Curtain of Death (Clandestine Operations 3)

“Nine,” Wassermann replied. “Plus of course Major Wallace’s Twenty-seventh, and the Twenty-third.”

“‘Forwarded herewith are twelve sets of thirty-five-millimeter negatives each containing thirty-six images of persons suspected of being NKGB agents.’

“If possible, one of the shots should show Seven-K and an NKGB agent . . . for that matter, anyone walking close to her not in a U.S. Army uniform . . . in the same frame. But make sure there is one—only one—good shot of

her. Understood?”

Wassermann and Spurgeon said, “Understood,” on top of one another.

“‘Paragraph three,’” Cronley went on. “‘It is strongly recommended that these negatives be forwarded, immediately and with great care, to all eleven CIC detachments, in the hope that identification, or identifications, can be made.’”

“You left DCI out,” Spurgeon said.

“‘I’m the commanding officer of the Twenty-third CIC detachment,’” Cronley said. “Any other comments or objections?”

“That’ll solve the problem,” Mannberg said.

“I have a comment, if I may,” Wassermann said.

“Shoot,” Cronley said.

“Those that don’t think you have the experience, or the general makeup, to be running the DCI are dead fucking wrong.”

“I wish I could agree, but I don’t. Thanks anyway.”

“There are two colonels in this room, Cronley, who have been in this business since you were in short pants. Before either of us had even considered moles in our organizations, you did, and you came up with a very clever—and very detailed and workable—solution to that problem off the top of your head. I stand by my comment.”

“And I concur,” Mannberg said.

“If I’m so smart, why don’t I have a fucking clue how to get Mattingly back without swapping the Likharevs for him?”

“I would suggest, Jim,” Mannberg said, “that that problem is almost infinitely more complex.”

“Sir,” Spurgeon asked, “should I get started on this?”

Cronley answered for Wassermann: “Charley, do whatever you have to do to be back here at oh-six-thirty with everything in your hands. I want to get out of Schwechat as soon as we can in the morning.”

“Yes, sir, I understand.”

When he had gone, Wassermann said, “I now have a question. Why do you want Charley to carry the negatives to General Greene?”

“Because when General Greene has him standing tall and demanding to know what’s really going on with the negatives—and he will—Charley will tell him everything and Greene will believe him.”

Wassermann nodded his acceptance of the explanation.

“And now, although I would really like the whole bottle,” Cronley said, “I am going to have one small nip of Jack Daniel’s and then go to bed. I want to get back to Germany as quickly as I can. Maybe General Gehlen will have an idea what we should do now.”

[ FOUR ]

Kloster Grünau

Schollbrunn, Bavaria

American Zone of Occupation, Germany

0905 30 January 1946

Lieutenant Tom Winters and Kurt Schröder, who was now wearing ODs with triangles, walked up to the Storch as Cronley, Mannberg, and Spurgeon got out.