Emil Borkhausen Makes Himself Useful

Humiliated by Prall over Kluge's escape, Escherich grows obsessively fixated on recovering the harmless little man, even suspecting he may be more deeply implicated than he seems. He travels to Ruppin to question Eva Kluge, gleaning only names of bars and a jilted lover, Tutti Hebekreuz, before Emil Borkhausen turns up demanding action against the Persickes over Frau Rosenthal's stolen radio. Escherich refuses to hear it, but recruits Borkhausen with the promise of five hundred marks to find Enno Kluge, then has him beaten and thrown down the stairs by SS sentries for pressing the Persicke matter again. Nursing his grievance but needing the money, Borkhausen stakes out the betting bars, spots Kluge cashing his win on Adebar, and tails him to Hetty Haberle's shop, watching through the window as Kluge grovels before her. Recognising a chance to profit from both sides, Borkhausen decides to delay reporting, planning to bring along his possible son, Kuno-Dieter, as a lookout.

Borkhausen's greed becomes the hinge connecting three plot threads — the Rosenthal aftermath, the Kluge chase, and Hetty's household — and his calculation to play both sides at once signals that the net closing on Kluge, and eventually the Quangels, will be sprung by petty self-interest rather than competent policing.