Karl Hofer sat in a straight-backed chair in front of an oak desk covered with papers in a cramped office beside an empty classroom in Humboldt University, a prestigious college in East Berlin. A photograph of a woman, early thirties, blond hair and blue eyes, sat on the desk. He noticed the woman’s smile was empty, even though she was posing for a photograph, and for a moment he wondered why.
“I’m obtaining information from several different sources,” Steiner Beck told him. “A few church parishioners, several of my students, and two of the professors here at the University.”
Hofer held up a hand, as if to stop Beck from speaking. “I don’t want to know who your informants are,” he said. “At least not yet.”
“I’m trying to show how critical I’ve become to your operation,” he said. “I offe
