The Night of the Generals (2 page)

"My men have merely found a witness. I have no idea what his evidence consists of. All I know is that he was only too ready to make a statement at first, but when he heard that the German authorities were being called in he flatly refused to say another word." Liesowski looked inquiringly at Major Grau. "Shall I have him brought in?"

"Please do," said Grau.

Engel stood the witness against the wall with his arms above his head and felt him all over like a butcher examining a cow before slaughter. "All clear," he announced. "Now we can pick his brains."

The Pole ventured a faint smile, encouraged by the unwavering cheerfulness of Engel's expression. Whatever Engel said sounded cheerful.

"Kindly put your questions, Herr Liesowski," said Major Grau. "Engel will assist you if necessary."

Liesowski nodded. He glanced at the Major's hands, which lay folded in his lap as though in prayer. Engel sucked audibly at his cigar.

"Was it you who informed the police?" began the Inspector.

"Yes," said the Pole, cautiously.

"Did you discover the body?"

"Yes." The man's eyes betrayed alarm.

"Monotonous, isn't he?" remarked Engel.

"We have time," said Major Grau amiably, "plenty of time. We're prepared to be patient, too, provided it's worth our while--and there's no reason why it shouldn't be."

Further questions elicited the following facts: while the witness, whose name was Henryk Wionczek, was sitting in the communal lavatory on the second floor, he heard screams coming from the floor above. He had the distinct impression that they originated in the region of Maria Kupiecki's room. It didn't surprise him--she was an odd type, after all. Well, while he was sitting in the communal lavatory... "It's right by the stairs," Engel explained. "If you squat on the pan you can see through the keyhole quite comfortably. The keyhole's big, too. Isn't that so, Liesowski?"

"Quite so."

Major Grau sat up slowly, the silky cloth of his uniform jacket growing taut as he inhaled deeply. With a touch of impatience, he said: "Well, now askhim what he saw through the keyhole."

Liesowski did so. Wionczek flinched almost imperceptibly, opened his mouth and promptly closed it again. Raising his head, he stared fixedly at the network of cracks that ran across the ceiling.

"Nothing," he gulped, "absolutely nothing. Nothing special, anyway, and the light on the landing was bad. I really didn't see anything. May I go now?"

Liesowski closed his eyes momentarily. Major Grau's gaze narrowed as though it had suddenly fallen on a painting of particular interest. Engel laughed delightedly, like a boy who has just seen a deck-chair collapse under a fat old lady.

"It looks as though I'll have to go to work on this lad," he said. "He obviously thinks we're a bunch of idiots--and I don't like that."

"I feel the need for a short breather." Major Grau got up, carefully smoothing a few imaginary creases from his immaculate tunic. "Meanwhile, Engel will continue the conversation with our witness. Make him an offer, Engel, and don't be stingy. Herr Liesowski, may I ask you to accompany me?"

Grau stepped out into the corridor followed by the Inspector. It was a long, narrow passage with a high ceiling and pale green, peeling walls. Several Polish detectives stood there in the semi-darkness like stone sentinels. There were no civilians in sight.

Grau glanced at Liesowski's worried face and gave a fleeting smile. "Don't worry, Inspector. You mustn't forget that there are certain differences between us and the S. D. or the Gestapo--differences which we set store by. Engel's methods are a picnic by comparison, I can assure you."

He went into the communal lavatory on the floor below, sat down on the seat and peered through the keyhole. The whole corridor was visible. He could even hear, with comparative ease, snatches of apparently amiable conversation drifting down from the room once inhabited by the murdered woman. Engel was administering one of his guaranteed cures for a defective memory. He was haggling like a horse-trader, offering foodstuffs in exchange for a full and immediate statement.

"Let's go back," Major Grau suggested, glancing at his watch. Little more than five minutes had elapsed, but past experience told him that this was long enough for Engel's efforts to yield preliminary results.

They found Engel standing in the centre of the room. In front of him, not far from Maria Kupiecki's body, stood the witness, wearing a more co-operative expression.

"I've had a few words with our lavatory-man." Engel clapped his hands. "Now then birdie, start singing! What did you see?"

Wionczek shuffled self-consciously. Detective-Inspector Liesowski leant against the wall as though seeking support. Major Grau sat stiffly erect in his chair.

"Well, I sat there listening to the screams. At first I thought, Maria's tight again. She was always drinking and making a racket, you know. But then it struck me that she sounded really frightened. Then everything went quiet."

"Go on," prompted Engel. "You looked through the keyhole."

"Yes, because I heard steps coming downstairs from the floor above."

"What exactly did you see?"

Wionczek hesitated. "I must have been mistaken."

"Why not?" said Engel cheerfully. "You're only human, after all. Anyone can make a mistake. The main thing is, tell us what you saw--mistakenly, of course."

"There's no need to be afraid," Liesowski said gently.

"I caught sight of a man," Wionczek blurted out. "He was wearing uniform--the sort of uniform the Germans wear, grey or greenish--the light in the corridor was too dim for me to see clearly."

"You don't say!" exclaimed Engel. "A German soldier? He'll be telling us it was a German officer next."

"Kindly don't interrupt him," said Major Grau. "And don't make any leading remarks. Let him speak for himself."

"It could well have been a German officer," said Wionczek. Words suddenly gushed from him like water from a spring, "At least, that's what I thought at the time. Of course, I could be wrong. I was in a bit of a state--not feeling too good--that's why I was sitting there in the first place. Anyway, I caught sight of something else, something red, like a red stripe running down the man's trouser-leg--a wide red band. And there was something that looked like gold up by his collar."

"Great balls of fire!" exclaimed Engel. "Can you beat it? He goes the whole hog and describes a German general. I've half a mind to withdraw my generous offer and..."

Major Grau cut him short. "You can forget that idea, Engel," he said curtly. "Let the witness repeat his statement."

"The man must be wrong." Liesowski looked shocked. "These alleged patches of red could have been bloodstains."

"It's possible," said Major Grau ruminatively, "but you can't deny that his description fits a German general to a tee."

Engel gazed round somewhat dismayed, vainly looking for someone to share his consternation. "But that's utterly absurd!"

"I agree," said Liesowski with some emphasis.

Major Grau sprang to his feet. His lean and expressive features betrayed an odd glimmer of satisfaction. "What's to prevent us from taking this witness's statement seriously?" he inquired. "Personally, I'm inclined to believe in the man's sincerity. He may be mistaken, but why should he be lying? His evidence is unusual, but that only makes it more interesting. We shall draw our own conclusions and act on them--exhaustively and without compunction, as our sense of duty demands. Am I right, Engel?"

"As always, sir. After all, nothing's impossible in our line of country."

"I still find it difficult to take this witness's statement at its face value," said Liesowski.

Grau led the Inspector aside and laid a hand on his shoulder. "I think we should proceed as follows. You, my dear Liesowski, will record every detail of this inquiry. Do so without fear or favour. Bear in mind that the truth is all that matters, however unpleasant it turns out to be. Also bear in mind that I am prepared for any eventuality. Act as though justice were the one factor involved. No exceptions are to be made, even if a general's head has to roll."

INTERIM REPORT

PRELIMINARY DOCUMENTARY RECORDS

Excerpts from conversations dealing with events in Warsaw, 1942. These conversations took place eighteen years later and were recorded on tape.

Track 1

Place: Cologne

Speaker: Engel, Gottfried, ex-sergeant, now employed by a firm of carriers in Cologne. What follows is an abstract of Engel's statement, omitting the interviewer's questions: "Did I know a man called Roman Liesowski? Yes, that's right. We used to call him 'tortoise' or 'gnome'. We took Liesowski over from our predecessors for the simple reason, I seem to remember, that he was one of the few senior members of the Warsaw police force who spoke fluent German. That's all I know about him.

"I can't remember much about Maria Kupiecki's body. I ask you, there were so many bodies lying around! It was just another lousy murder--in a crummy lodging-house somewhere off the main street, as I recall. It was three flights up and well after midnight. I was out on my feet.

"This Kupiecki woman was a tart of the first order. It's quite possible she worked for us--not as a tart, of course. She was more of a post-box for secret agents. Anyway, someone bumped her off. There wasn't the slightest indication of any political motive.

"I don't know how the case turned out. Major Grau took over all the particulars, so it wasn't my affair any longer."

Somuch, thus far, for Gottfried Engel. A further meeting was arranged with his consent, of which more later.

Track2,also recorded eighteen years after the events in question.

Place: Warsaw

Speaker: Roman Liesowski, still a detective-inspector in the Warsaw police. Now living at No .2a, Block 1c, one of the massive new apartment houses in the city centre. The following are extracts from Liesowski's statement, with intervening questions omitted as before: "It was just about midnight when I arrived at the scene of the crime and began my inquiries. The name Maria Kupiecki rang a bell, so I told them to run a check on her at Headquarters. It turned out that Kupiecki was on our list of German agents, as I'd half suspected. Accordingly, I informed the competent German authority.

"The body was appallingly mutilated. Three of the knife-thrusts--possibly inflicted with a large clasp-knife--would have been sufficient to cause death on their own. Two of them had pierced the woman's breasts at the nipple and the third had penetrated her navel. There were dozens of other wounds, all apparently inflicted with the same insensate fury and all with the same end in view: the disfigurement of every feminine sexual characteristic. Would you like me to give you any more details? No? I'm glad. It wasn't a pleasant business.

"Conclusion: murder committed during an outburst of obsessive passion. There was nothing to indicate that Kupiecki had been done to death by a member of the Resistance--and even if it had been so I shouldn't have hesitated to bring him to book for an instant. The man was obviously as dangerous as a wild animal.

"I didn't hesitate to call in Major Grau, either. There wasn't anything particularly daring about this course of action. It was more calculation on my part--instinct, you might call it. Grau was a lone wolf, you see. Everything about him was unusual.

"Grau reacted promptly, just as I had expected. He took the witness's statement seriously and seemed determined to act on it. What was more, he actually seemed pleased to have got his hands on the material I gave him and took over the case himself.

"Needless to say, I did a little ferreting around on my own account. There were seven German generals in Warsaw at the time of the crime. A lot, you think? Well, there were several thousand generals in the Wehrmacht--upwards of four thousand. Many of them were busy in Russia at the time. A large number of others were engaged as organizers and administrators in the Balkans and Scandinavia and on the so-called Home Front. Several hundred more were waiting behind the Atlantic Wall--and Warsaw had seven: one in the suburb of Praha, three, normally in transit, at the Hotel Metropol and another three in the Liechnowski Palace.

"The Praha general spent the evening and most of the night with his troops--women signals auxiliaries, to be precise. Of the three generals living at the Hotel Metropol one was asleep in his room, the second was night-clubbing at the Mazurka with his A. D. C. and the third was playing host at a stag party in the hotel bar. In short, these four had an alibi.

"It was impossible for me to check on the three gentlemen in the Liechnowski Palace. It was a sort of fortress, hermetically sealed and kept under strict surveillance from the wine-cellar to the chamber-maids' attic. Eighty or more people lived in the Palace--staff officers, aides-de-camp, clerks, signallers, women service personnel, batmen and visitors of various kinds--and the three generals, namely: iGeneral von Seydlitz-Gabler, General Officer Commanding a Corps; iiLieutenant-General Tanz, commanding the Nibelungen (Special Operations) Division; iiiMajor-General Klaus Kahlenberge, Chief of Staff to the Corps Commander.

"Is that selection good enough for you?"

2

General von Seydlitz-Gabler had the distressing sensation that he had been buried alive in an avalanche of cotton wool. His head buzzed as though it were a built-in concrete mixer and the skin of his scalp seemed taut to breaking point. It was agony even to open his eyes.

When he did open them, the first thing he saw was a bottle. It stood there fatly on his bedside table, and it was empty. It had once held a red burgundy by the name of Château Confran, a wine which had shrouded his memory of the night before as effectively as a blanket of fog. Perhaps it was just as well.

The General heaved his corpulent body on to its side and groaned deeply. The light streaming through the tall windows of the Liechnowski Palace hurt his eyes and his head throbbed steadily to the rhythm of his heart-beat. Suddenly he clamped his eyes shut in something akin to terror. Silhouetted against the centre window, where his desk stood, was the seated figure of a woman--his wife, to be exact. He breathed stertorously through his gaping mouth and feigned sleep.