A Small Death in Lisbon

By 11.00 a.m. the business was completed. The junior member of the legation had taken the drivers to an army barracks on the outskirts of the city and Poser and Felsen were sitting in the back of a flagged Mercedes driving down Rua do Ouro towards the river. The pavements were packed with people, mostly men in dark suits, white shirts, dark ties and hats a size too small for their heads who swerved past barefooted boys selling newspapers. The few women were smart and dressed in tweed suits with hats and furs even though it wasn't cold. The faces flashed by as the car picked up speed in the empty street, one woman hatless and blonde stared at the car, the small swastika flapping on the bonnet, mesmerized. Then her head flicked away and she buried herself in the crowd. Felsen turned in his seat. A boy was running alongside the car waving the Diario de Noticias in his face.

'Lisbon is full,' said Poser. 'It's as if the whole world is here.'

'I saw them at the border.'

'The Jews?'

Felsen nodded, tired now after the anxiety of the journey.

'There's a more eclectic mix down here. Lisbon can cater for all tastes. It's one long party for some.'

'So there's no rationing.'

'Not yet and not for us anyway. It will come though. The British are mounting their Economic Blockade and the Portuguese are beginning to suffer. Fuel could start to be a problem, they don't have any of their own tankers and the Americans are being difficult. Of course you can eat well if you like seafood and drink their wine if your palate's not too French. There's still sugar at the moment and the coffee is good.'

They turned right out of the Praca do Comercio and followed the Tagus past the docks. At Santos there was a huge brawling mass of people, men, women and children fighting outside the offices of the shipping lines.

'This is the more distasteful end of Lisbon,' said Poser. 'You see that ship, the Nyassa, in the docks there. They all want to get on the Nyassa but it's full. It's been full for weeks. In fact it's been filled twice over but these morons think that because it's there they can get on it. Most of them don't have any money which means they don't even have American visas. Ah well, the Guarda National Republicana will be along in a moment and break them up. Last week it was the same with the Serpa Pinto, next week it will be the Guine. Always the same.'

'We seem to be leaving Lisbon,' said Felsen, as the driver accelerated away towards the green outskirts of the city.

'Not yet. This evening perhaps. We're going to the Palacio do Conde dos Olivais in Lapa where we've installed the German legation. You'll see we have the best location in Lisbon.'

They came into Lapa from Madragoa and drove up the Rua'Sao Domingos a Lapa. Halfway up the Union Jack hung limply off a long pink building with tall white windows and a central pediment which made up about fifty metres of the street's facade. The Mercedes thundered past on the cobbled street.

'Our friends, the British,' said Poser, waving his prosthetic hand.

The driver turned first left into Rua do Sacramento a Lapa and after a hundred metres a cuboid palace in its own grounds appeared on the left. Bougainvillea spilled over the iron railings, the leaves of the phoenix palms rattled in the light breeze and the three red, white and black swastika flags snapped gently. The gates were opened, the car swung away from a sea view and up a short gravel drive and stopped in front of the steps. A doorman opened the car.

'Early lunch?' asked Poser.

They sat in the dining room with the sun throwing short rectangles of light across the empty tables. They waited for soup. Felsen tried to remember a time when he'd felt such calm. It was before the war, before the Olympics, in his old apartment on… he couldn't remember where his old apartment was… the windows open in summer, lying on the bed with Susana Lopes, the Brazilian girl.

'You like it?' asked Poser, erect as if his spine was in a brace.

'Excuse me?'

'Our legation. Our palacio. '

'Magnificent.'

'The Baixa,' said Poser, wrinkling his nose, 'all the refugees, you know, it's very enervating. Lapa is so much more civilized. You can breathe.'

'And the war seems such a long way away,' said Felsen, stonily.

'Quite so. Berlin, I believe has not been so much fun,' said Poser trying to hit a more businesslike tone. 'We'll be having a small reception for you this evening and a dinner so that you can meet some of the people you'll be working with. It will be formal. Do you…?'

'Yes, I do.'

'Afterwards I thought perhaps you'd like to go out of town to Estoril. There's a room for you at the Hotel Parque. The casino's out there and there'll be some dancing. I think you'll find it very agreeable.'

'I'd like to have some sleep at some stage. I haven't had much on the road this last week.'

'Of course, I didn't mean to be presumptuous. I just wanted you to be sure of some comfort and entertaining company after the more serious occasion.'

'No, no, I'd be happy to. A few hours this afternoon will be fine.'

'I have a cot in a room next to my office. You can use that if you wish.'

The soup arrived and the two men worked their way through it.

'This Hotel Parque…?' started Felsen.

'Yes. We have the Hotel Parque and the British have the Hotel Palacio. We're next to each other. The Palacio is bigger but the Parque has the waters… if you like that sort of thing.'

'I was going to ask…'

'It's a very international crowd as I said. One long party. From the conversations you hear up there you'd think they were still having court balls in the Palace of Versailles. And the women out there, so I'm told, are a lot more progressive in their attitude than the natives.'

The soup plates were removed and replaced by a split grilled lobster.

'Did I answer your question?' asked Poser.

'Perfectly.'

'Your reputation precedes you, Hauptsturmfuhrer Felsen.'

'I didn't know I had one that could be of much interest.'

'You'll find the foreign women in Estoril very accommodating, although I should…'

'You're well-informed, Herr Poser. Are you with the Abwehr? '

'Although I should warn you that there are two currencies in this city The escudo and information.'

'Which is why you're here.'

'Everybody's a spy in Lisbon, Herr Hauptsturmfuhrer. From the lowest refugee to the highest members of the legations. And that includes maids, doormen, waiters, bar staff, shop owners, businessmen, company executives, all women, whores or not, and royalty, real or fake. Anybody with ears to overhear can make a living.'

'Then there must be a lot of rumour as well. You've said yourself that the city is full, probably with a lot of people with nothing better to do than talk. It passes the time after all.'

'That is true.'

'Who does the winnowing?'

'Ah yes, your agricultural background coming out.'

Felsen stripped the white flesh out of the shell of his lobster.

'So where do the real spies pass their time?' asked Felsen.

'The ones who give us advance information on Dr Salazar's thinking about wolfram exports, you mean?'

'Does he do any thinking about that?'

'He's beginning to. We think he's beginning to perceive an opportunity. We're working on it now.'

Felsen waited for Poser to continue but instead the Prussian began dismantling his lobster claws with some difficulty given the stiffness of his gloved right hand.

'How many people know what I'm doing here?'

'Those you will meet this evening. No more than ten people in all. Your work is very important and, as you've probably realized, somewhat complicated by a very delicate political situation which, at the moment, we are winning. It is our people here who will make your work on the ground easier.'