Chapter 13
At dusk, Carl had noticed lamplight in several rooms on the south side of the old keep. The timing of those lights coincided with dressing for dinner and later getting ready for bed. Their entrance was along that wall. With luck, Carl could get to those rooms through a secret door. They had not entered it yet, but by lamplight they knew it led upward along the wall.
Near two in the morning, the Prussians rowed across to the keep and entered the old passage. With stealth, they carefully opened the first door they came to. It appeared to be a study. The hidden door in the inner walls paneling was light and did not creak as the agents had feared it would; a good sign.
The next door they came to had led to a bedchamber. It was empty, but showed to be in use by a woman–but which one? On the dresser, Carl found a brush with blonde hair in it. He smiled wolfishly. He had found what he wanted, but where was she?
The answer came a few moments later. Steps were heard on the hidden stairs as the men conferred. The agents scrambled for hiding places.
Nivens jumped into the wardrobe and Carl behind the dressing screen. Through the bent seam, he watched as a man and his prey entered the room from the passage. The man gave his paramour a lingering kiss, and shut the panel. Frau Fogg turned and slipped into her bed with a pleased smile on her face. Carl could not have been happier. After a good tumble, the woman would be tired and go to fall sleep quickly.
Half an hour later, the agent stood from his hiding place and approached the bed. He could kill her now without a sound. All Carl had to do was drop a pillow over her face. He picked up a lace covered pillow sham from the floor and was in the process of doing just that.
No. Phileas Fogg is close at hand.
He hesitated.
Von Kessler had ordered the woman dead, but he cared nothing about that. Carl wanted Fogg. There was a moment of indecision. He made up his mind.
Soundlessly, he opened the wardrobe where Nivens waited for his signal. Grabbing a scarf he found there, Carl went back to the bed and woke the woman with hands holding her arms and mouth, making sure she could not scream or struggle.
The men woke her and gagged her, finding another scarf to tie her hands.
Nivens was not happy with this change of plans and whispered his objections.
"I want Fogg!" Carl growled in German. "We will get him to come with us to the shore, and then kill them both!"
"Now Frau Fogg," Carl said in English, turning on the subdued woman. "You will follow us out of this room," he ordered, growling in her ear. "If you do not do exactly what we say, your lover will find your body in pieces on that dark stair! Am I understood?"
Jessica nodded.
"Now, lead us to Phileas Fogg's room."
Jessica moved forward with no illusions. They could kill her at any time, but they wanted Phileas, too. There might be a chance to get away once they had her in the open. Jessica prayed as hard as she could and let herself be led into the dark hall.