"Another question," Canidy said.
"Why all the interest?"
"It would be enough," Muller replied dryly, "that the Reichsfiihrer-SS has showed his ass by not catching them long before this. And on top of that, our friend Eric used his knife on a Gestapo agent, which has the Gestapo in a rage.
And then he used it on Peis, the SS-SD commander in Marburg an der Lahn, which has the SS-SD upset."
"Tell me about 'pursuing the investigation with all diligence,"" Canidy said.
"After you round up 'all the usual suspects," which was done and which came up with nothing," Muller said, "you start to recheck things like travel permits, hospital admittances, and jails. When I got the teletype, I ordered that done. I don't know how long it will take them to check the Pecs jail, but it won't be long. If I was doing it... instead, I mean, of having to ask the Black Guard for their cooperation... I would have them by now."
Muller waited for that to sink in, and then went on,"If you've got some idea of getting them out of that jail, you had better do it now."
"Major Canidy has asked for a team of specialists," von HeurtenMitnitz said.
"The reason he's here is to arrange for a landing site."
"A landing site? You mean for parachutists?" Muller asked.
Canidy nodded.
"How long will that take? What's wrong with using the underground?"
Muller asked.
"The underground can't be involved in this," Canidy said.
"How long will it take to get your' specialists in here?"
"Forty-eight hours, maybe twenty-four, after we find a place to drop them," Canidy said.
"The story I get," Muller said, "is that there are parachutists dropping all over Yugoslavia and Hungary."
"This has to be kept separate from that," Canidy said.
"We may not have forty-eight hours," Muller said.
"We may not even have twenty-four." He looked at Canidy.
"If they catch Fulmar, he knows von HeurtenMitnitz and me. And, sooner or later, he would tell them everything he knows."
"And me," the Countess said.
"He knows me."
"We'll arrange to get you out," Canidy said.
"Von Heurten-Mitnitz's family would probably be all right if he disappeared," Muller went on, "and the Countess doesn't have anything to lose. But they would go after my mother and my brothers and sisters."
"Then the thing to do is get Eric and the professor out of the jail, isn't it?"
Canidy replied.
"Under the circumstances," Muller said, "I would say the thing to do is arrange for them to be shot while being arrested," Muller said.
"If they are to be shot, I'll make that decision," Canidy said.
"I really don't need your permission, Herr Major," Muller said.