Free Come into my Parlour by Dennis Wheatley Page A

Switzerland. One of my few friends here is a Red Cross Welfare officer at the camp in which the Swiss intern such Allied airmen as are compelled to make forced landings in their territory. In the course of his work my friend was talking to a young British flying officer who had only recently been put on the active list again, after being wounded and spending some weeks at a convalescent home somewhere on the borders of Wales. They were speaking of the women of various countries and this young man declared that he thought German girls generally plain, but knew of two remarkable exceptions. Then he mentioned Marlene Dietrich and yourself, and it transpired that you had been doing some clerical job at this home to which he had been sent as a convalescent after leaving hospital
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    Unfortunately, this conversation took place some time before I left Germany, so my friend could only remember the bare fact, of which he is quite positive; but he has such casual talks with many officers and cannot now recall which of them it was that mentioned you. So I have no means of ascertaining the address of this home at which you were, and perhaps still are, and I am sending this to the Swiss Legation in London, in the hope that their Red Cross people may be able to trace you through the British Police Department that deals with enemy aliens
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    You will also, no doubt, wonder what I am doing in Switzerland. It is a long and sad story. You will remember that when I last saw you I was working in one of Krupps’ laboratories. That was just before youfled the country. Some weeks later I saw Hermann Goering, and he told me all about that. Apparently you not only crossed swords with the Nazis, but got yourself mixed up with some good-looking Englishman who was spying for the British, and the Gestapo were out for your blood. How lucky for you that Hermann is not only such an old friend of yours, but was in a mood when it amused him to do down Himmler by getting you out to Finland
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    Naturally I assumed that you would remain in Finland, or some other neutral country, for the duration of the war. I thought you too good a German to go over to the enemy; but perhaps the good-looking Englishman has something to do with that
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    To return to myself. Last spring I was transferred from Krupps to special, even more secret work, at an experimental station miles from anywhere. At first I did not fully realise what the outcome of the work going on there would be; but as I gradually got to know about the experiments which were being conducted I was able to form a picture of the final results at which my colleagues aimed—and I was utterly appalled
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    No one could be a keener devotee of science than myself, but science should be for the benefit of humanity, and not its destruction. I am, I believe, a good German, and would do anything in reason which might contribute to the victory of my country; but certain forms of attack are, I consider, carrying warfare too far; and the use of this new weapon which I was assisting to bring to perfection would have an effect so horrifying on an enemy’s civil population that no decent man of any nationality could countenance its use
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    I thought of asking to be transferred back to my old work, or even to be allowed to enlist in a fighting unit; but you know how ruthless the Nazis can be. By the time I had decided that on no account would I continue to assist in this dreadful task, I knew too much to be permitted to leave it. Even a request for a transfer would have been enough to cause them to regard me as no longer secure, and this secret is of such importance to them that, rather than jeopardise it even remotely, they would have shot me out of hand
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    In consequence, I felt that my only course was to fly the country. I made very careful preparations, collected as much ready money as I could and succeeded in getting through to Switzerland. I fear that many of my friends will consider me a traitor, but at least I shall