The Honor of Spies

"And, of course, the name of Don Cletus Frade came up. I think we should all be prepared to admit that in judging this enemy of the Third Reich we all erred. That flamboyant cowboy act of his fooled us all. He is a very skilled and dangerous intelligence officer, and worse, very well connected with the president of Argentina and many of its senior army officers. In that regard, I think we must be objective and admit that the elimination of Oberst Frade was ill-advised; all it did was antagonize the Argentine officer corps and permit young Frade to ingratiate himself with them."

He paused to ask rhetorically, "Does Frade have the Froggers?" and then answered his own question:

"I just don't know. When I went to Oberst Peron, the oberst seemed to think this was a possibility. He said it had come to his attention that there was unusual activity at a small house, Casa Chica, Frade owns some distance from his estancia, near a place called Tandil. The late Oberst Frade used it, according to Peron, for romantic interludes with our Hansel's mother-in-law."

"Our Hansel" was Luftwaffe Major Freiherr Hans-Peter von Wachtstein, the embassy's assistant military attache for air. He was married to Alicia de Carzino-Cormano, the youngest daughter--she was twenty--of la Senora Claudia de Carzino-Cormano, a widow who was one of the most wealthy women in Argentina.

"Peron said Casa Chica is quite charming--a small house on a mountainside, with a stream running past, far from curious eyes. That description was why I thought there might be something to Oberst Peron's notion that Don Cletus Frade might have been behind the disappearance of the Froggers and might in fact have them there.

"I asked Herr Raschner to look into it, and he sent Gunther Loche down there to make discreet inquiries.

"And I must say our Gunther did a good job," Cranz went on. "The details of what he found are unimportant except that they convinced me that there was a very strong likelihood that the Froggers were enjoying the hospitality of Don Cletus Frade.

"You will recall that shortly before SS-Brigadefuhrer von Deitzberg returned to the Fatherland, he issued orders that the security of the Reich demanded that the Froggers be eliminated wherever and whenever found. In the absence of orders to the contrary from Berlin, von Deitzberg's order remained in force. And I considered it my duty to carry out that order.

"The question then became, 'Now that we have found the Froggers, how do we eliminate them?'

"Gunther reported there were at least ten of Don Cletus Frade's peones tending the two milk cows at Casa Chica, under the supervision of a man named Rodolfo Gomez, who we know is a retired cavalry sergeant who usually spends his time guarding Dona Dorotea Frade. That suggested that some of the peones might have military experience of their own. This theory was buttressed by Gunther's report that, except for several of them armed with Thompson submachine guns, they were all armed with Mauser rifles.

"That then raised the question, 'How do we do what we feel has to be done? Where do we get the necessary forces to overcome a dozen or so well-armed men?'

"Raschner, in his usual tactless manner, quickly pointed out to me that the solution was right there in front of my nose. And--I always like to see that credit goes to where it belongs--came up with the solution to our problem.

"You will recall that Oberst Peron arranged with the commander of the Mountain Troops in San Martin de los Andes--a dedicated National Socialist and friend of Germany--to provide the security for the discharge of the special cargo from U-boat 405 at Samborombon Bay.

"So what I proposed to Peron was that he arrange for a suitable force of these men--say, forty men; two truckloads; about what they provided for Samborombon Bay--to be quietly moved to Tandil on a routine road-march maneuver.

"The Mountain Troops, noticing unusual activity at the late el Coronel Frade's little love nest, would investigate. Ten or a dozen gauchos, even those with prior military service--or perhaps because of that service--would not attempt to resist forty Mountain Troops, especially if they were armed with two water-cooled Maxim machine guns.

"The Froggers would be released, Oberst Peron could claim the credit for their being found and liberated, and Don Cletus Frade would have a good deal of explaining to do."

"That's absolutely brilliant, Herr Cranz," von Gradny-Sawz said.

"So Oberst Peron thought," Cranz said dryly. "But please let me continue. What was brilliant, Herr von Gradny-Sawz, was Raschner's modification to that plan. At Raschner's suggestion, I suggested to Oberst Peron the one flaw in the plan, and the solution for the flaw.