i 16b0d473103b6aa5 (23 page)

the air above his head. There were bumble bees in the hollyhocks as a rule; he had an idea

bumble bees didn’t sting till one day he found he was wrong. His father had been a schoolmaster

in his younger days and insisted that his son should be one too, rather against Tommy’s own

wishes, but there was no arguing with the autocratic old man. “It is a great profession, not

appreciated as it should be,” he said. “Judges defend the law and punish law-breakers, doctors

heal the sick and repair the damages of life, but the schoolmaster builds up the body and the

character beforehand for the battle,
mens sana in corpore sano
, my boy.” Tommy remembered

wriggling slightly on this and similar occasions, thinking that sermons should be confined to

Sundays and not loosed forth between times, but a schoolmaster he became to start with, though

he turned his attention to other things afterwards. “And now I’m a policeman,” he thought.

“Wonder if the old man approves?” He returned from his reverie to answer Ludmilla.

“Oh, yes, easily, quite a lot of schoolmasters are in Holy Orders, as they call it, in

England, sometimes in later life they give up teaching and have a parish instead.”

“I see. You do know a good deal about England, don’t you, Klaus?”

“Oh, I meet lots of English people, especially at the British Embassy, they do like talking

about themselves, you know.”

“I think most people do, except you, Klaus.”

“About Frau Christine,” said Hambledon, to change the subject, “try not to worry, I will

see what can be done about it. Doubtless something will present itself.”

Reck had said that he was going teetotal, and to Hambledon’s amused surprise he kept his

word. For some weeks life was a misery to him and he was a trial to everyone else, but after the

transition period was over he discovered, with assumed disgust, that he was clearer in mind and

stronger in body than he had been for many years.

“You used to be an Awful Example,” said Hambledon. “Stern but loving fathers used to

point you out to their sons and say, ‘Look! Niersteiner and bock, Moselle and Rhine wines, gin

and schnapps—

“Shut up,” said Reck.

“ ‘Methylated spirit and eau-de-Cologne—

“I never did!”

“ ‘—are milestones on the road leading to old Reck.’ But now, what a difference! You

are no longer a warning, you are a Moral Lesson, you are an Uplifting Influence. In a word,

you’re a Tract.”

“You’re a fool,” growled Reck.

“Not at all, I am an appreciative audience. You rise early, you sing in your bath, you do

physical jerks—yes, you do, you didn’t buy those dumbbells to throw at cats—you look thirty

years younger, and now I learn that you even go for walks before breakfast.”

“Well, why not? I like the streets to myself, not full of loitering idlers staring in shop-

windows.”

“No, seriously, Reck, I didn’t think you’d do it, and by heck I admire you. I mean that.”

Reck actually coloured with pleasure, but all he said was, “I said I’d do it and I have. Of

course, one does feel fitter, but all this early waking is a frightful bore.”

“Try writing poetry,” said Tommy helpfully.

One morning, a few days after Frau Christine’s letter had arrived, Reck returned from his

walk shortly before eight and saw to his surprise that a poster had been attached to the front door

with drawing-pins. He read it with growing astonishment, glanced round him to see if anyone

were watching him, tore it down and ran up the three flights of stairs to Hambledon’s flat, not

waiting for the lift. He burst into Hambledon’s room and said, “What do you say to this?”

“Thank God for safety razors,” said Hambledon, who was shaving. “What is it, free

worms for early birds?”

“The German Freedom League,” said Reck. “Know anything about them? It was pinned

on your door.”

“They can wait while I go round my jaw. Not so sculptured as it used to be, seems to be

more of it, somehow. ‘But beauty vanisheth, beauty fadeth, However fair, fair it be.’ Now let’s

look. My hat, what a nerve.

“‘German Freedom League,’” he read. “‘Germans, arise!’ Ah, that was meant for you,

Reck.”

“Nonsense,” said Reck, “for you. I’ve been up for hours.”

“One to you, but don’t rub it in. ‘Germans, undeceive yourselves! The Nazi leaders

pretend they are making you strong and free, but in truth they are making you into a nation of

slaves. Every day you have to work harder for less money, your liberties are curtailed, if any man

complains he is thrown into prison without trial, while your leaders live in luxury and amass

huge fortunes. Worse than this, they are indulging in wicked and senseless ambitions of conquest

which will inevitably lead to war. There are no winners in a modern war, all suffer alike, even if

Germany wins in the end it means privation, suffering, wounds and death. Germans, awake!’—

Very rousing, this gentleman, ain’t he?—’Stand up and proclaim that it is your desire to live in

peace with all nations abroad, and at home to practise in happiness and freedom those pursuits of

industry, science and culture which alone can make Germany prosperous and respected.

“‘Follow the Freedom League!

“‘Down with the Nazi Party!’”

“Very nicely put,” said Reck appreciatively.

“I doubt if our illustrious leaders think so, wonder how many of these appeared in our

midst this morning? There’ll be a row over this and I’ve a horrid feeling I shall be in the middle

of it.”

Hambledon was not in the least surprised, therefore, to find on arriving at his office that a

summons awaited him to discuss a matter of importance at eleven-thirty at the Ministry of

Propaganda and Public Enlightenment. He was punctually received by the Minister in person.

“These posters,” said Goebbels. “We can’t have that kind of thing.”

“Assuredly not,” said the Chief of Police. “Most undesirable.”

“This damned Freedom League, who are they?”

“I have had my eye upon it for some time,” said Hambledon untruthfully. “It is an

organization of discontented and subversive elements, fishing in troubled waters for what they

can draw out to their own profit.”

“Doubtless, my dear Lehmann, but who are they?”

“That is precisely what it is my duty to discover. They are very well hidden, but if they

think they can make a nuisance of themselves with impunity, I will show them that they are

wrong.”

“You take the words out of my mouth,” said the Minister.

“I meant to,” said Hambledon to himself.

“I am sure you will deal with the scoundrels effectively and promptly.”

“The matter already has my attention.”

“Good. Your zeal and industry are examples to us all, I am sure. This brings me, my dear

Lehmann, to the other point I wanted to discuss with you.”

“Now we come to the real nigger in the woodpile,” thought Hambledon, but he merely

assumed an attitude of intelligent alacrity and waited in silence.

“I understand,” said the Minister, playing with a penwiper on his desk, “that you have

been inquiring into the details of a certain financial latitude which is sometimes permitted to

Jews leaving the country.”

“I am concerned,” said Hambledon with lofty nobility, “to put a final stop to corruption

and law-breaking wherever and whenever I find it.”

“Admirable—in principle. But in practice, there is no harm in a special arrangement

being made in some cases—in some cases, I repeat.”

“Your Excellency will be as horrified as I was,” said Hambledon earnestly, “to hear that

so far from this practice being an occasional exception, it is in fact the common practice. No one

knows better than Your Excellency the disastrous effect of financial corruption from

subordinates. It destroys their natural honesty, it depraves their consciences, it ruins their morals

and finally it undermines their loyalty. I would not trust a man so far as I could see him, who

would take a bribe to break an order I had given him.”

“Very true,” said the Minister, slightly overcome by this spate of integrity, “but I think

you exaggerate—”

“It is my business to be exact,” said Hambledon coldly. “I will send a
precis
of the results

of my investigations for Your Excellency’s perusal, together with a complete list of the names

and addresses of every man whom I have proved to be involved in this traffic, and the

approximate amounts by which each man has illegally benefited—the last will be

underestimated, believe me.”

“There is no need,” said the Minister hastily. “We have every confidence in your

executive ability. There is only one thing, Lehmann, in which you have ever been known to fall

short.”

“And that is—”

“The ability to take a hint.”

“I must beg Your Excellency to be plain with me, I am only a policeman, not a

diplomatist, and it would be better to state clearly what you wish me to do.”

“Leave the matter alone, then,” said Goebbels irritably, “if you must have it in so many

words, don’t interfere.”

“I am to understand that this corruption is to continue unchecked?” said Hambledon

frigidly.

“Turn your superb detective abilities to the problem of the German Freedom League,

Lehmann, and you will continue to earn the gratitude of the Reich.”

“I understand,” said Hambledon, rising. “I have the honour to wish Your Excellency

good morning,” and he stalked out.

“Obstinate, pig-headed old die-hard,” said the Minister to himself. “Pity, he’s a useful

man, but it looks as though his usefulness will come to an end soon if he can’t be more

accommodating.”

“Sour-faced, evil-tongued, club-footed scoundrel,” said Hambledon to himself as he

walked back to his office. “Another moment and I’d have rammed his inkstand down his throat,

pens and all. I think my time here is running short, I’m not so patient with these swine as I used

to be. They make me sick. I wonder just how much a year he gets out of that racket.”

He told himself that it was ridiculous to get so angry over this trivial matter, what did it

matter to him if the Nazi Party went on corrupting itself till it was rotten from top to bottom? The

sooner the better. It was really only his professional pride that was hurt, fancy being proud of

being Chief of Police to this mob of gangsters. “I am a British agent,” he said, and straightened

his shoulders. “All the same, I have a feeling this game is nearly up. I don’t think I can keep it up

much longer.”

He went home to lunch, turning over in his mind the question of Ludovic and Hugo

Beckensburg, Frau Christine’s menfolk. He had seen to it that they were as well treated as was

possible in a concentration camp, but that wasn’t saying much, and the old man was feeling it. It

would be as well to get them out of Germany as soon as possible, or perhaps the women had

better go first. Frau Christine, anyway, the younger woman could wait. If Frau Christine could be

got into Switzerland, the others could join her, that is, if she could travel alone.

“What’s the matter with Goebbels,” he concluded, “is that he’s funny and he doesn’t

know it.”

He went in to lunch whistling.

“I went to see Christine this morning,” said Ludmilla.

“I’m glad to hear it, how did you find her?”

“Not very well. I wish we could do something for them.”

“I’m going to. They would be better out of Germany altogether, there is no future here for

anyone of Jewish descent. If I could get Frau Christine out first, it would be best, I think.”

“Dear Klaus, I was sure you would manage it. What will you do, get her a forged

passport?”

“You desperate criminal! Where did you get that idea from?”

“I read something about forged passports in the paper, and they wouldn’t let her go out

with her own, would they? I don’t suppose she’s even got one, now.”

“I’ll bear your suggestion in mind,” said Klaus gravely. “Tell me, haven’t you got

anything the matter with you?”

Ludmilla stared. “Matter with me? No. I’ve always been perfectly healthy, and apart from

old age and a touch of rheumatism, I still am. My heart isn’t too sound, but that’s nothing, and I

don’t see so well as I did, but you couldn’t expect me to. My last doctor said I had a dropsical

tendency, but the man was a fool and so I told him. I have a tendency to heartburn but that’s my

own fault, I will eat fried potatoes. No, I’m perfectly healthy, why do you ask and what are you

laughing at?”

“Nothing. I think you’re wonderful, only it would be convenient if you could have

something for which it’s necessary to have treatment in Switzerland.”

“Why?”

“You would want a companion, I mean somebody to talk to, you’d have Agathe, of

course—I think Frau Christine would do very well. No one would question an old lady travelling

with the Chief of Police’s aunt.”

“Klaus, of course not! How clever you are—but would that mean I should have to leave

you?”

“Only for a little while,” he said soothingly, “not for long. Then either you could come

back or I could come and join you—more likely the latter, I think.”

“Do you mean,” said Ludmilla, laying down her spoon and fork, “that you are really