The Riddle of Sphinx Island by R. T. Raichev Page A

was hardly worth mentioning. There was a particular file, which he wanted Freddie to leave on a bus in East Berlin.’
    ‘It does sound tiny, yes.’
    ‘It was a bus chiefly used by Soviet officials – to which she had access. The file contained information concerning US military plans. Seemingly accurate but in fact entirely bogus. Freddie agreed. She did as instructed and the operation was a success. Then Oswald asked her to do it again, only this time she had to leave the file in the lobby of a hotel which catered for Soviet officials. Then she was asked to do it a third time … Oswald told her she would be able to join her sister soon, very soon. He assured her that everything was in place. She was to wait for instructions. But these particular instructions never came.’
    ‘He lied to her …’
    ‘He’d never had any intention of reuniting Freddie with her sister. Meanwhile, Gabriele had discovered she was pregnant. Oswald told her they’d get married and then they would go and live in America – or in South Africa. One day Gabriele arrived at Oswald’s restaurant and found the place closed. She was told the restaurant was under new management. No one knew where Oswald was. He was not in his flat. She became frantic. She went to the police. She was in floods of tears. She sat and waited. She seemed convinced something terrible had happened to him. Eventually she was told that Oswald had left Germany and gone back to the US. Then she had another shock –’
    ‘Yes?’
    ‘She learnt that her sister Freddie had been arrested by the Stasi, tried for spying and summarily executed. Gabriele had a miscarriage.’ Ella’s voice shook. ‘Soon after she committed suicide. She poisoned herself. She took cyanide.’
    ‘Cyanide? Very fast and very efficient,’ Doctor Klein said. ‘You choke, then you die. You know the two deaths to be an established fact?’
    ‘Oswald told me they were. I don’t think he lied about that . He said he had seen a photo of Gabriele’s dead body. It was his bosses who informed him. His bosses knew the exact sequence of events. His bosses knew everything . He said he’d only been doing his job. He said he couldn’t very well have foreseen that Freddie would be caught, but that was the kind of thing that sometimes happened. He had told her to be careful.’
    ‘Wasn’t he sorry for the baby?’
    ‘He said he was but he didn’t sound it. He said Gabriele should have taken precautions. He said Gabriele had got pregnant on purpose. She had done her best to “get” him. She had been manipulative and deceitful. He had never been in love with her. He didn’t believe the baby had been his anyway. Gabriele had had other boyfriends. They had both been rather stupid girls, he said. Mentally undeveloped. He called them “featherbrains”. They were “trashy”. He’d found them and their lives incomprehensible, alien.’
    ‘But he regards his Berlin mission as a success?’
    ‘Oh yes. He said it had given him a great sense of achievement. His bosses had been extremely happy with him. He was generously rewarded for his efforts … After his return to the US, he prospered. He invested his money wisely and made a fortune, which he managed to double, treble and quadruple when he got married. He made a good marriage. He married an heiress.’
    There was a pause.

11
AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER
    ‘Martita Stanhouse? That was her name, wasn’t it? I remember the day I saw photos of the two of them in a newspaper. That, I believe, was the hand of destiny. Perhaps as a man of science I should avoid such fanciful language.’ Doctor Klein gave a little smile. ‘It would most certainly not endear me to my patients who are frequently highly strung individuals and delusional to boot. The moment I saw those photographs I knew what I needed to do. I knew, yes.’ He nodded. ‘I didn’t stop to consider the pros and cons of the matter. I knew I had to do it. Isn’t that strange? I knew