The Honor of Spies

"I thought I would take General Student and General von Wachtstein to my house for an early dinner with Gehlen. We missed lunch at Wolfsschanze."

"Well, there is a silver lining in every black cloud, isn't there?" Himmler said, smiling as he made a little joke. The meals served at Wolfsschanze were standard army field rations, invariably bland and unappetizing. It was the Fuhrer's idea, intended to remind all the senior officers of the troops in the field.

Himmler rarely made little jokes, and when he smiled he reminded Canaris of a funeral director who had just sold an impoverished widow the most expensive coffin he had for sale.

"I think I should take Student with me," Himmler went on. "He can tell von Deitzberg what he has planned. And then all of you can get together first thing in the morning?"

That wasn't a question. That's what he wants done.

"Would half past seven at my office be too early for General Student, do you think, Herr Reichsfuhrer? I like to get to the office early."

"I'll have him there," Himmler said. "And if von Deitzberg can find him for me, I'll have Hauptsturmfuhrer Skorzeny there, too."

"Fine," Canaris said.

Skorzeny, you are about to find out that Himmler's rages, while not quite as loud and long-lasting as those of the Fuhrer, are nearly as devastating.

Himmler did not like being humiliated before the Fuhrer because you provided him with inaccurate intelligence.

Himmler gave a Nazi salute about as sloppy as Canaris usually gave. It was returned as sloppily by Canaris, and very crisply by everyone else.

Then Himmler got into the enormous Mercedes. Von Deitzberg got in beside him. General Student walked to the Luftwaffe Mercedes sedan, got in, and it pulled out of line and followed Himmler's car.

"General von Wachtstein," Canaris said, "I was just thinking, since we will have to be at my office early in the morning, that what we should do is let your car go, and you can come spend the night at my house."

"I would hate to be an imposition, Herr Admiral."

"Not at all. My wife is visiting her family in Bremen."

Actually, she's in Westertede, which I devoutly hope is far enough from Bremen so that it won't be bombed even by mistake by the B-17s of the Eighth Air Force.

"In that case, Herr Admiral, I think accepting your kind invitation would be a good idea."

[FOUR]

357 Roonstrasse, Zehlendorf

Berlin, Germany

1605 19 August 1943

En route from the airfield, there was a good deal of evidence of the efficacy of the daily--by the U.S. Eighth Air Force--and nightly--by the Royal Air Force--bombing of Berlin. But once the suburb of Zehlendorf was reached there was virtually no sign of the war except the absence of streetlights and lights in windows.

There were two civilian policemen on the street in front of Canaris's house, and Canaris knew there was another patrolling the alley and gardens behind it.

One of the policemen checked the identity cards of everyone in Canaris's Mercedes, then signaled to the other policeman to open the gate.

The driver stopped the car under a portico on the left side of the house, then hurried to open the rear passenger door on the other side before Canaris could do so himself. He failed.

Admiral Canaris walked to a door, which opened just before he got there. General von Wachtstein, Oberstleutnant Gehlen, and Fregattenkapitan von und zu Waching followed him into the house.

The door was closed, and the lights in the foyer came on.

They now saw who had opened and closed the door: a burly man in his sixties. He had closely cropped gray hair and wore a white cotton jacket--and he suddenly said, "Shit! I forgot Max."

The lights went off. The door was opened, and the driver of the car came into the room. The door was closed, and the lights went on again.

"Gentlemen, this is Egon, who was chief of the boat when I commanded U-201 in the first war," Canaris said, motioning toward the burly one. "And this is Max, who was my chief bosun when I commanded the Schlesien. They take care of me."

He pointed at the officers with him and identified them.

"Egon, see that no one can hear what's said in the living room," Canaris said.

"I did that when they called and said send the car," Egon said.

"And then, since we have all earned it, bring us something--something hard--to drink in there. And when you've done that, get us something to eat. We missed lunch at Wolfsschanze."

"I can have sauerbraten, potatoes, and carrots in thirty minutes."