What I have to do now, obviously, is get General Gehlen back to Kloster Grünau. The one thing I can’t afford is the FBI asking him questions.
Tiny will want to get his people settled, and then Kurt Schröder can fly him home.
No. What I have to do first is let Clete know about the goddamned FBI. Then I can get the hell out of Dodge.
—
“Sergeant Mitchell, let me at the keyboard, please,” Cronley said, and when Mitchell had, he sent:
PRIORITY
TOP SECRET LINDBERGH
DUPLICATION FORBIDDEN
FROM BEERMUG
VIA VINT HILL TANGO NET
1000 GREENWICH 5 NOVEMBER 1945
TO POLO
URGENT PASS FOLLOWING TO TEX IMMEDIATELY ON HIS ARRIVAL
1-AT LEAST SIX FBI APPEARED VIER JAHRESZEITEN 0800 THIS DATE LOOKING FOR ME. FAILED TO DO SO.
2-BELIEVE WALLACE HEADED TO TELL MATTINGLY.
3-DEPARTING NOW FOR VATICAN WITH GEHLEN.
4-ELEMENTS 10TH CAV HAVE TAKEN OVER SECURITY OF COMPOUND.
5-URGENTLY REQUEST QUICKEST DISPATCH OF HELP.
ALTARBOY
END
TOP SECRET LINDBERGH
XIII
[ ONE ]
Kloster Grünau
Schollbrunn, Bavaria
American Zone of Occupation, Germany
1205 5 November 1945
Staff Sergeant Harold Lewis Jr.’s jeep followed Cronley’s Storch down the runway when it landed. Lewis was waiting for him when he climbed out of it.
The first question Cronley put to him was had Lewis seen or heard from Major Harold Wallace.
Lewis said he had not.