The Other Side of Midnight

"Drive on," General Scheider commanded.

And the car sped away into the night.

Slowly Noelle let her body relax into the seat, feeling the tension draining out of her. The crisis was past. She wished that she knew whether Israel Katz was in the trunk of the car. And if he was alive.

General Scheider turned to Noelle and she could feel the anger that was still seething in him.

"I apologize," he said, wearily. "This is a strange war. Sometim

es it is necessary to remind the Gestapo that wars are run by armies."

Noelle smiled up at him and put her arm through his. "And armies are run by generals."

"Exactly," he agreed. "Armies are run by generals. I am going to have to teach Colonel Mueller a lesson."

Ten minutes after General Scheider's car had left the roadblock, a phone call came in from Gestapo Headquarters, alerting them to be on the lookout for the car.

"It has already passed through," the lieutenant reported, a feeling of foreboding flooding through him. A moment later he was speaking with Colonel Mueller.

"How long ago?" the Gestapo officer asked softly.

"Ten minutes."

"Did you search his car?"

The lieutenant felt his bowels turn to water. "No, sir. The General would not permit--"

"Scheiss! Which way was he headed?"

The lieutenant swallowed. When he spoke again, it was in the hopeless voice of a man who knew that his future was finished.

"I am not certain," he replied. "This is a large crossroad here. He could have been going inland to Rouen or to the sea, to Le Havre."

"I want you to present yourself to Gestapo Headquarters at nine A.M. tomorrow. My office."

"Yes, sir," the lieutenant responded.

Savagely Colonel Mueller rang off. He turned to the two men at his side and said, "Le Havre. Get my car. We're going cockroach-hunting!"

The road to Le Havre winds along the Seine, through the beautiful Seine Valley with its rich hills and fertile farms. It was a clear, starlit night and the farmhouses in the distance were pools of light, like oases in the darkness.

In the comfortable back seat of the limousine Noelle and General Scheider talked. He told her about his wife and his children and how difficult marriage was for an army officer. Noelle listened sympathetically and told him how difficult a romantic life was for an actress. Each was aware that the conversation was a game, both of them keeping the talk on a superficial level that would give away no insights. Noelle did not for a moment underestimate the intelligence of the man sitting beside her, and she fully understood how dangerous was the adventure in which she was engaged. She knew that General Scheider was too clever to believe that she had suddenly found him irresistible, that he must suspect that she was after something. What Noelle was counting on was that she would be able to outmaneuver him in the game they were playing. The General touched only briefly on the war, but he said something that she remembered long afterward.

"The British are a strange race," he said. "In peacetime, they are impossible to manage, but in a crisis they are magnificent. The only time a British sailor is truly happy is when his ship is sinking."

They reached Le Havre in the small hours of the morning on their way to the village of Etratat.

"May we stop for a bite to eat?" Noelle asked. "I'm starved."

General Scheider nodded. "Of course, if you wish." He raised his voice. "Look for an all-night restaurant."

"I'm sure there's one by the pier," Noelle suggested. The captain obediently swung the car toward the waterfront. He stopped the car at the water's edge, where several cargo ships were tied to the pier. A block away a sign said, "Bistro."

The captain opened the door and Noelle got out, followed by General Scheider.

"It's probably open all night for the dock workers," Noelle said. She heard the sound of a motor and turned around. A cargo-loading forklift had driven up and stopped near the limousine. Two men wearing coveralls and long, visored caps that concealed their faces got out of the machine. One of the men looked hard at Noelle, then took out a tool kit and began to tighten the forklift. Noelle felt the muscles in her stomach constrict. She took General Scheider's arm and they started toward the restaurant. Noelle looked back at the chauffeur sitting behind the wheel.

"Wouldn't he like some coffee?" Noelle asked.