“And this tape?”
“Was examined carefully, of course, by the Gestapo, and all the information followed up some time ago. It’s now filed away in the archives.”
Gleicher peered at his assistant intently.
“How do you know all this, Otto?”
“I planted an agent among those gentlemen,” Otto admitted. “It has proved quite useful at times.”
Colonel Count von Gleicher eyed him with disdain, unwilling to approve of this underhand spying on a rival service. He also resented the fact that his subordinate should have acted on his initiative without first consulting him. He did not remonstrate with him, however, considering, on second thought, that these practices, which perhaps were very useful, should remain unknown to the lords of the profession.
"My agent,” Otto added casually, ‘‘has undertaken to get hold of this document and hand it over to us. He’ll have to be paid, of course.”
"What good is it to us? And, besides, what has it got to do with the business we’re engaged on at the moment?”
Otto spoke slowly, with a certain emphasis, anxious to make the most of what he had to say.
"The identification section,” he observed, “believes that Cousin and Arvers may be one and the same person. They even think it’s more than likely.”
Gleicher could not help betraying his surprise by giving a faint whistle.
"But we are more or less certain, aren’t we, that Arvers was dropped with his wife only a short time ago?”
"We are also almost certain that the other man succeeded in getting back to England. They’ve unearthed an old photograph of Cousin. It’s the only one they’ve got and it isn’t very clear, but after comparing it with Arvers’, the experts are almost certain. Here they are, anyway.”
Gleicher bent over them. It was he himself who had managed to take a snapshot of Arvers, without his knowing it, from the garden of his villa. He had not wished to risk arousing suspicion by entrusting one of his agents with this task. He was also anxious to acquaint himself with the humblest duties of his new profession, and this detective-story procedure amused him. He
looked at the two prints for a long time. He had never seen Cousin, even though he had had some dealings with his network.
“There’s a vague resemblance, perhaps, but there are many points that don't agree at all.”
“Just the ones it would be easy to modify, Herr Doktor—the haircut, the spectacles, the mustache . . .”
“But you haven’t answered my first question yet. What is the use of the tape if all the information has already been exploited?”
“I wasn’t thinking of the contents of the tape, Herr Doktor.”
“Well, then,” said Gleicher, who felt considerably put out by his subordinate’s mysterious manner, “tell me how the confessions of his former radio operator can be of any help in my dealings with Arvers.”
“If that’s what really happened—I mean the official version: the man under torture finally talked, what could be more natural?—then this document won’t be of any help, of course. Only . . .”
“Only what?”
“There’s another possibility,” said Otto. “When my agent saw I was interested in the case, he obtained further details for me. It was believed that all witnesses to the interrogation had been killed. But one has been found—a rather simple-minded strong-arm man who had never given his opinion because no one had ever asked him for it. He actually helped to interrogate the radio operator. Now, on this point he is absolutely ada- mant—the man never talked.”
Gleicher suppressed an exclamation and merely emitted another whistle of surprise. Otto fell silent for a moment, to allow time for his chief’s mind to come to a certain conclusion, then went on:
“Of course, I can’t vouch for the truth of this. Allowances have to be made for this fellow’s personality—an absolute brute of a man. But why shouldn’t he have retained a perfectly clear recollection of that scene?”
“And yet he came back?” muttered Gleicher, who was following his own train of thought.
“Rather strange, on the face of it, but it can probably be explained.”
“How much is your agent asking for the tape?” Gleicher asked after a moment’s reflection.
Otto mentioned a fairly steep price. Gleicher brought his fist down on the table.
“Buy it, Otto! Go and buy it right away and don’t waste any time bargaining. Do you think you can get hold of it within the next half hour?”