Dutch Courage by Martin Parsons

Author:Martin Parsons
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
Published: 2022-09-16T00:00:00+00:00

TWELVE

A Friend from the Past

A few moments later, Eva and Angelina came in through the back door, to be greeted by Jakob and Otto, both sitting at the table with a glass of brandy each.

‘Jakob, how did it go?’ Angelina asked, wrapping her arms around him.

‘Well, as far as we know, it was a complete success,’ he replied, his arm around her waist.

‘Where’s Gary?’ asked Eva as she closed the door, looking from Jakob to Otto.

‘He’s gone to chuck the briefcase in the canal,’ Otto replied casually, sipping his brandy.

Eva and Angelina exchanged horrified looks. She quickly disappeared into the hallway, but came back very slowly, her expression hadn’t changed. ‘It’s gone,’ she told Angelina.

‘What’s the matter?’ asked Jakob noticing the looks on their faces.

‘That briefcase contained jewellery and money, once belonging to Jews who’ve now been deported to labour camps, but now belonging to Hitler,’ Eva explained.

Jakob and Otto were now the ones exchanging horrified looks.

‘The Gestapo officer, Schultz, gave it to me to look after,’ she added.

‘Oh my God.’ Jakob looked to Otto for help, hoping he’d come up with an idea as usual, but Otto was looking just as bewildered. The silence was almost unbearable but was unexpectedly broken by Gary coming in through the back door.

‘Hi,’ he smiled at Eva, ‘how are you?’ he walked over to her and put his arms around her, but she did not return the gesture. Gary noticed and pulled back to look at her.

‘What’s the matter?’ he asked her, then he looked round at the others’ expressions. ‘What’s happened?’ he looked back at Eva with a feeling something had gone terribly wrong.

‘Did you throw a briefcase in the canal?’ Eva asked him quickly.

‘Yes, I did, for your sake!’ Gary replied defensively.

Eva strolled over to a chair, pulled it out, sat down and put her face in her hands.

‘Look, will someone tell me what the hell is going on?’ Gary demanded.

Angelina walked up to Gary, put her hand on his arm, and spoke in a quiet, almost motherly voice.

‘Gary, that particular briefcase was given to Eva by the Gestapo officer, Herr Schultz. It’s meant for Hitler. Eva was supposed to be keeping it safe for him,’ she explained calmly.

Gary was stunned, speechless, as he tried to take all this in. ‘I’ll go and retrieve it at once,’ he said desperately.

‘Retrieve it?’ said Jakob incredulously. ‘It’s at the bottom of the canal, the money will be soaked through and useless.’

Gary looked completely helpless; he kept looking at Eva for support, but that wasn’t going to happen; she was the one who could suffer thanks to his hot-headedness, and he knew it, unintentional though it was.

‘All right, wait a minute,’ said Otto as he got to his feet, ‘I’ve got an idea, Gary, go and get the briefcase back.’

‘But the money will be ruined,’ Gary replied helplessly.

‘Never mind the money, I’ll sort that, you go and get that jewellery back,’ Otto ordered.

Gary left at once through the back door.

‘What have you got in mind, Otto?’ Eva asked in a weak voice.

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