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“Yes, sir, but I am not sure—” He paused, trying to find the right words, then hesitantly went on: “I’m not sure you’re permitted to be here.”
Kappler’s eyebrows rose and his chest expanded.
“What the hell do you mean?” Kappler flared. “I have run this company almost as long as you are old!”
“But . . . but, Herr Kappler.”
“I put you in your job. I can replace you, too.”
“Yes, sir. Of course, sir. But you must have heard—”
“There is no but!” He pointed toward the door. “Get out of my office.”
Höss looked as if he might soil his shorts as he stammered, “You do understand that I will have to make inquiries.”
“Make all the damn inquiries you wish! I would suggest beginning with Reichsleiter Bormann himself!”
He went to his desk and opened the leather-bound address book there.
“Here,” Kappler went on, picking up the telephone receiver, “I will personally place the call to Marty for you.”
Kappler saw in the accountant’s face that the absolute last person he wanted to speak to—and very likely incur the wrath of—was Hitler’s personal secretary.
Kappler stood there for a long moment looking at Höss, then at the phone.
He appears to be terrified. Good.
I have won this battle . . . though with a bean counter it is not much of one.
This is someone who actually looks forward to long, dull hours of dealing with columns and numbers. He is unable to think beyond the obvious. And so ten seconds of human confrontation turns him to mush.
Now, I will give him a way to save face.
Kappler sighed audibly.
“Forgive me, Walter,” he said evenly. “You must understand that, having lost to the bombing all of my Ruhr Valley operations—all seven were washed away in the flooding—I am under a great deal of stress.”
Höss nodded.
“I heard. And I do understand, Herr Kappler—at least as much as I believe I am able. And I’m sorry. It is a great loss, for you and for the Fatherland. That must be disturbing.”
I wonder exactly how much he knows.
He knows that this company has been nationalized—but what about others?
And as far as I know, I didn’t lose all seven. Only five. Does he know otherwise?
Höss gestured at the telephone.
“That will not be necessary, Herr Kappler. Please accept my apology.”
Kappler returned the receiver to its cradle.
Höss suddenly looked relieved.
After a long moment, he asked, “Is there anything that I can do for you, Herr Kappler?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, Reichsleiter Bormann has asked for a report on our current operations. If you wish to be useful, I will need the last month’s production reports. All of them. As well as projections for the next six weeks—no, the next six months.”
