Show Business is Murder

A Berlin Story by LIBBY FISCHER HELLMANN

HERR HESSE SHOULD never have stayed for the last number. Indeed, some expressed shock he was there at all. A physics professor at the University of Berlin. Well-dressed, a touch of gray in his hair. Why would Friedrich Hesse visit Der Flammen, a seedy cabaret tucked away on a side street?

It came out later that Ilse had asked him to stay. Ilse-the star performer at Der Flammen. Ilse-with the sad brown eyes and short blonde hair and a black sequined costume that stopped at the top of her thighs.

He sat in the audience that night, a glass of schnapps in his hand. Elbow to elbow with the riffraff, all of them vying to be decadent. The life of the genteel Prussian had vanished, replaced by the ennui of the jaded. No one pretended to innocence in the Berlin of Thirty-two. What counted most was scandal. It masked the pain and despair.

He suffered through buxom women in skimpy costumes and the men pretending to be. He turned away from the animal parade. But when the orchestra sounded a drum roll, he twisted back toward the stage. And when Ilse appeared in the wavering beam of the spotlight, he brightened like a man glimpsing salvation.

In her first number she flounced across stage as a mountain girl, long braids pinned to her head. She wore a leather vest laced tight across her breasts, but not much else. It wasn’t until the shepherd boy unlaced it and forced her to ride the goat that Hesse looked away.

Next she marched onstage in an Imperial Regimental jacket, a rifle slung over her chest. She sang and crawled and shot and saluted her superior officer, who relieved her of her jacket and threw it into the wings. The randy shouts of the audience drowned out the last verse of her song. Through it all, the professor politely sipped his schnapps, as if Ilse were reciting poetry in a salon.

In the finale, she sang a sad ballad, wearing black sequins, fishnet stockings, and stiletto heels. A stray lock of hair fell across her face, throwing her profile in shadow. As her final note hung in the smoky air, the professor rose, put on his hat, and walked out. Skirting the bank of snow on the street, he cut through a narrow alley and knocked at the stage door.

The janitor found his body the next morning, half-hidden behind the stage in a corner. A pool of blood, now congealed, had seeped across the floor. The police found entry wounds in his chest and bullet casings that had come from a Luger.

ILSE SLOUCHED AT the manager’s desk wearing a silk robe with oriental pretensions. The smoke from her cigarette floated above her head like a halo.

“When did you meet him?” The burly detective asked. His weary eyes said there was nothing more that could shock him.

“Several months ago. At a cafe on the Kurfürstendamm.” She smiled prettily. “We were both having tea.”

“He was alone?”

“Not then. But he returned the next day. Alone.”

The detective took off his coat and slipped it over a chair. He knew her type. Arrogant. Smug. Confident in her charm. “What happened when he came into your dressing room?”

Crossing one leg over the other, she dangled her foot in front of him. “He paid me a visit.”

“And what was the nature of this visit, Fraulein?”

“Must I be so indiscreet, Herr Inspektor?”

The detective shifted. The office wasn’t much bigger than a closet. He felt too big for the room. “You knew, of course, that he was married?”

“Aren’t they all?”

“What did he give you in return for your-favors?”

“What I expect from all my lovers. Kindness. Passion. A gentle touch.”

“And perhaps a few thousand marks, conveniently wrapped in a white linen handkerchief?”

She fluffed her hair. A whiff of cheap perfume drifted his way. “You presume, mein lieber.”

“When did he leave?”

“When we were finished.”

“And you made sure your friends were waiting for him, yes? Ready to roll him for his cash. What was your cut, Fraulein?”

“Inspektor. You are unkind.”

“But he put up a fight, didn’t he? Your friends didn’t count on that. He struggled, and things spun out of control.”

She drew herself up and tossed her hair. Even in the dim light of the office it gleamed. “I do not know what happened when he left my room. I had nothing to do with his death.”

FRAU HESSE POURED tea from a Chinese teapot on a cloisonné tray. A small, birdlike woman with brown hair swept back in a bun, she sat primly on a flowered sofa, flanked by two men who she said were colleagues of her husband.

The detective sat on a silk-covered chair, his bulk spilling over the seat. He would have preferred to question her alone, but she was the wife of an important man. Fumbling his teacup, he was loath to ask the key question, and was taken aback when she preempted him.

“I knew Friedrich was unfaithful,” she said, her face bland and composed. “I’ve known for years. But you must understand. He was an excellent provider, and in these times, when inflation bleeds the value out of everything, I was grateful.”

Hoping his face didn’t reveal his surprise, he asked about Hesse’s work.

“He was a professor at the Chemical Institute. He was experimenting with radioactive elements.”

He frowned. “Radioactive elements?”

“Uranium.”

His frown deepened. “It is what-this uranium?”

Frau Hesse and the men exchanged glances. “He studied neutrons, protons, and electrons.” Frau Hesse said. “Subatomic particles.”

He shrugged. He was a police officer. Not an educated man.

Patches of red flared on her cheeks. “They are tiny particles. The elements of all matter. Together they form atoms. My husband theorized that under bombardment by neutrons, an atom of uranium would split in half. Much of his time was spent stripping protons from neutrons in an attempt to verify his hypothesis.”

“And did he?”

Again the wife and the men exchanged glances. “He was close,” the wife said. She bowed her head.

The detective made another note. “You seem very knowledgeable about his work.”

“We met at the University years ago. I am a scientist as well.” A tiny shrug fanned her shoulders. “But there was only room for one in the family. I was content to be his wife and the mother of his children. He is-was-a brilliant man.”

He set his teacup down.

Clear blue eyes gazed at him. “Indeed, he was a man. With a man’s flaws. Yet, he always came home to me. I loved him beyond description.” She looked away, then, and her jaw tightened, as if she was struggling to control her grief.

One of the men laid his arm around her delicate shoulders. “If that is all, Inspektor…”

“Of course.” The detective took the names of the colleagues and rose from his chair. “Auf Weidersehen,” he said with a slight bow.

As he stepped outside, he noted the mezuzah on the door frame.

TWO DAYS LATER the Inspector stamped his feet, shaking the snow off his boots. The manager of Der Flammen led him into the office. A little man with a sparse mustache, the sour smell of fear rose from his skin.

“She’s gone,” he moaned, wringing his hands. “She was due here an hour ago. I sent a boy around to her apartment near the Nollendorfplatz, but she was not there, and all of her things are gone. The show begins in thirty minutes. What shall I do?”

A bevy of women, their cheeks rouged, eyelids darkened with kohl, filed past the open door. “It would seem you have replacements,” the detective said.

“Nein.” The manager threw his hands in the air. “You do not understand. They demand her. If they do not see her, they will hold me responsible. They are not patient men.”

“What men are these, Herr manager?”

“You know of whom I speak. They come in their brown shirts and boots. Almost every night, now.”

“Were they here the night Hesse was killed?”

“I do not know.”

The detective scratched his cheek. “Herr manager, I hear rumors about Der Flammen. Many rumors. I am sure you do not want trouble with your license.”

“You would not. You could not.”

The manager hesitated, then took a step back, seeming to shrivel against the wall. “Yes,” he said reluctantly. His face grew pinched. “Yes. They were here that night.”

IT WAS NOT difficult to find her. A street urchin in need of a meal, a hundred marks exchanged; it was done. Entering adark, shabby building, he mounted rickety steps. The stench of urine hung in the air. A yellow cat hissed.

On the third floor, a woman answered the door. Her eyes, suspicious and hard, widened when he showed her his badge. She was wearing Ilse’s oriental robe. “Ilse, you have a guest.”

Ilse came to the door, dressed in a tattered robe and slippers. Her hair was lank, her face haggard.

The detective wasted few words. “Fraulein, did you know Professor Hesse was a Jew?”

Ilse looked at the floor.

“I do not hear you.”

She looked up, her brown eyes rimmed in dark circles. “Yes, I knew.”

“So that is why they killed him.”

“Who?”

“The men who have been visiting you at Der Flammen. The ones in the brown shirts and boots.

“Why do you wince?” The detective went on. “You did your part. Lured the dirty Jew into a trap. Softened him up with your favors. Made him weak and defenseless. He was no match for them.”

“No. You are wrong.” Her hands flew to her face.

“How much did they give you to set him up?” She turned away. “How much, Fraulein?” She shook her head. “You are aware that I can make your life most unpleasant. A charge of lewd behavior or accessory to murder will not sit well. Even in Berlin.”

“You do not understand, Inspektor. If I tell you, I sign my death warrant.”

“And if you do not, you go to jail.” He circled a chair, letting the weight of his words sink in. “But you see, Ilse, you have another problem. You see, these men-these Brown Shirts-they will never believe you did not confess. So when you leave jail, as you eventually will, they will find you.”

She stared at him, her eyes vacant and dull. “So I am fickt. No matter what I do.”

He shrugged. She pulled her robe tight and started to pace. He waited. It wasn’t long.

“They wanted to know what Friedrich was doing at the University.”

“And what did you tell them?”

“The truth. I did not know. We did not talk about his work. We had-other matters to discuss.”

He folded his arms.

“They didn’t believe me either. They-they forced me to service them. One at a time. Like dogs in heat.” She spat on the floor. “They said they would kill me if they found out I lied.”

He studied her. Not just a whore. A pathetic, used-up whore. “And so they killed him because he was a rich, powerful Jew.”

“No. They did not like him, but they did not kill him.”

“How do you know?”

Her sad eyes burned with a curious light. “They did not come until the night after he died.”

“The night after?” The inspector stiffened. “You are lying, Fraulein. The manager said-”

She snorted. “He will say whatever you want him to.”

“Perhaps you are mistaken. The stage lights are harsh and blinding. Perhaps they were there. But you didn’t see them. They hid at the back of the theater until he left your room.”

Her eyes tracked him up and down. “No. I told you. They came the night after. Demanding to know if he was the Jew who worked at the University.”

The detective leaned his hands on the back of the chair.

“Please, Herr Inspektor. I beg you. Do not tell them I told you. They will surely kill me.” She covered her face with her hands.

ILSE NEVER CAME back to Der Flammen. For weeks the detective sifted through the reports of bodies that washed up from the river, or were found in the alleys, but none matched her description. He went back to the woman Ilse had stayed with, the cabaret manager, even the urchin he found on the street, but no one knew where she was.

He read up on uranium at the library, then, late one afternoon, met with a Berlin physicist. Afterwards, he took a walk. An icy wind slicing through him, he trudged down the Nollendorfplatz, ignoring a come-on from a young boy with eyes as heavily kohled as a woman’s. On the Kurfürstendamm he gazed at a church as if its gothic spires might tell him what to do. And on his wintry hike, he thought about the professor, his wife, his colleagues. The Brown Shirts and what they were doing. His own job, his family, his country. By morning he had made his decision.

He arrested the Brown Shirts and prepared to bring them to trial. Of course, there were heated denials. Even some threats on his life. His case, nonetheless, was solid: he had the manager’s story and Ilse’s friend’s. He also had the casings from the Luger, which everyone knew was their weapon of choice. He ignored Ilse’s claim that they came to Der Flammen the night after. She was a whore; she had fled. Dead or alive, her word would be suspect at best.

By the time it came to trial a year later, though, everything had changed. Hitler was in power, and the Brown Shirts were acquitted. The next day the detective told his wife to pack. They would go to Switzerland or Holland. Perhaps, if they were lucky, New York.

A LIGHT DUSTING of snow coated the streets. Hobbling on a cane, the former detective let his grandchildren drag him towards the skating rink. It had opened in Thirty-six, just after they came to New York. Now, twenty years later, it was a family tradition. Every December, he and his wife brought the children, and now the grandchildren, into the city to take in the tree, the glow of lights, the holiday glitter.

The children chattered excitedly, their cheeks red from the cold. They watched the skaters circle the ice, dipping and gliding to the music. His attention was drawn to a tall, graceful girl, whose helmet of bright hair gleamed as she twirled.

Shadows chased the sun away, and dusk settled over the rink. The skaters cut sharp silhouettes against the pale ice. But it wasn’t until the lights snapped on that he noticed the group at the next table. A tiny woman wrapped in a fur coat, her hair pulled back in a bun, surrounded by children and two adults.

“Oma.” A little girl squealed in delight. “You must taste the chocolate. Like Lindt’s, but hot.”

“You taste it for me.”

Steam rose from the cup. The little girl sipped and smacked her lips. Chocolate rimmed her mouth. Her smile revealing a deeply lined face, the old woman brushed her hand across the girl’s hair. Then, as if aware she was being watched, she turned toward the detective.

The old man blinked. He knew this small, birdlike woman. The steady gaze. The clear blue eyes that, after a moment’s appraisal, deepened in recognition as well.

“Herr Inspektor.” Her voice was serene and pleasant. “How delightful to see you again.”

His forehead wrinkled. “Madame, I apologize, but-”

“I am Frau Hesse, Herr Inspektor.” She smiled. “Wife of Friedrich Hesse.”

Her name burrowed into his memory, and the long ago case sprang into his mind. He rose and slowly made his way to her table.

“It is good to see you on this side of the ocean.” Her smile made it seem she’d been expecting him.

“We came from Holland.”

She nodded. “I came after the trial.”

He remembered the trial. He leaned his hand on his cane. “My one regret was that I did not bring them to justice, Frau Hesse. In failing them, I failed you. And your family.”

She looked at him for a long moment. “No. You did everything you could.” The thin smile on her face made him frown. This woman had the ability to surprise him, he remembered. Anticipate him. Say the unexpected.

“You see, Herr Inspektor, justice was served. The men who were tried, they were not guilty. They did not kill my husband.”

He chose his words with care. “Madame, please do not spare my feelings. We are both too old for that.”

“Deanna, take the children. I will follow.”

The young woman collected the children and walked them to the ice. She tapped the chair next to her. The detective sank into it.

“Do you remember what my husband was working on at the University?”

“Radiation, was it not?”

“Not quite,” she said, the teacher correcting a student. “Radioactive elements. Subatomic elements that could be isolated in uranium.” Her expression softened. “What neither I nor my colleagues told you was how far his work had taken him.”

The detective held up his hand. “No Madame. You are mistaken. It was not radioactive isotopes-uranium or otherwise. It was simple radiation.”

“Inspektor, do not presume to tell me about my work. I was a physicist, too, if you recall.”

“Yes, Frau Hesse. I remember. It was radiation. Not the other.”

She frowned, the lines at the side of her mouth tightening. “Perhaps you should tell me what it is you remember.”

He cleared his throat. “What I remember is that a group of Nazi thugs ambushed your husband. He was set up by a prostitute in a cabaret. Unfortunately, those type of incidents were all too common back then.”

She tapped her spoon against her cup. “But Inspektor, that was only part-”

He rode over her words. “No, Madame. You are wrong. You see, if it were any other way, if it were radioactive uranium your husband and his colleagues were experimenting with, I might have deduced something quite different.” She studied her tea cup. “I might have suspected they were trying to create nuclear fission.”

She jerked her head up.

“Which would mean they would soon be able to build a nuclear bomb.”

Her eyebrows arched. “Indeed.”

“I might also have suspected that word leaked out, as it always does in these matters, and that the Nazis demanded he turn over his work. Your husband would have refused, but it would have only been a matter of time. They would have blackmailed him, exposed his “activities,” perhaps even tortured him. And not just him. His colleagues, too. Your Friedrich would have-”

“We couldn’t allow that to happen,” she said quietly. “In the end, we had no choice. We had to protect the work. You must understand.” She drew in a long, shuddering breath. “It was decided I should come here.”

“Where you met with scientists who would later work on the Manhattan Project.”

She nodded.

“And let the Brown Shirts take the blame for his death.”

“So we hoped.” She shrugged her delicate shoulders. “Indeed, our biggest fear was you, Inspektor.”

“Me?”

“We were certain you knew. Or would discover it soon enough. You made us hasten my departure. Later, we were surprised by your silence. We decided you were a friend.” She paused. “And so you were.” She leaned back in her chair. “But how? How did you know?”

He hesitated. “His mistress confessed that the Brown Shirts came to the cabaret the night after he was killed. The rest was not difficult.” He stared at the skaters. The tall blonde was now partnered with a dark young man. Arms entwined, they skimmed the surface of the ice, skating in perfect synchrony. “But my dear Frau Hesse, I have a question for you. How could you do it?”

Swallowing, she stared at her teacup for so long he wondered if she would reply. Then, she looked up and waved a hand towards the children. “There is your answer, Inspektor.”

He twisted toward the children, his and hers. Their eager young faces sparkling as they followed the skaters. Bright new stars shooting across a cold, dark heaven. He looked back at Frau Hesse. Her eyes filled.

“You see?” Blinking hard, she smiled her tears away. The gentle smile of a friend. “Perhaps you will join me for a schnapps, Herr Inspektor? It was my husband’s favorite.”