Comfort to the Enemy (2010) by Elmore - Carl Webster 03 Leonard
Authors: Elmore - Carl Webster 03 Leonard
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other?"
"Carl Webster," Jurgen said, "the marshal--" "I know who he is."
"He wants to know who killed Willi Martz. I don't tell him, the FBI will interrogate me for days, wear me down.
Otto said, "You're in a canoe on a furiou s r iver "If I tell."
Now. Whether you tell or not. You're in the canoe and you don't have a paddle."
Jurgen said, "Well, I can always swim."
"It's your only chance. The Committee is finally tired of you. They want to believe you're a spy for the Americans, so they're going to test you." Otto motioned and they walked to a bench facing a flower garden, the blooms withering as the weather turned cold.
Jurgen said, "Remember the red impatiens filling the bed? Except for the center where the white ones formed a swastika? It took them days to notice it. I n t heir way they seem slow to catch on, but once they do they come after you.
"I agree," Otto said, but the Americans aren't our problem. I include myself because I've sieg heiled those cast-iron Nazis for the last time. The Committee says to me, 'You're SS. See that you wear your uniform every evening.' I can't tell them I feel like a toy soldier you wind up and it goosesteps. They tell me I have to give you the name of a comrade has stopped coming to their inspirational meetings, the ones that rave about the Fnhrer like a broken record. The only reason I go, they open with a recording of 'Der Blomberger Baden-Weiller Marsch,' heavy, but always a favorite of mine. They want you to execute this disgrace to his uniform. Use a clothesline to string him up. Or your ingenuity, see if you can convince him he should commit suicide.
"This is the test? If I refuse--"
"One of their apes will strangle you. So, you swim?"
"Yes, I suppose--"
"Remember saying I should go with you sometime, your girlfriend will fix me up? I said if I ever went out with you it would be the time they'd quit acting like fools and shoot you? Now we're dead if we stay here."
"When do you want to go?"
"Tonight," Otto said. "You understand, if we can escape it won't be for a few days this time, but for life. I see this coming and I've been getting ready. I can put my hands on civilian clothes, suits made from uniforms, and I've looked at a way we can possibly get out-if you know how to hot-wire a car. You know whenever w e h ave a film in the evening, the one who shows it leaves his truck behind the recreation hall."
Jurgen said, "I think I can start the truck.
"Tonight They're showing 'Louisiana Purchase' with Bob Hope and Vera Zorina.
"I saw us walking out in our new suits, Jurgen said, but driving out, yes, is the way to do it."
"You drive and do the talking," Otto said, "with your American accent. I'm in the rear of the panel truck with cans of film."
"It's perfect," Jurgen said. We can't go under the fence now, the guard I gave all the souvenirs to has been transferred out.
"Also," Otto said, "and this is most important. We write a letter, a statement, to your friend the marshal. We let him know it was the Committee who sent the apes to kill Willi Martz, and we list all their names. We say we have escaped, not to be free but to protect ourselves. For if we remain here, or we're transferred to another camp, it won't be long before we' re dead. We both swear to the statement and sign it."
Jurgen was nodding as Otto said, "But how do we see that your friend Carl gets it?"
"That's what I'm wondering," Jurgen said. "But let's get ready. We only have a few hours."
"Less than that," Otto said, and looked at his wristwatch. "We have to hurry."
Chapter 11
It's Up to You, Carl
They were behind the big recreation hall standing at the rear end of the panel truck, in the dark, waitin g f or "Louisiana Purchase" to finish, Jurgen in a black suit cut from an extra-large SS uniform, Otto Penzler wearing one tailored from basic Wermacht gray-green. The suits were from a wardrobe intended for a major escape the Committee was planning, all the way to Mexico.
The film cans in the
"Carl Webster," Jurgen said, "the marshal--" "I know who he is."
"He wants to know who killed Willi Martz. I don't tell him, the FBI will interrogate me for days, wear me down.
Otto said, "You're in a canoe on a furiou s r iver "If I tell."
Now. Whether you tell or not. You're in the canoe and you don't have a paddle."
Jurgen said, "Well, I can always swim."
"It's your only chance. The Committee is finally tired of you. They want to believe you're a spy for the Americans, so they're going to test you." Otto motioned and they walked to a bench facing a flower garden, the blooms withering as the weather turned cold.
Jurgen said, "Remember the red impatiens filling the bed? Except for the center where the white ones formed a swastika? It took them days to notice it. I n t heir way they seem slow to catch on, but once they do they come after you.
"I agree," Otto said, but the Americans aren't our problem. I include myself because I've sieg heiled those cast-iron Nazis for the last time. The Committee says to me, 'You're SS. See that you wear your uniform every evening.' I can't tell them I feel like a toy soldier you wind up and it goosesteps. They tell me I have to give you the name of a comrade has stopped coming to their inspirational meetings, the ones that rave about the Fnhrer like a broken record. The only reason I go, they open with a recording of 'Der Blomberger Baden-Weiller Marsch,' heavy, but always a favorite of mine. They want you to execute this disgrace to his uniform. Use a clothesline to string him up. Or your ingenuity, see if you can convince him he should commit suicide.
"This is the test? If I refuse--"
"One of their apes will strangle you. So, you swim?"
"Yes, I suppose--"
"Remember saying I should go with you sometime, your girlfriend will fix me up? I said if I ever went out with you it would be the time they'd quit acting like fools and shoot you? Now we're dead if we stay here."
"When do you want to go?"
"Tonight," Otto said. "You understand, if we can escape it won't be for a few days this time, but for life. I see this coming and I've been getting ready. I can put my hands on civilian clothes, suits made from uniforms, and I've looked at a way we can possibly get out-if you know how to hot-wire a car. You know whenever w e h ave a film in the evening, the one who shows it leaves his truck behind the recreation hall."
Jurgen said, "I think I can start the truck.
"Tonight They're showing 'Louisiana Purchase' with Bob Hope and Vera Zorina.
"I saw us walking out in our new suits, Jurgen said, but driving out, yes, is the way to do it."
"You drive and do the talking," Otto said, "with your American accent. I'm in the rear of the panel truck with cans of film."
"It's perfect," Jurgen said. We can't go under the fence now, the guard I gave all the souvenirs to has been transferred out.
"Also," Otto said, "and this is most important. We write a letter, a statement, to your friend the marshal. We let him know it was the Committee who sent the apes to kill Willi Martz, and we list all their names. We say we have escaped, not to be free but to protect ourselves. For if we remain here, or we're transferred to another camp, it won't be long before we' re dead. We both swear to the statement and sign it."
Jurgen was nodding as Otto said, "But how do we see that your friend Carl gets it?"
"That's what I'm wondering," Jurgen said. "But let's get ready. We only have a few hours."
"Less than that," Otto said, and looked at his wristwatch. "We have to hurry."
Chapter 11
It's Up to You, Carl
They were behind the big recreation hall standing at the rear end of the panel truck, in the dark, waitin g f or "Louisiana Purchase" to finish, Jurgen in a black suit cut from an extra-large SS uniform, Otto Penzler wearing one tailored from basic Wermacht gray-green. The suits were from a wardrobe intended for a major escape the Committee was planning, all the way to Mexico.
The film cans in the
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