“How could that be done?” von Heurten-Mitnitz asked.
“I thought you were going to tell me,” Müller said.
“I have an idea,” Helmut von Heurten-Mitnitz said. “I’m not sure how you will react.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“Fräulein Dyer has attracted the eye of a senior SS-SD officer,” von Heurten-Mitnitz said. “They met while he was home on Christmas leave. They were introduced by an SS-SD officer. A bachelor, somewhat older than the lady, he is rather badly smitten with her. He wants to give her a little present.”
Müller laughed, then was silent for a moment before he replied:
“I was in Peis’s apartment,” he said. “Peis had a very nice, very ornate Siemens radio. I rather doubt he went to a store and bought it. It was probably ‘taken into protective storage.’ There are probably others.”
“Perhaps you could steal a few hours from your busy schedule to pursue a little May and December romance,” von Heurten-Mitnitz said.
“Goddamn it, Helmut,” Müller said. “There’s not that much of an age difference between us.”
“And you know, of course, what Oscar Wilde said,” von Heurten-Mitnitz said.
“I don’t even know who he is, much less what he said.”
&n
bsp; “He was an Englishman,” von Heurten-Mitnitz said. “A writer who said some interesting things, one of which was that ‘celibacy is the most unusual of all perversions.’”
Müller snorted appreciatively.
“Now I know,” he said. “He went to prison for being a fag, right?”
“Yes, he did.”
“A man could get in trouble, Herr Minister, quoting the philosophy of an English pansy to a Standartenführer SS-SD,” Müller said.
“Yes, I daresay he could,” von Heurten-Mitnitz agreed.
“What the hell do they want, Helmut?”
“I’ve given that a lot of thought,” von Heurten-Mitnitz said.
“And?”
“It may have something to do with the professor,” von Heurten-Mitnitz said. “Or with the Fulmar Werke in Marburg. I can’t imagine what else it would be.”
“And by getting her a radio, we let them know we’re ready to put our necks on the block? Is that how you figure it?”
“Yes,” von Heurten-Mitnitz said. “They must have someone in Marburg. Or the Dyers are already in touch with an agent—”
“She’s not,” Müller interrupted. “And I don’t think her father is, either.”
"Then there is an agent in Marburg watching them,” von Heurten-Mitnitz repeated,“who will report we’re doing what we’ve been asked to do.”
“It makes me sick,” Müller said. “That may be just fear. But it may be that I don’t like treason.”
It was a moment before von Heurten-Mitnitz replied.
"While I was waiting for you, Johnny,” he said,“I was listening to the radio. The Americans bombed Dortmund last night. According to the Propaganda Ministry, damage was light—”
Müller snorted.