The Salzburg Connection Read Online Free PDF Page B

believe that he would have definite information on Finstersee by this coming Friday.
    Three: At 4:45 A.M. this morning, a third message from Zürich to Warsaw had been intercepted. It was a communication of high urgency. The Zürich agent was convinced that the Finstersee operation had been advanced by several days and might even now be under way. He demanded the immediate dispatch of two suitably trained operatives to Salzburg, there to await his arrival. Extreme measures might be necessary.
    Four: The Zürich agent had been seized, as of 6:00 A.M. this morning, and was now being held. Examination in progress. Further information was expected about his employer in Warsaw, the importance—if any—of Salzburg itself, and the threat to Finstersee.
    Five: Reinforcements were being sent at once to the Gasthof Waldesruh. Two men would arrive late this afternoon or early this evening. Others would follow, if required. Usual identifications.
    Six: In the interest of speed, any urgent news or questions from Waldesruh should be directed to Zürich. Telephone to be used only in most extreme emergency; call must be thoroughly disguised and brief. Otherwise, usual radio contact with regular code must be used.
    Seven: Definite orders to handle this situation with care. There must be no repeat of the events at Lake Toplitz. Austrian Security must in no way be alerted.
    Not by me, thought Grell, I’ll make sure of that. But why the general reference to Warsaw? The Zürich agent couldn’t be in the pay of the Poles, or why was “further information expected”, even needed? And that eliminated the Russians, too, for they knew everything Polish Intelligence planned or accomplished; the Poles had become merely another arm ofthe KGB. Or were the Americans being ultra-devious? Or the British, or the French? Germany, either East or West? He might as well add every nation to the list; there wasn’t one of them that wouldn’t take wild chances to discover the secret of Finstersee. We are fighting the whole damned world, he thought, not without pride, as he reached the lookout. He signalled, and Anton opened the narrow door.
    Anton was wrapped in army blankets, his sleeping bag neatly folded on the low wooden platform covered with dried fir that stood in the warmest corner of the room. Food supplies were on a high shelf. Two small kerosene stoves were producing some heat. He had fixed a lamp to give him some light, and had shaded it so that its glow wouldn’t be seen from the outside. He had books and magazines, a set of chessmen, a couple of decks of cards. Anton knew how to get along.
    Grell nodded approvingly and went over to the telescope. The mists were clearing on the peak above him—that much he had been able to notice on his way up here—but they were heavy over the lake and mountainside opposite. The telescope might be blind for another hour, even two. He changed his plans. “We’ll have to go down,” he told Anton. “It’s the only way we’ll have a chance of seeing them.”
    “Expecting visitors?” Anton was busy putting out the stoves, folding his blankets, adding his cape to his heavy grey suit. He lifted his hunting knife and rifle, held them up for confirmation. Grell nodded, drawing back his own cape to show he was equally armed.
    “Any idea of what we’ll meet?” Anton asked as he blew out the lamp and Grell opened the door.
    “None.”
    “What do we know then?”
    “That we have broken someone’s code and we have got him for questioning. Come on! There’s no time to waste.” It was now half-past eight.
    It took them only ten minutes by the direct route to come down to the picnic ground. They crossed it at a run, relying on the mist to conceal them. Swiftly they climbed through the forest, following the path to its eastern boundary where the mountain track began. Anton set off across the open slope to see if anyone was actually down by that important cluster of boulders and trees by the water’s edge.