Chapter 15
Nigel Pemberton and Lizzie stepped out of the diplomatic car when the driver pulled up in the main square in front of the Federal Palace, which was proudly emblazoned with Swiss flags.
The white cross on red flapped against the building in the wind, and Lizzie was grateful that swastika flags didn’t confront her on this mission.
It was a welcome change, and good to see that Switzerland honoured its neutral pledge and didn’t succumb to Nazi pressure, at least in that respect.
‘This square is the Bundesplatz,’ Pemberton informed her after he asked if she was familiar with the financial district, and she said she hadn’t visited that part of the Old Town yet.
They walked beneath the sandstone arcades of the Bundesgasse, passing under the vaulted arches that protected pedestrians from the harsh elements.
It was only a short distance before Pemberton stopped outside the heavy door of a tall, regal building that gleamed with brass fittings and bore the gold lettering of Brunner the boy dressed in Swiss army uniform.
Bruner gestured towards a silver tray bearing a crystal decanter and glasses on a side table. His mouth curved into a smile. ‘May I offer you a glass of schnapps to warm your bones?’
They all sipped the cherry drink, and Lizzie felt the alcohol seep into her chest. It was a Swiss custom to drink schnapps, and she was growing used to it.
As she drained the glass, her eyes scanned the room, assessing her surroundings as she had been trained to do.
An expensive-looking oil painting of the Alpine landscape her apartment overlooked caught her attention, and she guessed it might conceal a safe, but Brunner could just be a lover of fine art.
The thought crossed her mind that the banker was fortunate the Nazis hadn’t ripped the valuable paintings off their walls like they had done in occupied Europe.
That must be one benefit of their official neutral position, although she imagined their collaboration with the Nazis bought them more credit than any pretence of neutrality could.
The meeting was to sign two commercial contracts—one was a straightforward agreement for a large currency exchange, which Lizzie checked and then answered Pemberton’s questions before both men signed with an equal flourish.
Next was a contract for Swiss pharmaceutical goods, and the payments were to be handled by Brunner he asked a few perfunctory questions, and then they signed that contract too.
Brunner was an amiable man, and Lizzie took a liking to him. He wasn’t dismissive of her as a woman like many men in powerful positions, and he acknowledged her politely and even remarked on her careful handling of the contracts.
Brunner addressed Pemberton, his tone friendly. ‘I see you have a diligent and capable translator. That’s not always easy to find.’
‘Indeed, thank you. Miss Gale has quickly become indispensable to the Legation.’
Lizzie smiled at the banker and thanked him for the compliment. Their eyes met for a second, and she wondered if he were trying to convey something to her, but Pemberton stood and made movements to leave, and the silent exchange passed.
By the time they left the building and crossed the main square, a flurry of snow whirled around them, and they hurried towards the diplomatic car that awaited them at the kerb.
‘Looks as though the weather is turning,’ Pemberton said as Lizzie shivered in the back seat and pulled her coat tighter around her.
For the rest of the day as she sat at her desk working, her mind sifted through possibilities of how she could find her way back into Brunner & Cie.
How might she forge a closer working relationship with the enigmatic Ernst Brunner?
A familiar feeling in her gut told her he was a man who could be ripe for turning.