He lit a cigarette. ‘Now then, this is what I want you to do, Neil,’ he went on. ‘As soon as I have dropped through this window, I want you to open your door slightly and watch the corridor. When Keramikos comes out of his room, slip into Joe’s room. Don’t let Keramikos see you though. The window of Joe’s room faces the slittovia. Lean out and lob something heavy, like the water jug, down by the doorway of the machine-room. I’ll know then what margin of time I have. My tracks will be perfectly clear to him. I’ll take the slalom run down to Tre Croci. I’ll go straight across the pass on to the old Military Patrol route up to Tondi di Faloria. I’ll take him through what our boys used to call the “Gun Barrel”, and so down to the carabinieri post at Cortina. As soon as Keramikos leaves on my trail, I want you to drop on to the belvedere, get your skis out and make for the hotel at Tre Croci. Get on the phone then to Trieste — Major Musgrave of the Field Security Police. Tell him you’re speaking for me. He knows who I am. Tell him to send me as many men as he can from the nearest section by jeep. They’re to meet me at the carabinieri post in Cortina. Tell him as much as is necessary to impress on him the urgency of the matter. Make it clear to him that there’s a Nazi agent to be picked up. And they must come up by jeep. Tell him the snow is thick and they may not be able to get through in a larger vehicle.’ He stopped then and looked at me closely. ‘Now, are those instructions quite clear, Neil?’
I nodded. ‘Perfectly clear,’ I assured him. The thought of action had sobered me up.
But he wasn’t satisfied. He had me repeat them over to him. When I had finished, he lay back on the bed and drew a blanket over himself. ‘Now sit there and listen for the others to come tombed,’ he said. ‘Who’s still down there — Joe and Mayne? Right. Wake me half 199 an hour after the last of them has come to bed. And don’t fall asleep.’
‘I won’t, ‘I said.
‘One other thing,’ he added as he settled himself. ‘If you can’t get through to Trieste, try Udine or any town where we’ve got troops and persuade the garrison commander to take action. I don’t want Keramikos to slip through our ringers. He did us a lot of damage in Greece and he’s probably hand-in-glove with ELAS.’
‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘I’ll get through to someone.’
‘Good!’ he said. And within a few minutes he was asleep. He was like that — always able to sleep when he wanted to.
It must have been about half an hour later that Joe and Mayne came up together. They sounded talkative and drunk. Their footsteps stopped at the head of the stairs by Mayne’s door. It was Mayne who was talking and the touch of Irish brogue in his speech was more pronounced than usual. At length they wished each other good-night. Mayne’s door closed. Joe’s footsteps wavered along the corridor. He went into his room and I heard him sit down on his bed with a grunt. He remained there for some time. At length he began to move about again. Then the springs of the bed creaked. He grunted for a moment as he settled himself and then began to snore. I glanced at my watch. It was just after midnight.
I got up then and, unlocking the door, opened it a fraction. The naked electric light bulb burned in the corridor. The stairs were a dark pit. All was very silent.
I closed the door and sat down in my chair again. I began to feel sleepy. I kept on glancing at my watch. The minutes ticked by incredibly slowly.
But at last the half-hour was up and I woke Engles. He looked at his watch and was wide awake in the instant. ‘Thanks,’ he said and put on his windbreaker and gloves. Then he opened the little casement window and, supporting himself on a chair, began to wriggle through, feet first. When all but his head and shoulders were through and he was supporting himself on his elbows he said, ‘Stick by the telephone at Tre Croci, will you, Neil. I’ll ring you there as soon as I get into Cortina.’
‘I will,’ I said.‘Good luck!’
He nodded and dropped from sight.
I looked out of the window then and saw him sprawled in a drift of snow. He got to his feet and waded through the snow to one of the tables. He felt about in the snow and pulled out the pick he had dropped. He looked up then and raised his hand. His face looked white and set in the moonlight. He crossed the belvedere and disappeared from sight round the back of the hut.
I set my door ajar and looked down the length of the corridor. And at that moment Aldo popped his head out of Valdini’s old room. It shone baldly in the naked light. He looked like a clown as he peered quickly left and right along the corridor. Then he slipped out and vanished into the black void of the staircase on stockinged feet.
