Were these men so demented that they would do this? Michael felt the need to flee the building, but there was no escape. Instead, he stamped down on the drawing pin and roared his approval.
“Brilliant! Brilliant, Von Klitzing, and your men are in position?”
“Yes.” Von Klitzing’s answer was matter-of-fact and came with hardly a blink before he continued. “Then we support another Arab uprising; that is the real goal. If we are lucky, the Jewish nation will be destroyed before the Americans can prove that Israel was not responsible. We have a weapons arsenal in Jordan, which will get the job done. It includes tactical nuclear devices the Russians developed for use on the battlefield. Three or four and Israel is history. We have already found the fanatics who will use them at the start of the conflict.”
“You have all this in place?”
“I do. Our men are made up of first and second-generation clones, as well as 200 well-trained and well-paid mercenaries.”
I need to get out of here, warn somebody, stop this! Michael started to panic.
Von Klitzing had expected to be smothered with plaudits. He was the only one at Meyer-Hofmann who had his eye on the ball. Hofmann must see that, congratulate him, give his okay, let him set the wheels in motion.
“This is extraordinary, Herr Von Klitzing. After studying the files, I was convinced the Company had become corrupted by these times, lost its vision. It seems I was wrong. You are to be commended. You have single-handedly saved us. We must leave immediately. I must make plans.”
Von Klitzing was visibly elated, his chest puffing out like some demented cockerel. Now it was Dr Ecker’s turn to become animated.
“But, Herr Hofmann, I still have much to show you.”
“It will have to wait. We can come again, soon! Von Klitzing, let’s go.”
Back in the car, Michael searched his mind, for a way of delaying Von Klitzing’s plans.
“What is the time scale, Von Klitzing?”
“That depends on you, sir. We are almost ready to go in the Middle East. It would take maybe a few weeks to get our support staff out there, and the weapons distributed to our allies?”
He could see that Von Klitzing would have pressed the button tomorrow if he had the authority. Michael was only grateful that he was such a stickler for the command structure.
“I want to get the political process in place first. Your actions will leave a massive void in world politics. It will be apparent to the public that their governments’ foreign policy has failed. We should have a working alternative ready to step into the breach as soon as the first shots are fired. We will start with your political plan, collect suitable candidates, and prepare the markets for a crash, and then we poke the Israeli Government.”
“But, sir, that could take anything up to a year, and our troops are already in theatre. Our allies are impatient to move!”
“They will have to wait. The quicker we achieve our political and economic goals, the sooner we can change tack and go after the Jews.”
That disappointed Von Klitzing. He had been banking on Hofmann’s dream of military involvement to push the Jewish plan forward.
That is a mistake. Who knows if the opportunity will ever come again? Hofmann is wrong; we should carry out both plans simultaneously. If Hofmann doesn’t like it, then Hofmann is not the right man for the job.
Von Klitzing started to plot an alternative strategy.
33
Günther Müller had decided to invite Johann Von Klitzing for an interview at Ett Street. Von Klitzing seemed as good a place to start as any in his investigation of Meyer-Hofmann. It was his daughter who had impersonated Britt Petersen, and it was unlikely that doing such a thing had been her idea. Günther sat in one of the interrogation rooms at the station, waiting for Von Klitzing to arrive. Slowly turning the pages of the dossier Monika had prepared, he was surprised how little was known about the man’s role in the company. Apart from being a board member, his only other title was that of Director of Internal Security. Günther was intrigued to find out just what exactly his job entailed.
Von Klitzing was irritated by the invitation rather than worried. He had not expected to be able to work in total confidentiality, now that they were becoming active. He had, however, hoped it would take a little longer before the police took an interest. Killing Britt Petersen had been necessary. Had the police got hold of her, things would have got out of control. His plans would simply have to be accelerated now that the company’s indiscretions were coming to light.
I will just have to delay this policeman’s investigation as far as I can, he decided.
Dr Ernst Weiden was the company’s legal Rottweiler. A lawyer of some note within the German legal system, he was as close to a celebrity lawyer as it got in Germany. On a permanent retainer to Meyer-Hofmann, his main job was blocking investigations into their holding’s operations. But he was far more in his element in a court room, defending his VIP client against some or other iniquitous allegations.
Günther recognised the lawyer immediately as the two men were led into the room by Monika.
“Please, take a seat, Gentlemen.” Günther stood, gesturing towards the steel chairs opposite him. Neither man was able to make himself comfortable on the thin blue upholstered cushions. They were left shuffling around like two naughty schoolboys in front of the headmaster.
“We will not be staying long, Detective Müller,” the lawyer said.
Günther ignored the lawyer.
“Herr Von Klitzing, my name is Günther Müller. I would just like to thank you for coming, but I must first read you your rights. You do not have to say anything. However, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.”
“What are the manner of the charges against my client?”
“Charges? At the moment, there are no charges against your client. However, we are investigating the disappearance of Britt Petersen, the wife of one of Herr Von Klitzing’s fellow board members.”
“I was not aware that she was missing,” Von Klitzing commented.
“Yes, and please explain on what grounds you are questioning Herr Von Klitzing and not Herr Petersen?”
“I believe that Herr Von Klitzing’s daughter impersonated Britt Petersen in an interview she gave us recently, and I would like to know why.”
“That is a very serious allegation, Detective! Whatever led you to believe such nonsense? I know Eva Von Klitzing personally, and there is no reason for her to do such a thing. She doesn’t look anything like Britt Petersen.”
“We were hoping Herr Von Klitzing could explain.”
“Is Eva Von Klitzing under arrest?” the lawyer pressed.
“My colleagues are picking her up now.”
That was not good news for Von Klitzing, although he had half-expected it would happen after their chance meeting at the club.
Eva will deny everything. It’s not a problem. Günther watched Von Klitzing’s face. It was ice. Not a glimmer of a reaction, not even when he heard they would be arresting his daughter.
“Herr Von Klitzing, would you answer the question, please. Were you aware of your daughter’s actions?”
“No.” The answer was final. Von Klitzing made it clear he would not be answering questions about Britt Petersen.
“Herr Von Klitzing knows nothing about this and will not be answering any further questions about his daughter until we are made aware of the charges against her.”
“Do you know the whereabouts of Britt Petersen?” Günther asked the question of Von Klitzing without expecting an answer, and none came.