(1961) The Prize

by Irving Wallace

  ‘What was your next step, Carl? How did you sabotage the competition?’

  Krantz felt uncomfortable. He pretended to devote himself to his driving, eyes on the three-pointed silver star above the grille. ‘I do not think the exact details are pertinent.’

  ‘They are to me,’ said Eckart. ‘We know your resourcefulness in theory. We want to see it proved.’

  ‘The Norwegian was easiest to dispose of. I wrote a learned paper—I must show it to you—proving that antigravity, if controlled by Norway, could be harmful to Sweden. It would give our neighbour terrible ascendency in rocket propulsion and what-not. I knew that this would strike at our judges’ nationalistic pride. Moreover, to give them a graceful backing off, I indicated that many of the Norwegian’s experiments had dealt with the value of antigravity fields in medicine as well as physics—you know, relief of heart sufferers—and I indicated that his candidacy should be considered, next year, by the Nobel Medical Committee. I circulated my paper, and I am happy to say that the Norwegian received only two votes. As to the Spaniard, with his weather control, I was able to learn that he was a Falangist, and so I located several exiled Spanish scientists, of unimpeachable repute, and invited them to be my devil’s advocates. Their letters were “volunteered” to the leaders of our committee. Their disparagement of the Falangist’s discovery was most effective, I must say. The Australians were another matter. Their high-frequency invention was well regarded everywhere. Moreover, it was a safe prize, noncontroversial. There was no chance of my getting at them through their work.’

  ‘What could you do?’

  ‘I could get at them through themselves,’ said Krantz placidly. ‘I have a man here in Stockholm, a refugee of long standing, who is useful in these matters. He is a Hungarian. He had served one of the Axis powers, in World War II, as a minor espionage agent. He likes to think of himself as a free-lance spy, still, but he is actually a pathetic buffoon. Yet, on several occasions, I have employed him for research and found him valuable. He is literate and bookish. He has good connections among the international press. They feed him titbits in exchange for news trifles. He thinks of himself as another Wilhelm Stieber or Fräulein Doktor Schragmüller, but he is actually a librarian, a researcher. I hired him to investigate the Australians.’

  ‘How could you take such a risk with an irresponsible Hungarian buffoon?’ asked Eckart bitingly.

  ‘Because he depends on me, Hans,’ said Krantz. ‘He is stateless, and I, and several like me, have intervened on his behalf with lesser government officials, to keep him here. Also, he needs the few kronor we dole out to him now and then. I used him to discover that the Spanish candidate was a Falangist. When it came to the Australians, I used him once more.’

  Krantz’s lips curled in self-satisfaction as he negotiated the Mercedes around a curve. When the car was straight again, he continued to speak.

  ‘The two Australians were homosexuals. We gathered the proof, and when the final voting conference was held last month, I deferred to one of my conservative colleagues—I had shown him the facts and said I thought he might be interested, although I thought it was no issue—and at the critical moment, he burst forth and made it an issue. Professor Max Stratman was elected our Nobel laureate in forty-five minutes.’

  Eckart shook his head. ‘Carl, Carl, what is there for me to say? You are a master. I would hate to be a candidate before you.’

  ‘You would have no problem, Hans. I would favour you.’

  ‘So that is how it was done?’ mused Eckart.

  ‘In this case, yes. I would not guarantee it again. The circumstances were exceptional. At any rate, you see the work that went into it.’

  ‘You will make a scintillating addition to our staff at Humboldt, Carl.’

  Krantz took his eyes from the road and looked at his guest. ‘When?’ he asked.

  ‘Soon, soon,’ said Eckart. ‘Have no doubts. I will see Stratman. You will finish with your Nobel circus. I will return to East Berlin, consult with the board, and you will be confirmed.’

  ‘Must it wait that long?’

  ‘How long? It is nothing. Two weeks or three. The formalities and no more. I will phone you, and you will be on your way. Incidentally, you have seen Stratman?’

  ‘Certainly. I am on the official reception committee. I welcomed him at the train. I attended his press conference. I spent a considerable time with him at the Royal Banquet.’

  ‘How does he look?’

  ‘What do you mean? When did you last see him?’

  ‘The week our Führer died.’

  ‘He is not a young man any longer—that you know, Hans. Sometimes he appears quite sprightly, other times feeble.’

  Eckart fiddled with his monocle. ‘Has he spoken of the past, of Germany?’

  Krantz squirmed in his place behind the wheel. ‘Several times. The Americans have brainwashed him with their propaganda and money.’

  ‘They have? How so?’

  ‘At the press conference, he defended the secrecy of his discovery as necessary. He said that he was forced to work at the Kaiser Wilhelm to keep his relatives alive. He denied that the Americans kidnapped him. He said that he left Germany voluntarily, because he had worked for one totalitarian state, and he did not wish to remain and work for another.’

  ‘He said that?’

  ‘It was in many newspapers the following day.’

  ‘And in your other conversations, anything else?’

  ‘At the Royal Banquet, before dinner, there was a trifling exchange. There was conversation about money—what to do with the Nobel money—and Stratman made it clear that he was keeping his prize.’

  ‘Because he needed the money?’

  ‘That is my guess. Later, I had a disagreement with Count Jacobsson—you have met him—’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘An officious ass,’ said Krantz. ‘We were arguing Sweden’s neutrality. Jacobsson, as usual, said we were pro-Allies, and I had no stomach for that lie. I told the truth about public sentiment.’

  ‘How did Stratman react?’

  ‘He made no comment on that, but when I praised German genius, he disparaged it. Then, right after, the two medical laureates told what they did in the war, and one of them asked Stratman what had happened to him, and he said that he had been held a hostage—that was his word, hostage. Then, there was an incident. Stratman had said he was a hostage, he and his brother—’

  ‘Yes, Walther Stratman.’

  ‘—to keep his brother’s wife and daughter alive in a camp. Well, the brother’s daughter, Stratman’s niece, was right there in the room with him, and when someone asked what had happened to her mother, she broke up and ran off. It was needless and embarrassing. Stratman, I must say, remained unruffled.’

  Eckart folded his hands in his lap and stared out the windshield. ‘Stockholm,’ he said.

  ‘We will be in the city in a few minutes.’

  Eckart was silent a moment. ‘Then Stratman is here with his niece?’

  ‘They are always together.’

  ‘What is she like?’

  ‘A cold fish. But one never knows. If I were twenty years younger, I would be sorely tempted, even if she is a Jew.’

  Eckart smiled. The picture of the crusty gnome beside him being tempted by fleshly desire was too improbable to formulate. ‘Keep your mind on your work, Carl.’

  ‘My work is done,’ said Krantz.

  ‘One never knows. I want you to keep in close touch with me.’

  ‘I expect to, Hans. I must remind you, I made your reservation at the Grand for only two days. It was not easy. The city is crowded. Do you intend to remain longer?’

  ‘I cannot say for certain, Carl. I might stay until the tenth.’

  ‘Well, tell me the second you know. If you stay on, I will have to tackle the manager of the Grand again. Oh, he will extend your accommodation, but I must know so that I can arrange it.’

  ‘I will let you know tomorrow, Carl.’
/>
  ‘When are you seeing Stratman?’

  ‘In the next hour. As soon as I have checked in, I will call his room. I cabled. He is expecting me.’

  ‘And you know he will see you?’

  Eckart rubbed his scar meditatively. ‘Why should he not see me, Carl? You forget. Max Stratman and his brother and I worked side by side at the Kaiser Wilhelm all through the war. We are friends, old friends. Today, we will have lunch. We will speak of many things. Gemütlichkeit will be the note. You make a reservation for us, the moment I register. The Riche, I think. That would be the best restaurant. . . . Yes, Carl, have no fear, Max Stratman will be waiting for this reunion.’

  Andrew Craig and Leah Decker occupied the desirable corner suite 225 in the Grand Hotel. Directly above it, having the same dimensions and identical in furnishings, was suite 325, which, for the duration of Nobel week, was tenanted by Emily Stratman and Professor Max Stratman.

  At 1.20 in the afternoon, Craig arrived at suite 325 and rapped on the door.

  After a moment, the door opened, and although Emily was not visible, he heard her voice. ‘You can roll it right in the living—’ And then her head appeared around the door, and she saw Craig. ‘Oh, it’s you—forgive me—I’d ordered lunch from room service and—please come in.’

  He followed her through the entry into the sitting-room. His eyes were on her semi-shingled dark hair, and when she turned to take his overcoat, he enjoyed again the black curls that curved forward on her cheeks, framing her face in piquant loveliness. She wore a loose forest-green tunic of jersey, that draped outward and straight down from her breasts, and the tight cotton-knit green slacks beneath, smooth and chic, adhered to her hips and thighs. He had never seen her dressed this informally, and there was an ease about her that pleased him.

  ‘Are you hungry?’ she asked.

  ‘Famished.’

  ‘I can still catch them downstairs. Will you join me?’

  ‘Why do you think I’m here?’

  She picked up the white room service telephone, and was instantly connected. ‘This is Miss Stratman in 325. If you’ve still got my order, I’d like to add another to it.’ She listened, said, ‘Please hold on,’ cupped the mouthpiece and told Craig, ‘In the nick of time. They’ll keep mine warm while they get yours ready. What are you having?’

  ‘Whatever you’re having.’

  ‘That’s Swedish roulette,’ she said. ‘I don’t know what I’m having. They brought the middagen menu—that’s what it said—and I pointed to Kalvschnitzel med spaghetti.’

  ‘That sank the Titanic. Okay by me. And any kind of Danish beer.’

  She put through Craig’s order and sat several feet from him on the sofa.

  ‘I want to thank you again for last night, Andrew. It was lovely.’

  ‘For me, too.’

  ‘I can always tell when it’s good. I went to bed early, because I wanted to think about it and nothing else, and before I knew it, I was asleep. What did you do after?’

  How could he tell her of his similar good intention, and how quickly it had paved the road to hell? How could he tell her of finding Leah naked in his bed—so fantastic now, in the daylight—and of their bitter quarrel? Even to hint at it would frighten Emily.

  ‘I read a Gideon Bible,’ he said.

  ‘Did you really?’

  ‘I wanted to see what those boys had. It needs a polish job. They’re on to a good idea, but the characters aren’t believable, and the sex is too explicit and there’s no book that can’t be helped with a little cutting. I think one rewrite would do it.’

  ‘Silly.’

  ‘I had a good night’s sleep, too, Emily, until the Uppsala boys’ chorus woke me at some ungodly hour.’

  ‘They serenaded you? I heard they did that.’

  ‘Warn your uncle. Tell him to wear earplugs every night. No, I’m kidding. It was very nice. It turned out I was supposed to lecture them this morning on Hemingway and the Icelandic sagas.’

  ‘Did you?’

  ‘I lectured, all right. I just came from there. They got an Icelandic saga, I’ll say—Miller’s Dam, Wisconsin, on a winter morning. The snow sometimes piles up five or six feet.’

  ‘Did you discuss writing?’

  ‘I said authors want to write, have to write, and all the rest don’t want to write, they only want to be authors. I said that was the essential difference, the one that separates the men from the boys. They got the message. Most of them will wind up manufacturing matches, but they were a nice bunch. I have to do a repeat performance for a group from two other universities at three-thirty.’ He paused. ‘What have you been up to this morning?’

  ‘Uncle Max wanted to rest. He has an old friend coming in from Berlin, and he has to see him for lunch. He’s dressing right now. We just stayed in and lazed. It’s too cold out, anyway. I studied all morning—’

  She picked up a book, one she had purchased the day before at Fritze’s, from the coffee table.

  ‘—Swedish into English, English into Swedish. I’m determined.’

  ‘Anything I should know?’

  ‘Indispensable,’ said Emily. She opened the language book and leafed through it. ‘Here is the Swedish phrase, and here it is in English. “Who will pull me across the lake?” Now, how could you get along without that? Here is another. “Please get me a clean knife.” That one haunts me, like the ending of Dickens’s The Mystery of Edwin Drood. And here we have “The wine is too warm, fetch some ice.” And the pessimism. Here is a little exchange one is expected to learn in Swedish. Question: “Hur går affårerna? How is business?” Answer: “Stilla. Dull.” Question: “Hur mår Eder man? How is your husband?” Answer: “Han är mycket sjuk. He is very ill.” Cheerful, isn’t it?’

  Craig laughed, and took the book from her. ‘Have you learned anything yet?’

  ‘Several words.’

  ‘Let’s find out.’ He read aloud. ‘Spottning förbjuden.’

  ‘Heaven help me. What does that mean?’

  ‘No spitting . . . what every young lady should know . . . Glögg. What’s glögg?’

  ‘I know that! Brandy—burnt brandy.’

  ‘Very good, Miss Emily.’ Craig consulted the book again. ‘Helgeflundra.’

  ‘Halibut,’ said Emily promptly.

  ‘My God, you’re right. And mässling?’

  ‘Mässling—mässling—sounds like something you chew or an Oriental form of wrestling.’

  ‘You are quarantined. It means measles. Here is one you can’t do without—ormskinn.’

  ‘I surrender.’

  ‘Snakeskin. Had enough?’

  ‘Well, one more.’

  ‘All right,’ said Craig. ‘What does renstek do to you?’

  ‘It gives me indigestion.’

  ‘Right. It’s reindeer steak. Oh, wait, just one more. What if a stranger said to you—avkläda?’

  ‘I’d say you’re welcome.’

  ‘It means undress.’

  ‘Mr. Craig!’ But she smiled when she said that, and Craig knew everything was fine between them.

  He threw the book down. ‘My only advice to you, young lady, is don’t go out with a Swede.’

  ‘If I do, I’ll stick to “Please get me a clean knife.” ’

  ‘I see you don’t need me.’

  ‘But I do,’ said Emily.

  There was a knock on the hall door, and Emily called out, ‘It’s open!’

  The waiter, in a white jacket, towel over one arm, came in pulling a portable table filled with covered plates, the coffeepot, and a bottle of beer.

  As the waiter reached the sitting-room, Professor Max Stratman, wearing a hat and short overcoat, emerged from his bedroom.

  He did not seem surprised to see Craig. ‘Good afternoon, Mr. Craig. Are you going to keep Emily company?’

  ‘Until three, I hope.’

  ‘Very good.’ Stratman kissed Emily’s cheek. ‘Do not let him charge any more to our bill. Let him spend his prize, and w
e will spend ours.’

  ‘I’ll watch him, Uncle Max. Where will you be? Downstairs?’

  ‘No. We are having lunch at an elegant restaurant around the corner. At least, that was the way Eckart put it. He was always the one for fancy places. I remember during the war. He was the only one of us who could talk his way into Horcher’s.’ And then to Craig, ‘That was where Gäring ate, so it was good. Take care of my girl.’

  He went slowly, thoughtfully, out the door.

  The waiter had almost finished arranging the luncheon, when Emily suddenly rose. ‘Excuse me a second.’ She hurried into her uncle’s room.

  Craig had signed the bill, and the waiter had left, before she returned. She was reading a telegram, and her face was troubled.

  ‘What’s the matter, Emily?’

  She looked up absently. ‘What? Oh, I always check his room after he goes. He’s so forgetful. Sometimes he leaves his pipe lighted on the table, and the hot ashes fall out. We had two small fires last year.’ She sat down next to Craig. ‘The pipe was all right—but I found this wire.’

  ‘Anything wrong with it?’

  ‘Not exactly, but—’ She folded the telegram. ‘It’s from this friend he used to work with in Berlin, the one he’s lunching with now. This man, Hans Eckart, says he has read my uncle is in Stockholm for the Nobel Prize and congratulates him. He says he, too, will be in Stockholm, and would like to have lunch with him today and will phone him. He says they have much to talk about, and he brings news of Walther.’

  ‘Walther?’

  ‘My father. Strange, after all these years.’

  ‘Not so strange,’ said Craig. ‘This man stayed on in Berlin, and may have heard more of what happened to your father, and it’s a natural thing to pass it on to his old friend.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose,’ said Emily slowly.

  Craig studied her face. ‘You’re still not convinced. What’s bothering you?’

  ‘The origin of the telegram,’ she said. ‘It was sent yesterday from East Berlin. I tell myself—what good can come from East Berlin?’

  Riche’s restaurant, located at Birger Jarlsgatan 4, several long blocks behind the Grand Hotel, was one of Stockholm’s most expensive and superior restaurants. Every international capital has its elegant dining-place where the élite—the wealthy, the titled, the powerful businessmen, the renowned artists—are recognized at once, and, as the ruling class of celebrity, they are seated promptly and kept apart from the ordinary customers. Riche was was one of these.