Strange Conflict by Dennis Wheatley Read Free Book Online

are fully awake the next morning barely one out of ten thousand is conscious of the meeting. However, you will readily appreciate that if lovers can meet on the astral while the bodies they inhabit in the daytime are sleeping thousand of miles apart, there is nothing to prevent enemy agents also doing so.’
    â€˜God bless my soul!’ Sir Pellinore suddenly sat forward. ‘Are you suggesting that if a German agent in England had certain information he could go to sleep, report in a dream to some damn’d Gestapo feller who was asleep in Germany, and that if the Gestapo feller was a dream-rememberer he could wake up with the information in his head the following morning?’
    â€˜Exactly,’ said the Duke quietly.
    â€˜But, man alive, that’d be a terrible thing! It’s toofrightful to contemplate. No, no; I don’t want to be rude or anything of that kind, and I’m quite sure you’re not deliberately trying to make a fool of me, but honestly, my dear feller, I just don’t believe it.’
    De Richleau shrugged. ‘There are plenty of people in London who will support my contention; and if I am not greatly mistaken, here comes one of them.’
    As he was speaking there had been a soft rap on the door and his manservant, Max, now appeared, to murmur: ‘Excellency, Mr. Simon Aron has called and wishes to know if you will receive him.’
    â€˜Ask him to come in, Max,’ the Duke replied, and turned to Sir Pellinore with a smile. ‘This is one of my old friends of whom we were speaking earlier in the evening.’
    Max had thrown the door open and Simon stood upon the threshold, smiling a little diffidently. He was a thin, slightly built man of middle height, with black hair, a rather receding chin, a great beak of a nose and dark, restless, intelligent eyes. As he came forward the Duke introduced him to Sir Pellinore and the two shook hands.
    â€˜Delighted to meet you,’ boomed Sir Pellinore. ‘At one time or another I’ve heard quite a lot about you as one of the people who accompanied de Richleau on some of his famous exploits.’
    Simon wriggled his bird-like head in a little nervous gesture and smiled.’ ‘Fraid I can’t claim much credit for that. The others did all the exciting stuff; I don’t—er—really care much about adventures.’ He glanced swiftly at the Duke, and went on: ‘I do hope I’m not interrupting. Just thought I’d look in—make certain that you hadn’t been bombed.’
    â€˜Thank you, Simon. That was most kind of you, but I didn’t know that you were given to wandering about London at night while the blitzkrieg is in progress?’
    â€˜Ner.’ Simon stooped his head towards his hand to cover a somewhat sheepish grin, as he uttered the curious negative that he sometimes used. ‘As a matter of fact, I’m not—much too careful of myself; but it occurred to me about half an hour ago that I hadn’t seen you for a week, so when I’d finished my rubber at bridge I jumped into a taxi and came along.’
    â€˜Good! Help yourself to a drink.’ De Richleau motioned towards the side-table and, as Simon picked up the brandydecanter, went on: ‘We were talking about occult matters and debating whether it was possible for a German agent in Britain to transmit intelligence to a colleague in Germany by a conversation on the astral plane while both of them were sleeping. What do you think?’
    Simon jerked his head in assent. ‘Um—I should say that it was perfectly possible.’
    Sir Pellinore looked at him a little suspiciously. ‘I take it, sir, that you’re a believer in all this occult stuff?’
    â€˜Um,’ Simon nodded again. ‘If it hadn’t been for the Duke I might have lost something more precious than my reason through monkeying with the occult some years ago.’
    De Richleau smiled. ‘Naturally