Chasing Aquila

by James Hume

  She pursed her lips. He seemed pleasant enough. But, don’t smile back at him. It’s not a pleasure being here, no matter how comfortable he makes it. ‘If you like.’

  ‘Thank you. Will you please join me?’ He indicated the place setting on the long side of the table to his left. As she stepped forward, a butler came from behind her somewhere and dashed forward to pull out her chair. He pushed it into place as she sat down, then went and stood at the sideboard behind G.

  ‘We have smoked salmon from Norway as a starter. Would you like that, Jane?’

  Bloody hell, she thought. Nothing but the best. ‘That would be very nice, thank you.’

  The butler brought two plates over from the sideboard, serving her first. It certainly looked delicious, she thought. He then brought her small slices of buttered brown bread and placed two of them on her side plate.

  G splayed his hands, palms upwards. ‘Please, enjoy.’ He lifted the small knife and fork from the outside of the place setting, cut off a piece of the salmon, and swallowed it, followed by a taste of the bread.

  She did the same. The salmon tasted delicious. She’d never had it before.

  ‘I understand you’re a translator at the trial in Nuremberg. How’s that going?’

  She thought for a moment. ‘Harrowing at times.’

  ‘Yes, I can imagine it must be difficult. What do you translate from and to?’

  ‘German to English.’

  ‘And which are you, German or English?’

  ‘Neither. I’m Czech. Born in Prague. But my father was German, originally from Dresden, so I spoke German from a young age. We then moved as a family to England in 1935. Hence, I’m fluent in both languages.’

  ‘Ah, I see. Why did you move to England?’

  ‘My uncle in Dresden got hassle from the Hitler Youth. Someone alleged we had a Jewish ancestor, though none of us knew anything about him. Total rubbish, but mud sticks. My father also thought Hitler would invade Czechoslovakia, and didn’t fancy that, so the two families left and went to England. The men were master tailors, and made successful businesses over there. We settled in Glasgow, Scotland.’

  ‘Ah, Scotland. I visited there in ’37 I think. Stayed in a cold castle somewhere up north, but it had wonderful grouse shooting. Beautiful country.’ He turned and waved the butler over to the table. ‘We have lamb or fish for the main course. Which would you prefer?’

  ‘Lamb, please..’

  ‘Make that two, Otto, thanks.’

  The butler removed the starter plates and pressed a button on the wall above the sideboard. The maid arrived, the butler gave her instructions, and she left. Jane casually glanced round the room. On the right hand side of the sideboard stood an array of photographs, and she was stunned to see the one on the extreme right had G posing beside Hitler. She put her hand to her mouth. My God.

  He noticed her look, and glanced round. ‘Ah, yes, the Fuhrer. We had mutual friends, you know. I met him several times. That was taken at Nuremberg, incidentally. At the big rally in ’38. The high point of it all. The Rally of Greater Germany, we called it. We had just annexed Austria, and thought the world was our oyster. But sadly, most of Europe and the world didn’t agree with our Neuordnung vision, and put a stop to it. A hard pill to swallow.’

  The maid came back, pushing a trolley, and the butler served two plates covered with cloches. He lifted the cloches to reveal two thick slices of lamb steaming on each plate. When had she last seen slices of meat that thick? He then served potatoes, carrots and peas. She had heard the Germans were on starvation rations, but not here. One law for the rich, she thought. The maid departed with the trolley, and the butler returned to his stance at the sideboard.

  ‘Guten Appetit,’ G said, and lifted his knife and fork.

  She cut some lamb and tasted it. God, it was perfect. G sure had a great cook.

  ‘However, that brings us to the subject of our discussion, my dear. It’s about a man, whom you probably knew as Karl Brenner. Do you remember him?’

  She pursed her lips and glanced at him. ‘Oh, yes, I remember him. He kidnapped me and threatened to rape me. I’m not likely to forget him.’

  ‘Yes, I’m sorry about that. Please accept my personal apologies. Brenner was far too impetuous. I instructed Kay to release you as soon as possible, but he had to remain covert, and we also had to get Brenner back here quickly. In the end, we agreed, when Brenner got on the plane in Ireland, we’d leave you behind. We were sure you didn’t know Kay’s location, and by the time you contacted the British authorities, Brenner would be long gone, and Kay would have moved and changed identity.

  ‘But, of course, Brenner never arrived at the plane. We had no idea what happened to him. We tried to call Kay, but couldn’t get him. We tried others, with no result. Our whole organisation had just been wiped out overnight. How could that happen?

  ‘It took us a long time to work our way back up the chain from Ireland, into Northern Ireland, and eventually we found Sergeant Brown in prison in England. I’m sure you also remember him. We had tasked him with your protection until Brenner got on the plane.

  ‘However, he told us with regret, he’d accepted a bribe from Brenner to let him be alone with you on the ferry. And that’s when something went seriously wrong for us. I’d very much like to know what happened. Could you tell me, please?’

  She finished a mouthful of the delicious food. ‘Well, I can tell you what happened to Brenner, and I know Commander Porritt captured all the Aquila people that night, but I don’t know the details. You’d need to ask him.’

  ‘Ah, Commander Porritt, you say.’ He took a note on the pad at his side. ‘Okay, let’s first talk about Brenner. His mother grieves for him, and needs closure. I promised to find out what happened to him. Hence the subterfuge to get you here.’

  She glanced at him, and snapped, ‘Including killing my ex-husband along the way.’

  He stared at her for a few moments, then dropped his gaze. ‘Yes, that was very unfortunate. But for my man, it was kill or be killed. Your ex-husband attacked him with a gun, because he asked questions about you.’

  Her jaw dropped. Tommy? A gun? He could be stupid and aggressive at times, but why would he have a gun? ‘I don’t believe that.’

  He showed surprise. ‘Well, I questioned my man at length about it, and I do believe him. They had a fierce fight down by the river, the gun fell in the water, they struggled on the bank, and your ex-husband slipped into the river.’

  ‘Couldn’t your man have caught him?’

  ‘Of course, he could. But why should he? Your ex-husband was trying to kill him. And I should add your ex-husband did not reveal where you were. My man worked out you were in Nuremberg from hints he got from others there.’

  She suddenly felt a pang for Tommy. If what this man said was true, he’d done his best to protect her, and paid the ultimate price. Maybe he’d had some love and respect for her after all, though she’d rarely seen it. Poor Tommy.

  G broke the silence. ‘So, I’m sorry that happened, my dear. Can we go on?’

  It was the only way she’d get out of this. She nodded.

  ‘Thank you. Going back to Brenner. You say he threatened to rape you. How did you know that? Did he attack you?’

  ‘No. He was very lovey-dovey. Too much so. He tried to convince me we had a future together. Talked about a wonderful life in Germany after the war. Bit mad really. I went along with it because it was my only chance to get free. But I overheard him one night ask Elizabeth Kay for the key to my room. He wanted to make love to me to keep me compliant. She refused, and told him that was just rape. They had a furious row. But she took my side. In fact, she slipped me a knife for protection. One of those where the blade springs out.’

  ‘A stiletto?’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘Mein Gott. And would you have used it?’

  ‘Of course. I got ready to use it when he took me out on deck. We had never been alone before, and he went all
lovey-dovey again. But he held me too tight in a very dark corner. I thought he planned to attack me and then throw me overboard. But he suddenly felt sea sick, and stood on the rail to lean out and retch. He leaned out further, just as the boat wobbled in the heavy sea, and fell overboard.’

  ‘Mein Gott. Couldn’t you have caught him?’

  ‘Of course, I could. But he was trying to kill me.’ She stopped, stunned at the parallels with what he’d just said about Tommy’s death. Was she right to say that? But it’s what happened. Don’t say any more.

  He stared at her. ‘Then what happened?’

  ‘I dashed up to the ship’s bridge, and asked the captain for help. There were police on board, and they arrested Brown and Henry.’

  ‘And what about Brenner?’

  ‘They recovered his body the following day. I identified it at the mortuary in Belfast. I don’t know what happened to it afterwards. I think Porritt arranged the burial.’

  ‘And then?’

  ‘Porritt arrested everyone in the UK connected with Aquila that same night.’

  He stared at his plate for several minutes.

  ‘I think I’d like to talk to Mr,’ he looked at his notes, ‘Sorry, Commander Porritt. Where is he? In London?’

  ‘No, he’s in Nuremberg. He’s the head of the British delegation there.’

  ‘I see.’ He thought for a moment. ‘Is that why you were so well protected?’

  She shrugged. ‘Not really. When Porritt heard the Glasgow police had put my ex-husband’s death down to suicide, he became suspicious, and started an investigation to see if my ex-husband had been targeted by the Aquila organisation as a step to find me. Porritt thought they’d want to know what had happened to Brenner, and I was the only one who knew. The investigation showed he had been targeted, and so Porritt arranged for extra security for me from Hans Wolff of the Nuremberg police.’

  ‘Ah, Hans Wolff, I’ve met him. A good man.’ He paused. ‘So, the Glasgow police put your ex-husband’s death down to suicide, but Porritt’s investigation changed that?’

  She nodded. ‘That’s how I understand it.’

  ‘That’s very interesting. And Porritt expected we would want to talk to you?’

  She nodded. ‘Yes. Hence the extra security.’

  He sat and pondered for several minutes. ‘Would Commander Porritt talk to me?’

  She shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Why don’t you ask him?’

  ‘Does he speak German?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Well, I don’t have good enough English. Could you ask him for me?’

  ‘Yes, I could do that.’

  ‘Thank you. But first, let’s finish lunch.’ He waved the butler over to the table. ‘We have a very fine dessert from Italy called tiramisu. It’s coffee flavoured, and I find it utterly delicious. Would you like some?’

  ‘Yes, thank you, I’ll try that.’ Might as well enjoy it, she thought.

  ***

  Porritt watched Cassie leave the room. He banged his fist on the table. ‘Shit. Shit.’

  Hans Wolff turned from the window. ‘What’s wrong?’

  Porritt shook his head. ‘Oh, nothing.’ He paused. ‘Well, everything, actually. She’s my new assistant, and she’s very good. But I have to spell everything out. The last girl could almost read my mind. She’ll eventually tune in to me, but it just adds to the frustration.

  ‘And I’ve got a bunch of useless intellectual pilloocks who want to muscle in on my latest project. I really need to get to London to swat them off. And then, of course, there’s Jane. It’s nearly twenty two hours since she disappeared, and not a word. Shit!’

  He shook his head again. ‘I can’t believe we got duped so easily, Hans. I mean, this girl Astrid, real name Annika, fooled me good and proper. You’ve got to hand it to them. They’re clever and cunning. We knew that from the last time, but it still hurts.’

  Wolff snorted. ‘I know. Josef blames himself. And we’ve had nothing from the road blocks. How’re the family doing?’

  ‘Oh, they’re just worried out their minds. Andreas, her fiancé, has done his best to keep them calm, but it’s not easy. The kids ask all sorts of questions. It’s tough for them.’

  Then the phone rang. Wolff came over to the desk and waited till Porritt lifted the receiver. Wolff lifted the ear piece extension to listen in. ‘Porritt.’

  ‘Sir, it’s me, Jane.’

  ‘Jane! Thank God. Are you okay? Where are you?’

  ‘I’m fine, sir. I don’t know where I am, but I’m with a man called Doctor G. He’s the head of the Aquila organisation, and would like to speak to you. But he doesn’t speak good English, and has asked me to translate.’

  Porritt glanced up at Wolff. ‘Okay.’ He heard Jane talk in German, and the man talk back to her. She then translated his words as he spoke.

  ‘Commander Porritt, thank you for agreeing to speak with me. For some years now, unknown to both of us, we’ve been adversaries. Sometimes we won. Sometimes you won. But, in the end, you were the victor. I’ve now learned you wiped out our entire organisation in Britain in one night. I acknowledge that as a formidable feat. I hope, though, you consider us a worthy adversary, as I do you.’

  Porritt nodded. ‘Indeed I do. You didn’t make it easy.’ He heard G chuckle.

  ‘Thank you. For reasons I won’t go into, I don’t have much time left, but I’d very much like to meet you face to face, to get closure for the family of the man you knew as Karl Brenner, and perhaps learn of our mistakes. Not that we would, or could, ever do it again. I’m afraid these days are well and truly over. But it would close a chapter for me that was, in some ways, perhaps, unique in human history. I’d like to invite you to join me for dinner tomorrow evening. I’ll send a car for you in Nuremberg tomorrow morning. It’s a six hour journey up to here, but that would give you time to relax before dinner. I can assure you it will be a superb meal by any standards. You can then stay overnight – we’re very comfortable here – and the car will take you and Jane back to Nuremberg on Sunday. What do you think?’

  Porritt looked up at Wolff, who indicated to him they needed to speak before he answered. ‘Could you hold on a moment, please?’ Porritt put his hand over the phone and held it down at his side.

  Wolff leaned over and whispered. ‘You can’t go there on your own, Jonathan. That’s the lion’s den. You don’t know what’s waiting for you. He was your enemy, for Chrissake. I’ll come with you, armed.’

  Porritt heard Jane call on the line. ‘Hello, sir? Hello, sir?’

  He held the phone to his ear. ‘Yes, Jane.’

  ‘Doctor G wants to say something.’

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘Commander Porritt, you may be concerned about your personal security while you’re here. I can assure you that you’ll be perfectly safe. I’ve too much respect for you to play tricks. But I understand from Jane that Direktor Wolff organised her security, and probably organises yours. I know him from the past. He’s a good man. And if you’d feel more comfortable, I’m happy for him to accompany you. In fact, I’ll give you an even better guarantee of your safety. I’ll send my son, Manfred, down with the car, and you can lock him in a cell somewhere as security until you return. It won’t do him any harm, and it may give you extra reassurance.’

  ‘Hold on again, please.’ Porritt again held the phone at his side.

  Wolff leaned over. ‘I don’t know this man, Jonathan. But we were always on security duty for VIPs at the big Nazi rallies here, so he’s presumably one of those. Ask him how we’ll know it’s his son.’

  Porritt lifted the phone and asked the question.

  ‘He’ll carry photographic evidence Wolff will recognise.’

  Wolff indicated it sounded okay.

  ‘All right, Doctor G. I’ll accept your invitation, but I would like Direktor Wolff with me, and your son here as extra security.’

  ‘That’s fine, Commander. Thank you so much. The car will arrive at police HQ around nine
-thirty tomorrow.’

  ‘Yes, fine.’

  ‘Good. Look forward to seeing you tomorrow, then.’

  ‘Yes. See you tomorrow, And you too, Jane.’

  Porritt hung up and smiled at Wolff. ‘More or less what we expected, but with a twist.’

  ‘That’s for sure. Roll on tomorrow.’

  ***

  Amid flurries of light snow, Sandra dashed across the tarmac to Conway’s car. She’d just flown in to RAF Güttersloh on an RAF Transport plane that ran a shuttle service from RAF Hendon for senior staff. It had been her worst journey ever. Nearly two hours in a noisy aircraft, on uncomfortable padded canvas seats, knee to knee with the man on the other side of the plane, she was glad it was over. She turned to Bill, next to her in the rear seat, ‘I’ll never complain about a commercial flight ever again.’

  He laughed. ‘Well, at least it got you here quicker.’

  The three of them settled around the conference table in Conway’s office, at the huge British army base in Bielefeld. Conway started the meeting. ‘Right, Sandra, it’s your show. We’re here to help you in whatever way we can. This afternoon, we’ll make sure we’ve thought of everything; tomorrow morning, we have a final meeting with my team leaders; and then tomorrow afternoon, I’d like you to brief the whole team. We can then relax before we leave here just after midnight.’

  ‘What have you told the team so far, Bob?’

  ‘We’ve given them only limited information to avoid leaks. We’ve merely said the Home Secretary has authorised the arrest of a German citizen in the interests of public safety, and to maintain public order, in the UK. These were the words you gave us.’

  She glanced over at Bill, and he nodded. ‘That’s fine.’ She had talked with Conway almost every day about aspects of the raid, but now, as they faced the reality of it, they needed to tie up loose ends and get everyone on side. ‘Yeah, it all sounds good.’

  ‘Great. So, let’s first go through how we’ve organised the raid.’

  She nodded. ‘Do we have any more info on the mansion house?’