Colin Forbes - The Leader And The Damned

'Because a porter or cleaner will find them quickly. Left at the baggage store they may not be found for days.' She looked at Lindsay. 'We are going next to Graz, capital of the Austrian province of Styria. From there we go south and cross the border at SpielfeldStrass into Yugoslavia. There are a few Allied agents with the guerrillas..

Lindsay had to repress an almost irresistible urge to leave when the Austrian official took the cases from him, but he forced himself to wait. The official seemed to take forever laboriously producing the receipt which he eventually exchanged for the fee.

The platform with its gloomy lighting projected by cone-shaped shades was deserted by the time he left the baggage store. Lindsay felt naked. Paco was smoking a cigarette as he joined her.

'Where are the others?' he asked.

'They will take a separate taxi. This way, if anyone checks we are two separate couples – two men and a man and a girl. Not what they will be looking for…'

'You're nervous about something,' he suggested.

They were walking out of the station into a huge open space and there was very little traffic about – mostly military vehicles. Paco strode away from the station and they walked a long distance before she summoned a taxi.

'The train was fifteen minutes early,' she said. 'It arrived at 10.45…'

The council of war, as Bormann termed it, was held at the Berghof at 12.15 am the next morning. It had been one hell of a rush – Jaeger, Schmidt and Mayr had flown from Munich to Salzburg airstrip. Hartmann also attended the conference…'

Cars had been waiting to drive them out of the city and up into the mountains along treacherous, icy roads. The meeting was held in the large living room with the giant picture window. The Fuhrer had personally presided over it. To Jaeger's relief – and surprise – Hitler had taken the news calmly, speaking quietly.

'So, you let the Englishman slip through your fingers. Always I have said the English are tough and dangerous. It is a great pity they will not yet see reason and ally themselves with us…'

'I am entirely and solely responsible for this debacle,' Jaeger had begun and his admission was pounced on by Bormann.

'In that case you will have to pay the penalty..

'Bormann! Please…!' the Fuhrer lifted a conciliatory hand. At that hour Hitler was the freshest man present, but it was his habit never to retire to bed before 3 am. 'Apportioning the blame will get us nowhere. We must move on – decide on how we're to track down Lindsay and have him brought back here.'

Debacle was the word. Due purely to the chance fifteen-minute early arrival of the express, SS chief Kahr in Vienna had found the station deserted. No trace of the fugitives. His men checked everywhere – including the baggage store.

'There is one interesting fact,' ventured Hartmann and Bormann again charged in like a bull.

'This no longer concerns the Abwehr…'

'Bormann, please!' repeated the Fuhrer, showing exemplary patience. 'I would like to hear what Major Hartmann has to say.'

'Apparently – according to Mayr – when this group left Munich they had two expensive cases,' Hartmann began. 'These cases have since been found in the baggage store at Vienna station. The description of the uniformed chauffeur who handed them in coincides with the chauffeur Mayr saw at Munich station. The cases contain an expensive wardrobe for a woman…'

'You do not think they will come back for the cases?' asked the Fuhrer.

'Exactly,' agreed Hartmann. 'They have dumped them. That tells us something – and I am convinced the group is directed by the girl who so confidently impersonated the Baroness Werther…'

'A girl! For God's sake…!'

Bormann was contemptuous. He was also irritated that Hartmann was holding the centre of the stage – that Hitler was listening so attentively. Again he was scolded.

'Bormann, do keep quiet! There have been some truly remarkable cases in the West of the English sending women agents to liaise with the French underground. These women have shown courage and the most audacious initiative. Proceed, please, Hartmann…'

'The puzzle is what they will do next, where they will go…'

'Vienna is a labyrinth, Hitler remarked. 'I should know – the days of my poverty-stricken youth were spent there. They could hide – if they know the city – and we would not find them in years.'

' If that is their intention,' Hartmann continued, 'which I suspect it is not.' He warmed to his subject, so absorbed he produced his pipe and used it to emphasize points. 'Let us assume this girl is their leader – she certainly has the nerve. At each stage I sense she has worked to a plan – this Is no wild rush into nowhere. On past form – always judge people on that – she will have a definite plan for reaching their next destination. All we have to do is to work out where that is – and get there first.'

He sat back and almost lit the pipe. He hastily put it inside his pocket.

'You make it sound so very straightforward,' Bormann said.

'A decision must be taken!' Hitler jumped up, displaying one of his sudden bursts of energy as he began pacing back and forth, his hands clasped behind his back. 'Gruber is already on his way to Vienna with a fellow officer flown from Berlin. You will go, too – Jaeger and Schmidt forming a second unit. Major Hartmann will also proceed to Vienna…'

'All these personnel to catch one Englishman?'

Bormann was aghast. Always sure of how to proceed, the Reichsleiter was completely nonplussed by this development. The Fuhrer didn't even hear his mild intervention as he spoke briskly, his voice growing in power.

'This way we have three independent forces on their tails – the Gestapo, the SS and the Abwehr. If one of them cannot track down this subversive group we might as well pull down the shutters and close the shop! Bormann, you will furnish them with all the funds, facilities and weapons they need. Stay up all night if necessary!'

He stopped pacing, folded his arms and stared hard at the group of men listening in silence. This was no moment to interrupt the Fuhrer.

'I expect you all to be in Vienna before dawn – then you have all day to scour the city. And remember, gentlemen, the Gestapo is already there – one jump ahead of you…'

His arms still folded, Hitler waited with a stern expression as the men hurried from the room. Once alone with Bormann, his mood changed dramatically. Throwing himself into a chair he spread his arms wide and shook with laughter.

'Bormann, did you see their expressions! It's like a race – who will catch the Englishman first? Nothing gingers up men like competition. And you know who I predict will track down our target?'

'Gruber.'

'Of course not!' The idea sent Hitler into another paroxysm of mirth. 'Hartmann; he gasped out when he had recovered. 'That wily Abwehr type knows a thing or two – he even gave the others a clue and they were too thick to grasp it…' His manner changed yet again. His face stiffened, he sat up erect, his voice harsh. 'What are you still doing here? They will be waiting for you downstairs, Bormann! You are holding up their urgent departure…'

Bormann, short and stocky, a ridiculous figure in his jackboots when he skipped hurriedly across the polished floor, paused at the door.

' Mein Fuhrer, you said Hartmann gave them a clue?'

'The cases they left behind! The cases full of expensive clothes for a woman. Now, hurry!'

He listened to the fading scurry of Bormann's boots tip-tapping down the curved staircase and then relaxed in his chair with a broad smile. He spoke quietly to test her hearing.

'Eva, you can come in now, you little minx. They've all gone. You've been eavesdropping again, haven't you?'