‘I entirely understand, monsieur, which is why I said it is a delicate matter. But she claims to have information on a police matter, in which you might possibly be involved.’
Damnation! Laurent thought. The bitch! But his face remained calm. ‘And she has apparently forgotten that when she came to work for us, she signed a confidentiality agreement.’
‘I know, monsieur. It is very embarrassing. But what am I to do? The information she has lodged has to do with our ongoing investigation into a peculiarly vicious crime that took place here in Geneva nearly eighteen months ago.’
Laurent needed time to think. ‘And you are still investigating it?’
‘Well, monsieur, it was a murder. A double murder. The files on murder cases are never closed.’
Laurent came to a decision as to how this had to be handled. It was very regrettable, but then, he had just about made his final decision as regards Anna anyway. This was the decisive development: there was no way he intended to become embroiled with the police. ‘And I am supposed to be involved? You will have to tell me about it, Inspector.’
‘The murders took place in a bedroom in the Gustav Hotel. The bodies of two men were found by the chambermaid when she entered the room in the morning. All identification had been removed. The bodies, as I say, were found just after nine in the morning, but medical examination indicated that they had been dead for some twelve hours. Now, just before nine that morning, the occupant of that room, registered as Mademoiselle Anna O’Brien, bearer of an Irish passport, checked out. It seems obvious that she was the murderess, but from the nature of the crime and the way it was carried out, it also seems certain that this young woman was a highly professional assassin. But having left the hotel she disappeared into thin air. We had a description of her, but it was of no great value: tall, good-looking, in general fair although she seems to have kept her hair concealed, and carrying what seemed to be a heavy attaché case.’ He paused.
‘And now,’ Laurent said, ‘a year and a half later, Mademoiselle Essene has come to you and told you that a woman answering that very rough description, and carrying such a case, called at this office on the morning after the murder. At nine o’clock.’
‘Well, monsieur . . .’
‘Of course you had no choice but to follow it up. And you were entirely correct. The woman who came here that morning was the Countess von Widerstand.’
Martine’s jaw dropped. ‘The woman from Warsaw?’
‘That is one way of putting it, certainly.’
‘Good God! And you knew this when . . .?’
‘No, I did not know this when she came to me. I only knew that she was an agent for Herr Himmler, bringing me certain items that he wished me to dispose of for him. As you will understand, Inspector, I am not at liberty to reveal these confidential items to you, or anyone. But I had absolutely no idea that she had just killed two men. Nor would I have considered it possible, in such an attractive and apparently innocent young woman. You see, while she was here she changed her clothing, and her appearance, entirely, and just left as soon as our business was completed.’
‘You did not find this suspicious?’
‘I’m afraid not. I knew that she was a German courier, and I assumed that she had her reasons for wishing to change her appearance. It is not my business to be inquisitive about my customers, only such of their affairs as they bring to my notice.’
‘But when you heard of the murders . . . we publicized the description of the woman we were looking for.’
‘I’m afraid, Inspector, that unlike, it seems, my erstwhile receptionist, I simply do not have the time to follow criminal matters, certainly when they are not connected to me. I have said, it would never have crossed my mind that such a woman would be capable of killing anyone.’
‘And now we know that she has eight deaths to her credit.’
How little you know, Laurent thought, and remarked, ‘Incredible.’
‘Yes. Tell me, sir. Have you seen this woman since? I mean, here in Switzerland.’
‘Yes, I have.’
‘Sir?’
‘We have met, let me see, it would have been twice, I think, in Lucerne, again when she was bringing certain items from Herr Himmler for deposit in my bank.’
‘Would either of these meetings have been after her exploits in Warsaw?’
‘Certainly not. Had I known about that, well . . .’
‘You would have come to us, of course. But do you think there is any chance of her returning again?’
‘I have no idea.’
‘But you will bear in mind that, regardless of anything that might have happened in Poland, which I suppose we could put down to the exigencies of warfare, she is wanted for murder here in Switzerland.’
‘Inspector, you have my assurance that should the Countess von Widerstand appear in Switzerland again, I will immediately contact you.’
‘Thank you, sir. And thank you for your time. Good morning to you.’
Laurent allowed him five minutes, then summoned his secretary. ‘Send Gregoire to me.’ The young man appeared five minutes later. ‘All ready for your trip?’
‘Yes, sir. I am looking forward to it.’
‘Well, I am sorry to say, it’s off.’
‘Sir?’
‘Circumstances have changed, Gregoire. The young lady no longer needs a warning.’
‘Oh.’ He was crestfallen. ‘Yes, sir.’
‘But thank you anyway for volunteering.’ Laurent watched the door close and leaned back in his chair. I am doing her a kindness, he thought. A quick death at the hands of a Russian assassin is surely preferable to a long, drawn out and highly publicized trial, with certain conviction at the end of it.
But what a waste.
Incident in Stockholm
‘What a climate!’ Joseph Andrews stood at the window of the Embassy, and looked out at the snow clouding over Stockholm. ‘And you have to live here all the year.’
‘Does it not snow in America, sir?’ Lars Johannsson asked.
‘Sure it does. But not too often in Virginia, which is where I come from.’
‘It is very pleasant here in the summer,’ Johannsson suggested.
Andrews studied him. Johannsson was a big man, over six feet tall, with bland features and a shock of yellow hair. The ultimate Aryan, he supposed. And he did not look like a killer, nor, he equally supposed, did he so regard himself. But he had been lethally trained, and as an agent his record could not be faulted. ‘So. Tell me what you feel about it.’
He returned to sit behind the desk he had been allotted together with this private office. Johannsson was already seated before it. ‘I think it is a great tragedy, sir. She is such a beautiful and charming woman.’
‘How well do you know her?’
‘I have only met her three times.’
‘Did you ever make advances to her?’
Johannsson flushed. ‘I did suggest, at our last meeting, that I would like to know her better.’
‘And what did she reply?’
‘I can remember exactly, sir. She said: “Business before pleasure, Herr Johannsson.”’
‘That sounds like Anna.’
‘I must admit, I did not take that as a final refusal, sir.’
‘Few men do. So she is beautiful, charming, and she turned you on. That is par for the course. Will you do it?’
‘If you tell me that it is essential, sir, and order me to do it, I will do it.’
‘It is essential, and I do order you to do it.’
‘Very good, sir.’
‘But there is another question. Can you do it?’
‘Sir?’
‘I know that you are considered an expert, Mr Johannsson. But do you actually know anything about the countess? Do you suppose that it will be a simple matter of a bullet or a knife in the heart, or a cord round the neck?’
‘I will let the circumstances decide which is the most appropriate, sir. But I have an idea how it can be done
, while arousing the minimum of suspicion, at least before a post-mortem.’
Andrews frowned. ‘You are thinking of poison. That would require getting up close and personal. What poison would be virtually undetectable?’
Johannsson felt in his pocket and produced a bottle. ‘I am never without this. Or the hypodermic.’
Andrews’ frown deepened as he took the bottle. ‘Good God! I never knew you were a diabetic. And you reckon . . .?’
‘Yes, sir. An overdose of insulin, taken by a non-diabetic, is lethal and has the added advantage of being painless. The subject merely collapses.’
‘Hm.’ Andrews handed the bottle back. ‘Do you know in what capacity the countess is employed by the Germans?’
‘She is Herr Himmler’s personal assistant, sir.’
‘She is Herr Himmler’s private killer, Mr Johannsson.’
Johannsson frowned. ‘You mean because of that business in Warsaw? I do not believe that story. It is Nazi propaganda. I mean, she is a woman, sir.’
‘There are some cases where male chauvinism can be as fatal as an overdose of insulin,’ Andrews pointed out. ‘I have been privileged to see the countess at work, briefly. It is always, very brief. She could shoot a finger off your hand at twenty-five yards while you were still levelling your weapon. I have also seen her break a neck with a single blow. And I know that she has accounted for more than thirty people in her short life.’
Johannsson stared at him.
‘If you disbelieve me,’ Andrews said, ‘I am sending you to your death. If you undertake this mission, you must believe everything I have just said. You have one very great advantage. The countess knows that you work for us, and at the present time she believes that she also is working for us. Therefore you should be able to get very close to her, as you plan to do. But if you make any move she regards as sinister, she will kill you without a moment’s hesitation. Believe me, her greatest asset is that she never hesitates.’
Johannsson licked his lips.
‘So?’ Andrews asked.
‘I will carry out this mission, sir. And I will remember what you have told me.’
Andrews nodded. ‘Very good. Now how are you going to get to her?’
‘It will not be difficult, once I am in Berlin. I know where she lives, and I know her habits.’
‘I meant, how are you going to get to Berlin, now that there is no ferry traffic between your countries?’
‘That is not a problem, sir. This closing of our ports to German shipping is a diplomatic exercise designed to convince the Allies that we are really on their side. There is still a good deal of traffic between Sweden and Germany. For example, there are Finnish ships out of Stockholm all the time. And a number of them visit Rostock. I will simply take passage on one of them.’
‘Very good. Well, then . . . it only remains for me to wish you good fortune and a safe return.’
They did not shake hands.
*
‘Anna!’ Hitler’s left arm was apparently still not usable; he carried it mostly behind his back, where the constant twitching could not be seen. He squeezed her fingers with his right hand. ‘Seeing you is like inhaling a breath of fresh air. And you have been such a success. The reports are glowing.’
‘I tried to do my duty, my Führer.’ How are the mighty fallen, she reflected. Like her, like just about everyone in Berlin, Hitler had been forced to take to the cellars, even if on a more elaborate scale than anyone else had been able either to afford or achieve. The area beneath the Chancellery had been turned into an underground palace, two floors of communications, conference halls, bedrooms, and of course, an elaborate suite for the Führer himself, on the lower level, beyond the reach of any bombs.
He gestured her to a settee, and sat beside her. Even Bormann had been excluded from the room. ‘As you always do. Having you back is like a ray of sunshine coming into my office.’
Another would-be poet, she thought.
‘Now tell me what observations you have made on your journeys? Apart from killing Russians left, right and centre, eh? But the swine got away with your sister. That is a tragedy. And I never even met her.’
‘That is a shame, sir. You would have liked her. Now . . .’
‘She can only be avenged. This will be done, Anna. I give you my word. Your observations.’
‘Yes, sir. I am bound to report that I found morale disturbingly low.’
Hitler nodded. ‘I know.’
‘And then, the news of Tirpitz . . .’
‘Ha! All that time, and money, and above all, steel, poured into Bismarck and Tirpitz, and where are they now? At the bottom of the sea. I had my doubts from the beginning, you know. Battleships are obsolete. If there is anything that this war has proved, it is that simple fact. But that fool Raeder talked me into it. Possess the two most powerful warships in the world, he said, and even the Royal Navy will be afraid of us. So what happens? Bismarck goes off to prove how good she is, and is sunk in a week. Tirpitz spends almost the entire war trapped in her Norwegian fjord, because she is too valuable to be risked at sea, so the RAF sink her at her moorings. Doenitz knew from the start they were colossal white elephants. U-boats, he said. There is the key to victory at sea. Put all our naval resources into U-boats. And he was right.’
His voice had been steadily rising, as his face had been taking on that familiar mottled appearance, and Anna braced herself for one of his terrifying explosions, but suddenly he calmed again.
‘Morale,’ he said. ‘Yes. Morale. It is suffering here as well. I blame Josef.’
‘Sir?’ She knew he regarded Goebbels as his most faithful aide.
‘You know that I gave him command of the home front so that I could concentrate on the war?’
‘Yes, sir. He told me that himself.’
Hitler regarded her for several seconds, and she wondered if she had said too much. But he had to know that she had had sex with the doctor, more than once.
‘He is too inclined to go to extreme measures,’ the Führer grumbled.
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, Anna thought.
‘Almost the first thing he did with his new powers,’ Hitler went on, ‘was to close and ban all cinemas, all theatres, and even the opera. I think that was a mistake. Nothing relaxes people more than a good film, or uplifts them more than a piece of rousing music. Now he is calling for the formation of a Home Guard. He points out that this is what the English did in 1940. Well, do we want to start copying our enemies? And it is a defeatist strategy. These old men and young boys, armed with obsolete rifles, where they can be armed at all, and wearing arm bands instead of uniforms, they cannot be used in any offensive military sense. Thus it stands to reason that they can only be used to defend the Fatherland, after an enemy has entered the Fatherland. But I have declared that this will never happen. Woolly thinking.’
‘Yes, sir.’ Anna could think of no reason to defend Goebbels, even if she realized that these measures were but a continuation of the plans he had outlined to her back in July, to make every German, man, woman and child, understand that they were fighting for their lives.
‘But it is the Wehrmacht that matters,’ Hitler said. ‘Aren’t they happy about Arnhem? You know about that?’
‘I have been told of it, sir. I was in Poland when the battle took place.’
‘It was a great victory. Montgomery tried to get into Germany itself by means of an airborne invasion. One has to admit that it was a bold plan. It involved an entire army. But we were ready for him, and smashed him. I believe it is the first time he has ever been defeated. I should have thought that would have boosted morale.’
‘Yes, sir. When I visited the area a few weeks ago I found those troops in better spirits than any others.’ Which was not saying a great deal, because their version of events had been somewhat different from Hitler’s. Montgomery himself had not personally been in command of the Allied troops at Arnhem, simply because it had not been an army but a division, and ev
eryone knew that the attempt to seize the Rhine bridgehead had failed because, simply by chance, an entire SS division had been placed in that area a couple of weeks before the attack, to rest and recuperate after serving on the Russian front, something of which the Allied planners had been totally unaware.
‘Now,’ Hitler went on, ‘I intend to bring the war in the west to an end.’
‘Sir?’ Anna was taken aback. Was he going to seek peace? No wonder Himmler had been confused.
‘Do you realize, Anna, that with Normandy far behind them, all the Allied logistical supplies, from ammunition to oil, have to come through Antwerp? It is the only port big enough to handle the required volume of traffic. Seize Antwerp, and the Allied advance will come to a halt. More, they will not even be able to sustain themselves where they are. They will have to fall back, and it is a well-known military maxim that when an army is forced to retreat after a series of advances, it falls apart. That is what happened to Napoleon’s Grande Armée in 1812, after he had captured Moscow. That is what happened to Rommel’s Afrika Corps in North Africa in 1942. And that is what is going to happen to Eisenhower and Montgomery in Flanders in 1944.’
Anna’s brain was reeling. ‘But . . . can you do it, my Führer?’
‘Of course. I am not going to tell you the plan, not even you, Anna. But I can tell you that I have assembled ten Panzer divisions, the pick of the German Army, to do the job. It will be 1940 all over again. We shall smash them as we did then. It will be the greatest battle in history.’
‘I am sure of it,’ Anna murmured. Was she going to get to Sweden in time to warn the British? Even if she had to feel that the idea was crazy. If Hitler really did still possess ten crack Panzer divisions, surely they should be deployed in the East, against the Russians. ‘May I ask when this offensive will begin, my Führer?’
‘Ha ha. I am not going to tell you that either, Anna. Not even you.’ He was like a small boy with a new toy. ‘But it will be before Christmas. And when it is over, when we have won, I shall send for you. I will be well again then. And we shall celebrate.’
Angel of Doom (Anna Fehrback Book 5) Page 16
