Counselor Ding pushed up his glasses and held up the sheet, which contained only two simple Chinese sentences, but he scrutinized it as if they were enigmatic hieroglyphs. “I’ve seen the instruction with my own eyes. Very well, thank you so much, Consul General.”
Had he misplaced the telegram or lost it, the ambassador would have concluded the order didn’t exist and accused him of misconduct. “How else may I assist you, Counselor Ding?”
“Consul General, it was brought to the ambassador’s attention that there was bribery regarding the visa issuance in the consulate.”
This was a serious accusation, and unexpected. And for a brief moment, Fengshan wondered if the ambassador was referring to the visas he’d issued to Mr. Perl. “I assure you, I’m not aware of any illicit behavior, and certainly, to the best of my knowledge, there is no bribery.”
“Who is in charge of the visa application process?”
“Vice Consul Zhou.”
“I’ll need to speak to him.”
Vice Consul Zhou was his subordinate; if he were found guilty of bribery, then, as his superior, Fengshan would be liable for being negligent. “Of course.”
The interrogation of Vice Consul Zhou stretched for hours. There were questions about the friends and acquaintances with whom he associated, the venues he patronized, and the shops he visited. The vice consul answered them all, and to Fengshan’s relief, he claimed he had not sold any visas to individual applicants, nor made contact with any suspicious middlemen buying visas. Finally, he was sent away.
Fengshan looked at the counselor, sitting in his chair, holding his pen that he used to sign visas, willing him to get up and return to Berlin with a report of his innocence so he could continue the consulate’s business. But the counselor was not finished.
“Consul General, may I inspect the consulate’s financial report and the receipts of the fees and the remittances to the Ministry?”
First the examination of the order, then the bribery accusation and now the review of the finances. The ambassador certainly seemed determined to prove his mismanagement. “I shall be glad to present them to you, Counselor Ding.”
“Thank you, Consul General. You may take a seat.”
Fengshan nodded, sat in a chair across from the counselor as he went over every line in the financial report, and listened to each scratch of the pen. It was unsettling and demeaning to have his integrity and capability evaluated this way. Still, the high stakes here were the fates of all the applicants. If he were found guilty of any misconduct, the visa issuance would end.
His financial report of the consulate expenses was, as far as he knew, immaculate; however, with the ongoing war in China, the remittances to the embassy had been delayed, which the counselor could misinterpret.
“I’ve prepared some homemade Chinese food. Would you like to have a taste, Counselor Ding?” Grace, who had been hovering outside the door, appeared at his side with a tray of sliced pork and a bowl of rice. She had that flushed look she got when she conversed with strangers, though she seemed determined.
He wanted to smile at her ingenuity in distracting Counselor Ding. If there was one thing a Chinese man living abroad craved every day, it was authentic Chinese food; Fengshan could attest to that.
The counselor glanced at Grace’s tray, looking tempted, and finally put down his pen. He said in English, “Thank you, Mrs. Consul General, for your hospitality. You’ve come at the right time. I haven’t had a chance to stop for food since I left Berlin.”
Grace set the tray on the desk. “I just love this smell. Garlic pork with soy sauce. Help yourself.”
It appeared Counselor Ding was starving, wolfing down the slices of pork. “This is delicious.”
“I don’t understand the workings of the consulate, Counselor Ding, especially the visas. In your opinion, why would a consulate accept bribes?” Grace asked.
“Visas are very much sought after these days, and many people are willing to pay high prices for them.”
Grace looked at him; Fengshan cleared his throat. “If I may, Counselor Ding. It is true that people pay high prices for visas to America, but Shanghai is not as desirable as America. And the policy we have is to approve every visa for every applicant. If a visa is so easy to obtain, then there’s no reason why people should bribe the consulate staff.”
Counselor Ding dabbed his mouth with a napkin from the tray, looking thoughtful.
“How did the ambassador learn about the bribery of the consulate?” Grace asked.
That was the question Fengshan would like to know as well. He looked at the counselor.
“Well, there was a report filed by the police that the vice consul of the consulate has taken bribery for visas.”
This was the first time Fengshan had heard that the Viennese police were watching his consulate.
The following day, Fengshan, with Grace by his side, walked out with the counselor to the consulate’s car parked near the street, where some visa applicants had already started to line up. Counselor Ding would be taken to the train station and report to Ambassador Chen in Berlin about his discovery in the consulate, but he didn’t indicate what would appear in the report or whether the ambassador would censure him.
“Safe travels, Counselor Ding.” Fengshan opened the door for him.
The counselor gave the visa applicants a look of annoyance. “This is a big crowd.”
“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.