The Doomsday Testament(116)

‘Yet it was only when Walter Brohm told me about his bomb “greater than any bomb ever invented” that I finally came to my decision.

‘He sits directly opposite me, beneath a tree on the bank of the stream, watching me write, smiling that knowing smile of his, well fed and satisfied, certain of his own greatness, his genius merely dormant and soon to flower again beneath the benevolent rays of a Californian sun. I know of no crime Walter Brohm has committed, apart from the crime of complacency. He is a garrulous, almost likeable man, who, but for a tendency towards arrogance, would make a perfectly acceptable dinner companion. In a world full of enemies, Brohm wishes to be everyone’s friend.

‘Why is Walter Brohm more dangerous than a hundred Klosses? Because his curiosity knows no boundaries. Because no price is too high if it proves him right. Because no risk is too great if it enhances his genius.

‘I carefully placed the journal in my pack and roused them from their rest. Klosse and the Ox were reluctant to move, but I explained that our contact was waiting for us across the border less than an hour away.

‘Klosse laughed. “Gut,” he said to me. “At least the Amis will treat us with the respect we are due. I intend to report you for your treatment of your prisoners. You will be reprimanded.”

‘Strasser eventually pushed himself to his feet, grumbling quietly and scratching his fat backside.

‘Walter grinned at me. “You will visit me in America, Leutnant Matt? They say we will have fine houses and big cars. Perhaps even a swimming pool. Who would believe such a thing? That is how precious my work is to them.” He took my hand and shook it. “I thank you for bringing us here. Do not mind Klosse. His opinion counts for nothing against Walter Brohm.”

‘I detached myself and told them we wouldn’t be stopping again. If they wanted to take a pee now was the time to do it.

‘They stayed together, as men do in such circumstances, and lined up along the ravine as I had predicted they would.

‘I had the Browning ready, with the safety catch off and I walked quickly up behind them. I shot the Ox first, in the back of the skull, and his body was thrown forward on to the rocks below. Klosse turned, prepared to attack me, but a man with his penis in his hand is peculiarly vulnerable and I had time to aim the gun directly at his heart. He died cursing me, as I suppose was his due. Walter Brohm calmly finished what he was doing and turned to face me . . .’

JAMIE’S VOICE FADED. He had read the final paragraph automatically, not taking in the meaning of the words and the shocking reality dawned on him only slowly. This was a confession of cold-blooded murder. The scene replayed itself in his mind, but his brain wouldn’t connect the man who pulled the trigger with the picture he had of the real Matthew, a smile on the kindly face and eyes that glittered with gentle humour.





LVII


‘READ THE REST, Jamie. Matthew wanted you to see this. You won’t understand why unless you stay with him to the end.’

‘I . . .’

‘Read it. What happened to Walter Brohm? What happened to the Sun Stone?’

‘At first Brohm didn’t believe he was to die with the others. He was Walter Brohm. He was guilty only of genius. Klosse and Strasser were war criminals. He was a scientist. It was only when I kept the muzzle of the .45 pointed at his chest and he saw the implacable resolve on my face that the smile faded. He began to plead for his life.

‘He offered me the contents of his briefcase, which, he said, were worth a king’s ransom. When I kicked it aside he reached for the top pocket of his tunic. I almost shot him then, and he knew it, because his hand began to shake. He took out a silk escape map with some sort of Nazi symbol on the reverse. This, he said, would lead me to the Raphael and everything else. He explained how to decipher it, but I wanted nothing from Walter Brohm. I knew that whatever he offered would be poisoned by contact with him. I despised him. He thought he was better than the two men I had just killed, but he was the worst of them. In his arrogance and his conceit he was prepared to unleash Armageddon upon this world in the name of science. A thousand Coventrys in a single explosion of white light. How many Peggys and Elizabeths and Annes must die to prove Walter Brohm right? Worse, he was prepared to risk the End of Days, and for what?

‘He attempted to justify his work. It was the wonder of the world and only he, Walter Brohm, had the skills and the genius to make it happen. Unlimited energy, Leutnant Matt, think about it. Heating for every house. Power for industry. And that was only the start. Ordinary people would ride in cars and automobiles and trains designed to use his technology. Air travel would be so affordable and swift any man could go anywhere in the world, yes, and take his family too.