Night Angels(72)

“I’m only following the Ministry’s order, Counselor Ding. I hope Ambassador Chen will understand.”

“Ambassador Chen understands this too well, Consul General. He is under tremendous pressure. He is warned if China intends to maintain diplomatic relations with Germany, then China must stop accepting a large number of refugees who hate Germany. Our German friends have made it clear.”

“Of course, Counselor Ding, I wasn’t aware that our German friends were watching our consulate. Who filed the police report about the possible bribery, may I ask?”

“The chief officer of the Central Office for Jewish Emigration in Vienna notified the ambassador.” The counselor closed the door, and the car rolled away.

Eichmann. This was a most extraordinary move indeed. When they’d met a few months ago, the man had kept up a pretense of thanking him for help in expelling Jews.

“Why would the ambassador believe Eichmann?” Grace asked, her face pale in the snow.

“That doesn’t matter anymore.” He went to the board with the Closed sign and flipped it to Open.

He had survived his superior’s investigation, and now he was fully prepared to continue implementing the lenient visa policy for the Jews. With the telegram from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he could do so without repercussions. However, he had no illusions that his already tenuous tie with Ambassador Chen would be strengthened soon.

And he had made a powerful enemy—Eichmann, the new elite of the Nazis, who had set out to obstruct his work tied to the fate of the Viennese Jews.





CHAPTER 47


GRACE


Later, Fengshan called his friend Captain Heine and asked whether he was aware of Eichmann’s involvement in the visa-bribery accusation. The captain had no knowledge of that, and he sounded annoyed at Eichmann and promised to keep an eye on the consulate.

That evening I didn’t sleep well, dreaming of the investigation and the Nazi officer Eichmann.



A few days later, I made a bittersweet discovery—I was pregnant. Counting days, I could tell I was about two months in. After so many years of trying and hoping, after many lonely months, I could finally fulfill my wish to be a mother.

I nearly flew downstairs to whisper in Fengshan’s ear.

He was pleased.

When Fengshan was buried in the applications again, I, alone, went shopping for baby clothes on the K?rntnerstrasse.

This was the second time in two years that I had gone out shopping on the street, nearly a year since I’d met Lola. I almost lost my way again among the boutiques with glittery glass windows, the neat kiosks selling newspapers in German and French and English, and the bakeries and flower shops, but I had kept a slip with the consulate’s address, as Lola had advised. There was so much to see: patterned brown leather shoes, prim Tyrolean hats with feathers, stylish ladies’ fur hats, long, shimmering gowns, and stockings. The area was a shopping paradise, a show of ultimate Viennese decadence.

Near the nursery shop, two German women in red and white dirndl passed by, their laughter a joyous overture under the April sun. The taller woman had a plump, youthful face like Lola’s before the scar. Had Lola been here, she would have been overjoyed for me, and she would have come shopping with me, and we could have discussed which stroller to purchase and which bassinet was the warmest.

It had been over a month since her disappearance. Where was she? Was she safe? Was she alive?





CHAPTER 48


FENGSHAN


A few days after Counselor Ding’s visit, he was deep in his work when Frau Maxa galumphed into his office again. Fengshan raised his head—the unflappable Austrian who rarely appeared excited or frightened looked pale. Adolf Eichmann, clad in his full SS Obersturmführer black uniform with a cap emblazoned with the skull and crossbones, had just entered the consulate.

Calmly, Fengshan put down his pen and walked to the lobby, where his staff suddenly appeared to be busy with their drawers and the applicants gazed at the floor. Eichmann was studying the paintings on the wall, his legs spread wide, his hands on his waist, still as a scarecrow.

“Greetings, Herr Eichmann.” Fengshan gave the man a bow as a courtesy. The man had utterly disregarded the protocol, an officer barging into a consulate of another country without first sending a card or making an appointment.

“Herr Consul General, greetings. Quite a place you have here. Prime location. Superb paintings of the Empress Joséphine. I just saw two policemen pass by. Who sent them here?”

“The good police of Vienna.”

There appeared that sly smile. “Hauptsturmführer Heine is a good man, although it’s concerning that he’d ignore our Führer’s instruction and use our resources to support the foreigners.”

“He’s only doing his duty. Sir, how may I help you today?”

“Herr Consul General, I’m doing my duty as well. The good German people have complained about the scum seeking visas from your consulate. The boisterous crowd has blocked the street, created traffic problems, and engaged in riotous activities that have threatened good Germans’ lives and endangered the safety of drivers and passersby. Such gatherings must cease for the residents’ safety, for the normal traffic flow, and for the neighborhood’s peace. I want to ask you a favor: to consider halting the visa issuance at the consulate.”