The Honor of Spies

"Odd, don't you think, that no one thought I would be interested?" the president asked. "Please continue, Capitan."

"Yes, sir. Well, when Rodriguez and the guys from Estancia San Pedro y San Pablo killed the SS guys in Tandil, Stein took their pictures so we could prove they were there. So we did the same thing with this guy."

"Cletus, I think it would be a very good idea if we had those pictures when we go talk to el Coronel Schmidt. Or el Coronel Peron."

"There's a set in the safe in the house, sir," Clete said.

"And the Froggers are where?"

"They're also in the house, sir. Frau Frogger is out of her mind."

"And you have what? Chained her to a wall?"

"No, sir. She is under the care of the Little Sisters of Pilar, or whatever the hell they're called."

"You'd better get the name of the order straight in your mind before Father Welner gets here. And when will that be?"

"I would estimate twenty minutes to half an hour, sir."

"Before he gets here, I want to hear what this SS officer has to say," the president said.

"From behind a sheet, and Colonel Frogger asks the questions. Right, Don Cletus? I don't think we want to let this SS officer know the president is here."

[THIRTEEN]

1725 16 October 1943

"I wondered," Dona Dorotea said to her husband, "if you were going to be able to find time in your busy schedule one of these days to drop in and say a few words to your wife and son."

He walked to the bed and looked down at his son, who was being nursed.

"A lot has happened, and is going on," Clete said.

"Who was in the airplanes? That was you, right? Who else would be crazy enough to fly in here?"

"How about the president of the Argentine Republic?" Clete asked, then: "Doesn't he hurt you doing that?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, he does. Mother Superior says it will hurt less over time. What about the president of the Argentine Republic? You're not telling me Arturo Rawson's here? That you flew him in here? Up here?"

"Yeah, I am. And just as soon as he finishes talking to some people, he's going to come in the house and watch Father Welner baptize the baby."

"He's here, too?"

"And General Nervo."

"I don't want our son to be a Roman Catholic. Do you?"

"No, but between Father Kurt and Mother Superior, I don't think we have a choice."

"Tell me the truth about you and Arturo Rawson and the airplanes," she said. "And look me in the eye when you tell me."

"Okay. First thing tomorrow morning, we're going to go looking for Colonel Schmidt, who is somewhere around General Alvear and out of contact. . . ."

"I should have known that wouldn't work," Dorotea said ninety seconds later. "But it's useful to know."

"What are you talking about?"

"That you can look right into my eyes and lie through your teeth," she said. "That man Schmidt--who thinks God is on his side, which makes it worse--is not going to tuck his tail between his legs and go back to San Martin, even if Arturo Rawson personally tells him to. And you know it. So then what happens?"

"I just don't know, sweetheart."

"Who's the 'some people' Rawson is talking to?"

"Enrico and Stein caught some SS people in the vineyard. They're being interrogated. Colonel Frogger is telling Stein what questions to ask and when he thinks the lieutenant we caught is lying. They're doing it behind a sheet so the SS guy won't know Rawson is here."

"How many SS people did Enrico and Stein catch in the vineyards?"

"Five."

"That means there were seven, all told, including the two they killed?"

He didn't reply.

"There's a window in here, Cletus. I saw them bring the bodies in on horses."

"They killed one of ours and we killed one of theirs."

"And how many more are still out there?"

"I don't think there are any still out there," he said.

"And when do you think Schmidt and his men are going to get here?"

The door opened and Father Kurt Welner, S.J., trailed by Mother Superior, came into the room.

"Well, you two, are you about ready to have that beautiful baby of yours baptized?"

"Would it matter?" Dorotea asked. "We're outnumbered."

"Dorotea!" Mother Superior said. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"And when we have that out of the way, Dorotea," Welner said, "Mother Superior and I have been talking about moving you to the hospital. You'd be more comfortable there."

"What is that, what they call a double standard?" Dorotea challenged. "We can't lie to you, but you can lie to us? You don't give a tinker's damn about my comfort. You think I'd be safer in the convent when Schmidt comes here."

"Baby, you would," Clete said.

"Call me Ruth, Cletus."

"What?"

" 'Whither thou goest, I will go,' and I'm not going anywhere without you. This house is where we live. I'm going to be here when my husband leaves to do what he has to do about this Coronel Schmidt, and I'm going to be right here when my husband comes back."

There was a long silence.

"You don't deserve her, Cletus," Mother Superior then said.

"I know," he said.

[FOURTEEN]

Casa Montagna

Estancia Don Guillermo