"It's terribly warm in here," said Kroeger, wiping his face with the back of his right hand.
"I hadn't noticed it. Actually, I thought it was rather cool, but then, such events as this afternoon are not unfamiliar to me, and do not excessively fray my nerves. Off and on, gunfire has been a part of my life."
"Yes, yes, that's you, not me. I daresay if I brought you into an operating room during a particularly nasty procedure, you'd probably faint."
"There's no debate, undoubtedly I would. But you see, Doctor, for me to be at my most efficient, I must know everything, and something tells me you baven't told me everything."
"What more can you possibly need?" Kroeger's sweat was more profuse.
"Perhaps you're right, at times I'm overzealous. Then this is how we'll proceed. When Harry Latham calls again, I will not phone you at the Lutetia, but instead take him ourselves. Once taken, we'll treat him handsomely, and after a few hours I'll reach you."
"Unacceptable!" cried the surgeon, rising from the crate, his hands trembling.
"I must be there when you find him! I must be alone with him before any interrogation takes place, away from all of you, for I'll be discussing information no one else can overhear.
It's vital, and those are your orders from the Briiderschaft!"
"And if, for my own well-being, I don't comply?"
"News of over twenty million francs deposited into your account in Switzerland could find its way to the Quai d'Orsay and the French press."
"Well, that certainly is a persuasive argument, isn't it?"
"I should hope so."
"When you say jaway from all of you," what do you mean?"
"Just what I say. I carry with me several syringes and various narcotics that will force Harry Latham to reveal to me what we must know. NaWrlich, no one else may be in the vicinity."
"You mean in a room by yourselves?"
"Absolutely not. Conversations in a room can be transmitted, as you claim my own hotel room is tapped."
"Then how can we accommodate you?"
"An automobile of my own choosing, not one of yours. I will drive Latham somewhere, administer my chemicals, learn what I must learn, and bring him back to you."
"No execution?"
"Only if I'm followed."
"Again, I understand. It seems I have no choice."
"Time, Moreau, time! It's extremely important. He must be found within the next thirty-six hours!"
"What? Now I don't understand you at all. Why thirty six hours?
Does the earth stop moving around the sun then? Please explain to me."
"Very well, it's what you perceived, what I haven't told you.. ..
Remember, I'm a doctor, some say the finest cranial surgeon in Germany, and I will not dispute that judgment. Harry Latham is insane, a combination of schizophrenia and manic-depressive syndrome. I saved his life in our valley, operating to relieve the pressures that caused his illness. In looking over my notes, I found a horrible realization. Unless given medication within six days after he escaped, he will die! He's reached four and a half of those six days. Now do you see? We must question him before he takes the name of the traitor to his grave."
"Yes, now I do understand, but, Doctor, are you all right?"
"What?"
"You've grown quite pale and your face is drenched with perspiration. Are there pains in your chest, perhaps? I can have an ambulance here in minutes."
"I don't want an ambulance, I want Harry Latham! And I have no chest pains, no angina, only an intolerance for slow-witted bureaucrats."
"Would you believe I understand that too? For you're a learned man, a brilliant man, and in addition to my devotion to your cause, I'm honored to know you.. .. Come, we'll leave now, and I shall press my energies to their zenith."
Out on the Charnpstlys6es, Moreau and his field officer saluted as Gerhardt Kroeger climbed into a taxi, then headed for their [email protected] vehicle.
"Hurry!" said the veteran of Istanbul and more posts than one could name.
"That bastard was lying to the point of swallowing his spit! But what was he lying about?"
"What are you going to do, Claude?"
"Sit and think and make several phone calls. One to the eminent scholar Heinrich Kreitz, the German ambassador. He and his government are going to dig out some records for me whether they like it or not."
rew Latham, attach case in hand, presented himself at the InterContinental's front desk. He placed Don the counter an American Embassy requisition order for a reservation and a military identification card. They were swiftly picked up and studied by a formally