They Used Dark Forces (69 page)

Suddenly Grauber spoke. ‘Our last round, Mr. Sallust. And I win it hands down. You are a slippery customer, if ever there was one. But your extraordinary feat of getting yourself into the Führer's bunker gave you a swollen head. At last you have made the fatal mistake of underrating your opponent.'

It was true. Had Gregory been less preoccupied with his endeavours to keep Hitler in Berlin and his anxieties about Erika and Sabine, he would have given more serious thought
to Grauber and the possibility that his old enemy would devise some subtle way of bringing him to grief. But the terror Hitler inspired among his followers was so universal that, once under his protection, Gregory had thought the risk of Grauber taking any action against him to be negligible.

He had been further lulled into a false sense of security during the past five days by Grauber's attitude. Their respective duties had entailed being at the same time for long spells in the passage outside the conference room and taking meals together in the mess passage. Naturally, neither of them had been more than barely civil to the other, but Grauber had treated Gregory with a certain deference, which Gregory had put down to his having become one of the Führer's intimates, and that had strengthened his conviction that his old enemy fully accepted the situation.

Too late, he realised that, outside the bunker, Grauber still possessed almost limitless powers and could on any night have him kidnapped by Gestapo men while making his way home through the blackout.

Pain made it difficult for him to work his jaw, but now that his wits were coming back to him he managed to croak out, ‘Yes, you've got me … but you'd better watch your step. You seem to have forgotten that … the Führer is my friend. He … he warned you not to lay a finger on me at the peril of your life. At any time he may ask for me … to talk about the future. If I'm not to be found he'll guess that you are at … at the bottom of my disappearance …. Then you'll be for the high jump.'

‘That maniac!' Grauber suddenly spat. ‘Do you think I any longer give a damn for him? He has brought Germany to ruin, and himself. He is now through. Finished!'

‘Not yet. You and the others still quail every time he opens his mouth … And he has a memory like an … encyclopædia. He won't have forgotten that we are enemies. Just wait until you get back to the bunker. The moment he sees you he … he'll hand you over to his private police. He'll have them take you to pieces on … on the assumption that you'll be able to tell him what has become of me.'

Grauber gave a high-pitched laugh. ‘You poor fool. What
do you think I am doing out of uniform and in these clothes? I'm not going back to the bunker. I'm leaving Berlin tonight. Tomorrow it may be too late.'

That contemptuous statement hit Gregory as though it were the last nail being hammered into his coffin. The moment he had grasped the situation he was in he had realised that his chances of getting out of that room a free man were about as good as those of a man surviving who puts the barrel of a loaded pistol to the roof of his mouth and pulls the trigger. But there had been just the slender hope that he might use Hitler's knowledge of his feud with Grauber to frighten him.

Now that, too, was gone. But he felt sure that his end would be no more horrible if he twisted Grauber's tail a little; and, his words coming more easily, he said, ‘I see. Another rat leaving the sinking ship. You're off to join the king rat, eh? But don't flatter yourself that Himmler will succeed in making a deal with the Allies. He'll not be able to save your skin, or his own. Count Bernadotte's intentions are of the best, but——'

Leaning forward, Grauber snapped, ‘What do you know of that?'

‘Enough to be certain that if we were way back in 1940 and Britain had really been at her last gasp Churchill would still not have negotiated with a swine like Himmler. As things are, it's already been announced that he and his kind are to be tried as war criminals. That goes for you and it won't be long before you are dangling from a beam by a rope round the neck.'

‘Others may, but not I.' Grauber shook his massive head. ‘Again you underrate me. About Himmler you are right. He is a brilliant organiser but in all other respects a fool, and he has always gone about with his head in the clouds. Now he has become almost as mad as Hitler. His acceptance of Schellenberg's belief that the Allies would treat with him through Count Bernadotte is the proof of it. I've no intention of mixing myself up with such a pack of dreamers.'

‘Whether you do or don't the Allies will get you,' Gregory said tersely. ‘You are too big a fish for them to allow you to slip into obscurity. They will comb Germany for you; and you've plenty of enemies here. Sooner or later the Allies' agents will catch up with you or someone will give you away.'

Grauber's pasty face took on a cunning look. ‘You are wrong. I shall be neither caught nor betrayed, because I shall not be here. There are many good Nazis in our Navy and I made my preparations weeks ago. A U-boat is waiting to take me to South America, where I have a large ranch and sufficient money invested for me to live as a rich man for the rest of my life.'

To that Gregory could find no reply. Von Below had said that there was no justice in the world and if, instead of paying the penalty for his crimes, this arch-fiend was to enjoy an old age of comfort and plenty it seemed that von Below had been right.

‘And now about yourself,' Grauber went on. ‘I have always promised myself that if I caught you I would cause you to die very gradually and very painfully, with the best medical attention between whiles; and I should have considered myself unlucky if your heart had given out in less than a month. But present circumstances render that impossible, as I must leave here in about an hour. In consequence I have decided to let you live.'

Gregory swallowed hard. That Grauber should show mercy and, of all people, to him, was beyond belief. He stammered, ‘You … you're playing with me.'

‘No. I assure you that I am not. Within an hour you shall leave here a free man.'

It is said that hope springs eternal in the human breast. Despite his every instinct Gregory could not prevent a sudden lifting of the heart. ‘I … you really mean … to … to let me go?'

‘Yes.' Grauber's small mouth twisted into a smile. ‘But there is a little matter we must attend to first. You will recall that in November '39, you bashed out my left eye with a pistol butt. You therefore owe me an eye and I propose to claim that debt. Since it has been so long outstanding it is only fair that I should receive interest, and the destruction of your other eye seems appropriate for that.'

Gregory felt a cold shiver run through him as Grauber went smoothly on. ‘That evens up our score. But I must also protect myself; for you have made it clear that you will run
to our crazy Führer and complain about me. I greatly doubt if he could now have me caught once I have left Berlin; but you and I have survived all these years of war only because it has become second nature to us to take precautions. In the present case I must prevent you from talking. I've seen a tongue torn out by the roots, but doubt my ability to perform such an act; and anyway it would be a very messy business. I shall therefore break a small phial of vitriol on your tongue. After that you will tell no tales for many months to come—if ever again.'

In vain Gregory strove to prevent himself from listening. His hands were tied down so he could not stop his ears, and the gloating effeminate voice continued to penetrate his brain. ‘Lastly, I have always had a passion for thoroughness and I should not feel happy if we parted without my having made a proper job of you. I shall therefore pierce both your eardrums with a knitting needle.'

For a moment Grauber was silent, then he added, ‘So, you see, although I must deny myself the pleasure of actually watching you scream for mercy daily for some weeks, I shall be able to think of you during my voyage to South America undergoing a mental stress greater than that caused solely by physical inflictions. As I promised, in less than an hour you will be a free man. I shall remove your uniform tunic and put you out into the street; but you will be blind, deaf and dumb. Then I shall pray for you.' Suddenly he gave a high, cackling laugh. ‘I shall pray that you are not killed by a bomb or a Russian shell.'

At that Gregory's control snapped. Hurling curses and abuse at Grauber he violently wrenched with wrists and ankles at the cords that bound him to the chair. But it was of Jacobean design with a high strong back made of heavy ebony. The most he could do was to rock it and the Obergruppenführer ignored him. With his mincing gait he walked over to a cabinet, took from it a box of cigars, selected one and, sitting down in front of his prisoner, held it up.

‘One of my best Havanas,' he said, his solitary eye gleaming with sadistic delight. ‘To bash out your eyes with the butt of a pistol would be much too crude. Instead I intend to burn them out with the lighted end of this excellent cigar. But not yet.
Oh no, not yet. When it has singed your eyeballs it would have an unpleasant flavour; so first I shall smoke three-quarters of it. You see, we still have plenty of time; time for you to think about what I mean to do to you, time in which you can watch the cigar gradually burning down until there is just enough of it left for me to deprive you of your sight for ever.'

It was the last refinement of cruelty. Gregory was compelled to sit there, sweating with terror. As no-one in the bunker knew where he was he had no possible hope of rescue. The underground room was heavy with a pregnant silence. Down there even the bombardment could be heard only as a faint rumble, and exploding bombs did no more than cause the floor occasionally to give a slight quiver. Obviously Grauber had sent away the men who had kidnapped Gregory, so there was no-one to whom he could appeal for help, even had they been willing to listen. The knots in the thin cord that held him to the chair had been tied by experts and, strain as he might, he could not even ease them.

To attempt to bargain with Grauber was as futile as to ask him for mercy. Had he been going to join Himmler, Gregory could and would have used all his powers to drive home the fact that within a short while now Germany must collapse, and that soon after their victory the Allies would bring to trial and hang all the Chiefs of the Gestapo. Then, counting on Sir Pellinore's great influence, of which Grauber was aware, he would have offered to guarantee his life if allowed to go unharmed. But Grauber was going to South America, where a fine estate and ample money awaited him. So he had nothing to fear, and Gregory nothing to offer.

Maddeningly, a clock on a bookcase ticked away the minutes. Grauber continued placidly to smoke his cigar. The blue haze of the smoke and admirable aroma began to fill the room. Three times he carefully tapped an inch of ash from the cigar end into an ashtray on a nearby table. Each time he did so he looked critically at the cigar, then at Gregory. After removing the ash for the third time he said, ‘We are getting on. About another five minutes, I think.'

It was at that moment that a bell rang. The sound acted like an electric shock on Gregory. His heart missed a beat and his
muscles tensed. Grauber gave a swift, surprised look towards the door. But he did not move.

The bell shrilled again. Still Grauber did not move. With a frown he looked at Gregory and said softly, ‘Don't delude yourself with false hopes, my friend. It is only some neighbour making a chance call. If I don't answer it he will go away.'

For some twenty minutes Gregory had been almost out of his mind from visualising the awful torments that Grauber intended to inflict on him. Suddenly his wits came back and he opened his mouth to shout. In one catlike spring Grauber was upon him and had seized his nose between a finger and thumb. Dropping the butt of his cigar, he pulled a silk handkerchief from his pocket with his other hand and thrust it into Gregory's open mouth, effectively gagging him.

Again the bell rang, this time insistently. Evidently whoever it was had his finger firmly pressed on the button.

Picking up the cigar butt Grauber stood in front of Gregory, mouthing curses below his breath.

The bell stopped ringing but after a moment there came the muffled sound of heavy blows on the outer door.

For nearly two minutes Grauber remained irresolute. But the blows did not cease and it became evident that someone was endeavouring to break in the door.

With a blasphemous oath Grauber stepped over to the sitting-room door and pulled it open. From where Gregory was sitting, trussed and helpless, he could see that it gave on to a narrow hall. The noise of the blows now came louder to him; then the sound of splintering wood. There followed a confusion of raised voices. Grauber had evidently unbolted the door and was shouting, ‘What in thunder do you mean by this?' Someone else cried, ‘The light showing under the door told us you must be here.'

His nerves as taut as violin strings, Gregory wondered who these people who had forced their way in could be. As he made desperate efforts with his tongue to force the handkerchief out of his mouth, he prayed frantically that they would save him. A heated argument was going on outside in the passage. He was petrified with fear that it would be settled
and that before he could shout for help Grauber would have got rid of his unwelcome callers.

Stretching his mouth to tearing point, Gregory did his utmost to vomit. The effort ejected a part of the handkerchief but the silk of the remainder clung to his gums. He was now able to gurgle, but not loud enough to be heard outside the room. Thwarted in his attempts to shout, he flung all his weight sideways. The heavy chair tipped, hovered, then went over with a crash. His head hit the floor. It had still been aching intolerably from his having been coshed. This second blow sent such a violent pain searing through it that he passed out. But only for a few moments.

He caught the tramp of feet. When his mind cleared the room was full of S.S. men. At the sight of their black uniforms he groaned. These were Grauber's people. The noise of the chair going over must have brought them in from the passage, but his hopes of rescue had been vain.