End of Spies, Alex Gerlis [important of reading books txt] 📗

but the Admiral had set a steadfast example for those resolved to stand by Germany. His network in Britain was impressive, as was people’s loyalty to him. Even more impressive were the contacts he had in Germany, which he’d managed to maintain both before and after his imprisonment.

They’d discussed the injustice of his imprisonment too. Defence Regulation 18B was a scandal, far worse than anything Nazi Germany was being accused of. It was used to throw patriots like the Admiral into prison – in his case for two years – without trial. It did rather vindicate though what the Admiral always said: that the war had been engineered by the Jews and the communists for their own benefit, and Germany should have been seen as Britain’s ally.

‘Notwithstanding the risk inherent in you coming here, I thought it would be useful for us to be clear as to where we are: we cannot afford any misunderstandings, can we?’

Both men said ‘No, Admiral’ at the same time, and jumped as a grandfather clock noisily struck nine o’clock.

‘Don’t worry about that; it’s five minutes fast. Well done for getting Palmer out of the country – and with all the money too.’

‘Much of that credit is due to Myrtle: for a woman she is remarkably calm and well organised. As far as we understand, they’ve left Turin and should be in Trieste any time now.’

‘And no sign of them being followed on the journey?’

‘Not as far as she’s aware. As you know, the plan is that once they get to Trieste, they’ll meet up with Friedrich, Ulrich and whoever else is there, and then catch the boat, which we understand you know more about than us.’

The Admiral stood up and straightened himself in the manner of someone with a painful back. ‘Sailed into Trieste once, strange place – one wasn’t too sure what country one was in. I’ve come across other places like that: Salonika, Barcelona, Odessa and Istanbul – too many bloody Jews if you ask me, though I doubt there are now!’

Bourne and Ridgeway laughed dutifully.

‘I have good news and bad news to impart. Prince and that Danish woman seem to have caught wind of what’s going on and have turned up in Trieste. Hang on, hang on… Overriding that is the fact that my very good friend Wolfgang has somehow managed to persuade the Americans to put pressure on MI6 to call off the hunt for Friedrich and forget about the Kestrel Line.’

‘Really – how on earth did he manage that?’

‘Don’t ask me, but I’m not surprised. When I first met Wolfgang in Berlin in 1938, I realised he was one of the most intelligent men I’d ever come across – and that’s saying something: the whole city was full of impressive and clever men. I’m just pleased I’ve been able to maintain contact with him and that we’ve been of some help to him and the cause. He’s still optimistic that he’ll find Martin Bormann alive, you know – imagine that, eh?’

‘And do you think we can count on Palmer to behave?’

‘You’ll know that I’ve had my doubts about him, even though I had a hand in his recruitment. I know he was a first-class agent for the Reich during the war, but once he disappeared, I thought that either they’d catch him or he’d be found dead, and I have to say it would have been safer for us had it been the latter. I was most surprised, as you were, when he turned up at your gallery in August. My instinct was to finish him off, you know – I realise that would have been ungrateful after everything he’d done, but I felt he knew too much, and there can be no room for sentimentality. I asked Myrtle to see to it, but she took the view that it would be too risky. She thought there was a possibility he might have put something in place to protect himself, something that would have come out if he was killed – you know what I mean: a solicitor being instructed to forward an incriminating letter from him to the authorities after they’d not heard from him for an agreed period of time.’

‘So sending him on the Kestrel Line makes sense.’

The Admiral nodded and checked his watch. ‘Yes, gets him away from here. The ship’s going to South Africa, you know. Most of the German escape lines end up in South America, but I know a chap in Durban who’ll look after them. He’ll send the Germans to Windhoek, which is pretty much a German city, and he’ll sort Palmer out too.’

‘And Myrtle?’

The Admiral stood up and walked towards the door, making it clear to his visitors that their time was up. ‘Myrtle will stand on the quayside and wave them off. Then I want her back here.’

Chapter 26

Trieste, Austria, and Berlin, December 1945

‘Gilbey wants you back as soon as possible.’

Two pairs of eyes scowled at Bartholomew. Hanne sat red-faced, her nails drumming on the table, while Prince was very still with his back to the open window: behind him the early-morning mist had lifted and the blinking lights of a ship on the Gulf of Trieste was just visible over the rooftops, the muffled sound of its horn breaking the silence.

‘You heard what I said? You’re to return to London. Please don’t look at me like that; I’m simply the humble messenger here.’

Prince said yes, he understood, and he was sorry for his reaction but this did feel rather personal actually, and after chasing all over Europe and putting one’s life at risk, well… it was rather a kick in the stomach for the hunt to be called off at the last minute.

Bartholomew said he understood too. It was always a disappointment when something like this happened, but he was well used to operations being called off just as they reached their conclusion.

‘You’ll fly back from Klagenfurt. The RAF has daily transport flights from there into Munich, and