Echoes in the Shadows

25

"No, you are wrong! — I came here precisely to find the Gestapo!" Klauberger's grip on the window frame suddenly relaxed, and he voluntarily stepped down from the windowsill. A heavy sofa cover, stirring up a cloud of dust, flew towards Tina's graceful bare figure. The Major's gaze once again became eerily calm and inscrutable.

"Just one question for you: those Gestapo agents, when they leave here, they don't need to get those damned vaccinations, right?" he asked.

"Of course not, especially since they are here on a mission..." Tina responded with a flirtatious smile, clearly uncomfortable with the rough texture of the sofa cover. However, Klauberger's hand firmly gripped the front of the cover, preventing her from shaking it off.

"So... please reserve this room for me!" Klauberger said and then released his grip, striding out of the room. As he closed the door, several large bills fluttered down onto the dark red velvet carpet.

"And... please be sure to dress yourself before I return."

After the chaotic noise, the object of Izell's desire was finally pulled out from the top attic of the building. A telegraph machine, a codebook, and a living, petrified telegraph operator were all laid out before Izell. A sense of inexplicable achievement enveloped him. Although this catch was a small fish compared to the British radio station he had previously uncovered, it was the last one – the last independent resistance group radio station in the Netherlands. By capturing it, he truly controlled the information flow in the Netherlands. Now, any information the Allies knew about the Netherlands was exactly what the Gestapo wanted them to know.

"Take him away," Izell gestured for his subordinates to take away his latest prize. His face was hidden under the low brim of his hat, making it impossible for others to see his expression, only the menacing skull badge on his cap shone ominously. As he descended the stairs, almost everyone, including the German soldiers seeking pleasure, instinctively avoided him. It was moments like these that Izell realized how terrifying his identity was to others.

Izell didn't enjoy the awkwardness of being watched by everyone as if he were the Grim Reaper, so he casually started a conversation with a subordinate to ease the tension.

"The guy was naive enough to think he could hide the transmitter here without being found."

"Yes, our radio direction-finding vehicles have been tracking this signal for a long time. But this guy was really cautious, never transmitting for more than a minute each time. Last time..."

His subordinate's words were cut off mid-sentence as someone suddenly moved against the flow of people, heading straight towards their group. While others were avoiding the Gestapo, the Gestapo agents were now scrambling away from this person.

"Sorry, but you'll have to postpone your radio direction-finding studies for a while. I need to borrow your esteemed First Assault Squad Captain for a moment."

Before the Aryan elites could react, their Captain Izell was already hoisted onto Klauberger's shoulder.

"Don't worry, it'll just be for a short while."

Klauberger, carrying the struggling Izell, walked calmly through the crowd, reminiscent of the past. No one came to the poor Izell's rescue, not out of fear of the heir to an imperial industrial dynasty, but simply because... anyone with a sense of justice knew that for someone who caused them to be robbed to the point of losing even their curtains, this treatment was not excessive. However, as colleagues, they silently prayed that when Izell was returned, all his ribs would still be intact. According to rumors, the list of items Klauberger had stolen was longer than a roll of Morse code paper...

So, everyone watched as Klauberger carried Izell upstairs and slammed the door shut with a "bang". The lobby once again plunged into astonishment and chaos. Some veterans in the Wehrmacht, familiar with Klauberger, immediately rushed to the door, willingly took their injections, and then scampered off to report back; the Gestapo agents on duty silently prayed that their colleague Izell wouldn't have his ribs dismantled by the curtain-less Klauberger; and many soldiers who were completely unaware of the true story eagerly speculated about the unbelievable scenes unfolding behind that door.