Von Manteuffel was making some notes at his desk when the knock came on the door. He glanced at his watch and smiled in satisfaction. Exactly five minutes had elapsed since his four men had departed, just over two minutes since he had heard the burst of machine-gun fire which could only have signalled the end of the six captives. He called out permission to enter, made a final note, said: ‘You are very punctual,’ and looked up. His expression of surprise vanished and his eyes opened almost impossibly widely. The stumbling figure before him was clad only in his underclothes.
The store was deep in shadow. The single lamp had been switched off and what little light there was came from a newly risen moon.
‘Fifteen minutes and nothing,’ Navarro said. ‘Is that good?’
‘It’s inevitable, I suppose,’ Hamilton said. ‘We’re in darkness. Von Manteuffel’s men are exposed, or would be if they showed themselves and they don’t dare show themselves. What can they do? Smoke us out if the wind is right? But no wind, so no smoke.’
Ramon said: ‘Starve us out?’
‘We should live that long.’
The time crawled by. Apart from Navarro, who stood by the doorway, everyone was lying down. They may or may not have been trying to sleep for some had their eyes shut but were unquestionably wide awake. Navarro said: ‘Two hours. That’s two hours gone now. Still nothing.’
‘Would you mind, watchman? I’m trying to sleep.’ Hamilton sat up. ‘Don’t think I will sleep. They may be up to something. I’ve no cigarettes. Anybody? No?’ Serrano proffered a packet. ‘I thought you were asleep. Thanks. You know, I wasn’t quite sure whether or not to believe what you told me, but I believe you now if for no other reason than the fact that it has to be as you say. So I guess I owe you an apology.’ He paused reflectively: ‘Apologising seems to have become a habit with me.’
Ramon said curiously: ‘May we know what the present apology is about?’
‘Of course. Serrano is government. On the need-to-know principle, I suppose, Colonel Diaz kind of forgot to tell me.’
‘Government?’
‘Ministry of Culture. Fine Arts.’
‘God help us all,’ Ramon said. ‘I would have thought there were enough genuine vultures in those godforsaken parts without adding culture vultures to the list. What on earth are you doing here, Serrano?’
‘That’s what I hope to find out.’
‘Forthcoming, aren’t we? Senor Hamilton?’
‘I told you, I only learnt of this a couple of hours ago.’
Ramon looked at him reproachfully. ‘Senor Hamilton, you’re at it again.’
‘At what?’
‘Being enigmatic and evasive.’
Hamilton shrugged and said nothing. Serrano said: ‘An honest doubt doesn’t require an apology.’
‘There’s a little more to it than that,’ Hamilton said. ‘I thought you were Hiller’s man. Back in Romono, that is, when I first met you. I’m afraid I’m the person who clobbered you. I’ll give you back the money I took from your wallet. There’s not much I can do about your stiff neck. Forgive me.’
‘Forgive, forgive,’ Maria said. ‘I don’t suppose anyone is going to forgive me.’
There was a brief silence, then Hamilton said, mildly enough: ‘I have apologised.’
‘Apologies and forgiveness are not the same thing and you’re clearly of the opinion that my I association – that’s the nicest way I can put it – was ‘unforgivable. It all depends upon who is doing the judging and casting the first stones. All four of my grandparents died in Auschwitz and the chances are high that it was Von Manteuffel or Spaatz who sent them there. Or both. I suppose the world is tired of hearing about it, but six million Jews did die in the concentration camps. Was I so wrong? I knew if I stayed with Smith long enough he’d lead me to Von Manteuffel and he was the one we really wanted. I knew of only one way of staying with him. So I—we—found Von Manteuffel. Was I so wrong?’
‘Tel Aviv?’ Hamilton made no attempt to conceal his distaste. ‘Another of those barbaric Eichmann show trials?’
‘Yes.’
‘Von Manteuffel will never leave the Lost City.’
‘This Dr Huston,’ Serrano said carefully. ‘He meant so much? And his daughter?’
‘Yes.’
‘You were here at the time they—ah—died?’
‘Murdered. No. I was in Vienna. But a friend of mine—Jim Clinton—was here. He buried them. He even gave them a tombstone and inscription – burnt on wood with a red-hot poker. Von Manteuffel killed him also – some time later.’
‘Vienna?’ Maria said. ‘Wiesenthal? The Institute?’
Serrano said: ‘What’s this, young lady?’
‘You should watch those slips of the tongue, Mr Serrano, such as calling me a young lady. The Institute is a Jewish central organisation for hunting down war criminals. Based in Austria, not Israel. Mr Hamilton, why can they never let the left hand know what the right is doing?’
‘Same old need-to-know principle, I suppose. All that I really know is that I’d a double reason for hunting Von Manteuffel down. I got close to him twice in the Argentine, twice in Chile, once in Bolivia, twice in the Kolonie 555. An elusive character, always on the run, always surrounded by his Nazi thugs. But I’ve caught up with him.’
‘Or the other way around,’ Serrano said.
Hamilton remained silent.
‘Your friends are buried here?’
‘Yes.’
‘I’m hungry and I’m thirsty,’ Navarro said plaintively. It was half an hour before dawn.
‘I am deeply moved by your sufferings,’ Hamilton said. ‘What’s a damned sight more important is that you’re alive. I didn’t want to depress anyone any more than we already were by saying what was in my mind, but I didn’t really think we’d see the night out.’
Ramon said: ‘And how could that have been?’
‘Quite simple, really. Lots of ways. With a small cannon, a rocket launcher, any kind of anti-aircraft gun or a mortar. They could have directed two or .three very nasty pounds of high explosive straight through this open doorway. Maybe the shrapnel would not have got us all, but the concussion in this confined space would have finished us off. Or they could have crawled over the grain store roof from the back and lobbed in a few grenades or a stick or so of blasting powder. The effect would have been the same. Maybe they didn’t have any of those materials to hand, which I don’t for a moment believe – Von Manteuffel lugs around with him enough weaponry and artillery for an armoured battalion. Maybe the idea just didn’t occur to them, which I don’t believe either. I think that Von Manteuffel believes, as he has reason to, that we are dangerous in the dark and is waiting for daylight before moving in for the kill.’
Serrano said unhappily: ‘It will be daylight quite soon.’
‘It will, won’t it?’ In the first faint glimmering of light Maria, Serrano and Silver stared at Hamilton without comprehension as he extracted the camera from his haversack, opened it, released the flap to display the transceiver, extended an aerial and spoke into the microphone.
‘Night-watch,’ Hamilton said. ‘Night-watch.’
The speaker crackled and the reply was immediate.
‘We have you, Night-watch.’
‘Now.’
‘Now it is. How many vultures?’
‘Thirty. Forty. A guess.’ Repeat after me: Stay under cover. Napalm.’
‘Stay under cover. Napalm.’ Hamilton switched off. ‘Useful, no? Very thoughtful is Colonel Diaz.’
‘Napalm!’ Ramon said.
‘You heard the man.’
‘But napalm!’
‘Very tough, those airborne commandos. But, no, they don’t use it directly. They’ve no intention of dropping the stuff on us. They ring the area. Not a new technique but very intimidating.’
Hamilton made another switch on the camera and a faint bleeping sound could be heard.
‘Homing signal,’ Ramon explained to no-one in particular. ‘How else do you think they’d ever locate this place?’
‘You’ve got everything organised, haven’t you?’ Maria sounded slightly bitter. ‘Never thought to tell us, did you?’
‘Why should I?’ Hamilton said indifferently. ‘Nobody ever tells me anything.’
‘How long will they take to get here?’
‘Twenty minutes. No more.’
‘And dawn is in about the same time?’
‘About.’
‘It’s starting to get light already. They could still attack before your friends get here.’
‘Most unlikely. In the first place, it’ll take Von Manteuffel and his minions some time to get organised and if we can’t hold them off for a few minutes after that then we’ve no right to be here in the first place. Secondly, as soon as they hear the sound of the helicopter engines they’re going to forget all about us.’
It was becoming quite light now but still the courtyard remained deserted. If Von Manteuffel ,and his men were preparing to launch an attack they were being extremely discreet about it.
By and by Ramon said: ‘Engines. I can hear them now. They’re coming in from the south.’
‘I don’t hear them myself, but if you say they’re coming in, then they’re coming in. Do you see what I see, Ramon?’