The Grave of Truth (34 page)

He leaned forward and kissed her on the mouth. ‘That gives me time to make friends with your son. Let's go and find him.'

Interrogation was an art as well as a science; Heinrich Holler was skilled in that art but the man known as Raymond to the clientele of a luxury hotel in Geneva was proving a difficult subject. He resented his kidnapping; his furious protest made Holler smile. It would take a long time to undermine him, patience and skill, no violence. Holler knew very well that that only hardened a certain type of man, and Raymond was a true professional. His defence would crumble when they proved him to be Russian, which Holler knew he was. He hadn't seen the Swiss, Maurice Franconi; he disliked that part of the negotiations too much to see him again before he was put on a plane for North Africa. All he had done was alert the Tangier police to the arrival of a dangerous international criminal. What they did about it was not his concern.

‘I hate cocktail parties,' Helmut Walther said; Holler looked at him over the rim of his glass and smiled slightly. ‘So do I. But this was a special occasion.' They both looked in the same direction: Max Steiner in the centre of a group of people, Minna beside him. They were smiling, Steiner was talking animatedly to a very important West German editor. There were rumours that the editor was making Max an offer to join him that could not be refused.

Holler turned back to the young man. ‘They're saying that Steiner's articles on your father are the best political journalism published in the last decade. What do you think of them?'

Helmut hesitated. He liked and respected Holler, not just because he was such a friend of his father, but because the older man treated him as an equal. He did not patronize Helmut; he did not hesitate to disagree with him either. ‘They're marvellous,' he said at last. ‘I was very much against the idea at first; I didn't want my father to be fitted into any
Time
-type biography—you know the kind of thing—the journalist being clever at the expense of the subject. But Max was not at all what I expected. He spent a lot of time with me, asking my personal impressions. I got to like him very much.' He nodded again, emphasizing his point. ‘I'm very pleased with the articles. Mother says they're going to be published as a book.'

‘So she told me,' Holler said. He saw Minna, smiling and talking to someone close to Max. She looked very pretty, with colour in her cheeks. The broken arm had mended well; you had to look very closely to see that it was slightly crooked.

He turned again to Helmut. ‘And how do you feel about the marriage?' he asked.

‘I was against it to start with,' Helmut answered. There was an engaging innocence about his serious young face as he looked at Holler. ‘But Max took me into his confidence; his wife was set on a divorce and determined to bring up the children in England. He told me how much he loved Mother and wanted to make her happy. He was working in the house here and we saw a lot of each other in the past year. He convinced me that I should go into politics after two years in Paris; he arranged for the introduction for me in France Soir. He was very helpful.' He shrugged slightly. ‘I couldn't help liking him. That's when I began to accept the situation.'

‘Yes,' Holler said gently. He forced back a yawn. He was very tired indeed.

Helmut Walther was still talking. ‘He's changed Mother,' he was saying. ‘She seems so much less inhibited now, more relaxed. When they do get married, it'll be very good for her. Father was so different—so warm and spontaneous. You knew him, Herr Holler, you knew what sort of person he was.'

‘Yes,' Heinrich Holler said. ‘He was a man you couldn't help loving, when you knew him. You remind me of him, in many ways, Helmut.'

‘You couldn't say anything that meant more to me,' the young man said. ‘I just hope I'll be worthy of him. I'll certainly try.'

‘And don't underestimate your mother, ‘Holler said gently.

‘Oh, I don't,' Helmut protested. ‘We get on so much better now. Thanks to Max; she never could show her feelings, you know. I found that difficult. I think marrying him will be very good for her.'

‘Yes,' Holler said. ‘I'm sure it will.' He nodded at the young man, and saw suddenly the same steadfast, immovable quality, bold and untrammelled by the shadows of the past. He was very much Minna's son, although he didn't know it.

‘She deserves to be happy,' he said quietly. ‘Your mother is a very remarkable woman.' He laid a hand on Helmut Walther's shoulder, and then he had slipped away among the crowd.

Acknowledgment

My grateful thanks to Paul Mulley

for his invaluable research

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 © 1979 by Evelyn Anthony

Cover design by Mauricio Diaz

ISBN: 978-1-5040-3259-9

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