The Night of the Generals Page #6

At the Excelsior.

You'll have a car, a driver

and whatever else strikes

your fancy.

One must relax occasionally, general.

I can't afford to.

You give me no alternative

but to compel you to enjoy yourself.

Must I order you?

Because if I must,

I'm afraid I shall have to.

Yes, sir.

Evidently, you are not

ready for me.

Very well.

I shall devote one day

to seeing the city.

I shall return to headquarters

at 0800 hours on the morning

of the 19th.

Heil, Hitler.

Heil Hitler.

Well, that wasn't so bad.

You now have one day's grace.

We need two, until the 20th.

Come and have dinner with

me and Eleanore tomorrow.

Ulrike's arriving.

This is bad luck.

Naturally, she forgot to say

which train she'd be on.

I assume you are with us now.

In spirit, of course, but...

You'll have to make up

your mind. Soon.

Making up one's mind

is one thing,

speaking it is another.

You worry too much.

Patience is one of

the few virtues that I possess.

At ease.

Sergeant, get me the military

governor's office on the telephone.

Corporal?

Sir.

I have an assignment for you.

Come in.

Get me the military

governor's office.

For General Kahlenberge.

You're to stay with him

every minute of the day.

24-hour call, do you understand?

Yes, sir.

He may want to go out at night.

Do you know anything which

might interest General Tanz?

Nightclubs or girls,

that sort of thing.

A few, sir.

But I don't really know

what the general's taste is, sir.

Let us hope that whatever it is,

it is not you, corporal.

However, if it should be, remember

that you're serving the fatherland.

I'll try to remember, sir.

Should he ask you to

take him to his headquarters,

you are to telephone me.

Either here or at my hotel.

Yes, sir.

You'll report to Colonel Sandauer

for specific instructions.

Sir?

What is it, corporal?

I'm sorry, but I was supposed to have

a 24-hour leave starting tomorrow.

That's impossible.

Could I have one hour free

in the morning, sir?

No.

Sir.

Hartmann?

Sir?

This is important.

All right.

Now, where were we?

Oh, yes. Childhood diseases?

Measles.

I can't remember.

Nothing serious, I think.

Chickenpox.

Bed-wetting?

No, sir.

Fear of the dark?

No, not particularly.

Venereal disease?

No, sir.

Good.

Now, what about books?

Books?

Do you read books?

Yes, sir, I read books.

What?

War and Peace.

Nietzsche,

The Decline of the West.

Books on psychology,

pathology?

No, not much.

Show me your hands.

All right. Now, you'll have a room

assigned to you in the general's hotel.

He'll want to see

the principal sights of Paris.

You will prepare an itinerary

and submit it to me.

When not in the field,

the general goes to bed at 11:45.

He seldom drinks or smokes,

so you will probably have

an early evening.

Now, this is my private number,

in case you should need me.

Need you, sir?

If anything out of the ordinary

should happen, ring me immediately.

Is that understood?

Yes, sir.

Good luck.

Thank you, sir.

Incidentally, avoid all cemeteries,

tombs, any mention of death.

Yes, sir.

Sir?

Inspector Morand, please.

Third floor, room 158.

Who shall I say is here?

Thank you. I can find my own way.

[SPEAKS FRENCH]

Welcome, Colonel Grau,

to the spider's web.

How did you know it was me?

What other German colonel

would enter unannounced?

Almost any SS colonel would.

Actually, I saw you reflected

in the window.

Impossible, it's too dirty.

I hope you're not allergic to dust.

Old crimes, colonel.

They generate

a good deal of dust.

Unsolved crimes.

The dust has settled.

We can always unsettle it.

Is that why you came?

Do sit down, colonel.

I must apologize for the heat,

but it's nearly August,

when most Parisians

leave Paris.

Let's hope Germans have

the good sense to do the same.

Saint-Lo fell to the Allies

this morning.

BBC?

Coffee?

No, thank you.

You have dossiers

on everyone, don't you?

On everyone interesting.

German as well as French?

At the specific request

of German Intelligence,

we keep an occasional eye

on interesting Germans.

Like me?

I have always found you interesting.

Thank you.

What about German generals?

Well, what about them?

Generals are interesting?

Then, to the degree

that they are interesting,

we keep an eye on them too.

Good. Here are the names

of three generals. I want

to know everything about them.

Everything may be too much.

What specifically

are you looking for?

One of them is a murderer.

Only one?

But murder is the occupation

of generals.

Let's say what is admirable

on the large scale is monstrous

on the small.

Since we must give medals

to mass murderers,

let us try to give justice

to the small entrepreneur.

Nicely put. I shall be glad

to help you if I can.

I realize that nothing

is free in this world,

even between colleagues.

Especially between colleagues.

In exchange

for your information,

I shall arrange for the release from

prison of three French resistance.

Thank you.

Have you a favorite suspect?

Not really, no.

You see, on the night

of the murder,

each general

had something to conceal.

The night of the murder was?

December the 12th,

1942, Warsaw.

And just as I started my investigation,

I was transferred to Paris.

By the murderer?

Possibly.

For two years, I've wanted

to reopen the case.

Now I can. As of today,

all three are in Paris.

General Gabler.

He's partial to the sort

of girl who was killed.

Oh, a girl. A crime

of passion, as we say.

Passion, yes, but only in

the sense of your distinguished

Marquis de Sade.

Oh, a sex crime, I see.

Is that why this case excites you?

The girl was also

a German agent.

She may have been killed

because of something she knew.

That's why Kahlenberge

intrigues me the most.

He seems to have no private life

and yet he disappears

from time to time.

No one knows where or why.

And General Tanz?

A perfect maniac.

I saw him destroy

an entire quarter of Warsaw

for the sheer pleasure of it.

On the Eastern front,

he was known as The Butcher.

He lost most of his division

in Russia.

He revels in death.

Which is why, in a curious way,

I don't think he's the man

I'm looking for.

Anyone who has the power to destroy

a city whenever he chooses

does not need such minor sport

as killing a girl.

I could be wrong, of course.

Hartmann?

Yes.

I'm Sergeant Kopatski,

the general's orderly.

For the time being, that is.

I forgot to take his laces out before

cleaning his shoes this morning.

For God's sake,

where are your gloves?

You'll get finger marks on it.

I haven't got gloves.

They never told me.

Take mine.

These are the general's

holiday rations.

One bottle of cognac, one Thermos

of coffee at 40 degrees centigrade,

two hundred cigarettes.

Does the general drink?

Like a sponge,

only he never shows it.

Put the briefcase

on the back seat.

On the right side.

Whenever he leaves the car,

clean out the ashtrays.

He smokes like a chimney.

Clean everything in sight.

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