‘He was very enthusiastic, sir.’
‘My God! But the second time . . .?’
‘Was a rear entry, sir.’
Himmler produced a patterned handkerchief to pat his forehead; he obviously had a vivid imagination. ‘You did not object to this?’
‘Well, actually, sir, I preferred it to the first way. I didn’t have to look at his face.’
‘Ha ha. You are a treasure. But tell me, suppose he had tried – well . . .’
‘To sodomize me, sir?’
‘Ah . . . yes. Would you have accepted that?’
‘General Heydrich’s orders were that I should refuse him nothing.’
‘Did he ever, ah . . .?’
‘No, sir.’
‘Because he was an English gentleman, eh?’
Anna reflected that he obviously knew very little about too many English gentlemen. ‘No, sir. It was because he could never sustain a hard enough erection long enough for such a difficult entry.’
The handkerchief was back at work. ‘Perhaps you were fortunate. But if he had managed it, you would have accepted it, because it was your duty to do so. You would not have hit him with a . . . ah . . . chamber pot and run screaming from the room with nothing on.’
Oh, my God! Anna thought. ‘Is that what happened?’
‘He was a Turkish gentleman.’
‘I see. So . . .?’
‘She should have been dismissed from the service, sent to an SS brothel. You are not allowed to run screaming from your room in one of those situations. As for using a chamber pot as a weapon . . . This man was a very important member of the Turkish government, and he was quite put out.’
‘I can imagine. And Katherine?’
‘She has been suspended. As I said, she should have been immediately downgraded, but I intervened. After all, she is your sister, eh?’
‘Thank you, sir. I am most enormously grateful.’
‘I am giving her another chance, in your care. Not that there will be any sexual problems in this case, eh? Very well, Anna. I am relying on you.’
‘Yes, sir. May I ask, is there a time scale involved?’
‘Well, obviously, the sooner we can wrap this up the better. However, there must be no flaws in the evidence we present to the Führer. Be thorough, but exact.’
‘Yes, sir. You understand that I will probably have to speak to some of these people, to get at the truth.’
Himmler frowned. ‘You mean, put them under interrogation?’
‘No, sir. I think that would be counterproductive at this stage. If I may say so, the secret of such successes as I have had lies in my ability to make people feel that I am on their side, that I understand their points of view, perhaps even that I am prepared to go along with them in whatever they are planning. This enables me to gain their confidence, as a result of which they are inclined to be indiscreet.’
‘Ha ha. Yes. That is brilliant.’
‘It is also open to misinterpretation by possibly hostile outsiders, especially as I will not be able to explain my actions to anyone except you.’
‘Good point. What do you require?’
‘A blanket carte blanche, sir – to cover any action I may be forced to take. There should be two, exact copies – one for me to carry with me in case I am arrested by any overzealous Gestapo agent; the other for me to keep in a safe place in case I am robbed of the first.’
Himmler stroked his chin. ‘You realize that you are asking for unprecedented power.’
‘I regard this is an unprecedented situation, sir. I hope you understand that my only desire is to serve you. As you have reminded me often enough, the facts of my career mean that my future is irretrievably bound to yours. And, of course, you will always have the power to revoke the carte blanche should I let you down.’
‘Do you know, Anna, your powers of perception, your clarity of thought, make you unlike any woman I have ever met, or even heard of. I am not sure I would like to meet another. You will have your carte blanche. I just want to make one point: whatever you find out, you are to take no executive action without referring to me first.’
‘Of course, sir,’ Anna said. ‘I am your servant.’
*
Had everything fallen into her lap? How she wanted to believe that. If the plot were successful, and Beck became head of state, Himmler would obviously lose much of his power. There remained pitfalls, but she had survived sufficient pitfalls in the past. And now she had to hurry.
‘Oh, Anna,’ Katherine sobbed. ‘I have had such a terrible time.’
‘I know,’ Anna said.
Katherine frowned through her tears. ‘You know about—’
‘Your Turkish friend, yes. You know what should have happened to you?’
Katherine licked her lips. ‘I could not stand that.’
‘Well, you may not have to. As of this moment you are working for me.’
‘For you? Oh Anna!’ Katherine threw her arms round her sister’s neck.
Anna allowed her a hug and then disengaged herself. ‘It may not all be beer and skittles. Come with me.’ She led her upstairs and into her office, where Essermann waited. ‘This is my sister, Hellmuth.’
‘I would have known that,’ he said. ‘But actually, we have met.’
Katherine simpered, and Anna wondered. But Hellmuth’s sexual habits were strictly orthodox.
‘Well,’ she said. ‘Now you are going to work together, with me, on a top-secret project.’ She repeated the relevant parts of her conversation with Himmler.
Katherine listened with open-mouthed wonder. Hellmuth scratched his ear. ‘I thought that business was finished,’ he remarked.
‘Apparently it isn’t. But we have to proceed very cautiously, because there is no saying, at present, just how deep and widespread this conspiracy is, who, perhaps very highly placed, may be involved. Therefore not a word of what we say or record must ever be uttered outside this room.’ She glanced at their faces. ‘That will count as treason. Now, our first task is the collection and correlation of all the existing evidence, obtained as part of our surveillance operations over the past few months. That is your task, Hellmuth. I want you to accumulate all of this material from every available source – Gestapo, Abwehr and SS. If anyone objects, you are operating under the direct orders of Reichsführer Himmler and they can refer to his office. But none of the evidence must be shown to anyone except me. That is an order from the Reichsführer. He is relying on me to keep him fully up to date, and he will make the decision as to when we move, on anyone.’
Hellmuth looked as if he might have toothache at the idea of her having all the power in their relationship, but he nodded.
‘Now, Katherine, you will tabulate and cross-reference all of that material, as Hellmuth brings it in. That may not sound very exciting, but remember that you are working for the Reich at the very highest level.’
Katherine also nodded, looking suitably determined.
‘And what will you be doing?’ Hellmuth asked.
Anna smiled at him. ‘I am going to see if I can infiltrate this conspiracy.’
‘What?’ Hellmuth and Katherine spoke together.
‘It is the Reichsführer’s idea,’ Anna explained.
*
‘Are you sure?’ Steinberg asked. ‘I mean, the risk . . .’
‘The time has come when we have to take risks,’ Anna said. ‘Himmler is launching a top-level investigation into all people who can possibly be involved. This is mainly the fault of your various associates who have been acting quite irresponsibly, making absurdly open telephone calls without apparently suspecting that their lines might be being tapped.’
‘My God! Then we are finished!’
‘Not at the moment. I have been placed in charge of the investigation.’
‘You? But—’
‘I will have to deliver, and fairly soon. But if you can carry out the assassination before I do, then we will all be in the clear.’
He sighed. �
��There is a complication.’
Oh, shit! she thought; another one? ‘Stauffenberg has changed his mind?’
‘No, no. He is as keen as ever. But Beck . . .’
‘Don’t tell me he has got cold feet?’
‘I don’t think so. But he has been corresponding with other senior officers who are prepared to join us . . . But I suppose you know that.’
‘Yes,’ Anna said grimly. ‘So does Himmler.’
‘Well, they are of the opinion that killing Hitler will not be enough.’
‘What do they want you to do – blow up the Chancellery? In any event, he is hardly ever there, nowadays.’
‘We know. He spends much of his time in Berchtesgaden or in Rastenburg. But he is visited, regularly at both addresses, is he not, by his senior officers?’
‘Of course. He depends on his staff officers for reports on which he bases his decisions. That is how Stauffenberg will get in.’
‘And Himmler and Göring are often present, are they not?’
Anna leaned back in her chair. ‘Just what are you trying to say?’
Steinberg licked his lips. ‘I know he is your boss, and you work very closely with him, but you cannot like the man. I mean, he is a vicious monster.’ He flushed as he gazed at her expression. ‘Isn’t he?’
‘You have not answered my question.’
‘Well . . .’ Another nervous lick of the lips. ‘It is the opinion of the generals, with which Beck concurs, that merely getting rid of Hitler is not sufficient, that if Göring and Himmler were left to take over the government, we would be no further ahead.’
‘I see. Göring and Himmler. Why not go the whole hog and include Goebbels?’
‘They do not think he is important. Göring has the Luftwaffe at his command. Himmler has the entire police force. Goebbels has the Ministry of Propaganda. That is meaningless. The question is, can you accept this?’
Anna continued to study him for some moments. In her opinion, Goebbels was the most dangerous man in Germany. But she knew she might be prejudiced. And there was a good deal of sense in the generals’ point of view. Himmler might not himself be a man of action, but he was certainly capable of reacting. And if he were to go up with Hitler, she would be the only person who would know of the nearly two million dollars he had salted away. Apart from Laurent, of course. But she had no doubts of Laurent’s loyalty – to her – now. While again, if Himmler were to go up with Hitler, she would surely, if she acted quickly enough, retain sufficient clout to get her parents out of their Polish prison before anyone else could react.
Steinberg was encouraged by her silence. ‘You could help us by providing a list of Himmler’s schedules . . .’
‘And I suppose you have someone at the Air Ministry to keep you informed about Göring’s movements.’
‘Yes, we do.’
‘You may be creating an unnecessary additional problem. Every day you delay increases the risk of detection.’
‘But you are in charge of the investigation. You have said you could stall it.’
‘I can for a while, but only a while.’
‘It will happen at the first opportunity. You have my word. Anna . . . when can I see you again?’
‘Business before pleasure,’ Anna reminded him. ‘In any event, you cannot see me again, outside this office, until after it is over: I am now living in the basement of this building. So . . . I will wait to hear from you.’
*
‘A directive from the Führer,’ Himmler announced. ‘He handed it to me personally when I saw him at the Berghof, yesterday. You won’t believe this, Anna.’
Anna hardly believed he was standing in front of her desk. Every time he went to the Berghof for a conference she was not sure he would come back. But perhaps Göring had not also been there, or Stauffenberg’s presence had not been required. She was completely in the dark as to what the conspirators were doing. But that was at her request, and it was how it had to be, if she was to have any hope of surviving. So she said, ‘Yes, Herr Reichsführer?’
‘The Abwehr is to be amalgamated with the SD, under my orders.’
‘Good heavens!’ She had almost forgotten that was going to happen.
‘You understand what this means?’
‘I would say that OKW is dissatisfied with their performance,’ Anna suggested.
‘Well, they have every right to be. But it is more serious than that. The Führer is convinced that they are the centre of the conspiracy.’
Anna registered disbelief in her face. ‘But . . . Admiral Canaris . . .’
‘You have nothing on him?’
‘No, sir, I have not.’
‘Well, maybe I will give him to you to interrogate, one of these days. Would I be right in supposing that you do not like him?’
‘I have only met Admiral Canaris once, sir.’
‘But it was one of his people who tried to rape you, while pretending to arrest you, two years ago. As I recall, you broke his neck.’
‘I was defending myself, sir,’ Anna said modestly. ‘I do not believe that Admiral Canaris had anything to do with that.’
‘Well, we shall have to see what you can find on him, when you come back.’
‘Am I going away, sir?’ Again, she thought.
‘I have a delivery for Herr Laurent.’
*
‘A million plus,’ Henri said, ‘to add to the million plus he already has. How does he get all this stuff?’
‘By arresting everyone he can and confiscating every penny they possess,’ Anna said.
‘Well . . . it’s all here, whenever you want it. I would say you’ve enough now to get out and live a very good life.’
They were in his Lucerne apartment, to which she had gone immediately on arriving. The sense of well-being, the ability to relax in Switzerland itself, much more in his company, was overwhelming. She had hoped to achieve a similar period of R & R in Stockholm, and it hadn’t happened. Now it was suddenly threatening not to happen here either. She turned to face him, seated beside her on the settee. ‘I can’t touch that money, Henri.’
‘Say again?’
‘It isn’t mine.’
‘Didn’t Himmler say he’d share it?’
‘Yes, he did. But it’s not his to share, either. It belongs to a whole lot of innocent people, whom he has either murdered or locked up just to get his hands on their wealth.’
Laurent’s hand had been resting on her breast. Now he moved it to scratch his head. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘Henri, I have been forced to do a lot of very nasty things in my life, but I am not a thief.’
‘Yet you bring this stuff to me.’
‘While I am required to work for the Reichsführer, I must obey his orders, without question.’
‘I am getting more befogged by the moment. You say you are required to work for him. Whose orders are you obeying? – Hitler’s?’
‘Please don’t ask me that, Henri. And please don’t be angry with me. You are more precious to me than almost anyone else.’
‘I could never be angry with you, my dearest girl. But supposing – well, that Himmler never gets around to claiming the money? What do you propose to do with it?’
‘With your help, give it back.’
‘To whom? You say most of these people are dead, or are very likely to be by the time it’s ours to give.’
‘Then we’ll think of some worthwhile charity.’
‘You really are unique. Knowing you has been the greatest experience of my life.’ He took her in his arms.
*
Anna was no stranger to tension: she had lived surrounded by it for five years. But the next few months were the tensest of her life. She provided Steinberg with a list of Himmler’s projected movements over the coming weeks, and then could do nothing more than wait, a business complicated by the number of times he returned from Rastenburg; had Göring given up going?
There was also the matter of stalling – both Himmler and he
r staff. Essermann accumulated a mountain of information, which was duly handed to Katherine, who meticulously categorized it and filed it. Both were aware that they had more than sufficient evidence to make a whole raft of arrests. Anna put them off by telling them that Himmler had not yet made up his mind to take action, and they accepted this. Indeed, they became quite a jolly little team and celebrated her twenty-fourth birthday in her office with a couple of bottles of champagne. To Himmler she kept insisting that they lacked various vital pieces of evidence but that they were on the verge of making the final breakthrough. This he in turn accepted, as he had become accustomed to accepting everything she told him. But time was running out.
For everyone. He appeared in her office on the morning of 6 June. ‘Well,’ he announced. ‘It’s happened!’
‘Sir?’ For a moment she supposed he was referring to Hitler’s death. But then she realized he couldn’t be, as he himself was still alive.
‘The Allies have landed. In Normandy.’
‘But . . . Normandy?’
‘I have been on the phone to the Führer. He says it has to be a feint; the only sensible place for them to cross the Channel is at its narrowest point, the Pas de Calais. But apparently there are an awful lot of them.’
‘But they have got ashore?’
‘Yes. As I say, in considerable numbers. Oh, we are holding them, but the situation is complicated by the fact that we have to maintain our strength in the Calais area, to handle the real invasion when it comes. What is worrying is that they seem to have many more men and ships available than have been reported by our spies, if they can launch a feint on this scale and still have their main force poised to attack in the north. That is another failure of Abwehr.’
‘Perhaps it isn’t a feint,’ Anna murmured.
‘My dear girl, you know nothing of military matters. It is sixty miles of open water between England and Normandy. No modern army can be sustained across such a distance. Think of the logistics involved, the vehicles, the fuel required. No, no, it has to be a feint. It is just a matter of how soon they give up trying and get back into their ships. It will not be long, because I have something else to tell you. Our V-bombs are ready. We are going to rain such a devastating series of blows on London that all war production will cease. We are now approaching the climactic battle of the war. Victory or death, eh? Are you afraid, Anna?’
Angel in Jeopardy: The thrilling sequel to Angel of Vengeance (Anna Fehrbach Book 4) Page 25
