Opening Moves

“I think not Emilia. You will need a clear head.”

Da Silva looked around, grabbed her robe and threw it to her, and took a chair opposite her. The FBI agent took out a pad and sat on the bed. It was mainly for show, as the room had been extensively wired when Da Silva had ensured Emmy was absent for sufficient time the previous evening. It had taken them about five minutes to find where she hid her camera. Tape-recorders were already rolling.

“Now, you know why Agent Manzoni and I are here.” He held up his hand automatically.

“Please do not bother with denials or reasons.” He suddenly realised that no immediate denial had sprung forth from Emmy’s mouth and that the woman in front of him had already crumbled inside and would be ripe for his purposes.

He continued more softly. “We just want to know everything, from the very beginning, leaving out nothing.”

“Before you begin, understand that at this very moment other security officers are having similar conversations with Cousin Victoria and your Aunt Marta.”

That actually wasn’t true but the leverage wouldn’t hurt.

“You have no one you need to protect and nowhere to run. Your future depends on what you do and say here. Do you understand?”

No words came, just a simple frightened nod as every essence of confidence and assuredness drained from her and she became nothing but a frightened child confronted by the bogeyman.

“So, your story, from the beginning Emilia.”

And a very illuminating story it was too.

Chapter 18 – THE INTRODUCTION

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.

Douglas Adams

0700 hrs Monday, 16th July 1945, The Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg, French Alsace.

During the previous week, it had been hectic at the Château. The kitchens had been taking deliveries every day and completely new rooms and buildings were springing up all over the Château. Where once there was a dark and dank cupboard, now a compact space with everything the occupant needed to carry out the job. There was now a staff of twenty-seven on site, not including the security detachment.

The guest accommodation was swiftly transformed to take a possible twenty visitors. The entire symposium noticed that two of the ‘suites” were of a standard fit for a king and made assumptions that someone above Brigadier-General rank might be making an appearance.

The Alsatian House in the lower courtyard was made ready to receive more allied officers as the guest accommodation in the Château proper simply could not be laid out adequately.

Care was taken not to damage any of the venerable fittings and fixtures but everywhere new walls sprung up as rooms were compartmented for privacy.

^{Fig#5- Chateau – Biarritz modifications}

The menagerie enclosure in the Saillant Est section now contained new wooden huts into which the Commandos had moved without rancour, the huts being well appointed and benefiting from showers and wind proofing. The central Basse Cour area was mainly set aside for staff and guests.

The symposium members had been moved into the Secret Garden in the Château Supérieur, where they enjoyed similar quarters, and satisfied the new requirement that they be kept aside from the Allied officers, at least until after the first morning. The Deuxieme Bureau staff moved into the adjacent Grand Bastion where less grand but extremely comfortable conversions had been down by a team of carpenters, creating bedrooms where once shot was stored or cannon stood.

^{Fig#6 – First floor – Biarritz Modifications}

The cellar had become multi-purpose, by day divided into four distinct classroom areas, by night filled with comfortable furniture and livened by the sounds of men sampling the local brews.

Whilst the disjointed nature of the facilities was not ideal, once everyone grew confident in the layout, the Château was more than suitable for the task.

Ever a people of routine, it had become accepted practice for the symposium’s exercise to be taken around the walls of the Château Supérieur and occasionally the Basse Cour, often being joined by De Walle and Valois. Pleasant and extremely attractive as she was, it occurred to all that she was not a woman to be trifled with, which suited Anne-Marie just fine, because they were absolutely right.

^{Fig#7 – Second floor – Biarritz Modifications}

On the Thursday morning, Valois had attended breakfast and provided Menzel with the information that his wife and son were both alive, well, and living with her sister in Bonn.

In almost tearful relief, Menzel took her hand and thanked Valois, already mentally writing the letter he would send them that very morning.