“The reason he’s not locked up waiting to be hung,” Niedermeyer said, “is that he’s not a war criminal. Quite the opposite. He was involved in the bomb plot that failed to take out Hitler. And other failed schemes to get rid of Der Führer. The SS didn’t learn that until the war was almost over. If the SS had found him then, he would have been on the Flossenbürg gallows with Admiral Canaris.”
“I knew the Russians really wanted him, but I didn’t know about the SS,” Holzknecht said. “I’m glad to hear it. I always professionally admired, and personally liked, Reinhard Gehlen. The next time you see him, please give him my regards.”
“I will.”
“Now what’s your interest in 71 Cobenzlgasse?” Holzknecht asked.
“We’re trying to find von Dietelburg,” Wasserman said.
“And you think he might be there?”
“It’s unlikely but possible,” Cronley said.
“What would that sonofabitch be doing in Grinzing?”
“The Reithoffer woman lives there.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“She was von Dietelburg’s Schatzi.”
“You’re kidding? Olga Reithoffer was von Dietelburg’s ballerina?”
“She was,” Niedermeyer said.
“How the hell did I miss that?” Holzknecht said.
“You’ve been looking at her?” Wangermann asked.
“For the past three weeks I’ve had my people in that closed-for-the-winter Heuriger taking pictures of 71 Cobenzlgasse and Fraülein Reithoffer.”
“Why?”
“Because of her relationship with Colonel Gus Genetti.”
“Who the hell is he?” Cronley asked.
“He’s the U.S. Forces Austria troop information officer.”
“I don’t understand,” Cronley said. “She’s his Schatzi?”
“Maybe more than that. Give me a minute. Von Dietelburg and Odessa having a connection never entered my mind before just now.”
“While you’re thinking, throw Castle Wewelsburg and Himmler’s new religion into the mix,” Cronley said. “Von Dietelburg is a high priest in that.”
“I already knew that,” Holzknecht said. “But I am impressed that you do, Captain Strasbourger. Let me finish my thinking.”
That took him just over a minute.
“Okay. Starting with basics. During the war, there was the Axis. Germany, Italy, and Japan. Forget the Nipponese. Here it was Germany—which then included Austria—and Italy. The Italians surrendered during the war. The Allies said Italy was liberated. After Germany surrendered, Austria again became more or less a free country, in which the Allies—Russia, England, France, and the U.S.—stationed troops. But we—Austria—were also declared liberated. I never understood that,
but that’s the way it is.”
“Where are you going with this, Bruno?” Wasserman asked.
“There is also Trieste,” Holzknecht went on. “For centuries it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Then Mussolini grabbed it. At the end of the war, Tito and the Yugoslavs moved in. The Germans refused to surrender to anybody but the Allies because the Yugoslavs habitually shot POWs. So the Allies sent in New Zealanders, to whom the Germans surrendered as promised. The New Zealanders promptly turned over Trieste to Tito and company, who promptly began to shoot anyone they suspected might not be a Communist. This offended the Americans. The British said they didn’t want the problem all to themselves, the Americans had to be involved. Result: Trieste is now occupied by the Brits and the Americans. The Americans sent in a reinforced infantry regiment and named it Trieste United States Troops, acronym TRUST.”
“Fascinating, but so what?” Wangermann asked.