The Fourth Estate (41 page)

Armstrong turned
round to see a group of stackers waiting for the next edition to come off the
presses. “You lot,” he shouted. “See that every copy of the first edition
that’s still on the premises is destroyed.” They scattered, and began gathering
up every paper they could find, however old.

Forty minutes
later, a proof copy of the new front page was hurried up to Schultzs office.
Armstrong studied the other story he had written that morning about the proposed
visit to Berlin by the Duke of Gloucester.

“Good,” he said,
once he had finished checking it through. “Let’sgeton with bringing out the
second edition.”

When Arno came
rushing through the door nearly an hour later, he was surprised to find Captain
Armstrong, his sleeves rolled up, helping to load the newly printed second
edition onto the vans. Armstrong waved a finger in the direction of his office.
Once the door was closed, he told him what he had done the moment he had seen
the frontpage article.

“I’ve managed to
get most of the early copies back and have them destroyed,” he told Schultz.
“But I couldn’t do anything about the twenty thousand or so that were
distributed in the Russian and American sectors.

Once they’ve
crossed the checkpoint, you can never hope to retrieve them.”

“What a piece of
luck that you picked up a first edition as it hit the streets,” said Arno. “I
blame myself for not coming back earlier.”

“You are in no
way to blame,” said Armstrong. “But your deputy far exceeded his responsibility
in going ahead and printing the article without even bothering to check with my
office.”

“I’m surprised.
He’s normally so reliable.”

“I had no choice
but to sack him on the spot,” said Armstrong, looking directly at Schultz.

“No choice,”
said Schultz. “Of course.” He continued to look distressed.

“Although I fear
the damage may be irretrievable.”

“I’m not sure I
understand,” said Armstrong. “I managed to get all but a few of the early
copies back.”

“Yes, I realize
that. In fact you couldn’t have done more. But just before I crossed the
checkpoint I picked up a first edition in the Russian sector.

I’d only been
home for a few minutes when Julius called to say his phone hadn’t stopped
ringing for the past hour-mostly calls from anxious retailers. I promised I’d
come straight over and see how it could possibly have happened.”

“You can tell
your friend that I shall instigate a full inquiry in the morning,” promised
Armstrong. “And I’ll take charge of it personally.” He rolled down his sleeves
and put his jacket back on. “I was just stacking the second edition for the
vans when you walked in, Arno. Perhaps you would be good enough to take over.
My wife...”

“Of course, of
course,” said Arno.

Armstrong left
the building with Arno’s last words ringing in his ears:

“You couldn’t
have done more, Captain Armstrong, you couldn’t have done more.”

Armstrong had to
agree with him.

Armstrong was
not surprised to receive a call from Julius Hahn early the following morning.

“So sorry about our
first edition,” he said, before Hahn had a chance to speak.

“It wasn’t your
fault,” said Hahn. “Arno has explained how much worse it might have been
without your intervention. But now I fear I need another favor.”

“I’ll do
anything I can to help, Julius.”

“That’s most
kind of you, Captain Armstrong. Would it be possible for you to come and see
me?”

“Would some time
next week suit you?” asked Armstrong, casually flicking over the pages of his
diary.

“I’m afraid it’s
rather more urgent than that,” said Hahn. “Do you think there might be a chance
that we could meet some time today?”

“Well, it’s not
convenient at the moment,” said Armstrong, looking down at the empty page in
his diary, “but as I have another appointment in the American sector this
afternoon, I suppose I could drop in on you around fivebut only for fifteen
minutes, you understand.”

“I understand,
Captain Armstrong. But I would be most grateful if you could manage even
fifteen minutes.”

Armstrong smiled
as he put the phone down. He unlocked the top drawer of his desk and removed
the contract. For the next hour he checked over each clause to make sure that
every eventuality was covered. The only interruption he received was a call
from Colonel Oakshott, congratulating him on the article about the Duke of
Gloucester’s forthcoming visit. “First class,” he said. “First class.”

After a long
lunch in the mess, Armstrong spent the early afternoon clearing his desk of
letters Sally had wanted answered for weeks. At half past four he asked Private
Benson to drive him over to the American sectori the jeep pulled up outside the
offices of Der Berliner at a few minutes past five. A nervous Hahn was waiting
on the steps of the building, and quickly ushered him through to his office.

“I must
apologize again for our first edition last night,” began Armstrong.

“I was having
dinner with a general from the American sector, and Arno was unfortunately
visiting his brother in the Russian sector, so neither of us had any idea what
his deputy was up to. I sacked him immediately, of course, and have set up a
full inquiry. If I hadn’t been passing the station at midnight . ~ .”

“No, no, you are
not in any way to blame, Captain Armstrong.” Hahn paused.

“However, the
few copies that did reach the American and Russian sectors have been more than
enough to cause panic among some of my oldest clients.”

“I’m very sorry
to hear that,” said Armstrong.

“I fear that
they fell into the wrong hands. One or two of my most reliable suppliers have
rung today demanding that in future they must be paid in advance, and that
won’t prove easy after all the extra expense I’ve had to bear during the past
couple of months. We both know it’s Captain Sackville who is behind all this.”

“Take my advice,
Julius,” said Armstrong. “Don’t even mention his name when referring to this
incident. You have no proof, absolutely no proof, and he’s the sort of man who
wouldn’t hesitate to close you down if you gave him the slightest excuse.”

“But he’s
systematically bringing my company to its knees,” said Hahn. “And I don’t know
what I’ve done to deserve it, or how to stop him.”

“Don’t get so
upset, my friend. I’ve been working on your behalf for some time now, and I may
just have come up with a solution.”

Hahn forced a
smile, but didn’t look convinced.

“How would you
feel,” continued Armstrong, “if I were to arrange for Captain Sackville to be
posted back to America by the end of the month?”

“That would
solve all my problems,” said Hahn, with a deep sigh. But the look of doubt
remained. “if only he could he sent home...”

“By the end of
the month,” Armstrong repeated. “Mind you, Julius, it’s going to take a lot of
arm-twisting at the very highest levels, not to mention...”

“Anything. I’ll
do anything. Just tell me what you want.”

Armstrong
removed the contract from his inside pocket and pushed it across the desk. “You
sign this, Julius, and I’ll see that Sackville is sent back to the States.”

Hahn read the
four-page document, first quickly and then more slowly, before placing it on
the desk in front of him. He looked up and said quietly, “Let me understand the
consequences of this agreement, should I sign it.” He paused again and picked
Lip the contract again. “You would receive the foreign distribution rights for
all my publications.”

“Yes,” said
Armstrong quietly.

“I take it by
that you mean for Britaim” He hesitated. “And the Commonwealth.”

“No, Julius. The
rest of the world.”

Hahn checked the
contract once again. When he came to the relevant clause, he nodded gravely.

“And in return I
would receive 50 percent of the profits.”

“Yes,” said
Armstrong. “After all, you did tell me, Julius, that you would be looking for a
British company to represent you once your present contract had come to an
end.”

“True, but at
the time I didn’t realize you were in publishing.”

“I have been all
my life,” said Arrnstrong. “And once I’ve been demobbed, I shall be returning
to England to carry on running the family business.”

Hahn looked
bemused. “And in exchange for these rights,” he said, “I would become the sole
proprietor of
Der Telegraf
.” He
paused again. “I had no idea that you owned the paper.”

“Neither does
Arno, so I must ask you to keep that piece of information in the strictest
confidence. I had to pay well above the market price for his shares.”

Hahn nodded,
then frowned. “But if I were to sign this document, you could become a
millionaire.”

“And if you
don’t,” said Armstrong, “you could be bankrupt by the end of the month.”

Both men stared
at each other.

“You have
evidently given my problem considerable thought, Captain Armstrong,” said Hahn
eventually.

“Only with
YOUrbest interests in mind,” said Armstrong.

Hahn didn’t
comment, so Armstrong continued, “Allow me to prove my good will, Julius. I
would not wish you to sign the document if Captain Sackville is still in this
country on the first day of next month. If he has been replaced by then, I will
expect you to put your signature to it on the same day. For the mornent,
Julius, a handshake will be good enough for me.”

Hahn remained
silent for a few more seconds. “I can’t argue with that,” he said eventually.
“If that man has left the country by the end of the month, I will sign the
contract in your favor.”

The two men
stood up and shook hands solemnly.

“I’d better be
on my way,” said Armstrong. ‘There are still quite a number of people I’ll have
to get in line, and a lot of paperwork to be dealt with if I’m to make sure
Sackville is sent back to America in three weeks’ time.”

Hahn just
nodded.

Armstrong
dismissed his driver, and strolled the nine blocks to Max’s quarters for their
usual Friday-night poker session. The cold air cleared his head, and by the
time he arrived he was ready to put the second part of his plan into action.

Max was
impatiently shuffling the deck. “Pour yourself a beer, old buddy,” he said as
Armstrong took his place at the table, “because tonight, my friend, you’re
going to lose.”

Two hours later,
Armstrong was about $80 up, and Max hadn’t licked his lips all evening. He took
a long draft of beer as Dick began shuffling the deck.

“It doesn’t help
to think,” said Max, “that if Hahn is still in business at the end of the month
I’ll owe you another thousand-which would just about wipe me out.”

“It’s looking a
pretty good bet for me at the moment, I must admit.”

Armstrong paused
as he dealt Max his first card. “Mind you, there are circumstances in which I
might agree to waive the wager.”

“Just tell me
what I have to do,” said Max, dropping his cards face-up on the table.
Armstrong pretended to be concentrating on his hand, and said nothing.

“Anything, Dick.
I’ll do anything.” Max paused. “Short of killing the damn Kraut.”

“How about
bringing him back to life again?”

“I’m not sure I
understand.”

Armstrong placed
his hand on the table and looked across at the American.

“I want you to make
sure that Hahn gets all the electricity he needs, all the paper he requires,
and a helping hand whenever he contacts your office.”

“But why this
sudden change of heart?” asked Max, sounding suspicious.

“Simple really,
Max. It’sjust that I’ve been laying off the bet with several suckers in the
British sector. I’ve been backing Hahn to still be in business in a month’s
time. So if you were to reverse everything, I’d stand to make a lot more than a
thousand dollars.”

“You cunning old
bastard,” said Max, licking his lips for the first time that evening. “You’ve
got yourself a deal, old buddy.” He thrust his hand across the table.

Armstrong shook
hands on the second agreement he’d made that day.

T’hree weeks
later, Captain Max Sackville boarded a plane for North Carolina. He hadn’t had
to pay Armstrong more than the few dollars he’d lost in their final poker game.
On the first of the month he was replaced by a Major Bernie Goodman.

Armstrong drove
over to the American sector that afternoon to see Julius Hahn, who handed him
the signed contract.

“I’m not quite
sure how you managed it,” said Hahn, “but I’m bound to admit, from your lips to
God’s ears.”

They shook
hands.

“I look forward
to a long and fruitful partnership,” were Armstrong’s parting words. Hahn made
no comment.