The Swiss Spy
Alex Gerlis
Language: English
Pages: 484
ISBN: 1782925104
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
‘On the 20-minute drive to Lutry, the Alps rose high to his left, the lake sweeping below him to the right. That summed it up, he thought: caught between two powerful forces. Not unlike serving two masters.’ It’s not unusual for spies to have secrets, but Henry Hunter has more than most and after he is stopped by British Intelligence at Croydon airport on the eve of the Second World War, he finds he has even more. From Switzerland he embarks on a series of increasingly perilous missions into Nazi Germany, all the time having to cope with different identities and two competing masters. In March 1941 in Berlin, haunted by a dark episode from his past, he makes a fateful decision, resulting in a dramatic journey to the Swiss frontier with a shocking outcome. The Swiss Spy is set against the true-life backdrop of the top-secret Nazi plans to invade the Soviet Union. The story paints an authentic picture of life inside wartime Europe: the menacing atmosphere, the ever-present danger and the constant intrigue of the world of espionage. The Swiss Spy is the follow-up novel to Alex Gerlis’ highly acclaimed bestseller The Best of Our Spies.
‘Something like that – yes.’ *** Chapter 26: Munich and Stuttgart, March and April, 1941 ‘Basil, without in any way wishing to appear rude, may I suggest you pause, take a deep breath then start again?’ It was the evening of Friday 28th March, and Edgar and Basil Remington-Barber had been stuck in the apartment above the bar in Zürich since Wednesday. They had heard nothing further about Henry since Hedinger’s report that he had last been seen in Berlin on Tuesday. The circumstantial
caught and that would alert the bastards to search down there. I…’ Henry had begun to cry. It started as a gentle sobbing but within a minute had turned into uncontrollable weeping, tears streaking his cheeks. Remington-Barber stood awkwardly in front of him holding out a handkerchief, while Rolf sat next to Henry and placed an arm around his shoulder, but nothing would console him. He was grief-stricken and everyone in the room knew there was nothing to be said that could be in any way
his journey into work to ensure he wasn’t being followed, not that he was sure what he was meant to do. He was a banker: his knowledge of subterfuge was limited to the world of finance. He could move funds from one bank account to another without leaving a trace, but he had no idea how to walk from one place to another without being spotted and, in any case, he towered above most other people. It wouldn’t be hard to follow him. When he arrived at the Reichsbank he casually enquired of his
approached the porch, the front door opened and behind it he could see Franz Hermann, silently ushering him in. They stood together in the dark hall of a silent house. ‘Are they here Franz?’ ‘Upstairs. Take your shoes off.’ Gunter ran up the stairs. On the landing, waiting for him in the gloom, was his ex-wife and their son. Behind them, peering out from behind a door was Sophia, Rosa’s daughter from her second marriage. Alfred flung himself at his father, holding him tight and burying his
didn’t go anywhere near the Victoria?’ asked Remington-Barber. ‘No, we stayed overnight in the station – in an air-raid shelter.’ ‘Let’s get down to business. Here’s your ticket for Monday. We want to get you and the document back here as quickly as possible, so the plan is that you go to the Reichsbank first thing on the Tuesday morning, hand Bank Leu’s envelopes to Reinhart and he’ll give you the ones to be brought back here. One of the sealed envelopes will contain the document – he’ll let