“For Christ’s sake, Tiny, out with it!” Cronley said, not very pleasantly.
“On the way down here, Hessinger and I talked about it.”
“So what did Freddy have to say?” Cronley demanded impatiently.
“Freddy said he thinks Wallace would really not only relieve you, but get you out of the DCI completely. He’s afraid to do that for a lot of reasons . . .”
“Such as?” Brewster asked.
“Cronley was appointed chief of DCI-Europe by the President. He’s close to El Jefe, and to Cletus Frade . . .”
“Who is?” Brewster asked.
“He was the Southern Cone—Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay—OSS chief of station,” Cronley said. “Now the same for DCI.”
“Where he handled—handles—the Argentine end of Operation Ost,” Dunwiddie said. “So, Freddy theorizes—”
“And who is Freddy?” Brewster asked.
“A younger version of Colonel Cohen,” Cronley said. “Now, for Christ’s sake, let Tiny finish.”
“Freddy thinks that Wallace thinks you’re really incompetent, a disaster—which would reflect on him—about to happen. That would get you out of DCI. His problem then is to have clean hands, so that when people come to your aid—including General Gehlen and probably General Greene—he can say, ‘Don’t blame me. When I suspected he was about to get in trouble in Nuremberg, I sent my deputy down there, my administrative chief, more Poles than he asked for, everything I could think of to keep him out of trouble.’
“Which also caused vacancies in what is now his DCI-Europe headquarters, which he can now fill with his old pals from the OSS,” Jackson said thoughtfully. “Very clever.”
“What does Colonel Wallace have against you, Mr. Cronley?” Brewster asked. “If you don’t mind the question.”
“I suspect he dislikes Cronley for the same reasons you do, Ken,” Jackson answered for him. “Cronley is much farther up the totem pole of power than someone of his years, in your opinion, should be. Worse, he’s usually very good at what he does. I think you should start to consider that both President Truman and Admiral Souers have put him where he is and are quite satisfied with his performance.”
Jesus H. Christ!
Brewster looked as if he had been slapped in the face.
“And so, Ken, from the little I’ve seen of him in action, so am I, with a few minor exceptions, quite satisfied with his performance.”
“And I guess you’re going to tell me about the exceptions. Right?” Cronley said, and then, having heard what had come out of his automatic mouth, quickly and very awkwardly added, “Mr. Justice, sir?”
“What you should keep in mind, Jim, is that you’re not very good at playing politics. You are, in fact, a babe in the woods in that regard. On the other hand, I’ve spent a great deal of time in Washington and painfully have learned the rules of the game. I’ve been giving your assignment here some thought. Would you be interested in hearing what I’ve been thinking?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You will not be able to conceal your purpose here from Chief Judge Biddle by saying you’re my public relations man. I wouldn’t be surprised if he already has heard who you really are and is mulling it over. The first thing I suspect he’s thinking is that the President sent you here to keep an eye on him, that I am complicit in that spying, and he’s deciding how he’s going to deal with it. And Chief Justice Biddle is a master of politics at the highest level.
“So, before he unsheathes his sword and swings it at your knees, we have to do something to prevent that. Would you be interested in hearing what my suggestions are?”
“Yes, sir. Of course.”
“The first thing I think you should do is fess up. You’re DCI and you’re here to protect the senior members of the American contingent at the Tribunal, which would of course mean both Chief Judge Biddle and myself.”
“How would I do that? Go see him and tell him that the President has sent me to provide security for him, too? I’d hate to lie . . .”
“And I don’t think that will be necessary. Would you like to hear what my suggestions are in that regard?”
“You tell me what to do, Mr. Justice, and I’ll do it.”
“Actually, it would be me doing something. Would you trust me to act on your behalf?”
“I’d be really grateful if you would, sir.”