The Man Between Page #5

It could have happened to anyone.

There was no need for it to happen

if you had done your job.

So you thought that if you could

kidnap my wife--without my permission--

you could intimidate her into helping

you to get Kastner. Was that it?

I have had enough of your pleading...

and debating the moral issues

with your wife.

I would have given her a few simple

orders and she would have obeyed.

She is a German woman no matter

whom she has married since.

- Does he know anything yet?

- No, he knows nothing.

Not yet.

Such people, they say nothing.

Have you made your confession

and been forgiven?

I told him nothing and he said nothing.

That must have been a very

interesting conversation.

Let me clear up the mess you have made.

You will have to turn the girl loose.

Let me take her back for you.

I may still get Kastner.

If I must turn the girl loose,

a few hours won't make any difference.

Stay here a moment.

What new and more brilliant blunder

are you meditating now?

Another failure will hardly

make things worse for me.

A little success on the other hand

may change the situation altogether.

You're tired.

I'd get some sleep if I were you.

Miss Mallison?

Thank heaven I have found you!

How do you feel?

Well, I wasn't hurt,

but I'm not in a very good temper.

I have just heard what happened.

I want to help you if I can.

It was a mistake--such things happen.

- What are you going to do? - Only

one thing:
to get you out of here.

Now I want to get you home, but I can't

take you through the frontier myself.

Someone from the West must do that.

Just write a note to your sister-in-law;

say you are in trouble,

but a friend--a friend is helping you...

and he will see that you will be outside

the Opera at the end of the performance,

and ask her if someone

can come to fetch you.

And in a few hours

you will be safe at home!

What do you want?

My brother? My sister-in-law?

My dear Miss Mallison,

I am trying to help you.

- Kastner, is that it?

- Oh, such imagination!

You think he'll come for me!

What do you think will happen to you

when people hear what you've done?

There has been no complaint

from the authorities.

Perhaps no one saw what happened to you.

- There'll have a pretty good idea by

now. - Berlin is a strange, large city.

There are many reasons why a young girl

should simply vanish from the streets.

Especially one who has already

shown a tendency...

to make rash and unsavoury friendships.

Believe me, what I am suggesting

is for your own good.

- I'm sorry but I don't believe you.

- Very well.

You're not going to let me go?

Not for the time being.

Knock on the door when you have changed

your mind:
someone will hear you.

I will risk it and take her back.

The girl will only make trouble for you.

I am used to trouble.

I will take her off your hands...

and put her across the frontier

at the Brandenburger Tor.

Or just a little bit further, eh?

You have in mind, perhaps,

presenting yourself in the West...

as the heroic rescuer of this girl.

No, my friend. My way will work.

Leave it to me.

- l want to talk to you, Susanne.

- Is it about leaving Berlin?

- Making a new life somewhere else?

- So you wanted to play with fire, huh?

Cheap thrills you get

only in an amusement park.

Next time ride a roller-coaster!

You don't frighten me. It's true!

You don't think I'm still

going to believe you?

You know now what there is to be known

about me. I won't waste time on that.

But believe me, today

they were after Bettina.

I knew nothing of it.

They don't trust me here anymore.

- They probably have their reasons.

- You were taken by mistake.

Yes, yes, it's true. Not even Halendar

would dare to do this to a foreigner.

- Then he'll have to let me go. - He

failed in the attempt to get Kastner.

Poor Halendar, he is desperate.

By bringing you here he

made a serious blunder.

Perhaps too serious for him

to acknowledge. Do you understand?

It would be convenient--most

convenient--if you simply disappeared.

He is surprisingly good

at making such arrangements.

I'm not trying to frighten you--

this is the truth. Listen to me, please!

Halendar is convinced that a word from

you will bring Kastner into the East.

You haven't the nerve to keep me here.

If you were in the hands of the

Government, that would be true.

Halendar is not the government;

neither am I.

He is just a gangster out to get

what he can from any source.

- How could you think that--

- If you do what Halendar asks...

and agree to be outside

the Opera tonight,

I will instantly send word to Kastner

to stay away--that it is a trap.

This will be our chance:

I will get you away.

I am not such an idiot as to pretend

that I would do this for your sake.

It is for my own sake!

- Why? Is there a reward?

- Reward?

Halendar has dug up the records

of certain difficulties I've had...

with the Police in the West.

He is blackmailing me with them.

I must do something to prove

my good intentions to the West.

What you might call active remorse.

If I return you to the

bosom of your family...

this will help me quite a bit

with the Police over there.

They will take a more lenient view

of my case. That is my motive.

At least it sounds selfish enough

to be true.

I need this glory! I will not allow

Kastner to take it away from me.

If I did agree to be outside

the Opera tonight...

how do I know you'd stop

Kastner from coming?

You lied too well before.

Believe me now.

When Kastner comes, our men are waiting

for him. They're watching every street.

- Better get the girl out here now.

- Good.

At least tell me what I'm to do.

The big grey saloon is Halendar's.

The man in the front seat

is one of his guards.

When I give you the signal to go,

don't stop to think; don't hesitate; go.

And keep going:
no matter what happens

around you, keep going.

- When? At least tell me when!

- About the time the Opera ends.

Just keep your eyes open.

- Listen! - It seemed unusually

long tonight, didn't it?

You didn't say goodnight

to Herr Halendar. He will be furious.

Look!

- I really thought you were being

arrested. - How sweet of you to worry.

I've never tried these spikes before.

It's one of our tricks.

It seems to work very well.

And now, permit to present

Herr Letz and Herr Vollmer.

How do you do.

They looked quite like

real Policemen, didn't they?

Here is the border. Young lady,

better you do not speak English now.

A-ha, looks as if they

were expecting us.

There's a smell of Halendar in this.

There are lots of other roads.

He can't have tied up everything yet.

Careful now. Potsdamer Platz.

I will take a look. Don't run away.

It's no good here.

They are checking everybody...

so I've told them to get

to Horst's grandmother.

She has a job at the new building in

the Frankenstrasse. They can hide there.

- What about us?

- We take the train: it goes across.

Here we should go separately.

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