Original subtitles

I am the courier for Guenther, General.

Thank you for

calling Holcombe Associates.

Please hold.

You know of Holcroft's office?

Miss Wilson speaking.

Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Holcroft is on a

building site and can't be reached.

Mr. Holcroft?

Geneva, Switzerland calling.

They said it was urgent.

Mr. Holcroft?

Mr. Holcroft,

I am Ernst Manfredi.

We spoke on the phone yesterday.

Please sit down.

How good of you to make so long

a journey on such short notice and then

to agree to meet me in such an

unusual city.

Mr Manfredi, I have an excellent working relationship

with the Chase Manhattan Bank, but David Rockefeller

has never asked me to fly 4,000

miles to meet him on a ferry boat.

Really charming fellow, David, don't you agree?

You told me on the phone that you

had information for me that was so important

it would change the course of my life.

So I checked you out.

You are apparently a serious and highly respected

banker.

So I got on a plane, I am

here.

I have a ticket on the plane back

tonight, so if we could just get down

to business.

Mr Holcroft, what I have to tell you

concerns your father.

I'm speaking of your real father, General Henrik

Clausen.

I was afraid of that, Mr Manfredi.

I was 18 months old when my mother

and I left Germany.

I never knew Clausen.

I have never acknowledged him as my father.

He has nothing to do with me, my

mother, or my life.

Shall we stroll along the deck?

When one raises one's voice, one tends to

attract attention.

Nicely now, arm in arm, two old friends

chatting happily.

When you hear what I have to tell

you, you will understand the need for certain

precautions.

Why it would have been unwise, for example,

to meet at the bank.

May I ask, what do you actually know

about Clausen?

Is this necessary?

I'm afraid so, yes.

Well, his name was General Henrik Clausen.

He was a Nazi and a financial genius

who, with others, helped to make Hitler possible.

Now, that's all I know about him, and

that's more than I ever wanted to know.

Mr Holcroft, your father was a complicated man,

and the word complicated does not begin to

describe him.

I knew him slightly in those last terrible

days.

Yes, I was a young man, a Swiss,

a neutral, an apprentice in the bank.

And I knew your father because I was

once sent to meet him and bring him

to this same ferry where certain negotiations between

him and my own father were carried out.

Henrik Clausen was one of the generals who

had turned against Hitler.

He had become obsessed by guilt, by the

horrors that were being committed, horrors that he

himself had helped to bring about.

And he, in his own way, attempted to

make amends.

Monies were intercepted.

Their marquis was diverted.

Millions were stolen.

And a foundation was set up here in

Geneva, in the bank of which I am

now director, to help those whose lives had

been shattered, and their children, and their grandchildren.

What has this got to do with me?

Well, you, Clausen's only son, are to be

chairman of the foundation.

You will make all decisions concerning the disposition

of the funds.

Sorry.

I'm an architect, not a financial genius.

Give it to charity.

You may feel differently when you discover the

amount involved.

I doubt it.

Mr. Holcroft, I'm talking of you having absolute,

well, almost absolute control, of four and a

half billion dollars.

Four and a half billion?

Four and a half million, I can understand,

but four and a half billion?

Let me help you visualise the difference.

There are 60 seconds to the minute, 3

,600 seconds to one hour.

One million seconds is 12 days.

And, Mr. Holcroft, one billion seconds is 32

years.

You said almost complete control.

What does that mean?

Well, there are two other members on the

board, the eldest surviving children of Eric Kessler

and Willem van Tiebolt, your father's partners in

this most extraordinary endeavour.

Decisions concerning the disposition of money will be

made by you, in concert with them, but

you will be chairman and spokesman.

Well, why would I be the chairman?

I mean, why not one or the other

two?

By the time the covenant was drawn up,

your mother was in England, married to an

American, Richard Holcroft.

You are an American citizen above suspicion.

The others are children of Nazis.

Does my mother know about this?

She would have no way of knowing.

Now, the first thing to be done is

to trace the surviving children of Kessler and

van Tiebolt, and that will take time.

We have no idea where they are or

under what names they may be living.

I don't believe this.

But you want to.

Yes, I do.

A letter from your father, written to you

in the last days of the war.

An hour after it arrived in Geneva, your

father and his two comrades took their own

lives.

By the terms of the covenant, it could

not be opened until now.

You will notice the seals are unbroken.

Berlin, April 20th, 1945.

My son.

My only son.

It is hard to believe that I am

writing this to a man my own age.

A man I knew only as a baby

in his mother's arms.

I am writing to you in English, as

that is your native tongue.

As I write, my beloved Berlin is a

city of raging flames.

The Third Reich, which Kessler, Tiebolt and I

so mindlessly served, is dying.

Tell your mother, if she is still living,

that she was right.

And I was right.

Tell her that I, through you, am trying

to make amends.

But be warned.

By the time you receive this letter, there

will be people, perhaps groups of people, even

organisations not yet dreamed of, who will know

about the covenant and will try and stop

you by whatever means necessary.

Very well, sir.

You will need great courage as well as

great wisdom.

But I have faith.

I am your father.

You are my son.

However lacking I have been in wisdom.

History will, I hope, prove that I was

not without courage.

The Manfredis have been financial geniuses for generations.

Trust them and trust the sons of my

colleagues, Kessler and von Tiebolt, who join me

now in this, our journey to Valhalla.

Now it is time for you and the

sons of Kessler and von Tiebolt to begin

to repair the harm your fathers have done.

This is our covenant.

It is an honourable one.

It is an honourable thing I ask you

to do.

It is a dying wish of your father,

Heinrich Clausen.

Help!

Help!

What happened?

Now the world is full of lunatics shooting

at each other in the streets.

Can your driver take me to the airport?

There's one person I want to show this

to before I do anything else.

Come on, go.

Yes, yes, this is his handwriting.

But that doesn't mean that what it says

is true.

He always was a consummate liar.

I know that you want very much for

this to be true, don't you?

Well, there's something wrong there.

There's something very wrong.

Look, the money is right there in the

bank.

A huge sum, money that Clausen risked his

life to steal from the Nazis, to be

used to, what does he say, make amends.

No, I was married to the man.

I knew him inside out, and I tell

you, this miraculous change is impossible.

I can't believe it, I don't believe it.

All right, he was a sort of genius

in a way, but mad, a fanatic like

the rest of them.

He believed with all his heart that he

had helped build a thousand-year Reich.

Well, 40 years within a thousand, that's very

little, isn't it?

I beg you, have nothing whatever to do

with this.

What you're saying, Mother, just doesn't make sense.

There are four and a half billion dollars

in a Swiss bank, put there by my

father for me to use in any way

that I think to make amends.

But the others, von Tiewoldt and Kessler.

Tiewoldt was a Nazi, Kessler was a Nazi.

How do we know what their children are

like?

This document can't even be activated until I've

signed it.

And even after I do, no one can

spend a nickel unless I say so.

I am the chairman and the spokesman.

I mean, Kessler and von Tiewoldt are only

there as advisers, or unless I didn't reach

the age of 43, which I do seem

to have done.

Your job, you're an architect, administering four billion

dollars, well, that's a lifetime's job.

Well, that's not a bad way to spend

a lifetime either.

A man with that kind of money, he

can do a great amount of good.

And I do think that New York can

survive without another office building.

I know, I know I can't stop you.

I can only beg you with all my

heart.

That's right, Mother.

You can't stop me.

But I do love you.

So please don't try.

Please don't try.

Sorry, sir, you can't go in there.

Why not?

I live here.

May I have your name, please?

Holcroft, Noel Holcroft, Department 10-D.

Just wait a second, okay?

Mr. Holcroft?

Yeah.

Come on in.

I'm Lieutenant Miles.

You been out of town?

Out of the country.

I got back two hours ago.

I'm sorry, I realise you're pretty tired, but

a man's been murdered.

Now, I won't keep you a minute, but

do you happen to know someone called Peter

Baldwin?

Baldwin?

Peter Baldwin?

No, I don't.

You sure?

Absolutely.

Mm-hmm.

You don't have to do this, but would

you mind taking a look at the body?

You might recognise him without knowing his name.

How was he murdered?

He was garroted.

Very professional job.

You're in.

Bring dinner tonight.

Could I speak to Mr. Peter Baldwin, please?

He's in room 411.

One moment, please.

Sorry, Mr. Baldwin's checked out.

Mr. Holcroft, Sussman and...

Since you've obviously not returned, let me try

to explain on your damn machine.

For your own safety, we've been keeping track

of your movements.

There was a near thing on the ferry

this morning.

You must realise that you're in terrible danger.

Von Tebold's daughter, Heldin, is living in London.

It's vital that you meet with her.

My colleague, Leighton, will be waiting to meet

you in Trafalgar Square at Nelson's Column at

5 p.m. London time tomorrow and for

the next three days.

Do not look for him.

I repeat, do not look for him.

He will find you.

I will try to meet you tonight if

I can, but if anything goes wrong, destroy

this tape.

God damn it, Holcroft, this is Bernie Sussman.

Miss Wilson?

You must be exhausted.

No, I'm fine, fine, fine.

Would you...

Would you get me on the next plane

to London, please?

Mr. Leighton, we meet at last.

Naughty, naughty, Mr. Holcroft.

You mustn't speak to strangers, could be harmful

to the health.

You were told, I believe, not to look

for me, that I would find you.

In this business, strict attention to detail is

much the best policy.

Layton?

Exactly.

Commander Layton, British Military Intelligence, 5 Browns.

I'm sorry, Commander.

I'm so punchy, I've been on and off

of aeroplanes, but that other guy, I'm sure

I know him.

He's been following me, which is why I

assume he was you.

Assumption, Mr. Holcroft, is, as we say in

my profession, the mother of fuck-up.

He was on the Geneva Ferry, there was

a murder on the dock, and he rushed

past me, and he had blood on his

clothes.

Blood?

Yeah.

He's usually more fastidious.

His name in England is Beaumont.

He's one of the highest-paid hitmen in

the world.

Why don't you just pick him up?

Nothing would give me greater pleasure.

But a shootout in Trafalgar Square is something

that just isn't done.

Well, I think it's about time we're moving

on.

Miss Tennyson, an Eiffel T-bolt, is waiting,

and there are a lot of villainous characters

lurking about.

I'm glad to say most of them are

mine.

Shall we go?

Part Baldwin.

I gather you never actually met.

He was dead in the lobby when I

got there.

Poor Peter.

What a nuisance for you.

Oh, dear, oh, dear.

What a shocking business we're all in.

I'm not in any business.

I'm just here to...

Shh, shh, shh.

Front pew on the right.

I'm not a religious man myself, but if

I were you, I might just say a

small prayer.

And you could put in a word for

old Peter, if you like.

Oh, well, doesn't do to brood, does it?

Off you go, then.

Don't turn around.

What?

Don't turn around.

Don't speak for a moment, just listen.

These precautions may seem foolish to you, but

they are necessary, I promise you.

Listen, lady.

Three days ago, I was 40 storeys in

the air over New York in a gale

-force wind, hiding from an insane building contractor.

Let me tell you something.

I felt safer then than I do now.

So any precautions you want to take are

okay with me.

Next question.

I was going to ask if you were

American, but I think we've answered that already.

I'm a foreign-born American citizen.

My father was Heinrich Claussen, but my name

is Holcroft.

I am British.

My father was Wilhelm von Tebolt.

My name is Tennyson.

Did you know a man named Peter Baldwin?

No, but I know who he is.

You said, did I know?

Yeah, he's dead.

He was murdered.

Do you know anything about Manfredi and the

covenant that our father...

Peter Baldwin was murdered?

Yes.

Do you have any brothers or sisters?

I have an elder brother, Johan.

Murdered by whom?

I've no idea.

Johan is the one I should be talking

to.

How do I get in touch with him?

Peter Baldwin murdered, my God.

We cannot possibly talk here.

Well, this wasn't my idea.

Don't look at me.

This wasn't my idea, you know.

I don't usually meet people in churches.

I meet people in their offices or at

lunch.

Listen, I have to talk to you.

Can't we go somewhere else?

Let me buy you a drink or something.

It's all been arranged, but we cannot be

seen leaving together.

When I go, you get up casually.

Go out by the side door on the

left, go to the corner, turn right, you

will be met.

Do we really have to go through all

this?

There are people, very serious people, who think

so.

You will meet one of them tonight.

Mr. Horkoff.

Will you please come here and get in

the car?

Drive.

I'll tell you exactly where to go.

I beg your pardon?

That is the steering wheel.

D is for drive.

I don't drive a car.

What do you mean you don't drive?

Everybody drives.

Not if they live in New York.

There's no point.

The traffic's terrible.

You can't park.

Do you realise you're endangering our lives by

your incompetence?

Get out.

I have a friend who has a house

in the country that's supposed to be an

hour from 42nd Street.

A lie.

The only thing that's an hour from 42nd

Street is 43rd Street.

I apologise, Mr. Holcroft.

As I told you, my life is in

danger.

If Mrs. Helden, Mr. Leighton and others are

trying to protect me...

If you are in danger, and MI5 is

protecting you, how come they were dumb enough

to let you go off alone in a

car with me?

Suppose I turned out to be one of

the bad guys.

Let's just say it would have been a

terrible nuisance.

Oh, an excruciatingly uncomfortable journey.

We should get larger cars.

Or smaller agents.

Oh, well, all in a day's work.

Mustn't grumble.

Mustn't grumble.

Better?

Much.

Why don't we get in, Mr. Holcroft?

Herobost is waiting.

Who the hell is Herobost?

He's the head of the organisation I work

for.

He's longing to meet you.

Guten Abend, Herobost.

Good evening, Herobost.

May I introduce Mr. Holcroft?

My dear fellow, I really must apologise for

the way you were brought here.

But four and a half billion dollars, even

in these inflationary times, is a great deal

of money.

You'd be amazed how badly some people behave

when faced with just the concept of such

a sum.

So better safe than sorry, eh?

Good evening, Herobost.

Please, sit down.

Do you speak German?

No.

Of course not.

Why should you?

Herobost means colonel, which was not my rank.

It is a code name that we have

used for some years.

I see you have...

Here, Herobost, I am trying to stay calm.

But if somebody doesn't tell me why I

am here, what British intelligence...

Mr. Holcroft, let me be brief and to

the point.

You are here to reassure me that your

four and a half billions will not be

used for any purpose of which I disapprove.

As far as I know, the Covenant doesn't

say anything about a Mr. Oberst having to

countersign my checks.

And how the hell do you know about

all this, anyway?

Mr. Holcroft, do you honestly imagine that a

sum of money of that size could remain

undetected, even in a Swiss bank?

I assure you that the amount in the

trust of the last penny is known at

this moment to our Indian revenue, to your

IRS, to the Russians...

In any case, it is certainly not to

my organisation.

To enlighten you, sir, I am the head

of Wolfschanze.

It is our function to make sure the

horrors of the Third Reich are never repeated

again anywhere in the world.

I...

A Clausen, indulgent old man.

Convince me that you are not a member

of the Neo-Nazis, indeed, that you are

not their anointed leader, and that these vast

sums will not be spent to create a

Fourth Reich.

I don't believe this.

I do not believe what I am hearing.

My name is Noel Holcroft.

I am an architect.

I am a foreign-born American citizen, which

means that I can do anything over there

except become president.

You guys are as obsessed as my mother.

Convince me, please.

Tell, for example, how you plan to use

this money.

I don't have to tell you or anybody

else one goddamn thing!

But, my dear sir, you do.

You do.

Otherwise, I will kill you.

Tell me.

How will you spend the money?

Mr. Holcroft, I am a very serious man.

And you have a gun.

And it is pointed at me.

And you are certifiably insane.

But I must admit it does add a

certain urgency to the situation.

To begin with...

Hi.

Hi.

On my list of things that I am

not going to do with it is start

a new Nazi party.

I'm pretty sure on that one.

Neither am I going to finance a redesigned

Edsel or a Broadway musical or shave my

head and give it to the Moonies.

Could you please point that gun the other

way?

You are making me very nervous.

But it does wonders for your eloquence.

Continue.

Look, I'm supposed to use this money to

make reparations.

Well, now, that's pretty difficult to do on

an individual basis after all this time.

So what I'll probably do is endow medical

schools in Israel or in Poland, if they'll

let me.

I'll set up universities in Africa.

I don't know, you see.

I haven't had time to work out the

details.

I mean, for this kind of money, the

US government put 15 guys and a mashy

niblet on the Moon.

It's a six iron.

It's a very useful club.

Especially on a short par three.

Okay, right.

Now take it easy and do exactly as

I say.

What do you want us to do, Mr.

Holcroft?

Put your hands in the air.

I don't know, the usual things.

Some kind of Nazi, huh?

Got a gun and can't figure out what

to do with it.

I don't know about the Wulffshansa, Herr Oberst.

But Her Majesty's government is convinced that Mr.

Holcroft is not the new Führer.

Do give me the gun, Mr. Holcroft.

You'd be less used to humanity if in

a burst of boyish enthusiasm you accidentally shoot

off a toe.

Thank you.

I, too, am convinced.

Mr. Holcroft, you may go.

Miss Tennyson will drive you back to London.

Goodbye, Mr. Holcroft.

And my apologies.

Where are we?

What are you doing?

In Battersea, at the foot of the Albert

Bridge.

And I'm parking in a non-existent parking

space.

We get out here.

What?

You got an umbrella.

An umbrella?

Where would I get an umbrella?

Well, I don't know.

Men have umbrellas.

They carry them.

Well, this is Leighton's car.

He must have one.

Would you have a look in the boot?

The trunk.

It's open.

That's out there.

Yeah.

This umbrella's for the beach.

It's a golf umbrella.

Leighton's a scratch golfer.

He shot a sixty-eight at St. Andrews

once, or so he says.

Come on.

This is definitely not my game.

You know what I think, don't you?

I think I should get a gun.

There are a lot of crazy people about,

and they're all attracted to me.

Do you think that you or Oberst or

somebody could possibly get me a gun?

I'd get one myself, except I don't know

how to go about it.

All I want to do is to meet

your brother Jochen.

So when can I see him?

I don't know.

He's a journalist.

He writes brilliant but mysterious articles on international

finance for the Guardian.

He's the world's second foremost authority on the

price of the pound, whatever that means.

Actually, what it means is that he's not

easy to find.

Horcroft Bookshop.

Speaking.

Yes, this is she.

Who's that?

Herr Feldman.

Yes, of course.

I understand.

Yes, I understand exactly.

Yes.

Good.

But I still have a lot of business

to take care of, but then I'll take

the next flight.

I can be with you tomorrow afternoon, late

afternoon.

I'll be with you.

Yes, my son has to be stopped.

Of course.

Herr Oberst, the car's still here.

That means they've decided it's safe for you

to meet him.

Please, get in out of the rain.

It'll take me a few minutes to get

through.

And congratulations.

Seems you passed the test.

Test?

There was a test?

Yeah.

And I passed it?

Yeah.

What if I hadn't?

To use Mr. Leighton's phrase, it would have

been a terrible nuisance.

What kind of place is this?

It's a riding club.

Johan and I are members.

We had beautiful horses in South America when

we were children.

It was terrible having to give them up

when we came to England.

Come on, we'll find you some gear.

You do ride, don't you?

Miss Tennyson, it is 11.30 at night.

I do not go horseback riding at 11

.30 at night.

Nobody goes horseback riding at 11.30 at

night.

I just want to talk to your brother,

so tell him to get off the goddamn

horse.

And you know something?

It's funny.

I've always wanted to go horseback riding at

11.30 at night.

You have ridden before, haven't you?

Certainly.

Twice.

You sure this is the slowest horse they've

got?

Mr. Holcroft, welcome to London.

Mr. Holcroft, my brother Johan.

Listen, Johan, there's a gentleman in the bar.

He's been following me.

I've been told he is what they call

a hitman.

My dear sir, I must apologise for...

We've no time for good manners.

We've got to get out of here so

we can talk.

If we are being watched, and you're right,

it's safest to assume we are, may I

suggest we behave as naturally as possible?

May I suggest that it is extremely difficult

for a man in a grey flannel suit

to behave naturally while riding on a horse

in the middle of the night, waiting for

someone to shoot at him?

A sense of humour under pressure.

I appreciate that, Mr. Holcroft.

If I said something humorous, Mr. Tennyson, it's

purely unintentional.

I have never felt less humorous in my

life.

Shall we dismount?

I think perhaps you might be a bit

more comfortable.

It would be a stout.

Incidentally, the horses do provide excellent cover.

You're right, Mr. Holcroft.

We are in danger, and we do need

to talk.

I've known about the Covenant since I was

a child.

What I did not know was the amount

of money involved, nor who my two partners

were to be, though I was told that

one of them might be an American.

Now, tonight, Helden tells me that Kessler's son

is the third.

That makes absolute sense.

Shall we, uh...

walk the horses a little, cool them off?

Do you understand?

The reason why it makes such sense is

that Clausen, von Tibolt and Kessler were a

triumvirate.

Now, what we must discover is if Kessler's

son is still alive.

And if he is, where he's living and

under what name.

The best place to do that is the

Central Archives in Berlin.

You two should fly to Berlin tomorrow, but

travel separately, of course.

Separately?

Forgive me, Mr. Holcroft, but I've been on

the run and in hiding most of my

life.

I'm a little bit more experienced at this

than you are.

Do you, uh, remember the hotel on the

Falkenstein Strasse?

Schonbach.

Not the most fashionable place in the world,

but in the old days, we used it

as a safe house.

Helden will give you the address.

I'll make what enquiries I can here.

And then I'll call you.

It is absolutely imperative that you travel separately.

From what you were telling me, none of

us is safe until that covenant is signed.

Ja.

You should leave now.

There's a back way out, and Helden will

show you the way.

Ciao.

My shop!

Oh, no!

Dankeschön.

I'm sorry.

Liebchen, Elisabeth.

Oh, shit.

Ein Zimmer, bitte.

70 mit Handtuch, 80.

70 marks, 80, and we want a hand

towel.

Oh, uh, if we can afford a hand

towel.

Mit Handtuch.

Welcome to Berlin, Mr. Holcroft.

Homey.

Very homey.

I like it.

I really do.

Oh, the crumbling plaster, that's a nice touch.

And the mirror over the bed.

I sleep on that, right?

Right.

There must be a guide.

Don't answer it.

It is Johann.

You're in three times.

Hang up and call back in 60 seconds.

Oh, come on, Helden.

I swear to you, I promise you, these

precautions are necessary.

Do you think I love being dressed like

this?

Your life is in danger.

My life is in danger.

There are people who are actually trying to

kill us.

What's wrong with it?

Crumbling plaster is safe.

You noticed at the desk we didn't ask

to see our passports.

We're completely anonymous.

If that was Johann, he should be calling

back just about now.

Hello.

How good of you to call.

That means it's safe to talk.

You're joking.

You're not serious.

I will.

I will.

I'll call you back at 11 your time.

Three rings, 30 seconds, two rings.

Three rings, 30 seconds, two rings.

I mean, this is also...

Part of what we call the drill.

Now, you must remember that Johann and I

spent most of our lives in hiding.

When most girls my age are worried about

what to wear to parties, I was worried

about memorising the drill.

False names are used at all times, rooms

changed daily, hotels switched twice a week, phone

calls must be placed from outside booths, never

from rooms, never from residences.

Phone calls may be answered only by conforming

to a continuously changing, prearranged code.

When passing through airports, guns must be dismantled,

barrels separated from handles, firing pins removed, etc.,

etc.

On arrival, they are to be reassembled as

quickly as possible.

The gun you asked for, Mr. Holcroft.

And now, let me tell you what that

mysterious telephone call was all about.

We don't have to go to the archives.

Johann has tracked down Eric Kessler, and you'll

never guess who he is.

What a brilliant way to hide, just become

a world-famous public figure.

Is it this sensational?

I have his recording of this, but it's

so much better live.

Ladies and gentlemen, better, much better.

Maybe tonight, we can actually get it right.

Thank you.

Mr. Holcroft, Mr. Anderson.

That was magnificent, maestro.

Truly magnificent.

The sound of one Holcroft clapping, very gratifying,

sir.

Very gratifying.

Let me introduce myself.

Eugen Maas.

How do you do?

Splendid name for a conductor, don't you think?

I would have called myself Arturo Toscanini, but

alas, they already had one.

Anyway, I do not have the warm Italian

nature so necessary for the operas of Verdi.

Please, sit down.

Let me look at you both.

So you're really the daughter of von Tibolt

and the son of Clausen.

How wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

Forgive me.

I'm always slightly hyper after a rehearsal.

Also, as you see, I sweat like a

pig.

They say conductors live to enormous ages.

It comes from all the sweating and waving

the arms.

I hope they're right.

Crocodiles, on the other hand, live several hundred

years by doing absolutely nothing.

It's very hard to know what to believe

anymore.

This has been the most exciting 24 hours

of my life.

First, that call yesterday from Jonathan Tennyson of

the Guardian, a newspaper, incidentally, that has never

given me a decent review in my life,

except, of course, for the Beethoven cycle, bringing

me this most astonishing news.

I must confess it did not come as

a complete surprise.

My mother had over the years hinted to

me about it, but to be truthful, I

thought it was an old woman's fantasy.

So it is true, then.

It is all true.

It seems so.

However...

However.

Alas, there is always a however.

Tell me about this however.

Well, there are people, quite a few of

them, apparently, who would like to stop me,

and probably you and Johan, from signing the

papers and putting it all in motion.

My mother is against it, because she thinks

it's all some evil plot of my father's.

And a man named Oberst, he's against it.

He'll marshal Falkenhayn.

What?

A man named Falkenhayn?

He's against it because he thinks that it's

the neo-Nazis, or whoever they are, he

thinks that they are grooming me as a

new Hitler.

Now, I know it's nuts, absolutely nuts, but

there has been some honest-to-God danger.

People have been killed.

Two in Geneva and one in New York.

Herr Maas, or Herr Kessler, what shall I

call you?

Please, call me Eric.

Eric, this has all happened so fast, but

look, that money has been sitting there for

40 years.

It can certainly sit there a little longer.

Now, we have no idea what is going

on, but we do know that something is

very, very wrong.

And I don't think anyone should do anything

or sign anything until we find out what

is actually happening.

I think that everything should be delayed.

Take six months or a year just thinking

and planning and getting the best possible advice.

Leave it where it is, so that we

can all spend some time getting to know

each other.

And finally, I think that Helden and I

should get the next plane back to London

and talk to Johan again.

You are right, but at least you should

stop and catch your breath.

Why not come to the concert tonight?

I start with the Schubert you just heard,

then a rather daring leave into Bartok, and

to restore order, I will finish with some

soothing Brahms.

Thank you, Eric.

I'd love that.

Please, do come.

And if you should doze off, Schubert taken

subliminally is better than no Schubert at all.

Ulrich.

Ulrich will take you out the stage door.

And you don't have a car?

No.

I'll find you a taxi.

Mr. Holcroft.

Mr. Henderson.

Helden.

No, I wouldn't embrace you.

Not until I've had a shower.

I'm beginning to offend even myself.

See you this evening.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

I'm dancing on air.

You made me a very happy genius.

Idiot.

Pounder.

Four people, a high-powered motor car, and

a bomb.

And you can't deal with one tottering old

lady.

Now, as I feared, he is beginning to

become a problem.

If he had handled his mother, tonight's adventure

would not have been necessary.

However, one word of advice.

Don't fail again.

Don't

fail

again.

What is that?

What's going on?

He's spoken for.

Sorry.

Hi, sir.

My name is Fritzl.

Oh, look, it's Fritzl.

Who?

Fritzl, the nice young man who's acting as

if he knows us.

Where are your manners?

Hello, Fritzl.

Hello.

Oh, I only do this for a living.

What I really want to do is direct

films.

Oh!

Mr. Holkoff, you'll get us both killed.

I'm Hartman.

I'm on your side.

Get back to the hotel.

This is no concern of yours.

It's not easy keeping you alive, Mr. Holkoff.

What have you got here?

A nine-millimetre Browning.

At least let me show you how to

use it.

You're not going to shoot anyone with this.

You've got the return spring in wrong.

Now it's fixed.

Have you seen a man and a woman?

Many, many times.

No!

Down there.

I'll go here.

No!

No!

Get down!

He's dead.

Are you all right?

We've got to get out of here.

The hotel.

No!

No!

Oh, please, no.

No!

Holkoff.

No!

No.

No.

It's all right.

It's all right.

I'm sorry, Helen.

I was having a nightmare.

I dreamt that...

I wasn't dreaming, was I?

I just killed a man, didn't I?

I mean...

It really did just happen.

You were

very brave.

He was trying to kill us and you

saved our lives.

Very brave.

Very wonderful.

I love you.

I really love you.

I've never met a man like you before.

So kind.

So brave.

So crazy.

So wonderful.

No.

Make love to me.

Is that him?

Yes.

You sure?

Yes, it's him.

Johan!

I am a fool.

I was sure Berlin was safe.

The cover was perfect and I've got no

idea how it was blown.

But now you can see how imperative it

is that the covenant is signed at once.

Yes.

Four people were killed tonight and my sister's

life was in danger.

With four billion dollars we can hunt down

these criminals, these fanatics, whoever they are.

I've not...

fought and run and hidden all this time

just to have something happen to Helden now.

Johan, should we be standing out here in

the open like this?

The Brandenburg Gate is one of the most

heavily guarded places in the world.

Merwin's talk quickly.

You met with Kessler?

Yes, this afternoon.

Good.

Now, the banker, can he be trusted?

Manfredi, I think so.

My mother thinks so.

What about Oberst?

On no account.

He's mad.

He's still fighting some obscure and stupid war

of his own.

Now, we must trust no one except ourselves.

Just you, Kessler, me and of course Helden.

And we must get to Geneva at once.

We can take a plane tonight.

No, no, no, the airport's not safe.

Now, I suggest that you and Helden drive

to Geneva, taking the back roads as much

as possible.

I'll go by train.

Kessler has Jürgen Maas.

He's almost untouchable.

Call him on a public phone and tell

him to take a plane to Geneva and

meet us there in, say, three days.

We'll stay at separate hotels.

I'll stay at the Royale.

I'll be there on Wednesday afternoon.

Helden can meet me there at six exactly.

Then she can tell me anything I have

to know and I can relay any message

that I have for you.

The three of us must not talk on

the telephone.

Call Manfredi and tell him we will meet

and sign the covenant on Thursday at 11.

And know...

Yes, sir?

Just one thing.

I must know.

I must believe that you are truly and

seriously committed, are you?

I killed a man tonight.

In that case, we have another common bond.

I, too, was forced to kill someone a

long time ago in South America.

We're brothers.

We are truly brothers.

Damn Heinrich Klose!

Damn!

I hope he's twisting and turning in some

special hell of it.

Didn't he do enough harm while he was

alive?

Does he have to ruin my son's life

from the grave?

Try, please, to be calm.

The question is, do you think you can

persuade your son not to sign?

How can I do that?

How do I know?

There's someone somewhere who thinks you can.

Otherwise, why yesterday's attempt on your life?

You know about that?

I wasn't going to tell you.

It was horrible.

My bookshop in ruins.

I should have stayed, of course, but...

If my son's life is in danger...

It was you.

It was your man who saved my life.

Field Marshal, you're a marvel.

No wonder I was in love with you

when I was a child.

You were very beautiful.

But like all young girls in those days,

insane for uniforms.

I can't even think about it.

My only excuse is that I was 17

when I married Clausen.

And he was so handsome and terrifying in

his black uniform.

And I was flattered by the attentions of

someone so exalted.

Where's my son now?

Yesterday he was in Berlin with von Tiebold's

daughter.

There was a gun battle in the street.

Four men died.

It is possible that your son killed one

or more of them.

My son.

Thank you.

Where is he now?

A huge

Mercedes behind us.

It's been following us for the past three

miles.

Now it's starting to close in.

Probably just another Sunday driver.

But on the other hand, as it is

Tuesday, why don't you put your foot on

the gas and see what happens?

Don't any of you bastards speak English?

I thought English was the international language.

I thought you all learned it in the

goddamn first grade.

Ah, Mr. Holcroft.

That's for you, you bastard!

No, Mr. Holcroft, not to worry.

Everything can be explained.

And please do not attempt anything too vividly

cinematic.

Lee, thank God it's you.

I don't blame you for being distraught.

Such a ghastly night for you.

And of course, for poor Hartman.

I don't suppose there's any whisky about?

Then you'd have no way of knowing, would

you?

The Germans, Mr. Holcroft, are such illiterate people.

When I radioed for them to stop you

and detain you until I arrived, I had

no idea they would turn it into the

last act to go to Damero.

If there is any whisky, it would be

in here.

In the locked cabinet, no doubt.

Very mean about drink, the Germans.

Worse than the English, really.

Shall we go?

How the hell did you find us?

Tip from the professional, Mr. Holcroft.

When you want to disappear, best not rent

automobiles with credit cards.

I tried to pay credit...

Why did you want to stop us, Lee?

I wouldn't have done it if it weren't

important.

Hey, Oberst wants to see you.

Just a minute.

He has a guest, Mr. Holcroft, who's flown

all the way from America to talk to

you.

My mother?

Oh, that's absolutely impossible.

No, we have to be in Geneva.

You know I have to be at Johann's

hotel room tomorrow at six.

It's no bad thing for you to travel

separately.

I'll spit at Mr. Holcroft back to England.

You take the car, continue on to Geneva.

We'll join you there tomorrow.

Now, just fetch your cases out of the

car.

If we hurry, we can meet England in

time for tea.

Good afternoon.

Jonathan Tennyson from the Guardian.

I wonder if I might have a word

with Herr Oberst.

Herr Oberst does not see journalists.

Well, I think perhaps if you mention my

name, it might change his mind.

What was your name?

Tennyson.

The Ponte board boy?

Were you expecting him?

No.

Do you know him?

No.

But I know about him.

Two years ago, when we heard rumours of

the Covenant, we recruited his sister, an intelligent,

honest girl, useful.

When we need a pretty face, she worships

her brother and talks freely about him.

She has no idea we are using her

to monitor his movements.

We should get one of those in colour.

I would have had to talk to him

sooner or later.

It is good that he is here.

A handsome boy.

I loathe his father.

Despicable man.

For all I know, the son is exactly

what he seems.

On the other hand...

Mr. Tennyson, please come in.

Herr Oberst, forgive my bursting in uninvited.

And during your luncheon, too.

Perhaps I should take a walk in the

garden until you're done.

Please.

Your sister is a member of the family,

so to speak.

Therefore, so are you.

This is Altheen Hallcraft.

Altheen, may I present Jonathan Tennyson.

Mr. Tennyson, I knew your father.

A thousand years ago.

So you're Noel's mother.

What a pleasure.

Do you know my son?

We just met, but...

We're going to be good friends, I know

it.

We went riding together the other night.

Riding?

Horseback riding?

With my sister.

He was a little nervous at first, but

he enjoyed it.

I think we'll have him jumping in no

time.

Frau Clausen, I can't tell you how pleased

I am that you're here.

Well, I'm pleased that you're pleased, but I'm

not Frau Clausen, I'm Mrs. Hallcraft.

Please, please do sit down.

I'm sorry I interrupted.

Frau Clausen, Feltmutter, do you find it warm

in here?

Warm?

Yes, I find it very warm in here.

Almost, um, almost unbearably warm in here.

Far too warm, I think, for a thick,

heavy blanket on your knees.

You seem rather full.

Why are you

here?

It has come to my attention that both

of you disapprove of Noel Hallcraft signing the

covenant.

And that you're prepared to do anything in

your happily limited power to stop him.

Hmm.

Potato salad is excellent.

Did you make it, Frau Clausen?

It was delicious.

Just a hint of tarragon.

Hmm?

No wonder Noel loves his mummy.

Just keep your nasty, trembling, liver-spotted hands

away from those buttons.

And in your lap, where they belong, there's

a good Feltmarshal.

Frau Clausen, do not move.

And do not speak.

Now to business.

Unfortunately, the covenant cannot be activated without Noel's

signature.

And sanity will, as scheduled, eleven o'clock

on Thursday morning.

After which he, like yourselves, will become redundant.

I wonder, you disgusting, redundant old man, how

many other people know about the list?

Frau Clausen, what about you?

Do you understand what is going on?

Or are you merely acting upon some perverse

form of woman's intuition?

I knew it would come to this.

Clausen, I knew him.

You thought you knew him.

But did you understand how much he hated

you?

Hated you for leaving him, for taking his

son.

No.

Can you imagine a hate so strong that

it can wait years for revenge?

A man so filled with hate that he

would sacrifice the life of his only son.

What?

What do you hope to achieve?

Ah, Frau Clausen.

Like my father, I am an idealist.

Like my father, I too dream of a

better world.

It's been forty years since Nuremberg.

Forty years of so-called enlightenment and democracy.

And what has it accomplished?

Mr. Truman drops atomic bombs on women and

children and it is my father who is

posthumously a judge to the war criminal.

At the altar, with a sweep of a

pen, a senile president condemns a third of

the world to communism.

Europe, with the zeal of a missionary gone

mad, hands over the wealth and resources of

Africa to savages who have barely learned to

beat a drum.

Then you give them tanks and arms to

replace their bows and arrows and when your

deep freezers arrive, they use them to store

their fallen enemies till Sunday dinner.

I have the grace not to mention Vietnam.

All over your brave new democratic world, inflation

spirals as literacy drops.

And in America?

In America, they vote for law and order

whilst shooting down presidents, school children and rock

stars in the streets.

You see, the world must not be run

by the frightened and the ignorant and the

weak.

And because of my father and because of

Kessler and because of Clausen, it will not

be much longer.

The list?

The list that you were both so apparently

interested in?

Oh, it does exist.

I have it here in my pocket.

It's an ordinary list, a list that any

journalist might carry.

A list of a thousand names.

But the right thousand names.

A thousand names that will change the world.

You bastard.

Let's see who signed that visitor's book.

I thought he was in Berlin on his

way to Geneva.

What about Heldin?

She's supposed to be seeing him at six

tomorrow.

Tell her about the murder, but not the

murderer.

I doubt if she'll be able to go

through with it.

Why?

I don't understand why.

The list.

Oberst knew about the list.

The list?

What list?

There's a man being murdered here and you,

the British government...

Easy, easy.

In the first place, I'm not the British

government.

I am no more MI5 than you are.

I worked for Oberst.

More or less the same line of business

as the late Mr Beaumont.

More often than not, he's lying.

You must go to Geneva as scheduled.

And you must face the bastard.

When the covenant is signed, I'll kill him,

of course.

Or you can, if you like.

I like.

It's open.

Johan, you're wonderful.

And as usual, you were right.

He is whimpering for his mother like the

child he is who will sign tomorrow without

question.

They suspect nothing?

Nothing.

Take me in your arms and say the

words.

Please, Johan, say the words.

Helga, my love, my sister, my

spouse.

I slept with him.

I had to.

But I pretended it was you.

My love.

My love.

My brother.

My spouse.

I can only conclude he has the list

on his person.

Carries it with him at all times, that

sort of thing.

We've searched everywhere else.

It could be in a bank vault somewhere,

I suppose.

It's unlikely.

Here, drink this.

A touch of the giant killer.

She's there risking her life with that murderer

and there's not one damn thing I can

do.

By this time tomorrow, the covenant will be

signed.

It would be a terrible nuisance if the

fuckers found out.

Who is it?

It's me, Helga.

Come in.

Hello, Lee.

Are you all right?

You told him about...

He was shocked.

Genuinely shocked.

He never really trusted her over us, but

something like this...

And he was heart sick about your mother.

He sends you all his love and wishes

you courage.

I described the scene the way you described

it to me.

The bodies, even that horrible business with the

dog.

He wept.

I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

We all need a little time.

What is it, Miss Starcroft?

Never mention

the dog.

I see.

Eleven o'clock.

A historic moment.

I wish my father were here with us

today.

A wish, a dream, a heroic dream dreamed

40 years ago in a city in flames

is about to become reality.

Mr. Manfredi.

Yes, Mr. Von Tebot.

If we could perhaps proceed with the signing.

Well, forgive me, Mr. Von Tebot, but this

is an occasion of sentimental importance to me.

You see, my father...

It is a great moment for all of

us, sir.

Great moment indeed.

But I have a concert tonight.

I'm playing the Mahler.

Ah, the Mahler.

Yes.

Champagne.

Gentlemen, you're right.

Let's proceed.

Mr. Von Tebot, if you would be kind

enough to sign at the bottom of this

page.

To our father, Wilhelm Von Tebot.

To my father, Erich Kessler.

No toast, no.

To my father, Heinrich Claussen.

Miss Von Tebot, gentlemen, the Covenant.

The Covenant.

Wait a minute.

What the hell is all this?

I called a press conference.

Did I forget to tell you?

Forgive me, Noel, but I think this is

a grave mistake.

We've made no plans.

We've formulated no statements.

But surely, Johann, as a journalist, you would

defend to the death the public's right to

know.

Well, of course.

Of course.

But until we have something to announce, all

this is grotesque.

It's premature.

And it must be stopped.

What are you saying?

I don't know.

I am good with the press.

I will tell you a few words about

humanity and hungry children.

Then we'll be posted together for some photographs

and go about our business.

Great applause.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

My name is Noel Holcroft and my father

was General Heinrich Clausen.

I have an extremely important announcement to make.

This morning, a covenant which was drawn up

in the last days of the war by

Heinrich Clausen, Erich Kessler and Wilhelm von Tybold

was signed by their three oldest sons, Jonathan

Tennyson, Jürgen Maas, and myself.

A sum of money has been handed to

us which over the years has grown into

four and a half billion dollars.

Four and a half billion.

Dollars.

Can you explain how the money is to

be used, sir?

Yes, I can.

It is to be used by the three

of us to carry out our father's wishes.

He's doing very nicely.

He has their attention.

You moron, can't you see what he's doing?

Can't you see he knows?

He knows nothing.

I swear, he knows nothing.

He lied all his life and now he

is lying from the grave.

What I signed this morning was not just

a covenant but my own death warrant.

Two days ago my mother was murdered because

of this document.

Six other people have been killed and the

only reason that I am here with you

this morning is because I couldn't be killed

until I signed this document.

And now that I have if I could

be conveniently taken care of then the true

wishes of Clausen, Kessler and von Tebold a

plan that my father so brilliantly conceived 40

years ago can be carried out.

Yes, I tell it.

Wait, wait, hold it, hold it.

It's a wonderful idea gloriously simple to consolidate

every terrorist group in the world into one

cohesive overwhelming force in order to create international

crises and political chaos.

With four and a half billion dollars behind

them and working under inspired leadership my God,

they could blow up ten airliners a week

assassinate any world leader anywhere turn any religion,

race, colour or creed against each other start

bloody riots in any city at any time

until suddenly the world is reduced to a

state of anarchy and panic ready to accept

a strong new leader who can restore order

and take command and that new leader has

already been chosen.

I will tell you He, Johan van Teeboog

has been trained for this job since childhood.

He also has in his possession names and

contacts for every terrorist leader in the world.

Johan, if you do something foolish now it's

the end of us the end of everything.

This is the list.

This is what all the killing has been

about.

With four and a half billion dollars behind

them and working under inspired leadership they could

blow up ten airliners a week assassinate any

world leader anywhere turn classes, religions, colours, races

and creeds against each other and start bloody

riots in any city and cause riots in

any city at any time.

Oh God, turn it off please I can't

watch.

Everything's going to be alright now, isn't it?

Tell me everything's going to be alright.

Everything is going to be alright.

And different too.

I love you very much.

Maybe we could get married.

You don't have to, of course I mean...

Was that part of the plan?

For us to get married?

It's hardly a plan.

I've only known you less than a week.

It would have been nice though.

Would have?

While it lasted.

How long would it have lasted?

Six months?

A year maybe?

Five years would have been safer but you

couldn't have kept your people in line that

long.

What are you talking about?

And how was it to have happened?

A heart attack I suppose.

Peacefully in my sleep or on the street.

The gear is wonderfully sophisticated these days.

A man is accidentally poked with an umbrella

in a crowded subway two hours later he

has a massive coronary heart attack and dies.

Was that the plan?

Did you really think it was going to

be as simple as that?

No, I...

Did you think I didn't know that kidnapping

was faked?

When we made love did you think that

I thought you really meant it?

Yes.

Did you honestly believe that I was in

love with you?

Yes.

Well, you were right.

I didn't know.

But then last night you told me yourself.

The dog.

I knew it as I said it.

As the words came out of my mouth.

The worst part of it is I was

in love with you.

I still am.

Noel, if that's true maybe...

You're not going to shoot anybody with this.

I did the same thing to the return

spring as you did when you gave it

to me in Berlin.

Now it works.

No.

No.

No.