"That's all I know about it," Peter said. "Why are you interested?"
"There's a story going around that for enough money, paid in Uruguay, you can ransom people out of concentration camps."
"Where'd you hear that?"
Clete held up hands, palms outward, to show that he didn't want to reveal his source.
"If they have twenty million in Uruguay, it could be ransom money."
"I don't believe it."
"Keep your ears open."
"You're serious about this, aren't you?" Peter asked, surprised.
"Yes, I am."
"I don't believe it," Peter said. "Not that they aren't capable of it morally; they are. Most of the SS would sell their mothers. But I just can't believe it could be done. The risks would be enormous."
"Unless it was being done by some very senior people, or under their au-thority," Clete said. "Does this guy Goltz fit those shoes?"
Peter looked thoughtful. "Von Lutzenberger told me he's the liaison be-tween Himmler and Bormann."
"I don't know what-"
"Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler runs just about everything in Ger-many connected with the SS, the police, the Gestapo, counterintelligence..."
"Including concentration camps?"
"Including, of course, concentration camps. Mart¡n Bormann is the Party Chancellor."
"What's that?"
"He runs the Nazi party. He's Hitler's private secretary. I don't mean he takes shorthand. It's half a dozen one way and six the other who is second in power to Hitler between them."
"I thought Goring was Hitler's Number Two."
"The last time I saw Der Grosse Hermann, he was wearing his uniform as Chief Hunter of the Reich, which included lederhosen-short leather pants- and a Robin Hood hat with a long feather...."
"You're kidding!"
Peter spread his hands to show the length of the feather.
"Not at all. And more makeup than Marlene Dietrich."
"In public?" Clete asked, not sure if he should believe Peter or not.
"I saw him dressed that way at his estate. Karin Hall. The Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe has the custom of inviting all pilots who earn anything more than the Iron Cross First Class for a weekend at Karin Hall, where, more often than not, he tries to get them in bed."
"He's homosexual?" Clete asked incredulously.
"You really are naive, aren't you?" Peter said. "Queer as he can be. And he's also a drug addict."
"And Hitler knows this?"
"Of course, which is why Goring is not Hitler's Number Two, no matter what is being put out for public consumption. Bormann and Himmler are swine, but they don't make themselves up like women, and, more important, they don't take drugs. Whatever else my F?hrer is, he's not a fool."
"You ever meet Hitler?"