Mönch held up his hand. ‘I understand. But first you, too, must understand. I have already told you that I have lived here a long time without problems. However, I do take precautions. The situation here in Spain has changed much since the death of the Caudillo. We German exiles are not quite as welcome as we used to be. So I cannot rely for my security in the normal state of things. You understand me?’
‘Do you still consider yourself in danger after so long?’
The little man shrugged his thin shoulders. ‘It is always possible. There is a tiresome Jew in Vienna called Wiesenthal. You have no doubt heard of him? He makes it his life’s work to hunt down former National Socialists and bring them to what he calls “justice”.’
‘I thought the Wiesenthal Office was only interested in the big fish. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be disrespectful, but from what I have heard, you would hardly qualify for Wiesenthal’s attentions.’
‘That is a strange compliment, Herr Hawn. Perhaps you underestimate Wiesenthal. Or perhaps you underestimate me. Maybe I am a big fish — or used to be. I know all the dossiers describe me as an important functionary in war production. That is not all the truth. There were many aspects to that production. For instance, there was much slave labour. I was not personally responsible — it was merely the system — and the Americans could not prove my guilt. But there are others — not just the Jew in Vienna or his masters in that gangster-state, Israel. There are others who might be even less scrupulous. That is why I have to be very careful with visitors.
‘But you look too young to be of the dangerous generation. Besides, you are English — neither of you are Jewish —’ although he shot a quick glance at Anna, at her straight profile and reddish hair — ‘and you both have honest faces. I am prepared to trust you. Now what is it you want to know?’
Hawn told him. He told him the heart of his theory, then S-DS-E97 elaborated — without names — on the various incidents that had occurred since he had returned from Venice. Mönch waited until he had finished, then poured more brandy.
‘What is it you want me to give you, Herr Hawn?’
‘Herr Doktor, I know it may sound an outrageous idea. But as I’ve told you, things have made me believe that it could be true — or at least, have a large amount of truth in it. But I need proof. Information, and, if possible, corroboration.’
When Mönch said nothing, Hawn added: ‘Did you ever hear of a Doktor Alan Oskar Reiss?’ The old man’s face was blank. ‘An Anglo-German scientist who worked in Germany during the war, was trained as a double-agent, pretended to defect to America through Mexico where he got a job with ABCO — before he disappeared in 1945.’
Mönch was silent. When he did speak, it was not to answer Hawn’s question.
‘How did you hear about me?’
‘A friend who used to be a Colonel with British Economic Intelligence. He interrogated you in 1946. A Scotsman called MacIntyre.’
The German laid a finger along the edge of his bone-white nose and slowly began to rub it. It made a dry sound like someone rubbing very thin paper. Hawn found it obscene.
Mönch said, ‘I do not remember. I must have been interrogated by a hundred people. You British were best. Far more civilized than the Americans. It is a pity that you have become so degenerate in recent years.’ He sipped some brandy. ‘What are your motives, Herr Hawn?’
‘The exposure, and possibly the destruction, of an over-powerful, multinational organization which knows no morals, owes allegiance to no government, no principles, and has no motives except those of profit.’
Mönch gave a slow laugh. ‘Are you a revolutionary? Don’t be afraid to answer. I have always believed that the modern generation of Anarchist revolutionaries are not so very different in their philosophy and ideology from the early National Socialists. They certainly have the same passions. The people I abhor are these intellectual libertarians, these Jewish internationalists. What you call multinationalists.’
‘ABCO is certainly not run by Jews,’ Hawn said, with some discomfort.
Mönch smiled. ‘How do you know? It is partly controlled by the Americans, is it not? Wherever there are powerful American organizations, there are Jews. The Jews may not control America, but they are certainly the single most influential ethnic group in the country.’
‘Doktor Mönch, I must make one thing perfectly clear. I have absolutely no intention of waging a private anti-Semitic vendetta. If there happen to be Jews on the Board of ABCO, then it is entirely fortuitous and of no interest to me. It also happens to contradict my entire theory. If ABCO had been controlled by the Jews during the war, they would hardly have been keen to trade with your people.’
‘Lieber Herr! You are naive. Or perhaps you are just too young. Let me tell you a story. It was told to me by someone very senior in our Ministry of War Production. I can vouch for its authenticity. At the beginning of August, 1944 just after 20 July had failed, and about a week before the Rumanian oil fields were taken — the leading bankers and industrialists of the Reich held a meeting in Switzerland. It was never reported and it has never been officially acknowledged. At this meeting were all the leading bankers and industrialists from the Allied nations, particularly from the United States. The Germans were represented principally by Krupp, von Thyssen and Flick. I can tell you that half the American delegation were Jews, and there were at least
