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.When he goes, we all go.'The ironic tone would have identified the speaker for Lindsay.Hartmann.The German gestured towards an empty place facing him.The Englishman took a quick decision.Don't make an issue of anything at a critical moment.The trouble was it would place him a good half-car length from Christa.He sat down.'The seat is warm.You have already had company,' he remarked.'And for a flier, with no experience of intelligence, you are remarkably observant,' Hartmann commented genially while he concentrated on scooping out egg.He looked up, his grey eyes half-closed.'Consider yourself honoured - a short time ago my breakfast companion was Reichsleiter Bormann.'Again Lindsay warned himself this was a very clever German.In his first sentence he had probed.In his second he had expressed subtle irony in his opinion of the whole Nazi regime.Just where the hell did Major Gustav Hartmann stand?'You must have enjoyed that,' Lindsay said.'He is such a popular man.I suspect it is.his personal charm.Ah, here is your breakfast.Eat up - you haven't much time before we leave the train.'Lindsay ate ravenously, his expression blank while his mind raced.Inwardly he cursed the Abwehr man's invitation to join him.The German had finished his breakfast and sat relaxed in his armchair.He lit his pipe and puffed quietly, looking round the restaurant car as the passengers collected luggage from the racks and left by the exit behind the Englishman.Lindsay couldn't think of how to get rid of him.The second problem was he sat with his back to Christa, so he couldn't see what she was doing.Now the crucial moment was approaching he was racked with tension.He lifted his coffee cup, his hand steady as the proverbial rock.He glanced casually over his shoulder as Jodl reached for a well-filled briefcase and moved off down the central corridor.At the far end Christa still sat at her table, but papers were no longer scattered over its surface.Most of them were now stuffed inside her own briefcase while she worked on a single file.She looked up at the moment he turned round, cupped her chin in her hand and placed her index finger across her mouth.For a fraction of a second she met his gaze and then looked down at the file.She was ready to go.'The Fuhrer must have gone to his Mercedes,' Hartmann remarked.'That is why Bormann left so abruptly.He really believes that if he is not with the Fuhrer every waking moment, someone else might gain a little influence.You are going yourself now?''I think I'll have a word with Christa Lundt.When I arrived at the Wolf's Lair she was very considerate.''Of course.'Hartmann half-stood and bowed, then resumed his seat.Lindsay was enormously relieved.But that had been a pretty feeble excuse.The trouble about fencing with an expert was all your energy went into maintaining an outward composure.The coach was empty except for Christa who slid her file into the case, snapped the catch shut and smiled warmly.'Good morning, Wing Commander.I'm not sure I forgive you for not joining me for breakfast.'Her voice was loud enough to carry down the coach to Hartmann and she was openly flirting for the Abwehr man's benefit.It was, Lindsay thought ruefully, a better performance than his own.He helped her on with her fur coat.She wasted no time donning her Russian-style fur hat, smiled up at him again and led the way out of the car.'When we get on the platform follow me,' Christa warned, pausing in the empty corridor.'Don't hesitate.Confidence is everything.'He was astounded.Mentally he contrasted the girl he had found earlier in the night hanging out of the open doorway, the girl who had trembled and quivered with terror in his arms.They were about to embark on a course fraught with hazard - and she was as composed as a girl going out for the evening with her boyfriend.She was bolstering his morale.They passed several doors open on to a deserted platform which Christa ignored.The lack of people.Something began to stir at the back of Lindsay's mind, something unsettling and profoundly disturbing.She trotted on ahead of him.He noticed her stocking seams were perfectly straight.Absurd observation at a time like this! What was bothering him? An omission.The most difficult factor of all to locate.They walked on.Like a house emptied of furniture, there is nothing more dreary than a long-distance train after arrival at its final destination.The deserted compartments were littered with abandoned newspapers and magazines.Ashtrays were crammed with cigarette stubs.The only sound was the steady click-clack of Christa's footsteps.They reached the end of yet another coach.Christa glanced at the open door and stopped.She turned and looked up at Lindsay as he gazed at the silent platform.Her free left hand grasped his arm and squeezed it.Her voice was calm.'This is it.That open door leading out of the station - we go through there.We keep moving.No sign of nerves.Ready?''Ready,' said Lindsay.After being confined for so many hours aboard the train the platform seemed dreadfully exposed.Lindsay was conscious of the freshness of the air - a gentle current drifting down from snowbound peaks.The contrast with the smoke-polluted stuffiness of the train almost made him feel dizzy.He had a sensation of exhilaration.The open door yawned before them.Christa paused briefly, glancing-to her left.Lindsay looked in the same direction and saw an open gate, the rooftops of waiting cars beyond.The main exit.No sign of any guards.He sucked in his breath.Christa had taken two steps forward.'Let me escort you to your transport.'Out of nowhere a hand grasped Christa's elbow and turned her in the direction of the main exit.Lindsay froze.His suitcase was in his left hand, leaving the right free - free to reach for the knife secreted inside his sock.The hand guiding Christa belonged to Hartmann.Cat-like in movement, he had simply materialized.He smiled at the Englishman and stared hard at him, conveying a plea.Lindsay nodded and the trio walked along the platform to the main exit.No sign of any guards.That had been the odd omission the Englishman had registered in his subconscious.Had he been on his own he would have spotted the danger signal earlier.This, he reflected bitterly, was the price of having someone else to think about.Beyond the main exit a uniformed chauffeur opened the rear door of a grey Mercedes.Hartmann made a gesture for Lindsay to follow Christa inside, the door was closed and the Abwehr officer got into the front passenger seat
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