When they had returned to the kitchen and were all seated around the table, Cronley stood up.
“This question is directed to Lieutenant Colonel Dickinson,” he said. “But I want anybody who knows something to chime in. Got it?”
There were nods and murmured “Yes, sir”s.
“Colonel, what do you think the chances are that hidden passages and/or rooms in the castle exist that we haven’t found?”
Dickinson, without hesitation, replied, “There’s absolutely no question in my mind that there are both. The larger question is, how to find access to them.”
“No question at all?” Cronley asked, genuinely surprised.
“None,” Dickinson said with finality.
“Can I ask why you’re so sure?”
“Castles, fortifications, have always fascinated me. Going back to my days in Boston.”
“What’s in Boston?”
“The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a dozen lesser schools.”
“Can you give us a little lecture?” Cronley asked.
“It will be a short one,” Dickinson said. “Okay. Starting with the idea that castles like Wewelsburg were built primarily for defense. Not like Buckingham Palace, for example, which was designed to let royalty live high on the hog.
“Because places like this were designed for war, they were always making changes to them. Making a wall thicker, for example. Or higher. So how do you make a wall higher or thicker, or both? You try, of course, to use the existing wall. But often that doesn’t work out. So you build a new wall. Where? Most often, inside the old wall. That leaves a space between the walls. Am I getting through?”
“You are, but keep talking,” Cronley replied.
“Okay, here you are, about to lay the first stone of the new wall. Your back is to the old wall. So where do you try to lay that stone? At a distance that will allow you to work comfortably when the new wall is, say, three feet tall. Two or three feet inside the old wall. So you lay the first couple of stones.
“And then you have a look. And realize that if the old wall is only three feet distant from the new wall, no one will be able to get past the stonemason. So you move those first stones to five feet and have a look and decide, what the hell, it won’t cost any more if I put the new wall ten feet away from the old wall. And that’s what you do.
“So when you get the new wall as tall, or taller, than the old wall, you connect them, and no one remembers there’s ten feet between the walls.” He paused and glanced around at everyone. “Still with me?”
Cronley said, “What about inside the castle? For example, you want to make two small rooms out of a big one.”
Dickinson nodded. “Think about it. You’re building a new wall. Same rules apply, except you may now be thinking of the space between the walls as a passageway. Get it?”
“Got it,” Cronley replied. “So how do you find these hidden walls or passageways—whatever they’re called?”
“The easiest way would be to look for them on the original plans for the castle. I don’t suppose they’ve survived the centuries, but a lot of work has been done here. Even partials would be helpful.”
“Maybe we could find some of those,” Colonel Cohen said.
“Johann Strauss,” Cronley blurted. “If we can find him, and put the fear of God in him, that would probably help us find the plans. And a lot else.”
Cohen met his eyes, and said, “Yeah, but that’s a big if. I’ve got my people looking for him. About the only thing we’ve learned is that there was no SS-Truppführer Johann Strauss anywhere near either Himmler’s or von Dietelburg’s offices in Berlin.”
“Okay,” Cronley said, “but he doesn’t know you’ve learned that. When he sees the activity around here, he’s likely to walk right in.”
“I’m not holding my breath,” Cohen said.
“Then tell your guys to look harder.”
“Actually, Super Spook,” Cohen said, thickly sarcastic, “that thought occurred to me.”
Cronley turned to Dickinson.