Free A Small Death in lisbon by Robert Wilson Page B

we lost it. Now come on, tell me what that means.'
    'If it's true, then we are exposed.'
    'In the west and in the air.'
    'So if we open up on an Eastern...'
    'That's enough. I think you've understood something.'
    'What is England with the Channel in between,' said Felsen. 'They're no threat.'
    'I'm not being defeatist,' said Lehrer, 'no, no, no. But listen. We let them get away at Dunkirk. If we'd smashed them on the beaches then we'd be having this meal in London and we'd have nothing to worry about. But the English are determined. They have a friend across the Atlantic. The biggest economic force in the world. The Führer doesn't believe that, but it's true.'
    'Perhaps we'll all join forces and smash the Bolsheviks.'
    'That's a hopeful reading of the situation. Here's another,' said
Lehrer putting down his glass and screwing his cigar in between his teeth. He chopped down his left hand on the table and said: 'The United States and England.' He removed his cigar, chopped down his right hand and mouthed the word: 'Russia.' He pressed them together. 'And all that's left is a thin scraping of liverwurst in the middle.'
    'Totally and utterly fantastic,' said Felsen. 'You're forgetting...'
    Lehrer guffawed.
    'That's the thing about intelligence. It's not always what you want to hear.'
    'But do
you
believe that?'
    'Of course I don't. It's just a thought. Don't trouble yourself with it. We will win the war and you will be in a perfect position to become one of the most powerful businessmen in the Iberian Peninsula. Unless, of course, I've misjudged you and you're a complete fool.'
    'And if we lose, as you've suggested we possibly might?'
    'If you're in Berlin and you listen to the Berliners, you'll be jam in the bottom of a bomb crater. But out there on the edge of the continent you will be far away from the disaster...'
    'Then I have every reason to thank you for forcing this job on me, Herr Gruppenführer.'
    Lehrer raised his glass and said: 'Prosperity.'

    They'd drunk the best part of half a bottle of cognac and when the fresh evening air hit the older man he breathed it in deeply, backed himself into the rear of the Mercedes and collapsed with his head thrown forward on to his chest. Felsen tried to think his way through their conversation while listening to the air whistling in and out of the other man's nose. It was like piecing together a jig-saw with too much sky and it wasn't long before his cheek was picking up the indent of the piping round the leather upholstery.
    They woke up in the Bundesplatz in central Bern. Lehrer was groggy and on the verge of ill temper. They passed the parliament building and the Swiss National Bank before leaving the square and pulling up outside the Schweizerhof. A doorman and two bellboys rushed the car.
    Their rooms were on different floors and as they went up in the lift Lehrer told Felsen he had business to attend to that night and he could have the evening to himself.
    'You'll need it to read these,' he said giving him a folder from his briefcase.
    'What are they?'
    'Your orders. I go back to Berlin first thing in the morning. You may have some questions. Prepare them. Goodnight.'
    Felsen ran a bath and flicked through his orders which started at the Swiss National Bank at 8.00 a.m. He soaked in the bath but still felt dull from the lunch. He dried off, redressed and went out into the sub-zero temperature to walk off his head. In a few short minutes he was freezing. A bar next to the railway station looked warm and he saw it contained Lehrer's driver.
    He bought two beers and joined the driver.
    'I envy you,' said Felsen, chinking glasses. 'You'll be back in Berlin by tomorrow night.'
    'Not quite.'
    'You've got the whole day, once you get on the autobahn...'
    'We go down to Gstaad first for a few days. He likes the mountain air and ... other things.'
    'Oh yes?'
    'When they're away they always like to play ... even Himmler and you wouldn't think anyone would want to play with him. Power,'