The Other Side of Midnight (21 page)

Five minutes after Noelle left the building, the concierge came out, glanced around to make sure he was not observed, then hailed a taxi and gave the address of a sporting goods shop in Montmartre.

Two hours later the concierge reported to Noelle. “He will be delivered to you Saturday night.”

Saturday night when Noelle finished her performance, Colonel Kurt Mueller of the Gestapo was waiting for her backstage. A
frisson
of apprehension went through Noelle. The escape plan had been worked out to a split-second timing, and there was no room for any delays.

“I saw your performance from out front, Fräulein Page,” Colonel Mueller said. “You improve each time.”

The sound of his soft, high-pitched voice brought her dream back vividly.

“Thank you, Colonel. If you’ll excuse me, I have to change.”

Noelle started toward her dressing room, and he fell into step beside her.

“I will go with you,” Colonel Mueller said.

She walked into her dressing room, the hairless albino Colonel close behind her. He made himself comfortable in an armchair. Noelle hesitated a moment and then began to undress as he watched indifferently. She knew that he was a homosexual, which deprived her of a valuable weapon—her sexuality.

“A little sparrow whispered something in my ear,” Colonel Mueller said. “He is going to try to escape tonight.”

Noelle’s heart skipped a beat, but her face showed nothing. She began removing her makeup, fighting for time as she asked, “Who is going to try to escape tonight?”

“Your friend, Israel Katz.”

Noelle swung around, and the movement made her suddenly conscious of the fact that she had removed her brassiere. “I don’t know any—” She caught the quick triumphant gleam in his pink eyes and saw the trap just in time. “Wait,” she said. “Are you talking about a young intern?”

“Ah, so you
do
remember him!”

“Barely. He treated me for pneumonia some time ago.”

“And a self-induced abortion,” Colonel Mueller said in that soft, high-pitched voice. The fear flooded back into her. The Gestapo would not have gone to this much trouble if they were not sure that she was involved. She was a fool to have gotten herself into this; but even as Noelle thought it, she knew that it was too late to back out. The wheels had already been set in motion and in a few hours Israel Katz would be either free…or dead. And she?

Colonel Mueller was saying, “You said that the last time you saw Katz was at the café a few weeks ago.”

Noelle shook her head. “I said no such thing, Colonel.”

Colonel Mueller looked steadily into her eyes, then let his gaze drop insolently to her naked breasts and down her belly to her sheer pants. Then he looked up into Noelle’s eyes again and sighed. “I love beautiful things,” he said softly. “It would be a shame to see beauty like yours destroyed. And all for a man who means nothing to you. How is your friend planning to get away, Fräulein?”

There was a quietness in his voice that sent shivers down her spine. She became Annette, the innocent, helpless character in her play.

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about,
Colonel. I’d like to help you, but I don’t know how.”

Colonel Mueller looked at Noelle a long time, then stiffly rose to his feet. “I will teach you how, Fräulein,” he promised softly, “and I will enjoy it.”

He turned at the door to deliver a parting shot. “By the way, I have advised General Scheider not to go away with you for the weekend.”

Noelle felt her heart plummet. It was too late to reach Israel Katz. “Do Colonels always interfere in the private lives of Generals?”

“In this case, no,” Colonel Mueller said regretfully. “General Scheider intends to keep his rendezvous.” He turned and walked out.

Noelle stared after him, her heart racing. She looked at the gold clock on the dressing table and quickly began to dress.

At eleven forty-five the concierge telephoned Noelle to announce that General Scheider was on his way up to her apartment. His voice was trembling.

“Is his chauffeur in the car?” Noelle asked.

“No, Mademoiselle,” the concierge replied carefully. “He’s on his way up with the General.”

“Thank you.”

Noelle replaced the receiver and hurried into the bedroom to check her luggage once more. There must be no mistake. The front doorbell rang, and Noelle went into the living room and opened the door.

General Scheider stood in the corridor, his chauffeur, a young captain, behind him. General Scheider was out of uniform and looked very distinguished in a flawlessly cut charcoal-gray suit and a soft blue shirt and black tie. “Good evening,” he said formally. He stepped inside, then nodded to his chauffeur.

“My bags are in the bedroom,” Noelle said. She indicated the door.

“Thank you, Fräulein.” The captain walked into the bedroom. General Scheider came over to Noelle and took her hands. “Do you know what I have been thinking
about all day?” he asked. “I was thinking you might not be here, that you might change your mind. Every time the phone rang, I was afraid.”

“I keep my promises,” Noelle said. She watched as the captain came out of the bedroom carrying her makeup case and overnight bag. “Is there anything else?” he asked.

“No,” Noelle said. “That’s all.”

The captain carried the suitcases out of the apartment.

“Ready?” General Scheider asked.

“Let’s have a drink before we go,” Noelle replied quickly. She walked over to a bottle of champagne on the bar, resting in a bucket of ice.

“Let me.” He moved over to the ice bucket and opened the champagne.

“What shall we drink to?” he asked.

“Etratat.”

He studied her a moment and then said, “Etratat.”

They touched glasses in a toast and drank. As Noelle set her glass down, she surreptitiously glanced at her wristwatch. General Scheider was talking to her, but Noelle only half-heard the words. Her mind was visualizing what was happening downstairs. She must be very careful. If she moved too quickly or too slowly it would be fatal. For everyone.

“What are you thinking about?” General Scheider asked.

Noelle turned quickly. “Nothing.”

“You were not listening.”

“I’m sorry. I suppose I was thinking about us.” She turned to him and gave him a quick smile.

“You puzzle me,” he said.

“Aren’t all women a puzzle?”

“Not like you. I would never believe that you are capricious and yet”—he made a gesture—“first you will not see me at all and now we are suddenly spending a weekend in the country.”

“Are you sorry, Hans?”

“Of course not. But still I ask myself—why the country?”

“I told you.”

“Ah yes,” General Scheider said. “It is romantic. That is something else that puzzles me. I believe you are a realist, not a romanticist.”

“What are you trying to say?” Noelle asked.

“Nothing,” the General replied easily. “I am just thinking aloud. I enjoy solving problems, Noelle. In time I will solve you.”

She shrugged. “Once you have the solution, the problem might not be interesting.”

“We shall see.” He set his glass down. “Shall we go?”

Noelle picked up the empty champagne glasses.

“I’ll just put these in the sink,” she said.

General Scheider watched as she walked into the kitchen. Noelle was one of the most beautiful and desirable women he had ever seen, and he meant to possess her. That did not mean, however, that he was either stupid or blind. She wanted something from him. He intended to find out what it was. Colonel Mueller had alerted him that she was in all probability giving aid to a dangerous enemy of the Reich, and Colonel Mueller made very few mistakes. If he was correct, Noelle Page was probably counting on General Scheider to protect her in some way. If so she knew nothing at all about the German military mind and still less about him. He would turn her over to the Gestapo without a qualm, but first he would have his pleasure. He was looking forward to the weekend.

Noelle came out of the kitchen. There was a worried expression on her face. “How many bags did your chauffeur take down?” she asked.

“Two,” he replied. “An overnight bag and a makeup case.”

She made a face. “Oh dear, I’m sorry, Hans. He forgot the other case. Do you mind?”

He watched as Noelle walked over to the telephone, picked it up and spoke into it. “Would you please ask the General’s driver to come up again?” she said. “There’s another bag to go down.” She replaced the receiver. “I know we’re only going to be there for the weekend,” she smiled, “but I want to please you.”

“If you want to please me,” General Scheider said, “you will not need a lot of clothes.” He glanced at a picture of Armand Gautier on the piano. “Does Herr Gautier know that you are going away with me?” he asked.

“Yes,” Noelle lied. Armand was in Nice meeting with a producer about a motion picture, and she had seen no reason to alarm him by telling him of her plans. The doorbell rang, and Noelle walked over to the door and opened it. The captain stood there. “I understand there is another bag?” he asked.

“Yes,” Noelle apologized. “It’s in the bedroom.”

The captain nodded and went into the bedroom.

“When must you return to Paris?” General Scheider asked her.

Noelle turned and looked at him. “I’d like to stay as long as I can. We’ll come back late Monday afternoon. That will give us two days.”

The captain came out of the bedroom. “Excuse me, Fräulein. What does the suitcase look like?”

“It is a large round blue case,” Noelle said. She turned to the General. “It has a new gown in it that I haven’t worn yet. I saved it for you.”

She was babbling now, trying to cover up her nervousness.

The captain had gone back into the bedroom. A few moments later, he came out again. “I am sorry,” he said. “I cannot find it.”

“Let me,” Noelle said. She went into the bedroom and began to search the closets. “That idiot of a maid must have hidden it away somewhere,” she said. The three of them looked through every closet in the apartment.
It was the General who finally found the bag in the hall closet. He lifted it and said, “It seems to be empty.”

Noelle quickly opened the bag and looked inside. There was nothing in it. “Oh, that fool,” she said. “She must have crammed that beautiful new dress in the suitcase with my other clothes. I hope she hasn’t ruined it.” She sighed in exasperation. “Do you have that much trouble with maids in Germany?”

“I think it is the same everywhere,” General Scheider replied. He was watching Noelle closely. She was acting strangely, talking too much. She noticed his look.

“You make me feel like a schoolgirl,” Noelle said. “I can’t remember when I’ve been so nervous.”

General Scheider smiled. So that was it. Or was she playing some kind of game with him? If she was, he would soon find it out. He glanced at his watch. “If we do not leave now, we will get there very late.”

“I’m ready,” Noelle said.

She prayed the others were.

When they reached the lobby, the concierge was standing there, his face chalk white. Noelle wondered if something had gone wrong. She looked at him for some signal, a sign, but before he could respond, the General had taken Noelle’s arm and was leading her out the door.

General Scheider’s limousine was parked directly in front of the door. The trunk of the car was closed. The street was deserted. The chauffeur sprang to open the rear door of the car. Noelle turned to look inside the lobby to see the concierge but the General moved in front of her and blocked her view. Deliberately? Noelle glanced at the closed trunk but it told her nothing. It would be hours before she knew whether her plan had succeeded, and the suspense was going to be unbearable.

“Are you all right?” General Scheider was staring at her. She felt that something had gone terribly wrong.
She had to find an excuse to go back into the lobby, to be alone with the concierge for a few seconds. She forced a smile to her lips.

“I just remembered,” Noelle said. “A friend is going to call me. I must leave a message—”

General Scheider gripped her arm.

“Too late,” he smiled. “From this moment on you must think only of me.” And he guided her into the car. A moment later they were on their way.

Five minutes after General Scheider’s limousine drove away from the apartment building, a black Mercedes screeched to a stop in front of the building and Colonel Mueller and two other Gestapo men spilled out of the car. Colonel Mueller looked hurriedly up and down the street. “They’ve gone,” he said. The men sprinted into the lobby of Noelle’s apartment building and rang the concierge’s doorbell. The door opened and the concierge stood in the doorway, a startled expression on his face. “What—?” Colonel Mueller shoved him inside his small apartment.

“Fräulein Page!” he snapped. “Where is she?”

The concierge stared at him, panicky.

“She—she left,” he said.

“I know that, you stupid fool! I asked you where she went!”

The concierge shook his head helplessly. “I have no idea, Monsieur. I only know she left with an army officer.”

“Didn’t she tell you where she could be reached?”

“N—No, Monsieur. Mademoiselle Page does not confide in me.”

Colonel Mueller glared at the old man a moment and then turned on his heel.

“They can’t have gotten far,” he said to his men. “Contact all the roadblocks as fast as you can. Tell them that when General Scheider’s car arrives I want them to hold it and call me at once!”

Because of the hour military traffic was light, which
meant that there was virtually no traffic at all. General Scheider’s car swung onto the West Road that led out of Paris, passing Versailles. They drove through Mantes, Vernon, and Gaillon and in twenty-five minutes they were approaching the major arterial intersection that branched out into Vichy, Le Havre and the Côte d’Azur.

It seemed to Noelle that a miracle had happened. They were going to get out of Paris without being stopped. She should have known that even the Germans with all their efficiency would not be able to check every single road out of the city. And even as she thought it, out of the darkness ahead of them loomed a roadblock. Flashing red lights blinked from the center of the road, and in back of the lights a German Army lorry blocked the highway. On the side of the road were half a dozen German soldiers and two French police cars. A German Army lieutenant waved down the limousine and, as it came to a stop, he walked over to the driver.