Chapter Thirty-eight

Elizabeth Scarlatti sat up in her bed. A card table had been placed at her side, and papers were strewn all over the immediate vicinity—the bed, the table, the entire walking area of the room. Some were in neat piles, others scattered. Some were clipped together and labeled by index cards; others discarded, ready for the trash basket.

It was four o’clock in the afternoon and she had left her room only once. That was to let in Janet and Matthew. She noted that they looked terrible; exhausted, ill, perhaps. She knew what had happened. The pressure had become too much for the government man. He had to break out, get relief. Now that he had, he would be better prepared for her proposal.

Elizabeth gave a final look at the pages she held in her hand.

So this was it! The picture was now clear, the background filled in.

She had said that the men of Zurich might have created an extraordinary strategy. She knew now that they had.

Had it not been so grotesquely evil she might have agreed with her son. She might have been proud of his part in it. Under the circumstances, she could only be terrified.

She wondered if Matthew Canfield would understand. No matter. It was now time for Zurich.

She got up from the bed, taking the pages with her, and went to the door.

Janet was at the desk writing letters. Canfield sat in a chair nervously reading a newspaper. Both were startled when Elizabeth walked into the room.

‘Do you have any knowledge of the Versailles treaty?’ she asked him. The restrictions, the reparations payments?’

‘As much as the average guy, I guess.’

‘Are you aware of the Dawes Plan? That wholly imperfect document?’

‘I thought it made the reparations livable with.’

‘Only temporarily. It was grasped at by the politicians who needed temporary solutions. Economically it’s a disaster. Nowhere does it give a final figure. If, at any time, a final figure is given, German industry—who pays the bill—might collapse.’

‘What’s your point?’

‘Bear with me a minute. I want you to understand… Do you realize who executes the Versailles treaty? Do you know whose voice is strongest in the decisions under the Dawes Plan? Who ultimately controls the internal economics of Germany?’

Canfield put the newspaper down on the floor. ‘Yes. Some committee.’

The Allied Controls Commission.’

‘What are you driving at?’ Canfield got out of his chair.

‘Just what you’re beginning to suspect. Three of the Zurich contingent are members of the Allied Controls Commission. The Versailles treaty is being executed by these men. Working together, the men of Zurich can literally manipulate the German economy. Leading industrialists from the major powers to the north, the west, and the south-west. Completed by the most powerful financiers within Germany itself. A wolf pack. They’ll make sure that the forces at work in Germany remain on a collision course. When the explosion takes place—as surely it must—they’ll be there to pick up the pieces. To complete this… master plan, they need only a political base of operation. Believe me when I tell you they’ve found it. With Adolf Hitler and his Nazis—With my son, Ulster Stewart Scarlett.’

‘My God!’ Canfield spoke quietly, staring at Elizabeth. He had not fully understood the details of her recital, but he recognized the implications.

‘It’s time for Switzerland, Mr. Canfield.’

He would ask his questions on the way.