Dan Fesperman - The Arms Maker of Berlin

“Phone your mother! And find me a fluorescent light, quick as you can!”

The devilish old goat, he thought. The damned troublemaker. Still provoking his old student with tricks and challenges, even after death. And thank God he had, or Berta would have gotten everything and run straight to Berlin with her treasure.

Nat could barely contain himself as they waited for Sabine. Bern-hard took him to the back office and switched on a fluorescent desk lamp. The three of them crowded around as Nat held the letter beneath the lamp.

His elation turned quickly to despair as rows of faint characters appeared. It was all numbers and hyphens.

“Well, damn.”

“What is it?” Sabine asked, sidling around for a better view.

“Another of his gags, I guess. See for yourself.”

Sabine gasped and clapped her hands to her cheeks. Then she giggled, sounding a little like the young woman she must have been.

“It’s our old book code,” she said. “I’d swear on it. Unfortunately, I no longer have the book.”

“The Invisible Hangman?” Nat asked. “By Wolf Schwertenbach?”

She put a hand to her heart and nodded, speechless.

“I have a copy upstairs. Your copy. Gordon left it for me. At least now I know why.”

He retrieved it with care and returned slowly down the stairs. With Sabine there to help, their efforts took on a ceremonial air, and he tried not to rush her. She sat at the desk with pencil in hand and a blank sheet of paper, ready to get started.

“It was how we always communicated from afar,” she said, “so that my father couldn’t read our messages.”

He handed her the book.

“We always used page 186.”

She thumbed to the right page, where the dried wildflower was lying in wait. She set the book down and looked away, blinking quickly.

“My old bookmark.” So faintly that he barely heard her. “The one I was using the day we met.”

She took a deep breath and swallowed hard. Then she showed Nat how the cipher worked, and it was blessedly simple. The message was a series of hyphenated numbers-12-09, 23–17, 05–11, etc. The first number in each couplet represented a line on page 186. The second stood for a letter on that line. Twelfth line-ninth letter, and so on. You couldn’t have cracked it without the book.

Sabine worked steadily, pausing only once to wipe away tears.

“I knew there would be memories,” she said, “but I never expected it would be quite like this. This was his gift to me, you know, his way of making sure I would remember him from his best days.”

Five minutes later she was finished. The message made it obvious that, for Nat, there was still more work to be done:

Go to gun shop address. Box stored in your name.

“Something new to figure out,” Sabine said. “I am sorry.”

“It’s okay. I know the address. It’s in Zurich. And, actually, all of this makes perfect sense.”

He wasn’t just being kind. Because even though Gordon was still having his fun, it struck Nat that this was the only way he could have kept the hiding place secure. It was a location that only he-not Berta, not Holland or the Iranians, and not any of Bauer’s old pals or minions-could have discovered. You had to have the book and the box, and, even more important, you needed Sabine’s trust. Even the blunder by Bernhard hadn’t come close to giving away Gordon’s last, best secret. The old man had constructed the perfect labyrinth, tailored for one.

And if Sabine had died before Nat found her? Well, in that case Gordon must not have thought the folders would still be worth finding. Nat figured their contents would soon tell him why.

He made plans to leave for Zurich first thing in the morning on an early train. Bernhard fetched a twenty-three-year-old bottle of champagne from the cellar so they could celebrate the discovery in style. When it was nearly empty, Nat retrieved Gordon’s box and showed them the odd assortment of items. The German officer’s hat took Bernhard by surprise, but not Sabine. She fingered the brim reverently.

“I never thought I would see this again,” she said.

“I was kind of hoping you’d know something about it.”

“He actually looked quite good in it, believe it or not. It was a little unnerving to see him in full uniform like that.”

“Gordon wore it?”

“For that terrible mission we went on.”

“You were with him?”

“Start to finish. A wartime infiltration across the border. All the way to Munich and back.”

Nat’s mouth dropped open. Bernhard’s, too.

“Mother, is this true?”

“Yes. An operation called Fleece.” She turned to Nat. “You’ll see. Or that’s my guess, once you have the documents you’re looking for. We can talk about it more then. I only hope you’ll be able to answer all my questions. Some of it I don’t even want to tell you, unless Gordon chooses to first.”

Nat wanted to know more, of course, but he respected her wishes. Soon enough, he supposed. They shared a simple dinner and another bottle. Then Nat went upstairs while Sabine lingered for a long talk with her son. Already the contents of the box had changed their lives. He wondered how Bernhard would feel about everything in the morning.

Nat slept soundly and woke early in a state of excitement. He shared a quick breakfast with a very quiet Bernhard.

“Your father was a great man, the best in his field,” Nat said.

Bernhard nodded, but said nothing in reply. Obviously this was going to take some getting used to. Nat packed his camera and tripod. He left his laptop and suitcase with Bernhard for safekeeping, but took along his empty laptop bag and set out for the Bahnhof. His spirits were high, but he was wary, and after only a block he began to sense he was being followed. Paranoia? Perhaps. The signs were small but disturbing. A face that seemed familiar, a lingering rearward presence that seemed to stop whenever he did.

On the train the sensation persisted. Averted eyes when he turned. A hastily raised newspaper. They were here-someone was, anyway-and he wasn’t sure he could shake them. Worse, he didn’t know whose side they were on.

He tried a few evasive measures as soon as he reached Zurich, ducking down alleys and into shops, speeding up and then slowing down. None of it seemed to do much good until, by chance, he spotted a place he remembered from one of the OSS documents he had seen in the National Archives. The name, Café William Tell, had stuck with him because Dulles had favored the location for its rear entrance-a door near the restrooms that led to a narrow alley out back. The alley in turn, emptied onto the next block.

Nat played it cool, taking a table and ordering a cappuccino and a croissant. Then he excused himself to the men’s room and ambled casually toward the back. Five minutes later he was free and clear, no one else in sight as he exited the alley one block over from the café. Had he lost them? Maybe. But it was the best he was likely to do. Two blocks later he stood at the door of Löwenstrasse 42, former location of the W Glaser Waffen Shop, the one advertised on the lid of Gordon’s wooden box.

The address was now home to a branch of Zürcher Bank AG, and Nat was among the day’s first customers. He went straight to the information desk, where a young woman in prim glasses and a navy business suit smiled and asked in English what she could do for him. The name-plate on her desk said she was Monique Binet.

Trying to act like he knew what he was doing, he handed her his passport.

“Good morning, Mademoiselle Binet. I am here to check on the contents of a safety deposit box.”

“Please, call me Monique. I shall check the status of your account.”

He held his breath while Monique made a few clicks on a mouse and typed in his name.