'In 1940.'

'Yes.'

'Which makes him about seventy now,' Bradley observed. 'Yes.'

'Anything else?'

'Yes. This Wilson is very strange. According to Stoll, John Wilson

is a man obsessed. He cares for nothing but his work and has few

scruples when it comes to doing it. That is one obsession. There are

others.'

Pialowicz glanced around him, at the ruins of the church, saw

nothing that he hadn't lived with for a long time, so returned to the

subject.

'He does not smoke, does not drink, and claims that his exceptional

youthfulness is due to some kind of lifelong diet. Also, he is obsessed

with extending his life span and, according to Stoll, is convinced that

any kind of extreme emotionalism, such as love or s.e.xual pa.s.sion,

encourages the aging process. Regarding his own s.e.xual drives, he

claims to relieve them as functionally as humanly possible. And,

finally, while not sharing Heinrich Himmler's insane notions of an

Aryan Super Race, he certainly believes and is striving for the creation

of a race of geniuses, devoted to science of which he will naturally be

the leader. For that reason, he treats his own health and his work as the

base material for research, medical and scientific. In other words, he is

a man so objective, he is scarcely human at all... Very strange, yes?' 'Yes,' Bradley said. 'Very strange.'

He glanced back through the arched doorway of the annex and saw

other intelligence officers at other tables, interviewing other suspects,

collaborators, and allies. The sunlight outside was beaming in through

the stained-gla.s.s windows, which had remained unharmed, casting

striations of many colours over worn, hara.s.sed, and sometimes jubilant

faces. Big guns thundered in the distance and some people looked up.

The battle for Europe had moved on from this destroyed town and was

continuing elsewhere.

'So in 1940,' Bradley continued, 'Wilson was still located in

k.u.mmersdorf, south of Berlin. Do you know if he's still there?' 'No,' Pialowicz said, 'he is not. About three weeks ago Wilson's