed. ‘And he’s going to be excited when we tell him we know Strobel is still very much alive.’

‘He sure is,’ Tayte said. ‘And if Fleischer was going to take us to him, he can’t be too far away. He must have come to Munich after all, as Kaufmann’s insider said he would.’

‘So keep digging,’ Jean said. ‘I was fine here all by myself yesterday, and I’ll be fine again today. Besides, Jan Statham might be too busy to see you later. What if she’s found something?’

The thought put a smile on Tayte’s face. ‘She was looking into Ava Bauer for me.’

‘Yes, you told me.’

‘I think Ava could be pivotal in this.’

Jean laughed. ‘You don’t have to convince me. Go and find out while there’s still time. You know you’ll only regret it when we get back to London if you don’t.’

Tayte knew Jean was right. ‘You’ll wait here until I come back for you?’

‘Right here,’ Jean said. ‘This area of the hospital’s always busy. Fleischer would have to be crazy to try anything.’

‘That’s exactly what I’m worried about.’

‘You know what I mean,’ Jean said. She gave Tayte a playful smile. ‘Besides, it’s you he’s after now, remember?’

‘Only too well,’ Tayte said. He leaned in and gave Jean a kiss. ‘You’d better go. The nurse is waiting. Call me as soon as you’re ready to leave.’

‘I will. And I know I keep saying it, JT, but be careful.’

Tayte gave her a cheesy smile as he made for the exit. ‘Careful is my new middle name,’ he said. ‘Don’t you worry about me. I’ll be back before you know it.’

As Tayte sat in the back of the taxi on his way to Munich’s civil registration office, his thoughts were preoccupied with Ava Bauer and the idea that she was the most likely candidate for his paternal grandmother. As for his paternal grandfather, all Tayte knew was that his mother and her husband, Karl, had gone to see the Kaufmanns in connection with tracing Karl’s father, which suggested to Tayte that Karl had at least considered the possibility that Volker Strobel was his father. Yet, if Ava was indeed Karl’s mother, then given that she was married to Johann Langner during the Second World War, there was every possibility that Langner was Karl’s father. Tayte closed his eyes and shook his head as he wondered how on earth he was going to prove any of this. He had to remind himself that he was still working on little more than a hunch. He thought it was a pretty big hunch, given his findings, but in his line of work he knew that it was the facts that really mattered. He just had to find them.

‘Find the child,’ he told himself, ‘and you’ll find your family.’

Tayte had become so lost to his thoughts that the journey seemed to take no time at all. He only snapped out of them fully when the taxi pulled up outside the Munich
Standesamt
and the driver asked for his fare. Tayte checked his watch. It was just before ten—a little later than he’d hoped. He took his phone out as he walked towards the entrance and tried Tobias Kaufmann again, but as before, his call went straight to voicemail. He supposed Tobias must be busy sorting out the mess Fleischer and his gang had made.

‘Mr Tayte!’

Tayte spun around to see Jan Statham pacing towards him with a spring in her step as she tried to catch up. She was wearing a light green trouser suit today. He stopped and met her smile, noticing that she had a paper tray of hot drinks in her hand.

‘Good morning,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry I’m a little later than I said.’

‘That’s quite all right,’ Jan said. ‘It’s not like we’re running to any kind of schedule is it?’ I thought you wouldn’t be much longer so I popped out and got you a fresh coffee.’

She handed one of the paper cups to Tayte. ‘Jan, you really are a lifesaver,’ he said. ‘And please call me JT.’

They went inside, taking the stairs up to the same office area as before.

‘Did you manage to find anything?’ Tayte asked.

Jan’s reply didn’t sound too promising. ‘Not as much as I’d hoped to,’ she said. ‘I’ve found some basic records for Ava Bauer, but . . .’ She trailed off as she opened the door to the small meeting room, which was just as it had been when Tayte left it the day before. ‘Well, here we are,’ Jan added. ‘You’ll soon see.’

They sat down with their drinks and Jan slid a folder between them. ‘I found three records for the Ava Bauer we’re interested in,’ she said, opening the folder. She laid out the records. ‘You’ve already seen her marriage certificate, and I couldn’t find anything else to suggest she ever remarried. This is a copy of her birth certificate. It tells us she was born here in Munich in 1917, to Adelina and Gerhard Bauer.’

Tayte recalled Ava’s parent’s names from the marriage certificate he’d seen the day before. From his jacket pocket he took out the piece of paper he’d written their details on, glad that he hadn’t put it in his briefcase. ‘
Musiklehrer
?’ he said, picking up on one of the many German words written on the certificate. ‘Did her father teach music?’

‘Very good,’ Jan said. ‘See, you’re picking up the lingo already.’

Tayte saw a name he recognised then. ‘Schröder,’ he said, more to himself than to Jan.

‘That was Adelina Bauer’s maiden name,’ Jan said, highlighting the entry for Ava’s mother with her finger.

Tayte unfolded his piece of paper, knowing that Schröder was one of the names he’d written down the day before. ‘Heinz Schröder was one of the witnesses on Ava’s and Johann’s marriage certificate,’ he said, knowing now that Heinz was another family member on Ava’s mother’s side.

Jan brought the copy of Ava’s and Johann’s marriage certificate into view. ‘Yes, here he is,’ she said. ‘You’re quite right.’

Tayte drew a line under his name. So far he’d seen Ava’s birth and marriage certificates, but there was one other record Jan had found for him. ‘Is that Ava’s death certificate?’ he asked, supposing that if it was, it would soon enlighten him as to why Johann Langner’s son, Rudi, had never known the woman his adoptive father had married during the war. Jan’s answer was unexpected.

‘No, I couldn’t find a record of death for Ava,’ she said. ‘I did manage to obtain a copy of her christening record, though.’ She slid it towards Tayte. ‘Apart from telling us the religion of her parents, the only other information it gives us that we don’t already have is the names of her godparents, who I’ve already confirmed are her maternal grandparents.’

Tayte added their names to his list: Gottfried and Krista Schröder. ‘So there’s no record of death for Ava?’ Tayte asked, seeking clarification.

Jan shook her head. ‘It doesn’t mean there isn’t one, of course. Just that her death wasn’t recorded here in Munich. I even contacted a few colleagues in neighbouring offices to see if they could find anything.’ She shook her head again. ‘We’d need to know where she died, really. Assuming she has died, of course.’

Tayte thought Ava might even have emigrated after the war. Many people did. In the absence of being able to locate a death certificate for her, he decided he would have to keep an open mind for now about whether Ava was still alive or not. It was a possibility, although she would be almost a hundred years old. If she was alive, he thought it all the more curious that she and Johann had not remained together after the war. From everything Langner had told him, Tayte was of the impression that he’d been besotted with Ava, and yet his son, Rudi, had never so much as met her.

Tayte thought back to his first day in Munich, when he and Jean had gone to see Johann Langner at the hospital. He thought about Langner’s parting words again, and now more than ever he considered that the answer to these questions could very well be related to the ‘terrible thing’ Langner had told them Volker Strobel had done. But while Tayte knew he could begin a long quest to find out precisely where and when Ava died, and whether she was still alive, that wasn’t why he was there. He had to stay focused. He was looking for a child—his father.