1.

Late July 1977

Mid Morning

Nothing!

There was nothing at all!

‘There’s never anything worthwhile!‘ thought Chris as he stooped to read a small card pinned only centimetres from the bottom of the notice board.

He read the card to himself, then straightened to change places with a tiny woman, who glanced toward the card then shrugged at Chris who nodded his agreement.

Chris glanced back over his left shoulder and saw that the crowd at the counter had not visibly thinned out during the last half hour.   But at least he had already put in his card, unlike many of the people jostling for a place at the front of the counter.

‘All day!’ thought Chris.   ‘I’ll be here all day, waiting for a five minute interview.   How do they expect you to ever find work when they fool you around like this?’

Heinrich Himmler goose-stepped to the front of the room, picked up a green card from a wooden out tray upon a small table, a metre or so behind the counter, and called out:

“Smith?   Christopher Smith?”

“Over here,” called out Chris as he began to push his way through the thick crowd to reach the front of the counter.

Chris was marched down a long, thin aisle, which reminded him of the thin aisle between the pews at church.   ‘But this place is too depressing for a church,’ thought Chris.   ‘It’s more like a walk to the showers at Auschwitz!’

*      *      *

“Take a seat,” commanded Heinrich Himmler a few moments later, when they were hidden away from prying eyes, within the confines of the tiny interrogation booth.

He introduced himself as Allan Juchster; however, the reedy, effeminate voice did nothing to dispel the resemblance to Heinrich Himmler.

Chris realised that they were in the very last interrogation booth and wondered if “the people at the front counter, at the other end of the building, would be able to hear the screams it Juchster resorted to the third degree.

Most of the floor space in the booth was taken up by a small desk, piled high with note pads, card indexes, and other writing paraphernalia.   Seated the two men were close enough together so that their knees were almost touching.