The Perfect Corpse

by Giles Milton

  ‘Where they did all the medical stuff.’

  ‘Medical stuff?’

  ‘The tests. On us girls. To check we were fit, healthy, free from disease. We came here every day. They even tested us for syphilis, you know. That made us laugh. They tested the men, too.

  ‘Only the very finest were brought to Schloss Hohenstein. A real elite. Like one of those shooting clubs you got in the old Germany. Officers. And all highly trained. Every day they would train. One day running. The next climbing. There was hill walking and shooting, They were ever so sportive. And the castle doctor – ’

  She stopped for a moment, trying to remember his name.

  ‘Doctor – Doctor - Fiedler. That was his name. Doctor Fiedler. You see he’d be injecting them with all manner of things. We called it his wonder drugs, that’s what we called it. Wonder drugs.’ She smiled as the memories flooded back. ‘That was it. It made us laugh and we said it meant we’d produce wonder children.’

  Karin broke the pause with a question. ‘What were these drugs. Can you remember?’

  Frau Trautwein didn’t seem to hear, so Frau Götte repeated the question in her ear. She, too, was intrigued.

  ‘Oh, lord, couldn’t tell you now. Don’t know if I ever knew. What’s that thing they all take nowadays. The cyclists I mean.’

  ‘Steroids.’

  ‘Steroids? Well it was probably something like that. And a different one the next day. Pervitin. That was one of them. That was for the men. And glucose. We were given this glucose syrup. Tasted of apricots. But I don’t think we ever knew exactly what it was. The men came every day for their injections and what-not.’

  She turned to Herr Fischer.

  ‘I’d like to see my room. It was a beautiful room. Up in the turret. It had these curved round walls and a view as far as you could see, or that’s how it seemed at the time.’

  Herr Fischer thought for a moment. ‘That’ll be the south turret. The round one. Yes, yes, we can certainly go. But – ’

  He was thinking of the stairs.

  ‘If we take it slowly,’ said Karin.

  ‘It snowed for so many weeks.’ Frau Trautwein continued talking, even as they climbed the winding stairs of the south turret. ‘Weeks and weeks. It was magical, really. We thought it would never stop. Each time we looked out of the windows there was more snow. At one point even the road leading to the castle was blocked.’

  She paused, catching her breath on one of the stone landings.

  ‘I used to run up these. Eighty-two steps to my room. I should have counted them now, make sure they’re all still here.’

  She tapped at her chest. ‘I’m nearly ninety, you know. And they used to go out every day in the snow. Climbing and mountaineering and they’d even camp out, in winter too. All part of the training. They were the elite, see, like an old German club. They were sent off to all sorts of places. You couldn’t imagine.’

  Karin was about to prompt her for more when she started climbing again.

  ‘Ninety,’ said Frau Trautwein before correcting herself. ‘No, no, I mean eighty-two.’

  At last they reached the top landing. It had three doors leading off it, all of them closed.

  ‘Eva,’ said Frau Trautwein, stopping abruptly and pointing at the door opposite the stairwell. ‘Me.’ She pointed at another door. ‘And the third was already being lived in by this girl from Darmstadt I think it was.’

  Herr Fischer turned the handle to Frau Fischer’s old room and slowly opened the door. It looked like the nineteen forties. An old double bed with a monumental wooden head-board. A dressing table with large porcelain washstand patterned with yellow flowers. There was a smaller table with a lamp and a few books. Hanging on the wall was a large painting of some rural Bavarian scene.

  ‘Are all the rooms kept as they were?’ asked Frau Götte.

  Herr Fischer nodded. ‘Not all. But most. There are plans to open up the whole place to the public. But as ever – ’ He pushed his hand into his pocket. ‘Money.’

  Frau Trautwein seemed tired by the climb. She rested against a chair in order to catch her breath.

  ‘Would you like to sit down?’

  ‘No, dear, I’m fine. I want to – ’

  She made her way over to the window.

  ‘On a clear day there’s a wonderful view from here. You could see the Zugspitze and the Schneefemerkopf and they’d be covered in snow until late spring. May, even June. And further away, right over there, is the Alpsee. And sometimes on a clear day you could see the spires of Oberammergau.’

  They gathered at the window, staring into the rain. Drops of water had stuck to the glass, dribbling like tears. For a few seconds the cliff-face behind the castle loomed dark through the mist. Then it faded back to a grey blur.

  ‘And the men?’ Karin dared venture the question.

  ‘Yes of course. That’s why we were here. They’d send us one every night. They’d prepared us in advance. Told us what we were expected to do.’

  She fell suddenly silent, as if the past was catching up with her. Her mood had changed. Karen looked at her and wondered for a moment if she was going to cry. But after emitting a heavy sigh, she continued talking.

  ‘The first night, I remember it like it was yesterday. Otto Streckenbach. That was his name. From Saxony. Sturdy as a farm-hand with this shock of blond hair. I didn’t think he was very bright, but he must have been or he wouldn’t have been in the Totenkopf.’

  Karin flinched on hearing the word.

  ‘They were rough, some of them. And we could understand why. They’d seen everything. Been in Poland. Russia too. They’d been through the Russian winter. Oh they’d had the airs and graces knocked out of them alright.’

  She moved over to the bed and sat down, stroking the blanket.

  ‘Eva became Otto’s favourite. I do believe she was hoping to marry him, if ever the infernal war would be over.

  ‘And then there was Hans. He was a kindly type. A real old fashioned gentleman.’

  Karin gulped. ‘Hans Dietrich?’

  ‘No, no. Hans Metelmann. But you’re right. There was Hans Dietrich, too. Could never forget him. He was their leader of course. Came into all our rooms. He was exactly the sort they wanted to give us babies for the Führer.’

  ‘D’you remember him?’

  ‘Hans Dietrich? Of course my dear. How could you forget. Tall. Blond. But then they were all blond in those days. Bright as a button. But cruel. You can see cruelty in the eyes. Never said much, kept himself to himself. But there were lots of stories about Hans.’

  Herr Fischer and Frau Götte were listening intently, puzzled as to why Karin was so interested in Hans Dietrich.

  ‘Is he in your film?’ whispered Frau Götte.

  ‘No,’ said Karin. ‘But he might well be.’

  Frau Trautwein stood up for a moment but then thought better of it and sat back down on the bed, sighing gently.

  ‘Of course after the war, when it was all over, I regretted everything. Wished I’d never been a part of it. But I was only eighteen. Too young to know better. And I’d lost my mother when I was little. And – ’ she looked at Karin – ‘we all believed in what we were doing.’

  She turned her gaze to the painting on the wall.

  ‘Hitler used to be right there. His portrait. And every time I doubted anything or when it got too much I’d look at the Führer. His face seemed to reassure us all. It was like having a wise uncle always there with you.’

  ‘Who else was there? The men I mean.’

  ‘I can’t remember all their names. There were so many of them, all Otto and Hans and I don’t know what.’

  ‘But Hans – ’ said Karin. ‘Hans Dietrich.’

  ‘Yes, yes, bright as a button. But they all said he was cruelest of the lot. He’d won the Knights Cross, you know. Cruel eyes.’

  ‘He was their leader?’

  ‘They were a small group. The elite of the elite if you like. That’s what they said. And did
n’t they just know it. Lord they swaggered round like nobody’s business and used us girls like we were their special treat. Eva was the first to see it was wrong. It was after she’d spent the night with Hans. I don’t know what he did to her because she’d never breathe a word, but she was in tears for much of the next day. It made us suddenly nervous. It didn’t seem such a good thing after all.

  ‘With me he was – ’

  She stopped speaking for a moment as she replayed the memory. Karin noticed the expression on her face change. She was no longer smiling.

  ‘He came over to me, here in this room. He put his fingers around my neck and squeezed, ever so gently. Then he tightened his grip. He wanted to scare me I think. That’s the only explanation I can think of. He wanted to scare me. I don’t know what they’d injected him with on that day but there was a glint in his eye and I was very scared. And that’s when I learned that you did what Hans Dietrich said.’

  ‘But - ?’ Karin was trying to think what to ask next. ‘What happened to him? Where did he go?’

  ‘They were here for five weeks. Maybe six. What does it matter after all this time? They were the elite, you know. And then one day we were told they were going. Not all of them, only the Totenkopf ones. All very secret, it was. No one was allowed to know. It was always like that here, you see. You never quite knew – ’

  All four of them were looking intently at Frau Trautwein, anxious to know more.

  ‘You never quite knew what?’ The urgency was betrayed by Karin’s voice.

  Frau Trautwein’s face creased back to a smile. ‘Hans let me play a little game with him. His way of showing he could be kind. I’d seen them training on the high slopes, training with dogs, sleds. Climbing in the worst of the snowstorms. He said I could guess where they were going.

  ‘“Somewhere cold?” That’s what I said. And he nodded. “Somewhere very cold?” Another nod. “Norway?” No. “Sweden?” No. “Back to Russia?” No. No. And then he said: “Colder.”

  ‘Well, I had to think at that. Where’s colder than Russia? ‘The North Pole? The Arctic? Greenland?’ I threw up my hands and gave up.’

  He smiled.

  ‘Greenland! You’re going to Greenland? He looked at me. “You said it.”’

  ‘But why?’ asked Karin. ‘Why Greenland?’

  ‘That, my dear, I can’t tell you. I never found out. You see I already knew more than I should.’

  ‘Did he say anything else? Anything?’

  She shook her head. Then she looked at Karin, her face suddenly bright.

  ‘He did. He said the strangest thing of all. I thought about it for years afterwards.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘He said to me: ‘What would you like as a present?’

  ‘Well I laughed at that. I said to him, ‘A present from Greenland?’ And he said, ‘No, a present from America.’ I remember a long silence when he’d spoken, as if he’d said something he shouldn’t have. And then he added with a laugh, ‘from Las Vegas.’ And to this day I never knew what he meant.’

  *

  They drove back to Sonnenhof and Frau Götte helped Frau Trautwein to her room.

  ‘Now all she wants to do is sleep,’ she said when she returned. ‘You’ve exhausted her. Don’t think she’s had quite such an adventure in years.’

  Karin thanked her for everything. ‘An extraordinary day.’

  ‘For me too. A window on the past. And a mighty strange past at that.’

  Karin paused for a moment before turning to leave. ‘One thing I wanted to ask but didn’t get the right moment. All these men, the lebensborn programme, everything. Did she never have children?’

  Frau Götte shook her head.

  ‘I just asked her. Wasn’t sure whether I should. But she didn’t answer. Just closed her eyes and sighed. And yet – ’

  She paused for a moment, deep in thought.

  ‘And yet - ?’ said Karin.

  ‘It’s funny. She often speaks about a Katarina.’

  Part Three

  TWENTY-SIX

  Sergeant Perez sent Riley and Owen Green to keep watch on Ferris Clark’s old house. ‘Any sign. Any movement. Anything, for Chrissakes get on the phone. We’ll be over in a flash.’

  He then drove back into town to join Sheriff Rayno. He wanted to keep close touch on any leads that his team might have uncovered.

  Jack spent the afternoon with Tammy in her office, running through everything that Karin had sent over by email.

  ‘I’m scared, Jack,’ said Tammy when he’d finished. ‘How’s it all going to end? When’s he going to stop? Who’s next? It freaks me out.’

  Jack looked at her but said nothing.

  ‘Four people killed for nothing. It’s just horrible.’

  He nodded.

  Tammy switched subject.

  ‘This Karin woman, how come you’re so mysterious about her?’

  ‘Like I said, she’s German. Works in TV.’

  ‘Hmm – ’

  She glanced towards him, hoping for more. When none was forthcoming she changed tack.

  ‘Just thinking about it does my head in. To think there’s someone alive, Frau what’s-her-name, who actually knew Hans Dietrich. And slept with him, for Chrissakes. It’s crazy. In fact it’s more than crazy. It’s sinister. Breeding children. Never even heard of it until two days ago. It’s too creepy for words.’

  ‘Hitler wanted a Third Reich filled with men like the Totenkopf. Ruthless, fanatical, prepared to kill at the flick of a switch. Hans Dietrich was your model Aryan Nazi. He even looked the part, if you’re into blond thugs.’

  ‘What became of the others? What’s their names? Otto Streckenbach and the other one.’

  ‘Karin’s not had time to check them out. She’ll do it tomorrow. But we need to find out more about Hans Dietrich. Who was he? What was he up to?’

  Tammy got up and made her way to the door. ‘I need coffee. Want some?’

  ‘Black.’

  Jack went over to the window. The rain of two nights earlier had transformed the landscape. One more storm and the whole scrubland would burst into life.

  ‘It’s so beautiful in spring,’ said Tammy as she came back into the room. ‘Hope you’ll come back and see it then. Come and see it in happier times. There, that’s an invitation. It’s one giant great carpet of flowers. We drive into the hills and have picnics.’

  She paused.

  ‘But that’s another world.’

  Jack looked at her blankly. ‘Sorry, I was miles away.’

  ‘Doesn’t matter.’

  ‘It’s just that – ’

  He was trying to get it straight in his head.

  ‘Hans Dietrich was coming to Las Vegas, right? And he was carrying Ferris Clark’s address. D’you think Ferris Clark was involved in the military base here?’

  Tammy shrugged.

  Jack turned to face her. ‘Your grandfather. You said he worked there. At the base.’

  ‘Yep. But that’s all I know. Got a ton of his papers at home, dating back to God knows when. But I've never gone through them. It’s all ZAKRON stuff I think.’

  She thought for a moment. ‘It’d be better to head back to Vegas.’

  ‘But there’s no time. Fact is, Tammy, he’s going to strike again. He’s absolutely going to strike again.’

  *

  Jack drove down Golden Park Drive later that evening looking for 14. The numbers were still in the hundreds. He headed to the far end where the plots were bigger and the gaps between the houses widened into large gardens.

  He’d had a picture of her house in his head – modern bungalow, single storey, like most of the houses in Hanford Gap. But it wasn’t like that at all. As he drew up alongside 14 he was surprised to find a large single house with a brick and stone first floor and wood paneling on the upper level. There was a garage adjoining the house on the left hand side. The front lawn was green, well watered, neatly cut. A plastic mechanical digger lay on its side.

&n
bsp; The front door opened as he parked up the car.

  ‘Jack – boy, am I glad you’re here. Hate being on my own with the kids. Scares me.’

  He strolled across the lawn towards her. ‘This place,’ he said, pointing to the house. ‘It’s fantastic. I had no idea.’

  ‘I should explain, before you think I’ve got millions hidden away. Could never have afforded to buy a place like this. It’s a piece of Hanford history. This was grand-daddy’s place. He gave it to my dad who died young. And that’s how it came to me. And eventually, if I can afford the costs and bills and what-not, it’ll go to these two here.’

  She placed her hands onto the heads of Fran and Elsie, who’d run up beside her. They stared at Jack.

  ‘Say hello to Jack.’

  Both buried their heads into her legs.

  ‘They’ll be shy for less than two minutes. Then they’ll be all over you. Be warned!’

  He followed her up the steps and into the little porch.

  ‘Quick tour before we set to work?’

  The house dated from 1906, one of the first to be built in Hanford Gap. It had originally belonged to Jim Swain Junior, a cowboy with attitude. 'Red-necked gangster turned respectable,’ she said. ‘Built it in five weeks. Hanford in those days was a one dime coach stop.’

  The hallway was wide but the air was still and hot. It felt as if the windows had been closed for days.

  ‘Usually keep everything open,’ said Tammy, reading his thoughts. ‘It’s what’s so great about this place. Don’t need air con. Even on the hottest days there’s always a breeze if you open up back and front. But I’m keeping it all locked until – well, you know what -’

  Fran came up and pulled at Jack’s leg. ‘You’re that man from England?’ He said it half as question and half as statement. ‘Mum’s told us about you.’

  ‘Oh yes?’ Jack smiled then stooped down to look him in the eye. ‘What’s mum been saying then?’

  ‘Says you’re smart. But you don’t look that smart.’

  ‘Fran - !’

  Jack laughed. ‘You’re right. Your mum’s the smart one. Way smarter than me.’

  Elsie whispered something in Fran’s ear. He turned to look at Jack.