The Dardanelles Conspiracy by Alan Bardos (you can read anyone txt) 📕

‘I told you, these things take care of themselves, Breitner.’ Pichler laughed. 'After all that fuss you made about a scrap of paper.'

‘I suppose you’ve been wasting your time looking for the champagne?’ Von Grubber giggled, ‘When you could have been doing something to help with the ambassador’s reception.’

‘He’s certainly worked himself up into a state, look at him,’ Pichler commented and let out a yelp of glee.

‘As a matter of fact, Baron von Grubber, my time has not been completely wasted. There was another matter that I’ve discovered, connected to the missing champagne which I would like to bring to your attention.' Breitner tried to order his thoughts into an argument which von Grubber might understand.

‘While reviewing the records at the German Embassy, I discovered that the person who took the champagne was an Englishman of my acquaintance. Whom I believe to be in Constantinople clandestinely.’

‘And just how do you know that.’ Von Grubber asked annoyed, Breitner was over complicating his day.

‘He signed for the champagne.’

‘With his own name! Really Her Breitner is this the best the cream of the so-called Intelligence Bureau can come up with?’ von Grubber raised a pained eyebrow at Pichler and they both yelped.

‘Might I see the note from the officer?’ Breitner asked.

‘Oh, very well.’ Von Grubber flapped his hand towards his desk. Breitner snatched the note up. It had been signed by a Captain Adolphus Brauer.

‘This officer must know Swift, or why else would he have sent the champagne?’

‘Herr Breitner we have entertained this ridiculous charade of yours long enough. Either the strain of your duties have become too much, or you have invented this whole fantasy to get out of doing any work. Either way I no longer wish to be bothered with it. Now I believe your assistance is required in the preparations for the Ambassador’s reception which is why I summoned you here.’

Chapter 25

‘Captain Adolphus Brauer?’ Breitner asked a rather large officer of the German artillery, who was about to take a bite from a Bratwurst. He stopped and regarded Breitner with a cheerful smile.

‘Yes, that is me, how may I be of service?’

‘I am Major Laszlo Breitner, currently attached to the Austro-Hungarian Embassy.’

Brauer stood up and clicked his heels together. ‘Won’t you join me, sir?

The captain pulled out a chair at his table and Breitner sat down. ‘I hear you are leaving for the Dardanelles?’

‘I am to be a battery commander at Fort Anadolu Hamidiye 1 – right in the firing line… So the condemned man is eating a hearty last meal!’ Brauer laughed and signalled to a waiter. ‘Would you care for anything sir?’

‘No thank you. I’m here on behalf of the Embassy to offer our thanks for your gracious note and the replacing of the champagne.’ Breitner said glancing at his watch he didn’t have much time.

Brauer looked bewildered and laughed. ‘Of course I signed the note. Think nothing of it my dear fellow. We wanted to settle all matters of honour before we left. You must have gone to a lot of trouble to find me.’

‘Not at all, I’m on good terms with a clerk at your embassy who was able to find where you had been billeted.’ Breitner took a bottle of schnapps from his pocket. ‘Something to help aid your journey, Captain Brauer.’

The Captain beamed, ‘Please call me Dolly. That is most kind.’

‘You said “we”, might I ask who else I need to convey our thanks too?’ Breitner tried to disguise his tension with a forced smile.

‘Oh, I’m afraid you’ve missed my good friend Lieutenant Kurt Wirbelauer, he’s already left. The other person, well I suppose you should thank him, he paid for the champagne, is Ernst von Jager. A diplomatic courier of rather questionable integrity.’

Breitner nodded solemnly not giving away the excitement he felt, ‘And where might I find this individual?’

‘Well right here, he’s taken a room at this hotel.’

Johann Strauss’s ‘Voices of Spring’ accompanied Breitner as he navigated his way through the Austrian Ambassador’s reception. The jaunty waltz did little to calm the strained atmosphere of the occasion. All around him was talk of the impending Armageddon at the hands of the Allied armada.

Breitner skirted around General Liman von Sanders who was chatting amiably with von Pallavicini, the Austrian Ambassador. Sigmund Stolz was at the General’s side and Breitner gave him a curt bow.

Breitner found von Grubber holding court with a group of officials from the Embassy. They were maintaining a discreet distance from the Ambassador. Giving the impression that they were at hand, should they be needed to fulfil some minor but essential function for the continued success of the reception.

‘Excuse me Excellency, might I trouble you for a moment?’

Von Grubber’s eyes flashed irritation. ‘What is it Breitner, can’t you see I’m busy?’

‘Johnny Swift the British spy we were discussing, I’ve found him.’

‘What the hell do I care about such things, there are hundreds of spies in Constantinople and you could have found all of them for all the good it will do. What’s important is maintaining a cordial relationship within the alliance.’

‘I agree Excellency, but if…’

‘Breitner, first thing Monday morning we will need to discuss a change in your duties,’ von Grubber said and turned his back on him.

Breitner walked away from the fool in a half-hearted attempt to hide his contempt and caught a glimpse of Esther Weisz. It was the first time that he had laid eyes on her since refusing to renew their engagement. She was exquisite in a flowing pearl gown that perfectly complimented her flawless complexion. To drive the stake further into his heart, the orchestra struck up Brahms’s Hungarian Dance Number 4. The sweeping vibrant music dragged him back to the time when he’d allowed himself to