The Game of Treachery

by Christopher Nicole

  Liane’s shoulders hunched. She had always supposed Joanna indestructible. But when they had been captured by those German deserters on that terrible day last year, it had been Joanna who had been crushed and almost hysterical, while she had merely closed her mind to what was happening and looked to the future. Of course, Joanna had already been in a hysterical mood, having just watched her brother being shot to pieces. But still, the thought of her being tortured was horrific.

  ‘What are we going to do?’ Amalie asked.

  ‘Wait for Pierre to come home,’ Liane said. ‘There is nothing else we can do.’

  *

  ‘Madeleine! How good to see you.’ Franz Hoeppner kissed Madeleine’s hand, ‘is all well?’ He showed her to the chair before his desk. Outside the office window Bordeaux baked in the late summer heat.

  Madeleine, as flawlessly dressed as ever, sat down.

  ‘No.’ Franz also sat, behind the desk. ‘Tell me what is the matter.’

  ‘I wish to go back to Berlin. Will you arrange it for me?’

  ‘Of course. But you have only been here three days.’

  ‘That is three days too long.’

  ‘Your parents —’

  ‘Pretend that I do not exist. At meals they speak to each other as if I was not there.’

  ‘My dear, I am so terribly sorry. I had supposed that after all this time, and with you being pregnant …’

  ‘They have not forgiven. The fact that I am pregnant with a German baby makes them more bitter yet. As you say, I hoped that they would get over their initial reaction, but it has just grown worse. So …’

  ‘I will arrange a seat for you on tomorrow’s train. But what about tonight?’

  ‘Oh, I can stand another night.’

  ‘But you’ll lunch with me, as you are in town.’ He looked past her at the young woman wearing a white shirt and black skirt and stockings standing in the doorway. ‘What is it, Martine?’

  His secretary, a blunt-featured young woman, looked nervous. ‘There is someone to see you, Herr Colonel.’

  ‘Well, I am busy right now. Tell him to wait.’

  ‘Ah …’ Her shoulders were grasped and she was set aside to allow the visitor to enter.

  Franz was on his feet. ‘What the …?’

  ‘Heil Hitler! Colonel Hoeppner? We have not met. Oskar Weber.’

  For the moment Franz was speechless, while Weber looked at Madeleine. ‘Frau von Helsingen! What a pleasant surprise. But what are you doing in Bordeaux?’

  ‘Bordeaux is my home, Herr Colonel. Or it was.’

  ‘Of course. Paulliac. You have been visiting your parents.’

  ‘Yes. But I am leaving tomorrow.’

  ‘Are you? Would you excuse us? I have some urgent business with Colonel Hoeppner.’

  ‘Of course. It looks as if our luncheon date will have to be postponed, Franz. If you could let me have the travel documents this evening —’

  ‘I do not wish you to leave the building at this moment, Frau von Helsingen,’ Weber said. ‘I would like to speak with you later. Have this young woman make you a cup of coffee and take a seat until we are finished.’

  Madeleine looked at Franz, eyebrows arched. ‘I think I should remind you that this is my office, and my command, Herr Colonel,’ Franz said.

  ‘As of this moment, Colonel Hoeppner, it is my office, and my command. If you wish to have this confirmed, I suggest you telephone General Heydrich in Berlin.’

  The two men glared at each other, and Madeleine said, ‘I’ll wait outside.’

  ‘And kindly close the door,’ Weber said. Madeleine did so, and Weber took the chair she had vacated. ‘Now, Colonel, tell me what that woman is doing here.’

  Franz also sat down. ‘That woman is the wife of my closest friend. As she told you, she is on a visit to her parents, who live in Paulliac, a village situated a few miles down the Gironde.’

  ‘I know where Paulliac is, Colonel, and I know who lives there. What I wish to know is why Frau von Helsingen is visiting them now, when she has not done so during the three months they have been living there since their return from Germany.’

  ‘Is this any business of the SD?’

  ‘Everything is the business of the SD, Colonel. Including your relationship with this woman.’

  ‘If you were not what you are, Weber, I would have you thrown out. My relationship with Frau von Helsingen is that of my best friend’s wife. She also happens to be six months pregnant, as you may have noticed. As to why she has chosen this time to visit her parents, I have no idea. But I can tell you that the visit has not been a success. She is returning to Berlin tomorrow morning.’

  ‘I think that will have to be postponed.’

  ‘You are speaking as if you have reason to suspect Frau von Helsingen of some crime.’

  ‘Only one crime. Treason.’

  ‘Are you mad?’

  ‘I cannot prove it, but we have had suspicions of her for some time, and her presence here suggests a possibility that Frau von Helsingen is in possession of information of vital importance to the outlaws who are skulking just across the Vichy border and who, as I am sure you know, are commanded by her sister.’

  ‘What information? And how is she supposed to have obtained it?’

  ‘How she obtained it remains to be discovered. The point is that her reason for coming here is to tell her so-called estranged parents so that they can send a messenger to warn the guerillas. I do not know whether she has achieved this. How long has she been here?’

  ‘Three days.’

  ‘And she is leaving again already? That proves it. She came here to deliver a message, and is now hurrying away.’

  Franz sighed. ‘She came here to see her parents, who have rejected her. That is why she is leaving.’

  ‘If you believe that, Colonel Hoeppner, you will believe anything. I wish her returned to Paulliac, and I wish the de Gruchy house placed under the strictest guard. No one is to leave or enter without my permission. It is possible that although Frau von Helsingen may have delivered her message, it has not yet been forwarded to the Resistance. In any event, we will take steps to negate its value.’

  ‘Frau von Helsingen will object to being treated as a prisoner.’

  ‘She can object as much as she likes. It will only be for a few days.’

  ‘She may take her objections to a higher authority.’

  ‘General Heydrich will deal with that. Now, Colonel, what I have to say to you is to be treated as top secret. Here is what I have come here to do.’

  Franz listened in growing perturbation. ‘It will cause an international incident.’

  ‘An international incident with Vichy is something we can stand. In any event, as I have just told you, Laval accepts the situation. He cannot do so publicly, and will have to condemn our action, but he has promised there will be no repercussions.’

  ‘I am thinking of world opinion when it becomes known that German soldiers have crossed the borders of a friendly power.’

  ‘German soldiers are not going to cross the border. Your people will merely occupy positions along the border to prevent any of the guerillas from escaping across them. My SS people will be in plain clothes. Any more questions?’

  ‘Yes. You say the date is the 30th of September. That is more than a month off. Does this mean that I am to keep Frau von Helsingen in custody for another month?’

  ‘No. If she is in possession of our plans, she is in possession of the proposed date of the operation. Therefore we will negate the value of that knowledge by attacking the moment my people are ready. That should not be more than a week.’ Weber grinned. ‘Cheer up, Colonel. This will earn you a commendation.’

  *

  ‘Liane! Come quickly!’ Etienne was panting from the haste with which he had climbed the hill.

  Liane, sitting beside Moulin, jumped to her feet and hurried down the hill, checking at the sight of her brother. ‘Pierre! Oh, thank God!’ She ran forward to hug the hagga
rd, bearded figure. ‘We have been so worried. Jules!’ Another hug. ‘And …’ Slowly she released the big man to stare at the third man they had been half carrying, wearing the tattered remnants of British combat dress, who was sinking to his knees. ‘James? Oh, my God! James!’ She dropped to her knees and held his shoulders to look into his eyes.

  He managed a smile. ‘The sight of you makes it all worthwhile,’ he whispered.

  Now she could see the bloodstains on his uniform. ‘What happened?’

  ‘I stopped a bullet. But Pierre not only dragged me from the water, but he patched me up.’

  ‘But he has lost too much blood on the walk back,’ Pierre said. ‘A village doctor took the bullet out and cleaned and dressed the wound, and gave us some bandages and painkillers, but he was in no condition to walk so far. He needs rest.’

  ‘And you shall have rest,’ Liane promised. She put her arm round his shoulders and Jules took the other side, and they got him to his feet.

  ‘But I don’t understand,’ he said. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘I am here because Pound ordered me to come here. What I would like to know is what you are doing here.’

  ‘It’s a long and unhappy story.’

  ‘Well, let’s get you cleaned up and fed, and we’ll talk.’

  *

  James looked around the faces as they ate. He was in constant pain, and had been for three weeks, so much so that it now almost seemed a natural state of affairs. That he had got ashore at all was a miracle. He had only been half conscious in the water, had been kept afloat by his life jacket as Lewis had promised … Whatever had happened to Lewis? he wondered.

  The tide had carried him down from the little seaport, and when he had gained the beach it had been at the foot of some quite steep cliffs. By then he had been too exhausted to move, so he had lain on the sand, half in and half out of the water, feeling deathly cold, waiting for daylight, when he assumed he would be found by the Germans and packed off to a prison camp. Instead he had been found by Pierre and Jules. That the guerillas had had the sense to avoid the trap was the only good thing that had come out of the operation. That Pierre and Jules had risked their lives to see if they could help any survivors was gallantry of the highest order. That they should have found him he regarded as another miracle. They had actually found four of the raiding party, but two were already dead, and the third had only lived a few hours. That they should have determined to half carry him right across France had been the height of foolhardiness.

  He had asked them to leave him, pointing out that they were endangering their own lives, but they had refused. And they had, indeed, brought him right across France to this sanctuary, where he was surrounded by friends, and to the presence of Liane. Even if there was a great deal he did not understand.

  ‘If Rachel called you on the morning of the 8th of August, whatever caused her to make that call must have happened the night before, after we had left. Some message must have been received. But from whom?’

  ‘We are all wondering about that. From what Rachel said, she knew you were betrayed as well,’ Liane said.

  ‘But she did not recall us.’

  ‘Perhaps she tried, but couldn’t.’

  James drank some wine while he tried to think. ‘There was no one outside of the brigadier, Rachel and I who knew about both the raid and the route. Apart from you people here, of course.’

  Liane and Amalie exchanged glances, and they both looked at Christine. ‘And Joanna Jonsson,’ Christine said quietly.

  James frowned at her. He had not really taken her in up till now. That she was a stranded British agent seemed remarkable. That she seemed very friendly with Amalie was equally unremarkable: Amalie made friends very easily. That she was stranded because of the radio failure was entirely reasonable; she certainly seemed anxious to get back to England. And that she was accepted by Liane meant that she was acceptable to him. But now she was not making sense. ‘Joanna was here,’ Liane explained.

  ‘Here? How on earth did that happen? She doesn’t know where you are.’

  ‘She found us. And, well … it all seems rather miserable.’

  ‘I told her what was happening,’ Amalie said. ‘And then she stole the batteries for the radio.’

  ‘Joanna?’

  ‘It could have been no one else. And then she went off. She told us she was going to see Mama and Papa, but she went to the Germans instead. Monica was with her.’

  James turned to Christine. ‘I trusted her,’ Christine said, ‘because she was a friend of Amalie’s, and said she was a friend of Liane’s as well. And when she was arrested, I thought it was genuine, so I escaped and came back here. But now it is obvious that she was working for the Nazis all the time.’

  That was so unbelievable it required a lot of thought. James looked at Liane, and she looked back; her face was a mask of misery. He needed to concentrate. ‘But why did you go with her? If you were already on the run from the Gestapo?’

  ‘I wanted to complete my mission.’

  ‘What is your mission?’

  ‘Monica came to reopen contact with Mama and Papa,’ Amalie said.

  ‘You’ll have to explain that.’

  ‘You must know that Papa was a British agent before the war.’

  ‘No, I didn’t know that.’

  ‘But …’ Amalie stared at Liane.

  ‘I think you should know,’ Liane said to Christine, ‘that James is an officer in the SIS, with control over all of our family. Including, if it were necessary, our mother and father.’

  Christine looked at her, and then at James, and then seemed to uncoil herself, reaching her feet and drawing the pistol in her belt at the same moment. James, unarmed, could only throw himself to one side. But even as he did so, he realized that the woman was not intending to kill him, but Liane. But Liane had also reacted with lightning speed. Her Luger was drawn and presented to Christine’s head before the German woman could level her weapon. ‘Drop it, or die.’

  Christine hesitated, fatally. What had happened had been so sudden, so unexpected, that even her highly trained brain, while immediately understanding that if James was an intelligence controller she was finished, needed a moment to decide her best course, and in that moment Amalie had thrown both arms round her and hurled her to the ground, while Pierre tore the gun from her grasp. Christine gasped and tried to free herself, but Amalie retained her grip, and now Pierre pinioned her arms. ‘My God!’ Moulin said. ‘You think she is a German agent?’

  ‘I think she is going to tell us that,’ Liane said.

  ‘You are going to die,’ Christine snarled. ‘All of you. Our people know where you are, and they are going to stamp on you like cockroaches.’

  ‘That’s one question answered,’ Liane said. ‘Now tell us what happened to Joanna.’

  ‘I handed her over to the Gestapo. Hopefully she will have been shot by now.’

  Liane looked at James.

  ‘But I think she is still alive,’ James said. ‘And that it was she that tried to warn us that our plans had been betrayed, by you.’

  ‘Dream, Britisher, dream.’

  ‘Do you want to know anything else?’ Liane asked.

  ‘We need to know who she works for, and how she is so sure that we are going to be wiped out.’

  ‘You heard the major,’ Liane said.

  ‘The major can fuck off.’

  ‘You need to understand your situation,’ Liane said. ‘None of these people are going to help you. And if you are responsible for any harm befalling Joanna, I will personally enjoy torturing you to death. However, I give you my word that if you tell us what we wish to know, you will die painlessly.’

  ‘But you are going to kill me.’

  ‘Well, of course. You must know that.’

  Christine looked around the grim faces, and knew that Liane had been right when she had said she would find no sympathy there. Even Amalie’s face was cold, although there were tears in her eyes. She
sighed. ‘How will you do it?’

  ‘You have a choice. Either a bullet in the back of the head, or a cyanide capsule.’

  Christine licked her lips. ‘I do not wish my head blown off.’

  ‘Very well, then. The capsule. But first, the answers.’

  ‘My name is Christine von Ulstein, and I am a member of the Sicherheitsdienst.’

  Liane looked at James. ‘The SD,’ he said. ‘The German secret service.’

  ‘I thought that was the Abwehr.’

  ‘Very roughly, the Abwehr relates to our MI5. The SD is their equivalent of our MI6, but with considerably more powers. Who is your commander?’

  ‘The overall commander is General Reinhard Heydrich. My immediate commander is Colonel Oskar Weber.’

  ‘And you were sent here to locate this group. How did you get that information out?’

  ‘When I went into Bordeaux with the woman Jonsson, I did not escape as I claimed. I denounced her to the garrison commander, who is a friend of mine, gave him all the information I had obtained, including the details of the proposed raid on St Valery and Mademoiselle de Gruchy’s presence in Paris, and then returned here with my story.’

  ‘And you also gave him this location.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What other instructions did you have?’

  ‘Above all else, I was to kill Mademoiselle de Gruchy.’ Christine’s mouth twisted. ‘Only in that have I failed.’

  Liane looked at James, who hesitated, and then nodded. Henri gave her the cyanide capsule, and she handed it to Christine. ‘I am told it is very quick, and will cause no pain.’

  For a last time Christine looked around the faces; then she took the capsule and stood up. Liane stood also, her pistol in her hand. But Christine merely placed the capsule in her mouth. Then she stood to attention and thrust out her right arm. ‘Heil Hitler.’ Then she bit. But she remained standing. ‘What is happening?’ Her voice was high.

  Liane looked at James. ‘It is possible that was a dud?’

  ‘Now he tells me,’ Henri remarked.

  ‘Well, then …’ Liane held out her hand, and Pierre gave her his.