The Generals by Per Wahlöö Read Free Book Online

so if it’d been necessary. I think.
    Colonel Pigafetta
: That last comment was an important addition.
    Captain Schmidt
: Did Velder seem to you more undisciplined than the others in the group?
    Roth
: We—ell, he was full of life. Perhaps more so than the others; than me, for instance. But he was … I mean, I thought he was a good guy.
    Colonel Pigafetta
: Why did you leave the militia?
    Roth
: I wanted to do something useful. More useful, I mean. At the time, it looked as if the militia had done its job once and for all and could be dissolved, which was what was intended in the first place—except the personnel who saw to immigration control, ofcourse. The development work was in full swing. Oswaldsburg and Ludolfsport were being built up into large cities by our standards, and hotels and restaurants and casinos were springing up like mushrooms out of the ground round Marbella.
    Commander Kampenmann
: And the brothels. You forgot them.
    Roth
: Yes … but we didn’t see anything wrong with that then. Anyhow, all labour was wanted for production, for development. I was a farmer, and liked farming too. I could be most use there, I thought. At that time, the population was increasing at a rate of between eighty and a hundred people a day.
    Colonel Orbal
: Were you the person who caught Velder naked on the ground with a naked woman when he should have been on guard-duty.
    Roth
: Yes … but how …
    Colonel Orbal
: What do you mean … how?
    Roth
: I mean, I’ve never told anyone about that …
    Colonel Orbal
: What were Velder and that woman up to?
    Captain Schmidt
: Answer the colonel’s question.
    Roth
: Well, you know … the usual.
    Colonel Pigafetta
: Have you ever been in prison yourself?
    Roth
: Yes, I was interned for three months during the war … the disturbances, I mean. Then they wanted to send me to a political rehabilitation camp, but I managed to persuade them that I only minded about my farm and could be most use there. That was true, too. Farming here certainly isn’t what it used to be, and then it was even worse. Lots of mouths to feed and with all those half-finished factories …
    Colonel Orbal
: About that business on the beach …
    Major von Peters
: Cool off, for God’s sake, Mateo.
    Colonel Orbal
: What? Why do you sound so strange?
    Captain Schmidt
: No more questions.
    Lieutenant Brown
: Has the Defending Officer any questions?
    Captain Endicott
: Yes. My first question is: were there any service regulations for the militia?
    Roth
: No.
    Captain Endicott
: Did it often happen that other militiamen behaved in the same irresponsible manner, so to speak, as the accused?
    Roth
: Yes.
    Captain Endicott
: Were you punished?
    Roth
: No.
    Captain Endicott
: No more questions.
    Lieutenant Brown
: The witness may leave.
    Roth
: Goodbye.
    Colonel Pigafetta
: Endicott, I know you’re under orders to defend this man, but that doesn’t mean that you have to behave like some film or television hero. Be careful not to exaggerate.
    Major von Peters
: Thank God we’ve got rid of that swine. Christ, what an affair! How can such people be allowed to go free? In our country? I had to keep myself well in check. Hardly dared say a thing. If he’d answered me in that insolent way, I’d have shot the wretch on the spot.
    Captain Schmidt
: The question of how Velder became a soldier can now be considered to have been investigated. I am prepared to submit the first part of the case, which consists of thirty-two charges, to the court.
    Colonel Orbal
: That’s all right.
    Captain Schmidt
: No objections?
    Commander Kampenmann
: I have no objections to this part of the case being submitted to the court, but on the other hand there is just one detail I would like cleared up.
    Major von Peters
: You’re hellish on the spot today, Kampenmann. What is it now?
    Commander Kampenmann
: I have gone very thoroughly into the accused’s confessions to these thirty-two offences. What I want to know is, in