Babylon Berlin by Volker Kutscher Read Free Book Online Page A

available means at my disposal. It was clear what he meant.
    In police barracks there was talk of civil war. Everyone knew the RFB – the alliance of Red Front fighters – had weapons, and many feared they would use them.
    Accordingly, E Division’s investigation was now less important. If the cells in Alex were to be filled with communists, then the pornographers would have to make way. Wolter had even been asked to postpone any further arrests until after the weekend, which had dulled Rath’s sense of achievement a little. Despite the breakthrough they were forced to twiddle their thumbs.
    He had managed to show his colleagues what he was about though; Detective Inspector Gereon Rath, the cop from the provinces. Bruno had been amazed. The rookie Jänicke likewise.
    There was always a weakness, a wall of silence invariably contained a loose stone and, once you found it, the rest would crumble. In this case the loose stone was Old Fritz, who had squealed as soon as Rath threatened to subpoena his wife. Pure bluff, Rath hadn’t known the old man was married. He didn’t even know his name. The only person they’d been able to identify beyond any doubt in the last few days was Johann König and, like the rest of them, he hadn’t said a word. They must have made a deal in the Black Maria while Jänicke had been half-asleep.
    Rath had tried a few things before he had finally broken Frederick the Great, aka Old Fritz. The old man wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, but he had the air of a respectable family man. Pressed in that sensitive spot, he had broken down and the names came gushing out. The stenographer had a job keeping up.
    There was a knock at the door. Rath yanked his top drawer open and swept the prints from his desk. No-one else needed to see them, and he found them embarrassing. At the same time, some of his colleagues in E Division got a kick out of displaying their photo collections whenever a female CID officer entered. It didn’t matter if the women blushed or came out with some saucy riposte, the men’s laughter was always the same.
    ‘Come in,’ he cried. The door opened. It was Wolter. ‘Why so formal?’ Rath asked. ‘Since when do you knock?’
    Uncle grinned. ‘Were you expecting visitors? I can see you’ve cleared your desk!’
    ‘Not everyone has to see our evidence.’
    ‘Especially not stenographers from A Division, am I right?’ Wolter laughed. ‘Come on, don’t be such a sourpuss. You’ve got every reason to celebrate.’
    ‘Why’s that?’
    ‘Because the calendar says Monday the first of May, and you’re not in uniform. They’re the ones out fighting the communists. While we get to stay warm inside.’
    ‘Thanks, but I already know why I never wanted to join uniform.’
    ‘Don’t get your hopes up too soon. CID might still be needed on the streets.’
    The entire Berlin police force had been on high alert since seven that morning, including both uniform and CID, sixteen thousand officers in total. They had called in those training at the police academy and mounted police had closed off all the parks. There was a strong police presence in the public transport depots, and uniformed officers had assembled in force in the city’s working class areas.
    ‘The Reds mean business,’ said Wolter. ‘Things are really kicking off at Alex. At least that’s what Schultes said in the canteen just now. Both of his windows look out onto the square. Should we go and take a look?’
    They weren’t the only ones to find their way to Schultes’s office. There was barely any space left by the two windows. Jänicke was there too.
    ‘I wouldn’t be going to Aschinger’s today if I were you,’ he greeted his colleagues.
    A big crowd had gathered amidst the building-site chaos at Alexanderplatz, several thousand people tightly packed around the entrance to Tietz department store. A shawm band in marching order had turned the corner at Alexanderstrasse and was heading towards the square,