Georg stood by the telephone in his small office between the kitchen and the bar floor. He hasn’t spoken to his cousin in years, and hadn’t seen him since the war. Anselm had unexpectedly called to congratulate him the day before his wedding, and before that had visited in the military hospital outside Paris. He’d been in assignment he had told Georg, though he couldn’t say what for. Now he was Brigadeführer Anselm Diefenbach of the Schutzstaffel; more widely known as the SS.

“Anselm, are you there?” asked Georg into the telephone.

“Georg! How is the bar? Have I caught you at a good time?”

Georg had overheard two women talking in his bar once. One of them was telling the other that, according to some, you could hear in a persons voice whether or not someone was smiling when they spoke over the phone. He didn’t know whether that was true, but as he and his cousin exchanged polite and otherwise cheerful small talk, Georg suspected Anselm wasn’t smiling on the other end. Even when he was smiling, Georg remembered that it never quite made it to his eyes.

After what seemed like a precisely calculated amount of time catching up, Anselm changed tone and asked “Georg, do you have a pencil and paper handy?” He always uses your name when asking a question. After receiving an affirmative answer, Brigadeführer Diefenbach made his ‘request.’

“Georg, please write this number down,” he said, then wrote a long number that would reach Berlin. “And now a name: Rowan Hagen. It is unlikely she is using this name. I’m sorry to have to ask this of you, Georg, but I know I can trust you. If you hear anything about this woman, please call that number. No one will answer, however you must report what you learn after the tone.”

Georg’s cousin gave a description and a few other details before adding, “you must memorise what you have written on that paper, and then burn it. Can you do this for me, Georg? For The Reich?”

“Of course, Anselm,” came his reply easily. “I’ll keep my ear open.”

Georg Hegel didn’t leave his office until he was sure colour returned to his face.