Chapter XV
Herr Gruppenführer Grauber Wins a Trick
STUMBLING, with every ounce of speed he could muster, through the darkness and the heavy snow that clogged his steps, Gregory had barely covered fifty yards when there was a crash like a six-inch gun behind him, a reverberating roar and the sound of tumbling bricks and mortar. Turning his head he was just in time to glimpse a lurid sheet of flame that seemed to leap right up the wall of the house and, in -its glare, he saw a score of brickbats hurtling towards him.
Next second he had flung himself flat in the drift of snow under the wall of the lane, escaping the pieces of flying brick except for one that caught him on his right foot, which was still outside the shelter angle. Jumping up again, he ran on past Fredeline von Kobenthal, who was standing on the corner, and round it, down the main street, to the extremity of the front garden. The garden wall was not a high one. Slipping one arm through the sling of his automatic rifle he ran up the slope of snow at the foot of the wall, jumped, grabbed at its top, hauled himself up and wriggled over.
On the far side he landed among some snow-covered bushes. Forcing his way through them he found a path and ran along it down the side of the house. As he ran he heard the shouts of its inmates which told him that, as he had planned, the explosion had thrown them all into confusion. Next moment lie was brought up sharp by a swift challenge; but it came from von Kobenthal, who had the other automatic rifle. He was covering his two companions further along as they worked on the window.
"Good man. Stay where you are," panted Gregory. "Don't expose yourself more than necessary-get behind a tree or something-and if anyone else comes from this direction don't challenge but fire right away. Put a couple of rounds over their heads to check them."
Leaving von Kobenthal groping through the darkness in 'search of suitable cover, Gregory hurried on. Just as he reached the other two Suki got the window open. At the same instant an electric burglar-alarm began to ring with a deafening clatter.
"Find some cover if you can, Freddie," Gregory shouted, and fire at anyone who comes round from the back of the house. 'two rounds over their heads and the next at the flash of their pistols if they attack you."
As Charlton moved off, drawing his revolver and a pistol hat von Kobenthal had lent him, Suki got the inner window open and Gregory thrust in his hand, pulling the black-out curtains aside. The room was brightly lit but empty. He could hear the shouting in the house plainly now; a first-class rumpus was in progress. Grabbing the window-sill he hoisted himself up and over it.
There were two doors to the room. One led on to the passage, and somebody had left it half-open after dashing out, as was evident from a freshly-lit cigarette, the smoke of which was curling up from an ash-tray on a table-desk near the window. 'the other led to the room at the front of the house. Gregory saw that the key was in its lock, and tiptoeing over, turned it.
As Suki came in through the window Gregory reached the passage door. This also had a key in it, but on its outer side. Swiftly transferring it to the inner side of the door Gregory locked that too.
"Quick " he whispered to Suki in German. "We must Barricade ourselves in"; and between them they dragged the heavy desk up against the passage door. It was the only large piece of furniture that the room contained, so Gregory muttered: "Get busy on the safe; I'll see to the other door"; then, exerting all his strength he carried three tall, thin steel filing-cabinets across and set them against it.
The safe was a large affair which stood in a corner of the room, between its two windows, one of which looked out on to the back garden and the other-through which Gregory and Suki had come-on to the side-garden. As was to be expected in any Gestapo office, the safe had a combination lock, but it was of the most modern type and after a swift preliminary examination Suki declared that he thought he could deal with. While Gregory piled up all the chairs and other odd pieces of furniture that he could find in jumbled barricades against the two doors Suki began to operate with swift, deft fingers on the combination lock, listening to the fall of the tumblers with each turn that he gave it.
Having completed the barricades Gregory switched out the lights so that if the Germans came round to the back of the house, broke open the window there and pulled aside the curtains he should not present an immediate target. The room was now in darkness except for the thin pencil of light shining from the torch hung round Suki's neck on to the lock; where, his small wizened face set and concentrated, he worked with frantic speed.
There was no more that Gregory could do and he crouched near the safe-breaker with his rifle at the ready, listening to the noises that percolated from the other part of the house. The shouting had now subsided and he could catch only the sound of loud, guttural voices which came to him muffled by the distance. The burglar-alarm had ceased to ring, petering out in a spasmodic jingle soon after he had fixed the barricades. Since nobody had tried to get into the room as a result of the clamour he decided that all the windows on the ground-floor, and the doors, were probably wired by the same system, and that the Nazis believed that the alarm had been set ringing by the explosion on the far side of the house. But another noise had now taken the place of the shrill ringing; it was a low, angry roar, and Gregory knew that his incendiary-bomb was doing its work in the breach that the explosive-bomb had made. The house was on fire.
He wondered anxiously if Wuolijoki had judged the size of the bomb correctly. Their objective had been to start a fire which would keep the Gestapo men occupied for a quarter of an hour or so but which, with the help of a fire-engine, could be put out. But if the bomb was too big the fire would get too great a hold to be dealt with, in which case the Nazis would abandon the fight and come running to the other rooms to save their papers and belongings before the flames spread to the rest of the house.
Suddenly the handle of the door to the passage rattled. There was a pause. It rattled again. Someone outside was shaking the door impatiently. Gregory remained as still as a mouse. Suki's fingers continued to flicker over the combination lock; his head was bent down towards it as he listened to the clicking which was almost inaudible except to anyone with his supernormal hearing. There was a sharp knock on the door and voice said:"Hlier ist Schumacher. Lassen Sie mich hinein Kommen."
On receiving no reply the man moved away. Gregory could hear his heavy footsteps as he marched down the hall. A moment later the knob of the other door rattled. On finding that also locked the man called out in a surprised voice:
"Grauber, Bind Sie dort?" And once more getting no response, he moved away from that door too.
Gregory crouched there, with his automatic rifle at the ready, praying for time. Once they started to batter in the doors the noise might be too great for Suki to catch the sound of the falling tumblers any more and all chance of getting the safe opened would be lost. Turning to the little man he whispered urgently: How are you going?"
"Fine," Suki nodded. "I'm nearly through; another few moments."
As he spoke feet sounded in the passage again. There was murmur of quick, angry voices; then a heavy rapping on the door.
"Wer ist da" cried an impatient voice, which Gregory recognized as that of Grauber. "Offen Sie sofort!"
There was another brief pause, the mutter of voices again, then a heavy body crashed against the door in an endeavour to burst it open. The woodwork strained but did not give, as the lock was a stout one and still held. Ten seconds' silence followed, then a series of deafening reports. Someone outside was blowing he lock off with an automatic.