‘Take her downtown,’ Jacobs ordered.
‘Chief?’ Mitch said, holding onto the sobbing nurse’s arm. ‘Nurse Bryant was instrumental in the escape of my parents, and--’
‘What? The hostages aren’t here? Where the hell are they?’
‘At the hotel,’ Claire said.
Chief Jacobs looked at Claire in disbelief. He took off his cap and scratched his bald head. ‘So, she let the hostages go?’
‘No. I let the hostages go. Nurse Bryant covered for me. She knew they had gone, but she told Beckman they were still in the basement.’
The chief seemed to physically sag in the middle making him appear even more thick-set than he was. ‘We still have to take her downtown, Mrs Mitchell.’ He pulled himself up to his full height and looked squarely into Beckman’s face. ‘She is not only a material witness to everything this Nazi murderer has been doing in my city, while he’s been living the life of Riley,’ he bellowed, ‘she’s wanted for murder herself.’
Claire put her hand on the chief’s arm. ‘Chief, you might want to--’
‘Want to what?’ he barked.
‘Consider Beckman for the secretary’s murder. Nurse Bryant didn’t kill her.’
‘What?’ Chief Jacobs said, again.
‘She didn’t know the secretary had been murdered until I told her.’
Beckman mumbled something inaudible and grunted.
The Police Chief threw his hands in the air. ‘Okay,’ he huffed. ‘But we still have to question her. She was complicit in Beckman’s escape.’
‘Except she didn’t know Beckman was escaping until it was too late,’ Claire said.
‘Whether she was aware of what she was doing or not, is another matter. She stayed with him knowing he had taken your husband’s parents hostage.’
Mitch looked at Nurse Bryant. ‘Under duress?’ She nodded.
‘All right, all right,’ the chief said, shaking his head. ‘But we will have to take you to Police Headquarters, Miss Bryant. If, as Captain and Mrs Mitchell believe, you are innocent of the secretary’s murder, you won’t be charged.’
‘Thank you,’ Nurse Bryant whispered, sniffing back her tears.
‘You will, however, be charged as Beckman’s accomplice in the kidnapping of Mr and Mrs Mitchell.’ The nurse’s body went limp and her eyes rolled and closed. She looked as if she was about to faint. A policewoman leapt to her side and held her upright. Chief Jacobs looked at her sympathetically and sighed. ‘Because Captain and Mrs Mitchell have said you helped them, I shall have a word with the judge; ask him to take into account that you were instrumental in capturing the war criminal. Okay?’
‘Thank you,’ she said, again. ‘And thank you,’ she whispered to Claire.
‘Good luck,’ Claire said. Police officers on either side of her armed her out of the room. Nurse Bryant didn’t look back.
‘And you, Herr Doctor!’ The Chief of Police put on his hat. He was on surer ground now. ‘You will be facing a very different judge. Cuff him!’ the chief ordered.
‘Are cuffs necessary, Chief?’ the policeman asked, looking down at the disabled German.
Chief Jacobs flashed the young policeman a look of fury. ‘Reptiles don’t need legs, they crawl on their bellies!’
CHAPTER FORTY
The chief looked from Mitch to Claire. ‘Thank you, both of you,’ he said with admiration. He put out his hand to Mitch who shook it, and then turned to Claire. Holding the chief’s hand, she said, ‘And Nurse Bryant? You will put in a good word for her, won’t you?’
‘You can do that yourself. You two are heroes. Just wait until the citizens of Montréal hear what happened today. I shall call a press conference tomorrow.’ Claire opened her mouth to interrupt the chief, but he put up his hand. ‘Go to the hotel and see your folks. Have a well-earned rest, I’ll send a car for you in the morning.’
‘No!’ Mitch said.
The chief physically jerked. ‘No? What do you mean, no?’
‘No, we are not going to attend a press conference. We are not heroes, and we are not taking the credit for what happened here today. The Montréal Police Force caught a Nazi criminal while defusing a hostage situation. The family kidnapped are anonymous - and must remain so. The glory, Chief Jacobs, is all yours. We don’t exist,’ Mitch said.
‘But what about the guys who were here? They saw you.’
‘So, they saw me. It was my mother and father who were being held hostage. That’s all they need to know.’
‘Only a handful of your people saw me,’ Claire said. ‘If anyone asks who I am, tell them I’m a British copper working undercover. I’m sure they’ll accept that. Especially as they will be taking the credit.’
At the front door, the chief shook Mitch and Claire’s hands, again. ‘We could do with a copper like you in Montréal. You too, Captain Mitchell. Are you sure you don’t want to stick around?’
‘Sounds tempting,’ Mitch said.
‘No!’ Claire playfully punched Mitch’s arm. ‘Thank you, Chief, but our home is in England with our daughter.’
‘Well, if you ever change your mind-- I’ll get a car to take you to your hotel.’
‘Thank you, but we’re going to get some fresh air. We’ll pick up a cab on the way.’ Mitch took Claire’s hand. ‘We’ll leave by the back door, if that’s okay with you, Chief?’
Chief Jacobs shrugged. ‘Would it make any difference if I said it wasn’t okay?’
Claire and Mitch laughed. ‘If you give us a five-minute start before you go out?’ Mitch said, saluting Montréal’s Chief of Police. Claire kissed him on the cheek and thanked him.
Leaving the chief at the front door, Mitch and Claire walked down the passage to the kitchen and left the house by the back door. Claire bent down and took the lockpicks from behind the airbrick, waved them at Mitch, and together they fled across the garden.
