Traitor's Gate (48 page)

Conrad wondered whether in a year or two Anneliese’s brother would be dropping bombs on his parents in England, but he kept that thought to himself.

‘Will you be coming to London soon?’ Anneliese asked.

‘Very soon,’ said Conrad. ‘My papers say I’m a Danish aca­demic, so I have to go to Copenhagen first. But I’ll be home in a few days.’

‘I can’t wait.’

‘All right,’ announced Foley. ‘I’m afraid it’s time for us to dash. We certainly don’t want Anneliese to miss her train.’ He shook Warren’s hand, and then Theo’s. ‘Good to meet you, Hertenberg. If ever you want a quiet chat—’

Theo grinned. ‘There is absolutely no chance of that, Captain Foley. I am a loyal German.’

‘Of course, of course.’ He turned to Conrad. ‘As for you, de Lancey. Don’t be surprised if some friends of mine get in touch.’

‘If they do, I’ll tell them where to go,’ said Conrad. ‘But thank you for all your help, Foley.’

‘Not at all, old boy.’

Conrad, Theo and Warren watched the small man and the frail woman make their way across the Potsdamer Platz. Warren stayed only a couple of minutes more, and then he hurried off too, chasing the news.

For a long time Conrad and Theo sat in silence, watching Berlin swirl in front of them.

‘Do you think I was right?’ Conrad asked. ‘Not to shoot him?’

‘We’ll never know,’ said Theo. ‘If you had, war might have been declared already.’

‘My bet is that you and I will be at war within a year anyway,’ said Conrad.

Theo grimaced. Suddenly he sat up and beckoned to a wait­ress. ‘Two schnapps, please.’

‘It’s a bit early, isn’t it?’ Conrad said.

‘No. It’s the right time.’

The waitress reappeared a minute later with the glasses. Theo raised his. ‘To Algy.’

Conrad smiled.

‘To Algy.’

We hope you enjoyed this book.

To find out about the real plot to kill Hitler, click
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To find out about Michael Ridpath, click
here
.

To discover more books by Michael Ridpath, click
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For an invitation from the publisher, click
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There really was a plot to overthrow Hitler in September 1938. It was the first of many involving a number of senior German army officers, which culminated in the failed attempt on Hitler’s life in his bunker at Rastenburg on 20 July 1944. The existence of the 1938 plot was transmitted to the British government in the summer by Ewald von Kleist with the help of a young, well-connected British journalist named Ian Colvin. Chamberlain knew that if he stood firm with Czechoslovakia the German generals would attempt a coup. Indeed, on the morning of 28 September, a raiding party under Captain Heinz was waiting for the order to take the Chancellery and arrest the Führer. But after Hitler accepted Mussolini and Chamberlain’s offer of talks at Munich at around noon that day, the order never came. Chamberlain had saved Hitler.

The senior representative of the British secret service in Berlin in the 1930s was Captain Foley, who held the post of Chief Passport Control Officer as cover. A quiet, self-effacing but extremely hard-working man, he was responsible for the passage of thousands of Jews from Germany to Britain, Palestine and the Empire in the face of stiff opposition from the British and German bureaucracies. In 1959 a grove of 2,200 pine trees was planted outside Jerusalem to commemorate him, each one paid for by someone he had saved from the concentration camps.

Most of the major characters in this book are fictional. Although Conrad de Lancey plays the same role as Colvin did in real life, he is not Ian Colvin. Neither does Theo von Hertenberg represent a real historical figure, although he shares some of the characteristics of a number of extremely courageous young German lawyers who were given great responsibility during this and subsequent plots against Hitler, including Fabian von Schlabrendorff, Adam von Trott, Hans-Bernd Gisevius and Helmuth von Moltke.

See my website
www.michaelridpath.com
for a fuller discus­sion of what is fiction and what is fact, as well as the sources I used to research the book.

I would like to thank a number of people for their help over the many years it took to write this novel: my agents Carole Blake and Oli Munson at Blake Friedmann, Nic Cheetham, Laura Palmer and Becci Sharpe at Head of Zeus, Richenda Todd, Allan and Stephanie Walker, Toby Wyles, Virginia Manzer, Sir Ronald Harwood, Frances Fyfield, Bruce Hunter, Hilma Roest, Chris and Sheila Murphy, James Holland, Christopher Appleton, Michael Johnson, Christine Sieger, Simon Petherick, Jan Dopheide, Nick Gay of Berlin Walks and of course my wife, Barbara.

On the eve of World War Two,
a secret conflict is ignited
that could end it all
before it has begun.

In Berlin, 1938, Himmler’s black-shirted troops march in the streets, the Swastika flies from every building, but not every heart belongs to Hitler.

A few brave men are determined to stop the march towards a war they know they cannot win.

They are united by a single ambition: to free the fatherland from the Führer.

‘Brilliant... the writing is typical top-calibre Ridpath, the pace relentless, the research impeccable, the characters compelling and beautifully crafted. Every page is a gem.’
Craig Russell

‘Ridpath has the read-on factor that sets bestsellers apart.’
Guardian

‘It takes rare skill to inject so much suspense into a story with an outcome we thought we knew, but Ridpath’s mix of wonderfully skilled plotting, fast paced narrative and atmospheric period detail combine to make this a compelling and hugely satisfying read.’
Chris Ewan

‘Taut, strongly plotted… Ridpath provides a rush of blood to the head and stings your page-turning fingertips.’
Independent

‘A fascinating story, compellingly told.’
Simon Brett

‘Ridpath’s thrillers are remarkable.’
Mail On Sunday

‘A Frederick Forsyth of our time.’
John Lawton

‘Michael Ridpath is on the war path... This is international thriller writing at its best. Page-turning suspense.’
Peter James

‘Ridpath’s novel carries all the hallmarks of his previous books, with the tension building ever-tighter.’
Daily Mail

‘A page-turning stylist of genuine skill and élan.’
Barry Forshaw

‘Riveting reading.’
The Times

‘Excellent.’
New York Times

‘Wonderful.’
Washington Post

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Michael Ridpath is the author of eight financial thrillers and the Fire and Ice series of crime novels. He was born in Devon, brought up in Yorkshire, read history at Oxford University and now lives in North London. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked in the City for twelve years as a bond trader and venture capitalist.

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The story starts here.

First published in the UK in 2013 by Head of Zeus Ltd.