The Informer Read Online Free Page A

think what I do is smart?”
    “That depends on what we’re talking about,” he said.
    She stepped back, against the cool glass, which was like ice. She could remember being on the black ice when she had been a kid, stretched out after falling. What had been the promise of the black ice, indifference, danger, absolute certainty of how little she really mattered in a world that was so cold? Felix came in and stood in the doorway. Then he stepped in, coming closer.
    The champagne glass was on the night table by the bed, but it was too far to reach. Just her, the window, the man, who was so tall and had such white hands. Everything seemed to have been leading up to this anyway, the night, the fear, the previous customers who had come in her and then walked away, as though they were filling her with some profound indifference. They were so intense just before they did it and so disinterested afterward.
    She moved along the window, putting her hands against it. Felix watched her.
    “I’m not going to hurt you,” the man said.
    “Take off your dress,” said Felix. “I think that’s the best thing. Let him see how nice you are.”
    Gaelle lifted the dress over her head and stood there, her skin white against the city, her nipples dark, her collarbones prominent. The glass was cold glass against her hips.
    “Look,” he said. “I want something from you.”
    “I can accommodate you,” she said.
    “I hope so,” the man said. “We’ve been watching you. We know you see all kinds of people. Why, ordinary …”
    “… Whores,” she said, adding the word he was trying to avoid.
    “Yes, ordinary women like you have only one kind of client. But you see all kinds. You are something special. All kinds of people. And maybe they tell you things.”
    “What kinds of things?” she said.
    “Oh, if you are seeing someone from the left, maybe they might mention how much money is coming into Berlin from Russia. That’s something we’d like to know. And if it’s from our side, well, we’d like to know who can’t keep his mouth shut. Of course, if the Communists are planning a demonstration, we’d like to know that, or if they are hiding weapons.” He looked at her for a moment. “If you hear something, come to see me.”
    He took a sip of his champagne and let the bubbles wash over his tongue.
    “Will you help me?” he said.
    “Sure, sure,” she said. “I’ll help you.”
    “That’s good,” he said. “You have no idea how smart that is. Why, have you noticed the news in the papers? People get hurt all the time. Why, they’re found in the river. In the park.”
    She swallowed.
    “Let’s talk about something else,” she said.
    He took a number of large bills out of his pocket and passed them over.
    “A gesture of good faith,” he said.
    Gaelle went away from the window, still afraid of being pushed through it, still considering the first spiderweb of cracks. Then she thought, no, it probably wouldn’t be his style to do that. This is all the fun part, at least for him.
    Gaelle put on her dress, pulled it over her small hips, straightened it. Well, she had bought some time.
    “My name is Bruno Hauptmann,” he said. “Say it.”
    “Bruno Hauptmann,” she said.
    He took a card from his pocket with an address on it, and he passed it over.
    “If you come across something, you can find me here,” he said.
    She took the card.
    “And no lies,” he said.
    Then they went downstairs and got into the car, Felix folding the money, putting it in his pocket, and showing her the gold lighter that he had picked up from the table. It glowed there in the dark. She let go a long, slow breath.
    “Well,” she said. “That was close.”
    “Naw,” said Felix. “The guy was a pushover. Like all those jackasses who just want to talk.”
    The car pulled up to Gaelle’s usual spot, and they got out. Then Gaelle looked around. Felix limped a little bit beside her as they went back to the building where she waited.