Death Row - Mark Pearson [75]
Kate sighed. ‘Many of the children were sent to lunatic asylums, where they were tortured or raped. They were officially called rats. Even today, as elderly adults, some still get spat at on the streets. Witnesses say that the Norwegian military experimented on them, making them take LSD and mescaline among other drugs.’
‘Are you saying the Hensons are tied up in this somehow?’
‘They’re too young. Maybe Henson senior’s father might have been one of the children sent overseas. The Norwegian government tried to send eight thousand to Australia.’
‘Really?’
‘Oh yeah – last year a group of Lebensborn brought an action in the European Court of Human Rights, seeking compensation from the Norwegian government of up to two hundred thousand pounds apiece.’
‘And did they get it?’
Kate snorted derisively. ‘No. They were offered a two-thousand-pound token settlement. And do you know another thing …?’
‘Go on.’
‘Priests in the country recommended that the Norwegian Lebensborn should be sterilised so that they couldn’t father any future Nazi children.’
Bennett shook his head. ‘Sounds like they were as bad as the Nazis themselves.’
‘Exactly.’
‘I still don’t see what this has to do with Matt Henson, though. The family are neo-Nazi skinheads themselves.’
‘Exactly! That’s what the B-negative tattoo is all about. The Nazis thought that that was the purest blood group. SS officers had their blood group tattooed onto them. The B-negative tattoo was highly prized. Encouraged in the breeding programme with blonde-haired blue-eyed German and Norwegian women particularly.’
‘I didn’t know about the blood-group thing. I know they wanted to create a master race.’
‘The thing is, they got it wrong again, apparently. Most Nordic people are type A. I remember coming across a book in the Bodleian that was banned by the Nazis. It was a study into Aryanism written by a German and it concluded that the British and Nordic peoples were more Aryan than the Germans, who had too many Slavic genes.’
‘So the upshot is that Matt Henson is a neo-Nazi, maybe a descendant of the offspring of a German SS officer and a Norwegian woman.’
‘Possibly.’
‘And Jamil Azeez is an Iranian British national studying law.’
‘With a father who is an international human-rights lawyer.’
‘Correct. Who will be here any day demanding answers.’
‘Exactly.’
Bennett collected the papers. ‘Thanks for these. Not sure if any of it is relevant …’
‘We never can be, can we, until we fit all the pieces together.’
Bennett looked at Kate thoughtfully. ‘Jack Delaney must have you well trained.’
‘I hope that’s not some kind of prurient joke, Detective Inspector Bennett.’
‘Not at all. In fact …’ He grinned a little sheepishly and sat on the corner of her desk. ‘Jack Delaney is the reason I joined the police force.’
‘Really?’ said Kate, a sceptical smile playing on her lips.
‘Really!’ Bennett held her gaze, his dark eyes suddenly very serious. ‘I remember seeing that photo of him holding the child rescued from the boot of a car, the whole nation cheering him on as a modern-day hero, and thinking … yeah, that’s what I want to do with my life.’
‘You surprise me.’
‘See, my heroes when I was growing up were Sir Lancelot and Galahad, rescuing damsels in distress, King Arthur, Robin Hood. Not much call for them nowadays.’
‘I’m not at all sure of that.’
‘Which is why I went for a squad car rather than a white charger. And your boyfriend was my inspiration. Seems that way to me, anyway.’
Kate looked into Bennett’s eyes and couldn’t read them – there certainly didn’t seem to be any humour in them now. ‘You’re not joking, are you?’ she asked.
‘No,’ he said. And then he blinked and shook his head. ‘So are you up for a bit more detecting?’
‘What you got in mind?’
‘Another of your observations …’
‘Go on.’
‘Jamil’s coat. Why don’t we go and find it?’
*
Doctor Derek Bowman slowly turned the wheel on the device he had inserted between the dead woman’s teeth. Rigor mortis had set in and hadn’t subsided yet. As he turned the wheel the uppermost plate rose, forcing the jaw open.