The Short, the Long and the Tall

by Jeffrey Archer

  ‘Me too,’ said the banker, also placing his cards face down on the table.

  ‘Then it’s just the two of us, Philippe,’ said the mayor, wondering if the doctor could be tempted to part with any more money.

  Philippe’s eyes remained fixed on his cards, as he waited to see what the mayor would do.

  ‘I’ll see you,’ Lascelles said, nonchalantly tossing another twenty francs into the centre of the table.

  The doctor smiled and turned his cards over to reveal a pair of aces, a pair of queens and a ten, the smile remaining firmly in place.

  The mayor began to turn his cards over one by one, prolonging the agony. A nine, a seven, a nine, a seven. Philippe’s smile was still in place until the mayor revealed his final card, another nine.

  ‘A full house,’ said Tessier. ‘The mayor wins.’ The doctor frowned as the mayor gathered up his winnings without revealing the slightest emotion.

  ‘You’re a lucky bastard, Max,’ said Philippe.

  The mayor would like to have explained to Philippe that luck had very little to do with it, when it came to playing poker. Nine times out of ten, statistical probability and the ability to bluff would decide the final outcome.

  The headmaster began to shuffle the pack, and was about to start dealing another hand when they all heard the key turning in the lock. The mayor checked his gold pocket watch: a few minutes past midnight.

  ‘Who could possibly consider disturbing us at this time of night?’ he said.

  They all looked towards the door, annoyed to have their game interrupted.

  The four of them immediately stood up when the door was pushed open and the prison commandant marched in. Colonel Müller came to a halt in the middle of the cell, and placed his hands on his hips. Captain Hoffman and his ADC, Lieutenant Dieter, followed in his wake. Another full house. They were all wearing the black uniform of the SS. Their shoes were the only thing that shone.

  ‘Heil Hitler!’ said the commandant, but none of the prisoners responded as they waited anxiously to discover the reason for the visit. They feared the worst.

  ‘Please be seated, Mr Mayor, gentlemen,’ said the commandant as Captain Hoffman put a bottle of wine on the centre of the table, while his ADC, like a well-trained sommelier, placed a glass in front of each of them.

  Once again, the doctor was unable to hide his surprise, while his colleagues remained poker-faced.

  ‘As you know,’ continued the commandant, ‘the four of you are due to be released at six o’clock tomorrow morning, having served your sentences.’ Eight suspicious eyes never left the commandant. ‘Captain Hoffman will accompany you to the railway station where you will take a train back to Saint Rochelle. Once you’re home, you will resume your former duties as members of the town council, and as long as you keep your heads down, I feel sure no stray bullets will hit you.’

  The two junior officers dutifully laughed, while the four prisoners remained silent.

  ‘However, it is my duty to remind you, gentlemen,’ continued the commandant, ‘that martial law is still in force, and applies to everyone, whatever their rank or position. Do I make myself clear?’

  ‘Yes, Colonel,’ said the mayor, speaking on behalf of his colleagues.

  ‘Excellent,’ said the commandant. ‘Then I will leave you to your game, and see you again in the morning.’ Without another word, the colonel turned on his heel and departed, with Captain Hoffman and Lieutenant Dieter following closely behind.

  All four of the prisoners remained standing until the heavy door was slammed shut, and they heard the key turning in the lock.

  ‘Did you notice,’ said the mayor once he’d lowered his heavy frame back down onto his chair, ‘that the commandant addressed us as gentlemen for the first time?’

  ‘And you as Mr Mayor, but why the sudden change of heart,’ said the headmaster, as he nervously touched his moustache.

  ‘The town’s affairs can’t have been running quite as smoothly without us, would be my bet,’ said the mayor. ‘And I suspect the colonel will be only too happy to see us back in Saint Rochelle. He clearly hasn’t got enough staff to administer the town’s affairs.’

  ‘You may well be right,’ said Tessier. ‘But that doesn’t mean we have to fall in line.’

  ‘I agree,’ said the mayor, ‘especially if the colonel is no longer holding all the aces.’

  ‘What makes you think that?’ asked Dr Doucet.

  ‘The bottle of wine, for a start,’ said the mayor, as he studied the label and smiled for the first time that day. ‘Not vintage, but quite acceptable.’ He poured himself a glass before passing the bottle across to Tessier.

  ‘Not to mention his demeanour,’ added the banker. ‘Not the usual bombastic rhetoric suggesting that it can only be a matter of time before the master race has conquered the whole of Europe.’

  ‘I agree with Claude,’ said Parmentier. ‘I can always tell when one of my boys knows he’s about to be punished but still hopes to get off lightly.’

  ‘Once France is free again, I have no intention of letting anybody off lightly,’ said the mayor. ‘The moment the Hun retreat back to the Fatherland where they belong, I shall round up all the quislings and collaborators, and impose my own form of martial law.’

  ‘What do you have in mind, Mr Mayor?’ asked the headmaster.

  ‘The whores who made themselves available to anyone in uniform will have their heads shorn in public, while those who assisted the enemy will be hanged in the market square.’

  ‘I would have thought as a lawyer, Max, you would have wanted to conduct a fair and open trial before passing judgement,’ suggested the doctor. ‘After all, we can’t begin to know what pressures some of our countrymen must have been under. I can tell you as a doctor that sometimes there’s a fine line between compliance and rape.’

  ‘I can’t agree, Philippe, but then you’ve always been willing to give everyone the benefit of the doubt,’ said the mayor. ‘An indulgence I cannot afford. I shall punish anyone and everyone I consider to be a traitor, while honouring our brave resistance fighters who, like us, have stood up to the enemy whatever the consequences.’

  Philippe bowed his head.

  ‘I can’t pretend I’ve always stood up to them,’ said the headmaster, ‘and am well aware that as town councillors we have often received preferential treatment.’

  ‘Only because it was our duty to ensure the town’s affairs are run smoothly in the interest of those who elected us.’

  ‘Let’s not forget that some of our fellow councillors felt it more honourable to resign than collaborate with the enemy.’

  ‘I am not a collaborator, Philippe, and never have been,’ said the mayor, thumping his fist on the table. ‘On the contrary, I have always tried to be a thorn in their flesh, and feel I can safely say I’ve drawn blood on several occasions, and I’ll continue to do so given the slightest opportunity.’

  ‘Not that easy while the swastika still flies above the town hall,’ suggested Tessier.

  ‘And you can be assured, Claude,’ continued the mayor, ‘I will personally burn that evil symbol the moment the Germans depart.’

  ‘Which might not be for some time,’ murmured the headmaster.

  ‘Possibly, but that’s no reason to forget we are Frenchmen,’ said the mayor, raising his glass, ‘Vive la France!’

  ‘Vive la France!’ the four men cried in unison, as they all raised their glasses.

  ‘What’s the first thing you’ll do when you get home, André?’ asked the doctor, trying to lighten the mood.

  ‘Have a bath,’ said the headmaster. They all laughed. ‘Then I shall return to my classroom and attempt to teach the next generation that war serves little or no purpose, either for victor or the vanquished. How about you, Philippe?’

  ‘Report back to the hospital, where I expect to find the wards full of young men returning from the front, scarred in more ways than we can imagine. And then there will be the sick and elderly, who had
hoped to enjoy the fruits of retirement, only to find themselves overrun by a foreign power.’

  ‘All very commendable,’ said Tessier. ‘But that won’t stop me going straight home and jumping into bed with my wife. And I certainly won’t be bothering to have a bath.’

  They all burst out laughing.

  ‘Amen to that,’ said the headmaster with a chuckle, ‘and I’d do the same if my wife was twenty years younger than me.’

  ‘But then, unlike Claude,’ said the mayor, ‘André hasn’t deflowered half the virgins in Saint Rochelle, with promises of an overdraft.’

  ‘Well, at least it’s girls I’m interested in,’ said Tessier, once the mayor had stopped laughing.

  ‘And can I assume, Tessier,’ said the mayor, his tone changing, ‘you will then return to the bank, and make sure all our affairs are in order? I can remember exactly how much was in my account the day we were arrested.’

  ‘And every last franc will still be there,’ said Tessier, looking directly at the mayor.

  ‘Plus six months’ interest?’

  ‘And what about you, Max,’ responded the banker, equally sharply. ‘What will you do after you’ve hanged half the population of Saint Rochelle, and shorn the hair off the other half?’

  ‘I shall continue my practice as a lawyer,’ said the mayor, ignoring his friend’s barb, ‘as I suspect there will be a long queue waiting outside my office in need of my services,’ he added, as he refilled everyone’s glass.

  ‘Including me,’ said Philippe. ‘I’ll want someone to defend me when I can’t afford to pay my gambling debts,’ he added without a hint of self-pity.

  ‘Perhaps we should call a truce,’ suggested the headmaster. ‘Forget the past six months, and wipe the slate clean.’

  ‘Certainly not,’ said the mayor. ‘We all agreed to abide by the same rules that applied while we were on the outside. A gentleman always honours his gambling debts, if I recall your exact words, André.’

  ‘But that would clean me out,’ said Philippe, as he checked the bottom line in the banker’s little black book. He didn’t add that while they’d been incarcerated, every night had become a Friday night, and Dr Doucet had come to realize for the first time just how much the mayor must have pocketed over the years.

  ‘The time has come to consider the future, not the past,’ said the mayor, wanting to change the subject. ‘I intend to convene a council meeting as soon as we get back to Saint Rochelle and expect you all to be present.’

  ‘And what will the first item on the agenda be, Mr Mayor?’ asked Tessier.

  ‘We must pass a resolution denouncing Marshal Pétain and the Vichy regime, and make it clear that we consider them nothing more than a bunch of quislings, and in future will be supporting General de Gaulle as the next president of France.’

  ‘I don’t recall you expressing those views at any of our recent council meetings,’ said Tessier, not attempting to hide his sarcasm.

  ‘No one knows better than you, Claude, the pressures I’ve been under, attempting to keep the show on the road,’ said the mayor. ‘Which resulted in me being arrested and thrown in jail for collaboration.’

  ‘Along with the rest of us, who did no more than attend the private meeting you’d called without notice,’ said Tessier. ‘Just in case you’d forgotten.’

  ‘I offered to serve all your sentences,’ said the mayor, ‘but the commandant wouldn’t hear of it.’

  ‘As you never stop reminding us,’ said the doctor.

  ‘I do not regret my decision,’ said the mayor haughtily. ‘And once I’m released, I shall continue to harass the enemy whenever possible.’

  ‘Which wasn’t all that often in the past, if I recall,’ said Tessier.

  ‘Children, children,’ said the headmaster, aware that six months locked up together hadn’t improved their relationship. ‘Let us not forget we’re all meant to be on the same side.’

  ‘Not all the Germans have treated us badly,’ the doctor said. ‘I confess I’ve even come to like one or two of them, including Captain Hoffman.’

  ‘More fool you, Philippe,’ said the mayor. ‘Hoffman would string us all up without a second thought if he believed it would benefit the Fatherland. Never forget the Hun are either on their knees or at your throats.’

  ‘And they certainly don’t believe in an eye for an eye when it comes to our brave resistance fighters,’ said Tessier. ‘You kill one of them, and they’ll happily hang two of us in revenge.’

  ‘True,’ said the mayor. ‘And if any of them should fail to make it back across the border after the war is over, I’ll be the first to sharpen the guillotine, so help me God.’

  The mention of the Almighty stopped everyone in their tracks, and both the headmaster and the doctor crossed themselves.

  ‘Well, at least we won’t have a lot to confess after spending six months in this hellhole,’ said the headmaster, interrupting the eerie silence.

  ‘Although I feel sure Father Pierre would not approve of us gambling,’ said Philippe. ‘I’m reminded that Our Lord threw the moneylenders out of the temple.’

  ‘I won’t tell him, if you don’t,’ said the mayor as he refilled his glass with what was left in the bottle.

  ‘That’s even assuming Father Pierre will still be around when we get back,’ said Philippe. ‘When I last saw him at the hospital, he was putting in hours that would have broken a normal man. I begged him to slow down, but he simply ignored me.’

  A clock in the distance chimed once.

  ‘Time for one more hand before we turn in?’ suggested Tessier, handing the cards to the mayor.

  ‘Count me out,’ said Philippe, ‘before I’m declared bankrupt.’

  ‘Perhaps it’s your turn to win,’ said the mayor as he began to shuffle the pack, ‘and you’ll get everything back on the next hand?’

  ‘That’s just not going to happen, and you know it, Max, so I think I’ll call it a day. Not that I expect to get much sleep. I feel like a schoolboy on his last day of term who can’t wait to go home.’

  ‘I hope my school isn’t this bad,’ said the headmaster, as he began to deal another hand.

  Philippe rose from his place and made his way slowly across to his bed on the far side of the cell, before climbing up onto the top bunk. He was just about to lie down, when he saw him standing there, in the centre of the room. The doctor stared at him for a few moments, before he said, ‘Good evening, Father. I didn’t hear you come in.’

  ‘God bless you, my son,’ replied Father Pierre, giving the sign of the cross.

  The headmaster immediately stopped dealing when he heard the familiar voice. They all swung round and stared at the priest.

  Father Pierre was bathed in a shard of light shining from the skylight above. He was wearing his familiar long black cassock, white collar and silk bands. A simple silver cross hung around his neck, as it had done since the day of his consecration.

  The four men continued to stare at the priest, but said nothing. Tessier tried to hide the cards under the table, like a child who’d been caught with his hand in the biscuit tin.

  ‘Bless you, my children, I hope you are all well,’ the priest said, once again making the sign of the cross, ‘although I fear I am sadly the bearer of bad tidings.’ The four of them froze like rabbits caught in the headlights, all of them assuming they were no longer going to be released in the morning.

  ‘Earlier this evening,’ continued the priest, ‘a train travelling to Saint Rochelle was blown up by local resistance fighters. Three German officers were killed, along with three of our own countrymen.’ He hesitated a few moments before adding, ‘It will not come as a surprise to you, gentlemen, that the German High Command are demanding reprisals.’

  ‘But three Frenchmen were killed,’ said Tessier, ‘isn’t that enough?’

  ‘I fear not,’ said the priest. ‘As in the past, the Germans are demanding that two Frenchmen are to be executed for every German killed.’

&nb
sp; ‘But what has this to do with us?’ demanded the mayor. ‘We were locked up in here at the time of the bombing, so how could we possibly have been involved?’

  ‘I did point that out to the commandant, but he remains adamant that if three of the town’s leading citizens were to be made an example of, it would send a clear message to anyone who might consider taking similar action in the future. And let me assure you, no amount of pleading on your behalf would move him. Colonel Müller has decreed that three of you will be hanged in the town square at six o’clock tomorrow morning.’

  The four men all began speaking at once, and only stopped when the mayor raised a hand. ‘All we wish to know, Father, is how the three will be chosen?’ he asked, a bead of sweat appearing on his forehead, although the cell was freezing.

  ‘Colonel Müller has come up with three suggestions, but has decided to leave the final choice to you.’

  ‘How considerate of him,’ said Tessier. ‘I can’t wait to hear what he has in mind.’

  ‘He felt the simplest solution would be to draw straws.’

  ‘I don’t believe in chance,’ said the mayor. ‘What are the alternatives?’

  ‘A final round of poker, when the stakes could not be higher, if I recall the colonel’s exact words.’

  ‘I would be happy to go along with that,’ said the mayor.

  ‘I bet you would, Max,’ said Claude. ‘After all, the odds would be stacked in your favour. What’s the final choice?’

  ‘I hesitate to mention this,’ said the priest, ‘as it is the one that least appeals to me.’

  ‘Do enlighten us, Father,’ said the mayor, no longer able to mask his feelings.

  ‘You will all agree to make a final confession before you face your maker, and I will be left with the unenviable task of deciding which one of you should be spared.’

  ‘That would certainly be my choice,’ said the headmaster, without hesitation.

  ‘However, should you decide to go down that particular path,’ continued the priest, ‘there is a caveat which I insisted on.’

  ‘And what was that?’ demanded the mayor.