Now.
Kessler walked back to the dead man, leaned over, and grabbed the hand with the gun, holding it up toward the sky and pressing the dead finger against the trigger.
The small-caliber gunshot was amplified by the surrounding stone. Erich yanked at the frozen finger twice more, let it drop, and swiftly removed the gun from his own pocket.
«Noel! Noel!» he screamed, throwing himself against the wall, his heavy body sinking to the concrete. «Noel, where are you?»
«Erich?! For God’s sake … Erich?» Holcroft’s voice was not far off; in seconds it was closer.
Kessler aimed his unsilenced gun toward the clump of dead flesh in the shadows. It was the last shot he would have to fire … and he did so the instant he saw the silhouette of Noel Holcroft in the dim spill of the light.
«Erich!»
«Here. He tried to kill me! Noel, he tried to kill me!»
Holcroft felt the chain, jumped over it, and raced to Kessler. He knelt down in the darkness. «Who? Where?»
«Over there! Johann made me carry a gun… I had to shoot it. I had no choice!»
«Are you all right?»
«I think so. He came after me. He knew about you. ‘Where is he?’ he kept saying. ‘Where is H? Where’s Holcroft?’ He threw me to the ground…»
«Oh, Christ!» Noel leaped up and lunged toward the body in the shadows. He pulled his lighter from his pocket and snapped it on; the flame spread light over the corpse. Noel searched the pockets of the outer clothes, then rolled the body over to check the trousers. «Goddammit, there’s nothing!»
«Nothing? What do you mean, nothing? Noel, we have to get out of here. Think of tomorrow!»
«There’s no wallet, no license, nothing!»
«Tomorrow. We must think about tomorrow!»
«Tonight!» roared Holcroft. «I wanted them tonight!»
Kessler was silent for several seconds, then spoke softly, incredulity in his voice. «You planned this…»
Holcroft got up angrily, the anger lessened by Erich’s words. «I’m sorry,» he said. «I didn’t want you to get hurt. I thought I had everything under control.»
«Why did you do it?»
«Because they’ll kill her if they find her. Just as they killed Willie Ellis and … Richard Holcroft. So many others.»
«Who?»
«Geneva’s enemy. This. Nachrichtendienst. I wanted just one of them! Alive, goddammit!»
«Help me up,» said Kessler.
«Can you understand?» Holcroft found Erich’s hand and lifted him up.
«Yes, of course. But I don’t think you should have acted alone.»
«I was going to trap him, get the names of others from him if I had to blind him for them. Then turn him over to the police, ask them to help me find my mother, protect her.»
«We can’t do that now. He’s dead; there’d be too many questions we can’t answer. But Johann can help.»
«Von Tiebolt?»
«Yes. He told me he had an influential friend here in Geneva. A first deputy. He said when I found you to take you to the Excelsior. Register under the name of Fresca. I don’t know why that name.»
«It’s one we’re used to,» said Noel. «He’ll reach us there?»
«Yes. He’s making the final arrangements for tomorrow. At the bank.»
«The bank?»
«It’ll be over tomorrow; that’s what I tried to tell you. Come, we must hurry. We can’t stay here; someone may pass by. Johann told me to tell you that if your mother was in Geneva, we’ll find her. She’ll be protected.»
Holcroft helped Kessler toward the chain. The scholar looked back into the dark recesses of the walled enclosure and shuddered.
«Don’t think about it,» said Noel.
«It was horrible.»
«It was necessary.»
Yes, it was, thought Kessler.
Helden saw the old woman sitting on a bench at the base of the dock, looking out at the water, oblivious of the few mechanics and passengers who walked to and from the seaplanes.
As Helden drew near, she noticed the woman’s face in the moonlight, the angular features and the high cheekbones that set off the wide eyes. The woman was lost in thought, strong and distant, she was so alone, so out of place, so …
Helden limped in front of the bench and stared at the face below. My God! She was looking down at a face that but for years and gender could belong to Noel Holcroft. It was his mother!
What was she doing here? Of all the places in the world, why here?
The answer was obvious: Noel’s mother was flying into Geneva secretly!
The old woman looked up, then looked away, uninterested, and Helden hurried as best she could across the path that led to a small building that was both waiting room and radio base. She went inside and approached a man standing behind a makeshift counter beyond which were telephones and radio equipment. «The woman outside. Who is she?»
The man looked up briefly from a clipboard, studying her. «No names are mentioned here,» he said. «You should know that.»
«But it’s terribly important! If she’s who I think she is, she’s in great danger. I say this to you because I know you know Dr. Litvak.»
At the name, the man looked up again. It was apparent that at Atterrisage Médoc, they lived with risk and danger but avoided both where possible. And Dr. Litvak was obviously a trusted customer. «She’s waiting for a phone call.»
«From whom?»
The man studied her again. «From one of our pilots: ‘Le Chat rouge.’ Has she trouble with the police?»
«No.»
«The Corsicans? Mafia?»
Helden shook her head. «Worse.»
«You’re a friend of Dr. Litvak?»
«Yes. He booked the flight from Neuchâtel for me. Check if you like.»
«I don’t have to. We don’t want trouble here. Get her out.»
«How? A car’s supposed to drive me to a restaurant on the lake where I’m to wait for a taxi. It’ll be a half hour, I’m told.»
«Not now.» The man looked past her. «Henri, come here.» He took a set of car keys from under the counter. «Go talk to the old woman. Tell her she must leave. Henri will drive you.»
«She may not listen.»
«She has to. You’ll have your transportation.»
Helden went back outside as quickly as her wound permitted. Mrs. Holcroft was not on the bench, and for an instant Helden panicked. Then she saw her, out on the now-deserted dock, standing motionless in the moonlight. Helden started toward her.
The old woman turned at the sound of Helden’s footsteps. She held her place and offered no greeting.
«You’re Mrs. Holcroft,» said Helden. «Noel’s mother.»
At the mention of her son’s name, Althene Holcroft brought her hands together; she seemed to stop breathing. «Who are you?»
«A friend. Please believe that. More than you know.»
«Since I know nothing, it can be neither more nor less.»
«My name is Von Tiebolt.»
«Then get out of my sight!» The old woman’s words were lashes in the night air. «Men here have been paid. They’ll not let you interfere with me. They’ll kill you first. Go join your wolfpack!»
«I’m no part of Wolfsschanze, Mrs. Holcroft.»
«You’re a Von Tiebolt!»
«If I were part of Wolfsschanze, I wouldn’t come near you. Surely you understand that.»
«I understand the filth you represent…»