The Nazi stiffened in his chair, and for a second his eyes went glassy, as though he had received a terrific punch on the nose.
"False teeth, false teeth!" he sputtered. Then slamming a clenched fist down on the desk, "So that was it? He had a hollowed-out false tooth!"
"Hand him the gold medal, Freddy," Dave said out of the corner of his mouth. "You're nearer than I am."
If General von Peiplow heard the remark it bounced off him like a pebble off a tin roof. He was shaking his head like a boxer getting up off the floor at the count of nine. For a moment or so Dave and Freddy could have been a thousand miles away for all the attention the Luftwaffe high ranker paid them. Presently, though, the muscles of his face ceased jitter-bugging around and he fixed them both with a brittle stare.
"So that swine did carry information back to England?" he said in a voice that promised death for those who had searched Colonel Trevor's dead brother's body. "That was the message you spoke of, eh? Well, I must thank you for mentioning it. Now, you will tell me what it said. Exactly how much did that swine find out?"
Dave shrugged and folded his arms across his chest. Freddy also shrugged and calmly scratched an imaginary mosquito bite on his right ankle. The corners of von Peiplow's mouth tightened slightly and his clasped hands whitened a bit at the knuckles.
"I have already said I admire you two as brave men," he said evenly. "And I have also said that courage can also be stupidity. You two are young. You have your whole lives before you. True, you are my prisoners, and I cannot permit you to return to England. However, I can make you very comfortable on this side of the English Channel. And I can give you my word that once Germany has won the war we will see that you are given high and most satisfactory positions in the Reich's commercial air industry. Now, would that not be better than ... than suffering tonight at the hands of Colonel Comstadt? Would that not be far better than perhaps not seeing tomorrow's sunrise?"
"It might rain tomorrow, and there wouldn't be any sunrise," Dave grunted.
Von Peiplow whistled air through his clenched teeth.
"A man is a fool to joke with death!" he bit off. "It is regrettable that you are but mere boys. But you have taken up arms against a Germany struggling to live, and so your young age cannot save you. You play at being grown men, and so you shall be treated as grown men. Answer my question or I will order Colonel Comstadt, and his men, to force the answer from your lips. How much does British Intelligence know?"