THE LAST WEISS by Rolf Richardson

Author:Rolf Richardson [Richardson, Rolf]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Unknown
Published: 2015-06-10T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 35

Gauleiter Frunze may have slept well, but I didn’t. Siggy was dead to the world when I crept into the attic, so I slipped in carefully beside her. And put my head dutifully on the pillow. No result. My brain continued to whirl.

First question: what did Frunze actually know about the disappearance of Willi Weiss? Answer, nothing. All guesswork. Had to be. Only two people knew the true fate of the Block Leader: Hilde Sperrle and myself. No secret was safe from the Gestapo once they put their minds to it, but even my paranoia had to admit this was an unlikely scenario. Willi was long gone; the Gestapo had far more tempting targets.

What about little Benni? Was he a danger? How could he be, seeing he knew nothing. He might say something about Willi coming up to the farm, but we’d already admitted as much. Willi had come and gone. Confirmed by Fräulein Schwarz.

Second question: might super-sleuth Wallisch discover the truth? He was certainly unhappy about the fibs we’d fed him, but what could he actually do? Nothing. I’d taken great pains to make sure Willi was buried as far into the forest as possible. That was months ago. Autumn was upon us and leaves would soon blanket the forest floor: even a national effort, costing millions, would have a problem finding him. No. We were OK.

We might be safe from any Willi Weiss fallout, but Frunze had pointed out another danger. Siggy and Benni were kith and kin of an executed enemy of the state. Not important ones, it’s true, but with the Gestapo you never knew. One of the most unnerving things about the Third Reich, especially as it broke down, was the sheer uncertainty. The goons were trigger-happy, hanging-happy. People were being shot by mistake. Hanged because they happened to have the same name as the intended victim. Innocence was no guarantee of safety.

Turning all this over in my mind, I had to admit Frunze was right. It would be safer if Siggy and Benni disappeared. With the necessary documents there was no reason why we shouldn’t all get to Norway. But I dreaded the thought of turning up in Oslo with two Germans in tow. How the hell was I to explain them away? Collaborators were hated even more than the Germans.

There was yet another problem. My story for turning up out of the blue had been that I was going home after my top secret workplace had been bombed out. Never was a less likely tale told. It had been accepted simply because it suited them. Because they desperately needed another pair of hands.

In Norway this piece of fiction wouldn’t last two seconds. My parents, all my friends, would know I’d spent those years in the Air Force, not working in some mythical German super-lab. The truth would be bound to come out.

If Siggy were to come with me, I couldn’t have this big lie hanging over us. So I dug her in the ribs and said, “Siggy.

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