The Suicide Exhibition: The Never War (Never War 1) by Justin Richards

against the wall close to the door, smoking a cigarette. His mind was in a whirl. It was the same sergeant he had seen in the RAF bunker at Uxbridge, and before that at the hospital in Ipswich.
    ‘Major Pentecross.’ The man took a last drag, then flicked away the butt end. ‘Good to see you again, sir.’

CHAPTER 7
    THE FUHRER WAS white with rage. Hoffman stood at the back of the room, doing his best to blend into the wall. Hitler’s fist crashed down on the desk again, scattering papers. Behind him, a half-smile edged on to Bormann’s face.
    Himmler was impassive and silent. He let Heydrich do the talking, and take the lion’s share of Hitler’s rage.
    ‘You are in charge of Reich security,’ Hitler shouted. His finger jabbed at Heydrich. ‘
You
. How can this have happened? How could you
let
this happen?’
    ‘We none of us anticipated this,’ Heydrich admitted. ‘Even…’ He hesitated as the Fuhrer stared up at him through pale blue eyes with pin-prick irises. ‘Even the Reichsfuhrer, who was with him just a few days ago.’
    Hitler turned towards Himmler, who spread his hands apologetically.
    ‘There was no indication, no sign of this imbalance of the mind when he was at Wewelsburg. Though I did think he seemed a little…’ He paused as if to select exactly the right word. ‘Preoccupied. I sent you a report, of course.’
    ‘You did?’
    ‘But events have moved so fast that perhaps you have not yet seen it.’
    Hoffman made a mental note to have the report sent as soon as they left the Fuhrer’s office. If necessary he wouldtype it himself in the anteroom. Interesting, he thought that no one mentioned that Hess had spent four hours alone with Hitler the day before he flew to Britain. There were no notes from the meeting, no witnesses – Himmler had already had Hoffman check.
    Hitler wiped his hands down his face. Doing so, he seemed to wipe away his fury. He sat down at the desk and stared back at the men standing the other side. ‘Why?’ he asked quietly.
    Hoffman suppressed a shudder. Hitler was at his most frightening when he was like this. The aftermath of his rage was more dangerous than the initial sound and fury.
    ‘The Deputy Fuhrer – former Deputy Fuhrer,’ Heydrich corrected himself, ‘feared a war on two fronts. That’s how it looks from the letter he left behind and from what others have said.’
    ‘Britain should have made peace with us,’ Hitler said. ‘They had their chances.’
    Himmler nodded. ‘If we had been dealing with a reasonable man like Halifax instead of that madman Churchill…’
    ‘The campaign against Russia cannot be deferred,’ Hitler snapped, interrupting Himmler. ‘Hess knew that.’
    ‘Exactly,’ Heydrich agreed. ‘Which is why he went to England.’
    ‘Scotland,’ Himmler corrected him quietly.
    ‘To sue for peace before the glorious war against the Communists begins.’
    ‘The Reich asks no one for peace,’ Hitler said. ‘Though Britain and her Empire should be our natural allies.’ He leaned back in his chair, arms folded, brooding. ‘Once Stalin is crushed, Britain will truly be isolated and then they will come begging for peace.’
    ‘We must consider what damage has been done,’ Himmler said. ‘I believe it can be contained. This is more of a propaganda problem than a military one. Herr Hess was not privy to the planning of Operation Barbarossa.’
    Hitler sniffed and waved a hand in the air. He seemed suddenly bored with the whole discussion. ‘Goebbels canhandle it.’ He leaned forward suddenly, eyes fixed on Himmler. ‘But Hess knows other things. He has seen Wewelsburg. He knows what you are doing there.’
    ‘A glimpse, no more. We showed him very little, and as I say he was distracted. Now we know where his mind really was – planning this flight to Britain. He saw little and understood less. Besides,’ a smile cracked across Himmler’s round face, ‘if he tells the British what he has seen they will think he’s