W. IV - Honor Bound 05 - The Honor of Spies

He picked up and took a healthy bite from a jelly-filled roll sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.

"Or one of these," he said. He paused. "Except, of course, here in Argentina." He took another bite of the roll, and when he had finished swallowing, said, "Erich, a moment before, you referred to Frau von Tresmarck as a whore."

"Isn't she?" Raschner replied.

"There are some things about her you didn't need to know. Until now. Were either of you aware that she is the widow of a distinguished brother officer of ours?"

He looked between them and, after both had shaken their heads, he said, "Obersturmbannfuhrer Erich Kolbermann, of the Waffen-SS, gave his life for the Fatherland in the east, shortly before von Paulus surrendered the Sixth Army at Stalingrad. You were not aware of this?"

Again, both shook their heads.

Like schoolboys, he thought, who don't have any idea how to spell "potassium."

"Well, we didn't take advertisements in the newspapers, for obvious reasons, to remind people of this, but shortly after the death of her husband, the then Frau Kolbermann came to work for the Sicherheitsdienst. She mined the bars at the Hotel Adlon, the Hotel Am Zoo, and elsewhere, for matters of interest to us. She was quite good at it.

"And then when Obergruppenfuhrer Heydrich--I presume both of you know it was Reinhardt Heydrich's idea that the confidential fund be set up--"

This time Cranz nodded, and Raschner said, "I always thought it was Reichsfuhrer Himmler."

"It was Heydrich," von Deitzberg said. "And he gave me the responsibility of administering the program. We eventually realized we needed someone trustworthy to handle things in Uruguay. The obergruppenfuhrer thought that von Tresmarck was a likely choice; he was intelligent, he spoke Spanish, and he didn't want to go to Sachsenhausen wearing a pink triangle.

"But who was to watch von Tresmarck? The obergruppenfuhrer was familiar with Frau Kolbermann's work for the Sicherheitsdienst and suggested that it might be appropriate duty for her. Von Tresmarck needed a wife--we didn't want his sexual proclivities drawing attention to him--and who could better remind him of that than a 'wife' he knew was working for the Sicherheitsdienst? She could also keep an eye on the ambassador, on Hauptsturmfuhrer Forster, and, frankly, on the people in the embassy here."

He paused, chuckled, and said, "I'm sure you will be delighted to hear that Frau von Tresmarck had only flattering things to tell me about your performance of duty."

He paused again, then went on: "So when I came here this time, I naturally went to Montevideo and looked up Frau von Tresmarck. Before I told her the confidential fund operation was to be shut down, I received her report on how it was going.

"She told me two interesting things: first, that von Tresmarck had a gentleman friend, a Uruguayan, and second, that at the recommendation of this friend, he had begun to invest the confidential fund's money in Paraguay. He--they--were then in fact in Paraguay doing just that. Von Tresmarck was under orders not to leave Uruguay without my specific permission.

"That was, of course, all the justification I needed to eliminate him, and his gentleman friend, and assume responsibility for the fund myself--I'll get into that in a moment.

"But then I realized that once our associates in the Fatherland heard about this, they would be worrying about their share of the fund's assets. And the more people who talked about the fund, especially in my absence, the greater the chance the talk would come to the attention of Reichsfuhrer-SS Himmler.

"But what if, I asked myself, what if von Tresmarck and his gentleman friend disappeared, a la the Froggers, taking with them just about all of the fund's assets?

"That would nip in the bud any questions about their share of the fund's assets on the part of our associates. The assets would have disappeared. They would know that I was hot on the trail of von Tresmarck to get them back. That would be the best they could hope for under the circumstances."

"You have taken care of von Tresmarck, Herr Brigadefuhrer?" Cranz asked.

"If you use my rank again, Cranz, or my name, I will be obliged to decide that you are unreliable and will have to be 'taken care of,' " von Deitzberg said.

"I sincerely apologize, Senor Schenck," Cranz said.

"To answer your question: Von Tresmarck, his gentleman friend, and about two hundred fifty thousand pounds sterling have disappeared. I wouldn't be surprised if they were in Paraguay. When I have time I will look into that. It is highly unlikely that either will ever return to Montevideo--or, frankly, that I will find them when I eventually go looking for them.

"I have assumed control of the former confidential fund and its assets. . . ."

"Excuse me, Senor Schenck," Raschner interrupted. "'Former confidential fund'?"

"It is now 'Operation Adler,' " von Deitzberg said. "The purpose of which is to provide a safe nest for SS officers here in South America should--God forbid!--the Final Victory not come as we all hope it will, and we have to protect our brother officers from the savage revenge of the godless Communists."

"You're going to tell them about this?" Cranz asked.

"I don't think so, Karl," von Deitzberg said. "They're all very busy defending the Fatherland. For example, according to the radio station in Montevideo, the SS was deeply involved in destroying the port and railroad facilities of Naples to deny their use to the American Fifth Army, which moved into the city on second October."

"And we are going to use the assets of Operation Adler for the benefit of our brother officers?" Cranz asked.

"Precisely," von Deitzberg said. "If that becomes necessary, and presuming that they can get out of Germany and make their way here. I've been thinking that it would only be fair if we were paid a compensation--say, twenty-five percent of all assets--for our management services. What we are going to do is essentially a smaller version of Operation Phoenix. Strictly for the SS."

"Twenty-five percent seems reasonable to me," Cranz agreed.

"May I ask questions, Senor Schenck?" Raschner asked.

"Of course, Erich."

"When will you be returning to the Fatherland?"

"Well, I just don't know. The Fuhrer--among other tasks he has assigned to me--wants to be sure that all parts of Operation Phoenix are in place. I can see where that will take a good deal of time.

"As will locating and eliminating the Froggers--which, as I'm sure you will agree, now is even more important, as those swine know much too much about the former confidential fund.

"And then there is the problem of destroying these new aircraft, which is compounded by the fact that I don't know where they are, what they look like, or have even seen a picture of one of them."

"They're actually quite impressive aircraft," Cranz said. "Von Wachtstein managed to arrange a tour through his mother-in-law, and he told me--"

"Ah, yes, Baron von Wachtstein," von Deitzberg interrupted. "The lucky fellow doesn't have to worry about what happens to him after the war, does he? As soon as he gets out of the POW cage, he just comes 'home' to his wife's Argentine estancia."

"That thought has occurred to me," Cranz said.

"You were saying, Karl?"

"The aircraft, which von Wachtstein says are magnificent . . ."

"I wonder if that language falls into the category of defeatism," von Deitzberg asked.

"I'd say it was a professional judgment," Cranz said. "Ambassador von Lutzenberger told him to find out as much as he could about the airplanes."

"Where did you say they are?"

"They're based outside Buenos Aires, on an airfield near Moron that Frade built and then named after the late Oberst Frade. They're under the guard of what I've come to think of as 'Frade's Private Army.' They're all former soldiers of the Oberst's cavalry regiment."