The Honor of Spies

"But another idea had occurred to me when I learned that--like rats leaving a sinking ship--the Froggers had deserted their post in Buenos Aires.

"I asked myself, What if Werner disappeared? What if he disappeared as soon as he learned I was back in South America? If you hadn't been off with Ramon in Paraguay, I'm sure that someone in Buenos Aires would have told you I was here. And I wondered, What if Werner disappeared, taking all the confidential special fund assets with him?

"The downside to that would be that when I made that report, there are those who would say--in the presence of the Reichsfuhrer-SS if they could arrange that--that they knew something like that would happen. 'You simply cannot trust a homosexual; they think like women.'

"The upside to that would be--since you had absconded with them--no confidential special fund assets for me to account for."

Von Tresmarck looked at von Deitzberg in utter confusion.

"You take my point, Werner?" von Deitzberg asked.

"I . . . uh . . . don't think I quite understand, Herr Brig . . . Mein Herr."

"It took Hauptsturmfuhrer Forster about five seconds to appreciate the benefits of your disappearance in these circumstances: We not only need no longer to transfer large amounts of cash to Germany, but since you and the assets have disappeared, no one will be clamoring for their share of the real estate, et cetera, here. And that's presuming any of them actually manage to get out of Germany and to South America. Are you beginning to understand, Werner?"

Von Tresmarck nodded.

"The plan hinges on your disappearance," von Deitzberg said. "And the problem with that . . ."

"I can be out of here in a matter of hours," von Tresmarck said.

". . . is that I no longer trust you. And I should tell you that Forster suggests I am a fool for even considering letting you live. But I find myself doing just that. With the caveat that if I even suspect you are not doing exactly what I tell you to do, or that you again have, so to speak, decided to make decisions for yourself, I will have you and, of course, Ramon killed--then there is a way for you to stay alive."

"Ramon had a little accident," Inge announced sarcastically from the doorway.

"Been incontinent, have you, Ramon?" von Deitzberg asked sympathetically. "That sometimes happens to people when they realize they're close to death. Come in and sit down. On the floor. We wouldn't want to soil Frau von Tresmarck's furniture, would we?"

He waited until Ramon had done so before going on.

"Now, let me explain what's going to happen: Frau von Tresmarck has been good enough to turn over to me the material in your safe. Including, of course, the unspent funds. The money is already in Buenos Aires, where I will invest it. Now, where are the deeds to whatever you have purchased in Paraguay? If you lie to me, I will shoot Ramon right now to show you how serious I am about this."

"Ramon has them in his safe," von Tresmarck said. "In his home."

"And they are in whose name?"

Von Tresmarck hesitated before replying, "In Ramon's name. We thought of that as an extra precaution . . ."

"Yes, I'm sure you did," von Deitzberg said. "And how much did you invest in Ramon's name as an extra precaution? How much is it worth in dollars, or pounds?"

Von Tresmarck exhaled audibly.

"A little under a million pounds sterling," he said finally. "They use the British pound."

"How much is a little under a million pounds sterling?"

"Perhaps it was a little over a million pounds sterling," von Tresmarck said.

"That's four million American dollars," von Deitzberg said. "Tell me, Werner, do you think you and Ramon could disappear and find happiness together on, say, one million American dollars?"

"What does he mean, 'disappear'?" Ramon asked.

"Werner will explain that to you later, Ramon," von Deitzberg said. "What's going to happen now is that you're going to go home--Hauptsturmfuhrer Forster will drive you--and after you change your trousers, you're going to bring all the deeds here.

"We will then select between us which properties you will sign over to Senor Jorge Schenck--all but, say, two hundred fifty thousand pounds' worth.

I will then give you ten thousand American dollars for your immediate expenses as you and Werner set forth on your new lives."

"Who's Senor Jorge Schenck?" von Tresmarck blurted.

"He's the man who will hunt you down and kill you as slowly and painfully as possible if I ever hear of either of you again," von Deitzberg said. "Get going, Ramon. Not only does the sight of you make me ill, but you're starting to smell badly."

XIV

[ONE]

Estancia San Pedro y San Pablo

Near Pila

Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

1930 2 October 1943