to the floor.
Steiner kicked him in the side of the neck, and as he drew back his foot again, Nagel said sharply, “That’s enough. We want him alive for the moment.”
Chavasse kept his eyes closed and breathed deeply, fighting the pain that flooded over him, fighting to stay conscious.
He was aware of Muller’s groans as they dragged him from the bed and strapped him to the operating table.
Nagel said, “Muller, can you hear me?” There was a moan and he continued. “Muller, I’ve been very patient with you, but I’m beginning to run out of time.”
“Shall we start?” Steiner said.
Chavasse forced open his eyes. Steiner and Hans were both stripped to the waist and holding long rubber truncheons.
Nagel leaned over the table. “We know about your sister, Muller,” he said. “Katie Holdt she calls herself, I believe. She’s got the manuscript, hasn’t she, Muller? Tell us where she lives. I only want the manuscript. I’ll see nothing happens to her.”
Again there came that curious rattling sound in Muller’s throat. Nagel gave an exclamation of annoyance and stood back. “Carry on!” he said to Steiner and Hans, and turned away.
Chavasse closed his eyes again at the first sound of a rubber hose curling around flesh and bone, and then Muller screamed and the blows and the screaming seemed to mingle endlessly, and Chavasse gritted his teeth and tried to shut out the sounds and then slid into darkness.
CHAPTER 10
He regained his senses slowly and lay unmoving on the floor, eyes tightly closed. He could not have been unconscious for long because they were all still in the room.
The sound of the beating had stopped and Nagel seemed angry. “Are you sure he’s all right?” he asked.
There was a moment’s silence before Kruger replied, “He’s still alive, if that’s what you mean.”
“The stubborn fool,” Nagel said angrily.
“Shall we start again?” Steiner said.
Nagel made an impatient sound. “He’s no use to us dead and he will be if you give him any more. Leave him alone for now. We have important things to talk over, remember.”
“What are the plans for tonight?” Kruger said.
“That is what I propose to discuss,” Nagel told him. “The reception starts at seven. Dinner will be at eight, and Hauptmann will make his speech at nine-thirty precisely.”
“At what time do you wish me to be there?” Steiner said.
“Nine o’clock. You will wait in the bushes below the terrace of the ballroom. There will be a table on the terrace especially prepared for Hauptmann. I shall take him out there at nine-fifteen, on the pretext that it will give him a chance to collect his thoughts while we are getting the other guests seated for his speech.”
“Can you be absolutely sure he will go out onto the terrace?” Kruger said.
“Of course,” Nagel told him. “I have known Hauptmann for several years now and he never uses prepared speeches. He always does it in this way.” He turned to Steiner. “I want no mistakes about this, Steiner. You have been selected because of your proven reliability. Hauptmann must die tonight.”
“It shall be as you say, Herr Nagel,” Steiner said confidently.
“Hauptmann’s connection with the Office for the Detection of War Crimes at Ludwigsburg has made him into something of a national hero. We must teach people a lesson. Let them know our movement is still a force to be reckoned with.”
Nagel crossed the room and stirred Chavasse with his foot. “You were really extremely rough with our friend here. He seems to be in a bad way. I trust he’ll be in a fit state to answer a few questions when I return tomorrow.”
Kruger moved over beside him. “I’ll give him an examination later this afternoon. Are you staying for lunch?”
“I don’t think so,” Nagel said. “I really must get back to Hamburg. Such a lot of preparations for tonight’s little affair.”
They moved to the door, and Chavasse opened one eye slightly and watched them go. Hans opened the door, and as they went out, Kruger said, “You’d better stay on duty at the end of the gallery, Hans, until the other two have had their meal.” The door closed and the key turned in the lock.
Chavasse sat up slowly and gingerly touched the side of his neck with his fingertips. It was lucky that Steiner had been wearing nothing heavier than crepe-soled shoes. His stomach muscles were bruised and tender to the touch, but it was his face that caused him the most pain. It somehow felt lopsided and heavy and his right cheek was swollen and sticky with blood.
Muller groaned slightly, and again there was that uncanny rattle in his throat. Chavasse got to his feet and went across to the operating table. As he looked down at that poor broken body, Muller opened his eyes and stared up at him vacantly.
He seemed to be trying to speak and Chavasse leaned down. “My sister,” Muller croaked. “Did I tell them where to find her?”
Chavasse shook his head. “No, you didn’t tell them a damn thing.”
Something resembling a smile appeared on Muller’s face. He closed his eyes with a long sigh of relief. Suddenly, Chavasse realized that Muller’s breathing had stopped.
For a long time, Chavasse stayed there, looking down at a dead man. After a while, he sighed. “Well, you had guts, Muller. I’ll say that for you.” He went across to the bed for a blanket, which he took back to the operating table and draped over the body.
He started to examine the room. There was no fireplace and the only window was crossed with iron bars set firmly in solid stone. He next tried the door, but a close examination of the locks made it clear that escape by that way was out of the question.
He glanced at his watch. It was almost two-thirty, and he sat down on the bed and considered the situation. He had to get out somehow. From the look in Kruger’s eye when he had first seen Anna, it wouldn’t be very long before he paid her a visit.
And then there was the Hauptmann affair. He tried to remember what he had read of the man. A liberal politician who was immensely popular with the people – possibly even a future chancellor. His death would be a world sensation. How ironic that it was to take place at the United Nations Peace Conference.
The very fact that Nagel and his associates dared attempt such a deed indicated the strength of their movement. If they got away with it, there was no telling what the ultimate effect would be on the German political scene. If the Nazis obtained any kind of government control, then everything would swing out of balance, including relations between East and West Germany. The repercussions on world politics could be immense.
He slammed a fist into the bed and started to get to his feet. It was then he noticed one of the long rubber truncheons that had been used to beat Muller.
Obviously, either Steiner or Hans had dropped it carelessly to the floor and it had rolled under the operating table. It was sticky with blood when he picked it up. He wiped it on one of the blankets and then stood in the center of the room, bending it in his hands. It was about two feet long, a horrible and deadly weapon, and as he examined it, a plan slowly formulated in his mind.
He opened his mouth wide and screamed. He allowed the sound to die away and then repeated it. As he listened, footsteps approached along the corridor and halted outside the door. Chavasse started to groan and whimper horribly.
Hans shouted through the door, “Stop that noise or I’ll come in and make you shut up!”
Chavasse groaned horribly as if in great pain, and quickly crossed the room and flattened himself against the wall behind the door.
Hans said angrily, “Right, my friend, you’ve asked for it.”
