Free The Lisbon Crossing by Tom Gabbay Page B

somber-looking SS Major Ritter. I’d been wondering if he would make an appearance and wasn’t surprised that he had.
    “Seig Heil,” I muttered to Alberto, who gave me a very nervous look as we stood up to greet the uniforms.
    “Good morning, Senhor Teller,” Catela offered with a strained smile. “A fine day, yes?”
    “If you’re going sailing,” I said, looking out to sea. The sky was clear cerulean blue and there were whitecaps as far as you could see.
    “Do you enjoy sailing?”
    “Not particularly.”
    “I see,” Catela said curtly, confirming that the small talk was over. “Major Ritter has expressed an interest in seeing o Boca do Inferno, so I suggested that he accompany me this morning.” Ritter hung back and eyed me suspiciously.
    “Sure,” I said. “Plus he wants to find out if his missing diplomat is down there with my missing detective. That right, Major?”
    Ritter cracked a smile that I thought might crack his face. “You have adapted to the ways of Lisbon in a short period of time, Mr. Teller.”
    “Information is power, isn’t that what they say?”
    “My interest is strictly casual.”
    “I would’ve thought a missing state secretary would rate more than a casual interest.”
    “You misunderstood me,” Ritter said with a patient sneer. “I’m quite interested in locating Dr. Kleinmann, of course I am. What I meant to say was that I have no reason to believe that he has been involved with your detective. I am, however, obliged to investigate every possibility. I’m certain you understand.”
    “Sure, I understand,” I said. I understood he wasn’t out there on a hunch any more than he was on a sightseeing tour. I wondered what connection he thought there was between Eddie Grimes andDr. Kleinmann, and if Eva Lange had anything to do with it. I considered mentioning her name in passing to see how he’d react, but decided against it. If it turned out she was still alive, then she was in hiding and this was the guy she was hiding from.
    Catela excused himself in order to dispatch one of his motorcycle cops along the bluff, presumably to threaten the men in the fishing boat, but I could see that they’d already spotted Ritter’s car and didn’t need any additional incentive. A couple of the older guys were already stripping off, ready to make the dive.
    “Well, I hope your man’s not down there,” I said, which was true enough. Ritter was staring intently down at the boat and for a moment I thought he hadn’t heard me. When he finally looked up, he smiled.
    “And I hope also that Eva Lange is not down there. For Fräulein Sterne’s sake, of course. I understand they have been lifelong friends together.” He let it hang for a moment and I didn’t say anything, only because I didn’t know what to say.
    “Captain Catela is always very forthcoming with me,” the major added.
    “I’ll have to remember that,” I said.
    “You needn’t worry. I have no interest in this woman,” Ritter stated flatly. “Unless, of course, she has knowledge of Dr. Kleinmann’s whereabouts.”
    “Why would she?” I said.
    He shook his head slowly. “I can see no reason that she would.”
    Catela reappeared and assured Ritter that he wouldn’t have to wait long. He was right because the new divers had the car secured and floated in a matter of minutes.
     
    A n hour later, we stood on the beach in Casçais as they pulled Eddie Grimes out of his rented red coupe and laid him out on a blanket in the sand. I’d seen dead men before, but Eddie was worse off than most. Swollen by two weeks in salt water, his skin a shriveledpasty white, he looked more like a beached walrus than a human corpse. A long open gash across the top of his head revealed a shattered skull and there were so many broken bones that his limbs twisted around like a plate of fat spaghetti. Most of his front teeth were missing and his eyes were open but rolled up inside his head. But as bad as he’d been knocked around