Simon Tolkien Inspector Trave Trilogy: Orders From Berlin, The Inheritance, The King of Diamonds. Simon Tolkien

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СКАЧАТЬ wrestling the gun away from him. If all goes well, the end result should be that Churchill will be dead and our agent will get the credit for having tried to save him. And then with any luck, he will replace Thorn as deputy head of MI6.’

      ‘And Halifax will replace Churchill as prime minister and will straight away make peace with Germany,’ said Hitler. ‘It sounds too good to be true. How is our man going to get a gun past Churchill’s guards?’

      ‘He says he wasn’t searched when he was called in to discuss the Operation Sea Lion intelligence that I sent to him. He was issued with a special pass, and apparently that got him through all the security barriers.’

      ‘And this Thorn man – why should they think he wants to kill Churchill?’

      ‘Our agent is working on a cover story. Thorn ran agents in Germany for years until D identified them for us and we dealt with them. He used to spend a lot of time here, although less so recently. Our aim is to have Thorn unmasked as the double agent working for us. With my help, D can make it sound plausible.’

      ‘Aim, you say! There is a great deal of difference between aiming a gun and hitting the target,’ Hitler said dubiously. ‘How do we know that Thorn will accompany our man to this get-together?’

      ‘He did before, and Churchill told them at the last meeting that if our agent receives significant new intelligence about the invasion, he will want to see them both again. Thorn hates our man, apparently, and contradicts everything he says, and Churchill likes to hear the two different points of view.’

      ‘Very democratic,’ said Hitler with a sneer. ‘All right, let’s say for the sake of argument that he can get the gun into Churchill’s office and take this other man along with him. That still doesn’t explain how he’s going to get Churchill on his own. What about the bodyguards? How is our agent going to deal with them?’

      ‘He won’t have to,’ said Heydrich. ‘Churchill told his bodyguard to leave and shut the door behind him when he saw D and Thorn last time. He wants to keep secret intelligence secret. It’s not that far-fetched if you think about it. Look at us now – there are no bodyguards in the room with us, and I haven’t been searched.’

      ‘But you are not an assassin, and it is not appropriate for you to talk as if you are one,’ Hitler said sharply.

      ‘I am very sorry. Please forgive me,’ said Heydrich, cursing himself for his stupidity. He had been resolute in his determination to choose his words carefully before the interview began.

      But he needn’t have worried – Hitler waved away the apology. He was too interested in what Heydrich had to say to let himself be distracted by a momentary irritation.

      ‘Where is all this going to take place?’ he asked. ‘In 10 Downing Street?’

      ‘Perhaps, although Churchill’s underground bunker is also a possibility. That’s where D saw him last time. It’s in the same area of London.’

      ‘So Churchill’s in a bunker,’ said Hitler, smiling that same wolfish grin that appeared whenever he was particularly pleased or amused. ‘Is he living in it?’

      ‘I believe so,’ said Heydrich, who knew perfectly well that a large air-raid bunker had been constructed for the Führer’s use less than five hundred yards away from where they were sitting.

      ‘Driven down into the sewers like a rat while the bombs fall on his precious Downing Street – bombs that he’s brought down on his own stupid head. And he must be dealt with like a rat, dispatched without a second’s thought,’ Hitler continued in a louder voice, rubbing his hands in anticipation. ‘I like your plan, Reinhard. I like it very much. You have done well. Radio your agent and tell him to go ahead. The sooner Churchill is out of the way, the better for all of us.’

      ‘We can’t use radio,’ said Heydrich. ‘D says that the British intercepted the message that I sent to him after I saw you at the Berghof, although the good news is that my message was short and simply asked for details of his plan without giving away anything about the plan’s purpose.’

      ‘Was there an investigation?’

      ‘Not one that went anywhere. One man started asking questions, apparently, but D got rid of him before he could do any damage.’

      ‘And you’re confident that’s the end of it?’

      ‘Yes. And besides, the loss of the radio link doesn’t really affect us now. We will need to provide D with an intelligence briefing, like before, that contains enough quality information to ensure that Churchill wants to discuss it with him in person. We couldn’t do that in a radio message even if it was secure.’

      ‘How, then? I have already told you time is of the essence. We must strike while the iron is hot and before someone else starts asking questions. Can we use an aeroplane drop for the papers like we did before?’

      ‘No, it would require a radio message to D to tell him to collect the package, and we can’t risk that. We have to use the Lisbon route. With luck it’ll take less than a week. It’s usually quicker with messages going to London than when they are coming back. I can bring more pressure to bear on the Portuguese in Lisbon than I can on their embassy in London, and you can be sure I will use all my influence.’

      ‘A week,’ repeated Hitler, looking disgusted, but then after a moment he shrugged. ‘Very well, it seems we have no choice. What about the information to tempt Churchill into a meeting? There are areas that are off-limits. I hope you understand that, Reinhard?’

      ‘Of course. The intelligence should relate to the invasion, I think. Like before. But this time it needs to be something new—’

      ‘The invasion is dead in the water,’ Hitler interrupted irritably. ‘Goering has seen to that. I have ordered an indefinite postponement.’

      ‘But the British don’t know that,’ said Heydrich. ‘D says that they are still expecting a landing any day. Churchill will be thinking about nothing else. And he now believes that D has a source with access to our highest-level military conferences, ones at which you are present. We can say that you are considering cancelling Operation Sea Lion and that there is a debate going on inside the high command about whether or not to proceed. I already have most of what I need to tell D mapped out. Churchill will want to know more, and he will be tempted to think that he can influence the argument through leaked radio messages and the like for which he will need Secret Service advice.’

      Hitler had listened carefully. He stared at Heydrich for a few moments after the Gestapo chief had finished speaking and then got up without a word and went and stood at the window with his back to his visitor, looking out at the Chancellery gardens.

      ‘It’s reckless,’ he said, turning around. ‘A gambler’s throw, but we need to trust in chance sometimes. If hazard is what it is,’ he added musingly. ‘Because sometimes I think that it is more than chance that governs my destiny. You know where I was thirty years ago?’

      Heydrich shook his head, even though he knew the answer. He realized that it was the Führer’s turn to talk now and his role was to listen.

      ‘I was homeless, sleeping on a park bench in Vienna, barely able to keep body and soul together, painting pretty pictures for tourists. And now look where I am,’ he said, indicating the grandeur of the room with a sweep of his hand. ‘Heir to Frederick the Great and Bismarck; leader of a new Reich; the most powerful man СКАЧАТЬ