Mr. Calder & Mr. Behrens Read Online Free

having Major Mendel murdered. Probably me too, since I know of it. On the other hand, if we lose and are surrounded and ordered to fight to the last – an order our Fuehrer is very fond of giving – then he can use this established line of communication to take himself over to the Russians as a welcome guest.”
    “But—” said Mr. Behrens.
    “You wonder how this assists us? That, too, is simple. Once Major Mendel knows that there is a chance of Hitler being killed, the SS being reduced to impotence and the regular army gaining control, he will be faced with the possibility, in this event, of my reporting him to General Busche, who would have him shot. Therefore, to save his hide he will do what I tell him. As an SS Signals Major he is exactly the person to carry a message satchel to the airfield and place it on the Fuehrer’s plane.”
    “You call it Gotterdammerung,” said Mr. Behrens crossly. “For my taste it’s not grand opera at all. It’s low and vicious farce. Does no-one in this army play straight by anybody else? Does no-one trust anyone?”
    Colonel Mulbach said, with a smile, “I trust you. Surely that is enough.”
    “I’m sorry,” said Mr. Behrens. “I didn’t mean to lose my temper. It’s only because I’m so damned scared.”
     
    The work itself was not hard to organise. Mr. Behrens was able to do most of it openly in his workshop. There were technical difficulties.
    “Remember,” Colonel Mulbach had said, “what you devise must be silent, and it must not be too heavy. The satchel will be carried to the plane by Major Mendel, but it will have to be handed over there to one of the crew, and he must not have his suspicions aroused.”
    Mr. Behrens abandoned any idea of using a clockwork fuse. Instead he arranged two wires of identical thickness running through glass tubes into which acid was injected when the fuse was set. When the wire was finally eaten through, it released a plunger, which detonated the main charge of polar ammonite. If one failed for any reason, the other would do the job.
    The whole apparatus had then to be carefully fitted into the bottom of a satchel, which was smuggled in to him by the colonel, and covered by a close-fitting sheet of coloured wood. The activating switch was underneath the handle of the bag.
    During all this time, Mr. Behrens, mindful of the eyes that missed nothing, continued his normal routine of visits to the front line. It was on his return from one of these that he noticed that something odd was happening. Colonel Mulbach’s driver, Lorenz, said, “It is true. The soldiers are going out and the SS are coming in.” Mulbach confirmed this late that evening.
    He said, “All three of the regular battalions which have been doing camp and headquarters duties are being sent up into the line. They are being replaced by Waffen SS . It is represented as a normal redeployment for the coming offensive.”
    The two men looked at each other.
    “It could be no more than that,” said Mr. Behrens.
    “Or it could be the normal precautions which are always taken when Hitler visits his loyal troops,” said the colonel, “but if so, it is in this case being carried to an unprecedented extreme. By an order posted this morning, command of the whole headquarters area, including both airfields, has been transferred to SS General Pohl.”
    “You mean that Busche has been superseded?”
    “Not superseded. He remains in command of the army group, but during the period of the Fuehrer’s visit, the troops in this area are not his troops and are not under his command.”
    “When is Hitler arriving?”
    “According to present information he lands at Airfield South on Sunday afternoon.”
    In fact, Hitler landed at Airfield North at midday on Monday. At six o’clock that evening a Berlin acquaintance reappeared. It was SS Obersturmfuehrer Mailler. He shook hands with Mr. Behrens and said, “I have orders to bring you to headquarters. A historic privilege awaits