THE HOUSE AT SEA’S END

reconnaissance and sabotage, that sort of thing. He has their names and everything.’ She hands Nelson a sheet of paper.
    ‘“Major Karl von Kronig,”‘ he reads. ‘“Oberstleutnant Stefan Fenstermacher, Obergefreiter Lutz Gerber, Gefreiter Manfred Hahn, Gefreiter Reiner Brauer, Panzerfunker Gerhard Meister …” Bloody hell. No wonder they didn’t win the war with names like that. Take them a year and a half to do the roll call. What the hell’s “panzerfunker” when it’s at home?’
    ‘Radioman,’ says Ruth knowledgeably, though she only learnt the word a few hours ago. ‘And here’s something you should know. Stefan Fenstermacher was missing a finger.’
    ‘It’s them then,’ says Nelson. ‘Don’t you think?’
    ‘I think so, yes,’ says Ruth. ‘All the men were from a region near Brandenburg, which fits with the isotope analysis. One of the bodies was missing a finger. The ages seem right.’
    ‘So the only question is how did a group of six German commandos end up buried under a cliff in Broughton Sea’s End?’
    ‘Do you think Archie Whitcliffe knew anything about it?’
    ‘I think he did,’ says Nelson slowly, ‘but he died before we could find out more.’
    Ruth looks at him curiously. ‘Do you really think his death could be suspicious?’
    Nelson sighs. ‘I don’t know, Ruth. Old man dies, no suspicious circumstances, doctor signs the death certificate right off. But, I don’t know … The day before he’d more or less admitted he knew something about the deaths. Said he couldn’t tell me because he’d taken a “blood oath”. Nextday, he dies. You don’t have to be Poirot to think that’s a bit suspicious.’
    ‘You might think it’s more suspicious when you hear this,’ says Ruth. And she tells him about Hugh P. Anselm.
    ‘Hugh,’ says Nelson slowly. ‘He was one of the men that Mrs Hastings mentioned. One of the three youngsters in the troop. Hang on … found dead on the stairlift …’ He is silent for a minute, thinking.
    ‘What is it?’ asks Ruth.
    ‘I don’t know. It just rings a bell somewhere. I think I ought to go to this sheltered accommodation place, talk to the warden. And I’ll ask for an autopsy on Archie Whitcliffe. There’ll be a battle royal with Whitcliffe, mind.’
    ‘Why? Doesn’t he want to know if his grandfather was murdered?’
    It is the first time either of them has used the word ‘murdered’. It doesn’t seem to go with the world of care homes and stairlifts, but Nelson thinks of Archie Whitcliffe’s face when he talked about the blood oath, of Maria’s words: ‘
Lucifer. He said Lucifer.
’ Then, for no reason at all, he thinks of Jack Hastings standing proudly in front of his fireplace whilst his mother knitted placidly in the background. ‘
He never forgot the horror.
’
    He turns to Ruth. ‘Whitcliffe’s funny about his family. You know what it’s like in Norfolk. His family have lived in their little village for donkey’s years. Probably intermarried with donkeys by the look of ‘em. Whitcliffe’s proud of his grandfather, thinks of him as a war hero. He was touchy enough about us interviewing him so he won’t want an inquest. He’ll want to bury him properly, coffin, flowers,black horses, the lot. He won’t want me holding things up, suggesting that the old man was done away with.’
    ‘Is Whitcliffe the only relative?’ asks Ruth, who has never met Nelson’s boss.
    ‘No. There’s a whole bunch of grandchildren, according to Archie.’
    ‘Well, some of them might support you.’
    ‘It’s possible. Whitcliffe’s talked about a sister. There’s a brother too, I think.’
    Nelson frowns at the floor, which is still covered with books and packing cases. Ruth wonders when he’s going to leave. She’d like another few hours of tidying before she has to collect Kate. She suspects Nelson of holding out for a sight of Kate. He’d been most put out to hear that she was at the childminder’s.
    Sure enough, when there is a sudden knock on the door, Nelson’s first words are, ‘Is that Katie?’
    ‘No, she’s still slightly too young to drive herself home,’ says Ruth, getting up. Who can it be? Dieter Eckhart, back with some more Eagle Has Landed stuff? Shona stopping by for a gossip? Cathbad?
    But when she opens the door, she is greeted by an elegant woman with short, streaky hair, carrying a suitcase.
    ‘Ruth!’
    ‘Tatjana …’ Ruth stammers. ‘I wasn’t expecting you till