A Small Death in lisbon by Robert Wilson Page B
Authors: Robert Wilson
Tags: Fiction, General, Suspense, Mystery & Detective, Suspense fiction, Police Procedural, Lisbon (Portugal)
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happen. More things happen than could possibly happen in peacetime. In that respect it's the most exciting time of a man's life. One moment you're running a factory, making more money than you could ever dream of as a farmer in Swabia. You dance with girls in the Golden
Horseshoe, watch the shows in the Frasquita, walk the Kufu with all the other monied bastards. And the next moment...'
'I'm in Prinz Albrechtstrasse.'
'A new and radical regime must protect itself. Strength through fear.'
'And the next moment ... go on.'
'Think international. Germany is not just Germany any more. Germany is the whole of Europe. A world power. Political and economic. Don't be small-minded.'
'It's my peasant mentality. It's how I get things done for the money.'
'That's good, but see the big picture too. The Reichsführer Himmler wants the SS to be an economic power in its own right within the new Germanic Reich. Think about that.'
The car finally turned into Nürnbergerstrasse and pulled up outside Felsen's apartment. He got out and went up the two flights of stairs and found his front door repaired. He let himself in and lit one of his own cigarettes. He looked from behind the blackout and found the car gone. He put on a coat and hat and went out into the night.
It was a short walk to Kurfurstenstrasse. He walked in the street where it was easier. There was nobody out. The temperature had dropped sharply.
Felsen went down the small lane at the side of Eva's apartment building and in dirough the gate. The mounds of earth and rubble taken out of the cellar were covered in thick snow. The door was locked. He hammered on it and stepped back and up on to one of the mounds to see if there were any cracks of light around the windows. He roared her name. After a few moments someone opened a window and told him to shut his drunken talk.
He went back home, soaked in a bath and got into bed. It was 2.30 a.m. He'd call her in the morning, he thought, as he drifted into his first hour's sleep. He came awake four times, each time with a rush and a crack in his head as if he'd been hit with a brick. There was the smell of shit in his nostrils, and the last frames of his dream stayed with him; the white of the widening parade ground lengthening out for ever. He had to put the light on after that.
Chapter V
26th February 1941, SS Barracks, Unter den Eichen, Berlin-Lichterfelde
Felsen sat in the polished corridor outside Lehrer's office, watching two soldiers in vests and fatigues cleaning the corners with brushes too small for the job. Twice in the last fifteen minutes a sergeant had dropped by to kick their arses and salute Felsen, who was sitting uncomfortably in the uniform of an SS-Hauptsturmführer.
An adjutant came out of Lehrer's office and waved him in. Felsen saluted the Gruppenführer. Lehrer nodded him into in a high-backed chair on the other side of a desk with black leather inlay. Felsen took out his cigarettes, screwed one in his mouth and Lehrer reminded him that permission was required to smoke in front of a superior officer.
'You'll get used to it,' said Lehrer. 'You'll even grow to like it.'
'I'm not sure how.'
The greatest burden...' he said, fixing him with the glare of his full authority, 'the
true
burden, which is responsibility, is the cast-iron yoke across
my
shoulders.
Your
actions are an added weight. You, on the other hand, have the lightness of being of a man unencumbered in the field.'
'Following orders.'
'You'll find yourself with more of a free hand than most.'
'Now that I'm a fully paid up member of the SS...'
'It's only a mark a month off your salary and it all goes into the
Spargemeinschaft-SS
so you can draw interest-free loans and...'
'A mark a month isn't my problem. What am I being paid to do? Am I allowed to know yet?'
'I wasn't trying to bore you Hauptsturmführer Felsen, I was merely trying to give you a practical instance of what I've been talking about ... what I mentioned in the car last
Horseshoe, watch the shows in the Frasquita, walk the Kufu with all the other monied bastards. And the next moment...'
'I'm in Prinz Albrechtstrasse.'
'A new and radical regime must protect itself. Strength through fear.'
'And the next moment ... go on.'
'Think international. Germany is not just Germany any more. Germany is the whole of Europe. A world power. Political and economic. Don't be small-minded.'
'It's my peasant mentality. It's how I get things done for the money.'
'That's good, but see the big picture too. The Reichsführer Himmler wants the SS to be an economic power in its own right within the new Germanic Reich. Think about that.'
The car finally turned into Nürnbergerstrasse and pulled up outside Felsen's apartment. He got out and went up the two flights of stairs and found his front door repaired. He let himself in and lit one of his own cigarettes. He looked from behind the blackout and found the car gone. He put on a coat and hat and went out into the night.
It was a short walk to Kurfurstenstrasse. He walked in the street where it was easier. There was nobody out. The temperature had dropped sharply.
Felsen went down the small lane at the side of Eva's apartment building and in dirough the gate. The mounds of earth and rubble taken out of the cellar were covered in thick snow. The door was locked. He hammered on it and stepped back and up on to one of the mounds to see if there were any cracks of light around the windows. He roared her name. After a few moments someone opened a window and told him to shut his drunken talk.
He went back home, soaked in a bath and got into bed. It was 2.30 a.m. He'd call her in the morning, he thought, as he drifted into his first hour's sleep. He came awake four times, each time with a rush and a crack in his head as if he'd been hit with a brick. There was the smell of shit in his nostrils, and the last frames of his dream stayed with him; the white of the widening parade ground lengthening out for ever. He had to put the light on after that.
Chapter V
26th February 1941, SS Barracks, Unter den Eichen, Berlin-Lichterfelde
Felsen sat in the polished corridor outside Lehrer's office, watching two soldiers in vests and fatigues cleaning the corners with brushes too small for the job. Twice in the last fifteen minutes a sergeant had dropped by to kick their arses and salute Felsen, who was sitting uncomfortably in the uniform of an SS-Hauptsturmführer.
An adjutant came out of Lehrer's office and waved him in. Felsen saluted the Gruppenführer. Lehrer nodded him into in a high-backed chair on the other side of a desk with black leather inlay. Felsen took out his cigarettes, screwed one in his mouth and Lehrer reminded him that permission was required to smoke in front of a superior officer.
'You'll get used to it,' said Lehrer. 'You'll even grow to like it.'
'I'm not sure how.'
The greatest burden...' he said, fixing him with the glare of his full authority, 'the
true
burden, which is responsibility, is the cast-iron yoke across
my
shoulders.
Your
actions are an added weight. You, on the other hand, have the lightness of being of a man unencumbered in the field.'
'Following orders.'
'You'll find yourself with more of a free hand than most.'
'Now that I'm a fully paid up member of the SS...'
'It's only a mark a month off your salary and it all goes into the
Spargemeinschaft-SS
so you can draw interest-free loans and...'
'A mark a month isn't my problem. What am I being paid to do? Am I allowed to know yet?'
'I wasn't trying to bore you Hauptsturmführer Felsen, I was merely trying to give you a practical instance of what I've been talking about ... what I mentioned in the car last
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