Stranger at the Gates (42 page)

‘I see,' Kopner said. ‘And the village sheltered the killer: isn't that right? They hid a man who broke into the Château Diane and murdered two Germans with his bare hands. And they were not aware that General Brühl was anything but an ordinary serving officer in the Wehrmacht at the time?'

‘Nobody knew what he really was,' Louise said.

‘So, perhaps understandably, the German authorities were angry. They sent Adolph Vierken with his S.S. troops to investigate. Was Adolph Vierken known to you?'

‘No,' Louise said. Visibly, Kopner sneered. He half turned his back on her, almost addressing the spectators. There was a movement among the prosecutor's seats. She didn't look at them; she saw only Heinz Minden staring at her.

‘Not to any of you? To your husband?'

‘No,' Louise said. Régine. She knew what was going to happen. She knew now that she had been tricked and lied to, that whatever this man wanted, it was not so much the vindication of Heinz Minden as the ruin of the de Bernard family.

‘You did not know Adolph Vierken. Your husband, who was so friendly to the German officer staying in his house, he didn't know him either. But your sister-in-law Regine de Bernard did!'

‘I object to this line of questioning!' The prosecutor was on his feet, advancing over the floor towards them. For a moment Louise's vision swam. ‘It is completely out of order. It has no relevance to the case!'

‘It has every relevance,' Kopner snarled at him. ‘Heinz Minden is on trial for crimes against humanity. I am going to prove that he was more humane than the people who accuse him! That in the sordid and despicable story I am going to lay before the court, his was the only honourable, decent action!'

‘Your objection is overruled.' The President spoke to the prosecutor. ‘Continue, Doctor Kopner.'

‘Your sister-in-law, Régine de Bernard, was another Resistance heroine, was she not?' Now his tone was soft, insinuating.

‘Yes,' Louise answered boldly. ‘She died fighting for her country. And whatever you say won't alter that.'

‘But she was still the mistress of Adolph Vierken?' Kopner raised his voice to a shout. ‘There we have this typical French household in this typical French village; the aristocrats at the château pretending friendship to Heinz Minden while they battened on his generosity to supply themselves with rationed goods, the sister of the heroic Comte de Bernard, Grand Cross of the Legion d'Honneur, herself a posthumous heroine, sleeping with a notorious S.S. commander! And it was to people like these that Heinz Minden showed much more than generosity! But we will come to that, Madame de Bernard. First let me ask you one more question. Was Major Minden in love with you?'

Down in the court, Sophie de Bernard clenched her hands. ‘Oh you bastard,' she said out loud. ‘You bastard!' A man sitting beside her hissed at her fiercely to keep quiet.

There was a gasp from the crowd; she half rose from her seat to see what had caused it. Heinz Minden was on his feet.

‘I wish to change my plea.' His voice rang out, loud and strong. ‘I plead guilty to the charges against me!'

Siegfried Kopner opened his arms wide.

‘There is no need for you to answer, Madame de Bernard. The officer you duped has answered for you. Even now he tries to shield you! I ask that this interruption be stricken from the record of the trial. The plea cannot be changed except through me.'

‘The senior judge spoke for a moment to his colleagues. ‘There will be a recess,' he announced, ‘while you speak to the accused. We will reassemble in half an hour.'

A moment later Sophie de Bernard had fought her way through to the front and seized Louise's arm. Behind them the silence had changed to an excited babble; reporters were struggling to get to the exits and the telephones in the main hall. ‘Darling!' Sophie threw both arms around her. ‘Come on—we're getting out of here!'

But Louise didn't answer; she didn't seem to feel the pressure on her to move forward. A man was coming towards them. Sophie saw her mother's face and stepped away, letting her go. She knew, before either of them spoke, that Raoul Delabraye had succeeded.

‘Now,' Siegfried Kopner said, ‘you asked to see me. What can I do for you, Senator?' There were five of them in the little side room. Outside the door a policeman stood on guard. Heinz Minden and his wife were seated side by side; Louise, with Savage near her, sipped a glass of water. Kopner examined the American. He was a tall, strongly built man, middle aged but without a grey hair. Kopner had the card with his name on it in his pocket. Senator Brian McFall. He had come into the room with Louise de Bernard on his arm, and there was something about him which alerted Kopner. He sensed that this was a different type to the suave American politicians of his acquaintance, anxious to ingratiate themselves and prove their lack of bias towards Germans. ‘What can I do for you?' he repeated. Savage put a hand on Louise's shoulder.

‘You can change your client's plea to guilty,' Savage said, ‘and save yourself and him a lot of trouble.' He lit a cigarette and passed it to Louise. Kopner smiled unpleasantly.

‘Really? And are you qualified to give me such advice?'

‘Better qualified than you know,' Savage answered him. He looked for a moment at Minden, who was staring at him.

‘I have no idea why you make this suggestion,' Kopner said coldly, ‘but I can assure you there is no question of changing the plea. I shall resume my examination of Madame de Bernard as soon as the court reassembles. Major Minden has been under a great strain. He's not responsible for that outburst in the court.'

‘I am responsible.' Minden spoke suddenly. His voice sounded tired. ‘I want to plead guilty. And don't keep calling me Major. It was only a sham rank.'

‘You should be proud of it.' Kopner rounded on him angrily. ‘Proud to have served your Fatherland! I will not change the plea!'

‘Then I shall take the witness stand for the prosecution as a special witness.' Savage didn't raise his voice. ‘They have the right to call me. And by God you'll regret it when I get up there. I've watched you bullying this lady for the last half an hour, Herr Doctor. I only hope you try to cross-examine me!'

‘If that's a challenge,' Kopner said contemptuously, ‘then I accept it. But I have yet to see how your testimony could make the slightest difference.' He turned away and lit one of his cheap cigarettes.

‘As I understand it,' Savage said, ‘your defence will be that your client was a patriotic German, acting under orders, that he was an unwilling subordinate who had no choice but to work on the project, that he showed no enthusiasm for it, and everything about his character confirms that he wouldn't willingly hurt the proverbial fly—right?'

‘You should conduct the defence for me,' Kopner sneered.

‘You're going to prove he was a humanitarian, aren't you? That's why you brought. Madame de Bernard here—to testify to his saving her children's lives? First you show up the French as a lot of self-seeking, double-crossing bastards, turning on the Germans when they thought the Allies were going to win—you crucify Madame de Bernard and her family—then you present Heinz Minden as the true Teutonic Knight, bravely risking his own safety to rescue the children of the woman he loved?'

‘Really,' Kopner shrugged, ‘I need hardly go into court at all. You have won my case for me. Senator.'

‘I'm the one who'll lose it for you,' Savage said. ‘Because I saw Minden's notebook. I saw the work he was doing on Brühl's formula. They were having trouble with it; water neutralised it. It was all there, written out in Minden's own handwriting. And one phrase. I can testify to that one phrase, and how in his anxiety to perfect this filthy weapon, he had underlined it. “We must find a solution”. That shoots the hell out of your unwilling subordinate plea!'

‘How did you see it?' Kopner asked the question slowly; his look narrowed.

‘Because I am the Allied agent who killed Brühl,' Savage said. ‘And the people who sheltered me were the de Bernard family. He knows me.' He spoke to Minden. ‘You knew who I was the minute I walked in here, didn't you?'

‘Yes.' Minden's voice was listless. ‘I recognised you. Her cousin. That was a lie then?'

‘It was a lie,' Savage said quietly. ‘I went to your room, opened your briefcase and read your notes.'

‘I did write that,' Minden muttered. ‘“We must find a solution”. I remember it well. God forgive me.' He hung his head again.

‘You listen to me,' Savage said. He stepped close to Kopner, who did not recoil. ‘Whatever the dirty game you're playing—and being a politician myself I guess it's a nice little job of whitewashing the Nazis for political ends—you might as well give up. I haven't gone to the prosecution yet and offered myself as a witness. But believe me, I'll make a hell of a good one. I'll give them a picture of Heinz Minden and the gas he was so anxious to make perfect that will send him to prison for the rest of his life. And leave a very dirty smell around anyone defending him. Especially when I describe how that gas was used to kill my wife and child at Auschwitz!'

For a moment Kopner fought back, silently, using an intangible force of will, he struggled against Savage and against his own conviction that he faced defeat.

‘Change the plea to guilty,' Savage said. ‘Otherwise I'll go in there and blow your case and your political future to smithereens!'

‘Don't listen to him!' Ilse Minden had leapt to her feet; she confronted Savage and Louise, her face blanched and contorted with hate. ‘You swine! You dare to threaten what you'll do to Heinz—you who killed in cold blood! My husband isn't pleading guilty to please you—or to save her! She was just a whore who made a fool of him, and it's all going to come out—she's going to stand in front of the world for what she is!'

‘Be quiet!' Kopner shouted at her. ‘Hold your tongue! Minden, we have no choice. The plea will be changed to guilty. I'll ask the court for mercy. There's nothing more I can do now.' He flung the cigarette on the floor and trod it to pulp. For a moment he looked at Louise. He seemed as if he were going to say something, but Savage stepped between them. He took Louise by the hand.

‘Come on,' he said quietly. ‘We've finished here.' With his arm around her shoulders, they left the room.

Sophie de Bernard was watching as they came out of the side room. She started forward to meet them, and then stopped. Neither her mother nor the tall man, unmistakably American, had seen her. They appeared oblivious of their surroundings; he was bending over Louise, with one arm around her, she was looking up at him. A pang of jealousy caught Sophie by surprise; this was the man who had meant so much to her mother that even now, after so many years, there was no place in her life for anyone else. They had paused in the corridor, talking quietly. He had taken his arm away from Louise and was holding her hand, they faced each other. Sophie stayed in her seat, watching them. He was not a conventionally handsome man, but there was power in the way he held himself, authority in the face. Her father had been slim and graceful, elegant even in the captivity of a wheelchair. This man was hard and big boned; there were no fine edges about him. Beside him, her mother looked small. Sophie got up and walked towards them.

‘It's all right, darling!' Louise said. ‘He's pleading guilty—it's all over! This is my daughter, Sophie. Senator McFall—Roger Savage!'

He had a deep voice. ‘The last time I saw you, you were a little girl,' he said. He held out his hand and Sophie shook it. She saw her mother's radiant smile.

‘Thank you for coming,' she said to him. She had never felt awkward or inadequate with a man before. Her jealousy retreated in shame, and with it the regret that none of the men she had known would have crossed the world for her.

‘I hope you'll have lunch with us,' Roger Savage said. ‘Then we can tell you all about it.'

‘That's very kind of you. Can I ask you one question?'

‘Of course.' He was looking as happy as Louise. She felt he would have gone on smiling whatever she had said.

‘Are you married?'

‘Sophie!' She ignored her mother.

‘No,' he said. ‘I'm not.'

‘Then in that case,' Sophie said, ‘you and Mother had better lunch alone.' She took out a cigarette and lit it, throwing the empty Gauloise packet away. ‘I'll join you for dinner tonight.' She kissed Louise quickly on the cheek and walked away.

Savage looked down at Louise.

‘It's taken a very long time,' he said. ‘But I think you'll be happy to come home?'

‘Yes,' she said. ‘I think I will.'

About the Author

Evelyn Anthony is the pen name of Evelyn Ward-Thomas, a female British author who began writing in 1949. She gained considerable success with her historical novels—two of which were selected for the American Literary Guild—before winning huge acclaim for her espionage thrillers. Her book,
The Occupying Power
, won the Yorkshire Post Fiction Prize, and her 1971 novel,
The Tamarind Seed
, was made into a film starring Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif. Anthony's books have been translated into nineteen languages. She lives in Essex, England.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1973 by Anthony Enterprises, Ltd.