Jackdaws by Ken Follett

the umbrella stand. From the selection of weapons there he chose a steel
crowbar and handed it to Becker.
    "Now, remember, the object is
to inflict unbearable agony without endangering the subject's life or his
ability to tell us what we need to know. Avoid vital organs. Concentrate on the
bony parts: ankles, shins, kneecaps, fingers, elbows, shoulders, ribs."
    A crafty look came over Becker's
face. He walked around the pillar, then, taking careful aim, struck hard at
Bertrand's elbow with the steel bar. The boy gave a scream of real agony, a
sound Dieter recognized.
    Becker looked pleased. God forgive
me, Dieter thought, for teaching this brute how to inflict pain more
efficiently.
    On Dieter's orders, Becker struck at
Bertrand's bony shoulder, then his hand, then his ankle. Dieter made Becker
pause between blows, allowing just enough time for the pain to ease slightly
and for the subject to begin to dread the next stroke.
    Bertrand began to appeal for mercy.
"No more, please," he implored, hysterical with pain and fear. Becker
raised the crowbar, but Dieter stopped him. He wanted the begging to go on.
"Please don't hit me again," Bertrand cried. "Please,
please."
    Dieter said to Becker, "It is
often a good idea to break a leg early in the interview. The pain is quite
excruciating, especially when the broken bone is struck again." He selected
a sledgehammer from the umbrella stand. "Just below the knee," he
said, handing it to Becker. "As hard as you can."
    Becker took careful aim and swung
mightily. The crack as the shin broke was loud enough to hear. Bertrand
screamed and fainted. Becker picked up a bucket of water that stood in a corner
and threw the water in Bertrand's face. The young man came to and screamed
again.
    Eventually, the screams subsided to
heartrending groans. "What do you want?" Bertrand implored.
"Please, tell me what you want from me!" Dieter did not ask him any
questions. Instead, he handed the steel crowbar to Becker and pointed to the
broken leg where a jagged white edge of bone stuck through the flesh. Becker
struck the leg at that point. Bertrand screamed and passed out again.
    Dieter thought that might be enough.
    He went into the next room. Gaston
sat where Dieter had left him, but he was a different man. He was bent over in
his chair, face in his hands, crying with great sobs, moaning and praying to
God. Dieter knelt in front of him and prized his hands away from his wet face.
Gaston looked at him through tears. Dieter said softly, "Only you can make
it stop."
    "Please, stop it, please,"
Gaston moaned.
    "Will you answer my
questions?"
    There was a pause. Bertrand screamed
again. "Yes!" Gaston yelled. "Yes, yes, I'll tell you
everything, if you just stop!"
    Dieter raised his voice.
"Sergeant Becker!"
    "Yes, Major?"
    "No more for now."
    "Yes, Major." Becker
sounded disappointed.
    Dieter reverted to French.
"Now, Gaston, let's begin with the leader of the circuit. Name and code
name. Who is he?"
    Gaston hesitated. Dieter looked
toward the open door of the torture chamber. Gaston quickly said, "Michel
Clairet. Code name Monet."
    It was the breakthrough. The first
name was the hardest. The rest would follow effortlessly. Concealing his
satisfaction, Dieter gave Gaston a cigarette and held a match. "Where does
he live?"
    "In Reims." Gaston blew
out smoke and his shaking began to subside. He gave an address near the
cathedral.
    Dieter nodded to Lieutenant Hesse,
who took out a notebook and began to record Gaston's responses. Patiently,
Dieter took Gaston through each member of the attack team. In a few cases
Gaston knew only the code names, and there were two men he claimed never to
have seen before Sunday. Dieter believed him. There had been two getaway
drivers waiting a short distance away, Gaston said: a young woman called
Gilberte and a man codenamed Maréchal. There were others in the group, which
was known as the Bollinger circuit.
    Dieter asked about relationships
between Resistance members. Were