‘Thank you, Mr Gruber, I appreciate that, but we haven’t quite finished. Swan took a pause. ‘So, after the war, what happened with you?’
‘My wife was killed in a bombing raid in Greifswald. Our guns shot down one of your Lancaster aircraft, but it crashed on to the town with its bombs and destroyed her family’s bakery shop, where she was working. With nothing left to stay for, I decided to escape with the rest of Mr von Braun’s team. We were being hunted by our own SS. We were too valuable to fall into the hands of the allies, you understand. Our knowledge of advanced engineering and science, needed to be kept secret from them. Mr Von Braun came to us and told us that our very lives were in danger, for the services that we had given to the Reich. He said, that he had a plan to give himself to the Americans, and asked for people to join him; because of Operation Sternstruppe, we had no choice.’
Swan put up a hand, stopping him. ‘Wait! This Operation Sternstruppe, what was it all about?’
Gruber continued. ‘This was the German High Command directive to prevent our technology from falling into the hands of the allies, especially the Russians. Under Sternstruppe, we now feared for our own lives. No one was safe anymore, and Mr von Braun knew it. The SS were coming for us. The promise of rescue, that we had from Mr Kemmler, was false. We were all on an SS death list. I think he was too.’
Swan stopped to think for a moment. ‘Kemmler, yes, I’ve heard of him.’
Gruber continued. ‘Kemmler oversaw all Reich technological projects. He built Peenemunde, Mr Swan.’
‘Yes, he did,’ Swan agreed. But, he is also believed to have been responsible for designing the concentration camps, and the secret underground slave factory for the V1 and V2 at Nordhausen, infamously known as Mittelwerk.’
Swan then gave the German a hard stare. ‘Did you ever work there, Mr Gruber, at Mittelwerk?’
Gruber looked at Swan with sincerity. ‘No, I did not work there, Mr Swan. Not ever!’
Swan eased. ‘So, then you joined the allies?’
‘Yes, but some of us went to the Russians after they had promised us better treatment. The British wanted to use our expert knowledge of HTP, and so Karl, myself and a few others, came to work here in Britain, at the chemical works at Ansty. Then, when you British wanted a rocket of your own to go into space, I went first to the north of England, I forget the name of the place, and to be honest, it sounded German, where we worked on the Blue Streak missile, then after this was cancelled by your government, I came here with Karl and worked first on Black Knight, and now the Black Arrow.’
Swan concluded his questioning. ‘That was very interesting Mr Gruber. Thank you for sharing it with us. Some of what you have just told me, will most certainly be of help in my investigation.’
Gruber stood up, gazing at the two men. ‘That is good then, gentlemen. I hope that I can help you catch this killer.’ He turned to Swan. ‘I have lost three dear friends to this madman. May I go now, Mr Swan? I have some papers that I must work on, to be ready for the next test.’
Swan nodded. ‘Yes, Mr Gruber. Thank you so much for your time, this afternoon.’
Gruber stood to attention, shook the hands of the two officers, and then walked briskly out of the office. Outside as he closed the door, he sighed silently with relief.
‘Wow,’ said Morris, excitedly. He was very thorough, wasn’t he, Alex?’
Swan agreed and walked around the room to stretch his legs. ‘He was, Ian. Especially what he said at the end.’
Morris looked up at Swan. ‘What was that then?’
‘About having lost three good friends, to this madman.’
Swan turned and looked at Morris, then smiled. ‘Me, you and Dugdale, are the only ones that know that Kevin Powell has also been murdered. So how does he know? Oh, and did you not note down from one of the earlier witnesses, that it was them, who had secured the blast doors to the observation bunker?’
Morris looked through his notes and nodded. ‘Yes, it was Colin Denning.’
Swan smiled. ‘Precisely! So, it looks like our most helpful ex-Nazi rocket engineer, appears to be lying to us.’
Chapter 18
An hour later, while sitting at his desk in his study, Gunther Fleischer was speaking again on the telephone to Falcon. His man was still unable to escape from the security lockdown at Highdown. He noted how anxious, Falcon sounded, informing him of the interview with Swan.
Fleischer bit his lip. ‘So, do you think Swan suspects you?’
There was a long silence in the conversation, before the reply came from the other end of line. ‘I am not sure, I think I may have made some mistakes. I don’t know what to do. I think he will send for me again, and next time, his questioning will be most unpleasant.’
Fleischer held the receiver, pondering for a few moments over his operative’s last words. ‘Is there any way, that you can leave the site?’
Falcon responded. ‘I don’t think so. All personnel have been instructed not to leave. We have military guards at the gates… Wait, there is an old path, around the cliffs, but after a few yards, this is not safe, as most of it has fallen away.’
Fleischer began to realise the situation. ‘You must do as much as you can, to stop yourself from being arrested.’ He cursed to himself. ‘Ach, this Mr Swan, is beginning to be an irritation to the plan. I will need some more information on him. Also, do you happen to know what car he is driving?’
Falcon informed him of the green British Triumph sports car, his colleagues had mentioned. ‘That is good, I still have my men on the island. Perhaps we could arrange for this Mr Swan, to meet with an unfortunate accident in his car.’
Falcon thought for a few moments. ‘These men? They are waiting for me, yes?’
‘Yes, you were supposed to meet with them, earlier today.’
‘So, did these men kill Karl, on your orders?’
Fleischer snapped back angrily. ‘Why do you ask this?’
‘Because, I am suddenly thinking, you have sent them to maybe kill me, too.’
Fleischer forced himself to be calm. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, my friend. Of course not. You are far too valuable to our organisation. And, do not forget, that Ruger was going to expose you. I sent my men to ask him what he had heard, not to kill him. It was just most unfortunate, he was fatally wounded.’
‘And Kappelman. Why did he have to be involved?’
Fleischer paused, exhausted of this interrogation, he needed to end the conversation.
‘Ach, how do you know about Kappelman? This is not a time for this conversation, people could be listening, damn you! You could easily ruin everything. You got yourself into a mess, when you killed this man’ you are to blame for this, you idiot.’
Falcon was beginning to read between the lines. ‘Even, if I was to suddenly leave here, I will be hunted by the police, and not be able to travel anywhere. I think you already know this. I have suddenly become a liability to you, and The Onyx Cross. You now want me dead, don’t you?’
Fleischer now had to act, and fast. ‘Falcon, please trust me. You will be rescued from there, and we will hide you away. I can promise you this.’
The saboteur wasn’t listening anymore. ‘How could you do this? I have carried out your plans, been an obedient and faithful soldier. The British rocket programme, will be cancelled. They don’t need it anymore. My mission here is over.’
Fleischer was about to use Falcon’s real first name, but then stopped himself from doing so. ‘Listen to me, please. You will be rescued and brought back here for re-assignment, this is my plan.’ He listened attentively, but there was only silence. Then, Falcon shouted down the receiver, ‘no! I don’t believe you. I will be a fugitive, whatever happens. I have nowhere else to go. Goodbye Gunther.’