‘I fear that they fell into the wrong hands. One or two of my most reliable suppliers have rung today demanding that in future they must be paid in advance, and that won’t prove easy after all the extra expense I’ve had to bear during the past couple of months. We both know it’s Captain Sackville who is behind all this.’
‘Take my advice, Julius,’ said Armstrong. ‘Don’t even mention his name when referring to this incident. You have no proof, absolutely no proof, and he’s the sort of man who wouldn’t hesitate to close you down if you gave him the slightest excuse.’
‘But he’s systematically bringing my company to its knees,’ said Hahn. ‘And I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve it, or how to stop him.’
‘Don’t get so upset, my friend. I’ve been working on your behalf for some time now, and I may just have come up with a solution.’
Hahn forced a smile, but didn’t look convinced.
‘How would you feel,’ continued Armstrong, ‘if I were to arrange for Captain Sackville to be posted back to America by the end of the month?’
‘That would solve all my problems,’ said Hahn, with a deep sigh. But the look of doubt remained. ‘If only he could be sent home...’
‘By the end of the month,’ Armstrong repeated. ‘Mind you, Julius, it’s going to take a lot of arm-twisting at the very highest levels, not to mention...’
‘Anything. I’ll do anything. Just tell me what you want.’
Armstrong removed the contract from his inside pocket and pushed it across the desk. ‘You sign this, Julius, and I’ll see that Sackville is sent back to the States.’
Hahn read the four-page document, first quickly and then more slowly, before placing it on the desk in front of him. He looked up and said quietly, ‘Let me understand the consequences of this agreement, should I sign it.’ He paused again and picked up the contract again. ‘You would receive the foreign distribution rights for all my publications.’
‘Yes,’ said Armstrong quietly.
‘I take it by that you mean for Britain.’ He hesitated. ‘And the Commonwealth.’
‘No, Julius. The rest of the world.’
Hahn checked the contract once again. When he came to the relevant clause, he nodded gravely.
‘And in return I would receive 50 percent of the profits.’
‘Yes,’ said Armstrong. ‘After all, you did tell me, Julius, that you would be looking for a British company to represent you once your present contract had come to an end.’
‘True, but at the time I didn’t realize you were in publishing.’
‘I have been all my life,’ said Armstrong. ‘And once I’ve been demobbed, I shall be returning to England to carry on running the family business.’
Hahn looked bemused. ‘And in exchange for these rights,’ he said, ‘I would become the sole proprietor of Der Telegraf.’ He paused again. ‘I had no idea that you owned the paper.’
‘Neither does Arno, so I must ask you to keep that piece of information in the strictest confidence. I had to pay well above the market price for his shares.’
Hahn nodded, then frowned. ‘But if I were to sign this document, you could become a millionaire.’
‘And if you don’t,’ said Armstrong, ‘you could be bankrupt by the end of the month.’
Both men stared at each other.
‘You have evidently given my problem considerable thought, Captain Armstrong,’ said Hahn eventually.
‘Only with your best interests in mind,’ said Armstrong.
Hahn didn’t comment, so Armstrong continued, ‘Allow me to prove my good will, Julius. I would not wish you to sign the document if Captain Sackville is still in this country on the first day of next month. If he has been replaced by then, I will expect you to put your signature to it on the same day. For the moment, Julius, a handshake will be good enough for me.’
Hahn remained silent for a few more seconds. ‘I can’t argue with that,’ he said eventually. ‘If that man has left the country by the end of the month, I will sign the contract in your favor.’
The two men stood up and shook hands solemnly.
‘I’d better be on my way,’ said Armstrong. ‘There are still quite a number of people I’ll have to get in line, and a lot of paperwork to be dealt with if I’m to make sure Sackville is sent back to America in three weeks’ time.’
Hahn just nodded.
Armstrong dismissed his driver, and strolled the nine blocks to Max’s quarters for their usual Friday-night poker session. The cold air cleared his head, and by the time he arrived he was ready to put the second part of his plan into action.
Max was impatiently shuffling the deck. ‘Pour yourself a beer, old buddy,’ he said as Armstrong took his place at the table, ‘because tonight, my friend, you’re going to lose.’
Two hours later, Armstrong was about $80 up, and Max hadn’t licked his lips all evening. He took a long draft of beer as Dick began shuffling the deck. ‘It doesn’t help to think,’ said Max, ‘that if Hahn is still in business at the end of the month I’ll owe you another thousand — which would just about wipe me out.’
‘It’s looking a pretty good bet for me at the moment, I must admit.’ Armstrong paused as he dealt Max his first card. ‘Mind you, there are circumstances in which I might agree to waive the wager.’
‘Just tell me what I have to do,’ said Max, dropping his cards face-up on the table. Armstrong pretended to be concentrating on his hand, and said nothing.
‘Anything, Dick. I’ll do anything.’ Max paused. ‘Short of killing the damn Kraut.’
‘How about bringing him back to life again?’
‘I’m not sure I understand.’
Armstrong placed his hand on the table and looked across at the American. ‘I want you to make sure that Hahn gets all the electricity he needs, all the paper he requires, and a helping hand whenever he contacts your office.’
‘But why this sudden change of heart?’ asked Max, sounding suspicious.
‘Simple really, Max. It’s just that I’ve been laying off the bet with several suckers in the British sector. I’ve been backing Hahn to still be in business in a month’s time. So if you were to reverse everything, I’d stand to make a lot more than a thousand dollars.’
‘You cunning old bastard,’ said Max, licking his lips for the first time that evening. ‘You’ve got yourself a deal, old buddy.’ He thrust his hand across the table.
Armstrong shook hands on the second agreement he’d made that day.
Three weeks later, Captain Max Sackville boarded a plane for North Carolina. He hadn’t had to pay Armstrong more than the few dollars he’d lost in their final poker game. On the first of the month he was replaced by a Major Bernie Goodman.
Armstrong drove over to the American sector that afternoon to see Julius Hahn, who handed him the signed contract.
‘I’m not quite sure how you managed it,’ said Hahn, ‘but I’m bound to admit, from your lips to God’s ears.’
They shook hands.
‘I look forward to a long and fruitful partnership,’ were Armstrong’s parting words. Hahn made no comment.
When Armstrong arrived back at the flat early that evening, he told Charlotte that his demob papers had finally come through, and that they would be leaving Berlin before the end of the month. He also let her know that he had been offered the rights to represent Julius Hahn’s overseas distribution, which would mean he’d be working flat out from the moment the plane landed in London. He began roaming around the room, blasting off idea after idea, but Charlotte didn’t complain because she was only too happy to be leaving Berlin. When he had finally stopped talking, she looked up at him and said, ‘Please sit down, Dick, because I also have something to tell you.’