Chapter 39 Chapter Thirty-eight

The Boulevard Foch is like it was purpose-built for the richest people in the world.This wide street stretches from the Arc de Triomphe to the Bolognese Forest, with ornamental gardens on both sides of the road, interspersed with paths leading to the magnificent houses behind. No. 84 is an elegant mansion with a wide staircase connecting five floors of exquisite and unique rooms. The Gestapo turned this house into a torture rack. Sitting in a perfectly proportioned living room, Dieter looked up at the intricately decorated ceiling for a moment, then closed his eyes, preparing for the interrogation.He wanted to sharpen his mind and at the same time to numb his emotions.

Some people enjoy torturing prisoners.Sergeant Becker of Lance was one of them.They laughed when their victims screamed; they got erections when they maimed;These are not good interrogators, and they focus on pain, not information.The best torturers are people like Dieter, who hate the process in their hearts. Now, he imagined shutting his soul inside, locking his emotions in a cupboard.He saw the two women as machines that could spit out information, as long as he could find a way to open them as soon as possible.He felt that familiar coldness, like a blanket of snowflakes falling on him, and he knew he was ready.

"Bring the older one up," he said. Lieutenant Hesse went out to pick up the prisoner. He watched her carefully as she entered the room and sat on a chair.She has short hair, broad shoulders, and wears a man's dress.Her right hand drooped limply, she held her swollen forearm with her left: Dieter had broken her wrist.She was clearly in pain, pale and sweaty, but she was resolute and her lips were drawn into a tight line. He spoke to her in French. "Everything that happens in this room is under your control," he said. "The decisions you make, the words you say, can bring you unbearable pain or easy relief. It's all up to you." to you."

She said nothing.She was afraid, but not panicked.She was not easy to conquer, and now he had seen it. He said: "First, tell me where the London headquarters of the Special Operations Service are." "81 Regent Street," she said. He nodded and said, "Let me explain. From what I understand, the Special Operations Service teaches its agents not to keep silent when interrogated, but to give false answers that are difficult to verify. I know this, so next I will Ask you many questions, and I already know the answers to them. Then I will know if you are lying to me. Where is the headquarters in London?"

"In the inner courtyard of Carlton House." He walked over and slapped her hard.She cried out in pain, and her face immediately turned red and swollen.A slap in the face at the beginning always works.The pain, though minimal, can quickly weaken a prisoner's initial courage by humiliatingly showing the prisoner's powerlessness. But she looked at him defiantly and said, "Is this how German officers treat ladies?" There was an air of arrogance about her, and she spoke French with an upper-class accent.He guessed she might be some kind of aristocrat. "Ma'am?" he said contemptuously, "you just shot and killed two policemen in the line of duty, and Spechter's young wife is now a widow, and Rolf's parents have lost their only child. You are not in uniform Soldiers, you have no excuses. As for your question just now—no, we don't do that to ladies, but we do that to murderers."

Her eyes looked away.His words hit home.He was beginning to undermine her moral foundation. "Tell me something else," he said. "Do you know Flick Claret well?" Her eyes widened, and a look of surprise appeared on her face.This told him that his guess was right.These two were from Major Claret's group.He shook her nerves again. But she regained her composure quickly, saying: "I don't know anyone by that name." He walked over and pushed her left hand aside.Her right wrist lost its support and slumped, causing her to cry out in pain.He grabbed her right hand and pulled hard.she screamed.

"For God's sake, why did you go to the Ritz for dinner?" he asked, letting go of her hand. She stopped shouting.he asked again.Panting heavily, she replied, "I like the food there." She was tougher than he thought. "Take her away," he said, "and bring the other up." The young girl is very beautiful.She did not resist when she was arrested, so she still looks presentable, with her clothes and make-up intact.She seemed much more frightened than her colleagues.He took the question just now and asked her: "Why did you go to the Ritz for dinner?"

"I've always wanted to go there," she replied. He couldn't believe his ears. "Aren't you afraid it's dangerous to do so?" "I thought Diana was going to take care of me." So another name is Diana. "What's your name?" "Maud." Almost suspiciously easy. "What are you doing in France, Maud?" "We're going to blow up somewhere." "Where?" "I don't remember. Maybe it has something to do with the railroad?" Dieter began to wonder if he had found a shortcut. "How long have you known Felicity Claret?" he tried.

"You mean Flick? Only for a few days. She's very bossy." Another thought crossed her mind. "But she's right, we really shouldn't be going to the Leeds." She cried, "I Never intending to do anything wrong, I just wanted to have fun and look around, that's all I wanted." "What's the code name of your group?" "'The Raven,'" she said in English. He frowned.Call them "jackdaws" in the "helicopter" radio messages. "are you sure?" "Yes, because there's a poem, I remember 'Lance's Raven,' no, 'Lance's Jackdaw,' yes."

If she is not very stupid, then she is very good at imitating. "Where do you think Flick is now?" Maud thought for a moment, then said, "I really don't know." Dieter sighed in disappointment.One prisoner is too strong to say anything, while the other is too stupid to know anything useful.It looked like he was going to take a little longer than he had planned. Some way should be found to shorten the whole process.He was very curious about the relationship between these two people.The manly older woman was in charge, but how could she take the risk of taking this beautiful, empty-headed girl to the Ritz for dinner?Maybe I think too dirty of them, he said to himself, but...

"Take her away," he said in German, "and lock her up with the other. There must be a peephole in the room." After the two were locked up, Lieutenant Hesse took Dieter to a small room in the attic.He watched everything in the next room through the peephole.The two women sat side by side on the edge of the narrow bed.Maud cried and Diana comforted her.Dieter watched carefully.Diana rested her fractured right wrist on her leg and ran her left hand through her hair.Diana's voice was so soft that Dieter couldn't hear what she was saying. How close is their relationship?Are they just comrades-in-arms, confidants... or something else?Diana bent down and kissed Maud's forehead.This doesn't mean much.Then Diana, touching Maud's chin with her forefinger, turned the girl's face to her, and kissed her on the lips.It's a gesture of comfort, but isn't it too close to be a friend? Finally Diana stuck out the tip of her tongue to lick the tears off Maud's face.This made Dieter confirm his guess.It's not sexual foreplay -- no one would have sex in that setting -- but it's a gentle reassurance that only a lover can make, not a simple friend.Diana and Maud are a lesbian couple.That's it. "Bring the older one up again," he said, and returned to the interrogation room. After bringing Diana up the second time, he tied her to a chair.Then he said, "Ready to power up guy." He waited impatiently for someone to wheel the stun machine in with a cart and plug it into a wall outlet.Flick Claret was further away from him with each passing minute. With everything in place, he grabbed Diana's hair with his left hand.Have her stand still, and place two alligator clips on her lower lip. He turns on the power.Diana screamed.He left the machine on for ten seconds, then turned it off. When her sobbing subsided, he said, "It's less than half power." He was telling the truth.He rarely uses full power.Only when the torture has been going on for a long time and the prisoner is unconscious again and again, will the full power be used, allowing the current to penetrate into the prisoner's fading consciousness.Usually it is too late at that point, and the prisoner is already going crazy. But Diana didn't know that. "Don't do it anymore," she begged, "please don't do it again, please." "Will you answer my question?" She moaned, but she didn't answer. Dieter said, "Bring the other up." Diana gasped. Lieutenant Hesse brought Maude in and tied her to a chair. "What are you going to do?" Maud cried. Diana said, "Don't say anything—it's better that way." Maud was wearing a simple summer top.She was elegant, slender, with ample breasts.Dieter tore off her blouse, and the buttons flew out. "Please don't!" said Maud, "I'll tell you everything!" Under her blouse was a cotton petticoat with lace trim.He grabbed the collar and ripped it open.Maud screamed. He stood back and watched all this.Maud's breasts were white and firm.Part of his brain noticed how beautiful those breasts were.Diana must have liked them, he thought. He removed the two alligator clips from Diana's lips and carefully secured them to Maud's pink nipples.Then he went back to the machine and put his hand on the control switch. "Well," said Diana quietly, "I'll tell you everything." Dieter arranged for heavy troops to guard the railway tunnel in Mars.If the Jackdaws had gotten there, they would have found it almost impossible to enter the tunnel.He believed that Flick could not achieve her purpose.However, this is secondary.His greatest wish is to capture her and interrogate her. It is now two o'clock on Sunday morning.Tuesday night will be a full moon.The invasion could be just hours away.But in those few hours, if Dieter caught Flick and sent her to the torture chamber, he could break the back of the French Resistance.All he needed were names and addresses in her head.After obtaining this information, the Gestapo entrenched in various cities in France will go into action, which is thousands of well-trained combatants.They're not the brightest, but they know how to catch people.Within hours they could capture hundreds of resistance cadres.Instead of the massive uprising that the Allies undoubtedly hoped for to reinforce their invasion, stability and order would help Germany organize the attack and push the invaders into the sea. He sent a Gestapo detachment to raid the Chapel Hotel, but it was a formality, and he was sure that Flick and the other three had left within minutes of their comrade's arrest.Where is Flick now?Reims was of course the starting point for the attack on the Mars Railway Tunnel, which is why the Jackdaw was supposed to land near the city.Dieter thinks Flick will still pass Reims.It was on the road and rail line to Mars, and she might need some kind of help from the remnants of the Bollinger resistance.He'd bet she was on her way from Paris to Reims by now. He arranged for all Gestapo checkpoints between the two cities to be provided with details of the false identities used by Flick and his associates, but this was also a formality.They either have other identities, or they try to avoid the checkpoints. He called Lance, got Webb out of bed, and explained the situation.Only this time, Weber didn't push back.He agreed to send two Gestapo officers to watch Michelle's house in the city, two more to watch Gilberta's building, and two more to guard Stephanie's house on Du Bois Avenue. Finally, when he thought he was getting a headache, Dieter called Stephanie. "British terrorists are on their way to Reims," ​​he told her, "and I've sent two men to protect you." She was as calm as ever. "Thank you." "But you have to keep going to the meeting point, that's important." If he was lucky, Flick wouldn't suspect Dieter's level of infiltration of Bollinger, and he'd throw himself into the trap. "Remember, we've switched places, not the basement of the cathedral, but the cafe in front of the station, and if anyone shows up, take them straight back to the house, like you did with the 'helicopter', and the Gestapo will take over when you get there gone." "Can." "Is that okay? I've tried to minimize your risk, but it's still dangerous." "I can. From your voice it sounds like you're having another migraine." "This is just the beginning." "Do you have any medicine?" "Hans has it." "I'm sorry I wasn't around to give you your medicine." He felt the same way. "I want to go back to Lance tonight, but I don't think I might be able to drive." "Don't take any chances. I'm fine here. Drink the medicine and go to bed. Come back tomorrow." He knew she was right.Now it is difficult for him to even get back to his apartment less than a kilometer away.He was unable to drive back to Reims until the tension created by the interrogation had completely subsided. "Okay," he said, "I'm going to sleep for a few hours and leave here in the morning." "happy Birthday." "You remember! I forgot myself." "I have something for you." "A gift?" "More like...an action." He smiled, ignoring his headache. "Hey, good guy." "I'll give it to you tomorrow." "I can't wait." "I love you." But when the words "I love you too" came to his lips, he hesitated for a moment, not wanting to say it as was his habit, and then he heard a "click" and Stephanie hung up the phone.