The Honor of Spies

"King Victor Emmanuel had him confined in a ski resort not far from Rome in the Gran Sasso. Lovely place; I often skied there. The Campo Imperatore Hotel. He was in the hands of the Carabinieri. The only way to get to the hotel is by cable car. It was therefore believed his rescue was impossible. Even if his rescuers parachuted onto the mountaintop, or landed there in gliders, which is what they ultimately did, Mussolini could be shot by the Carabinieri rather than waiting for the trial the king planned for him after the Americans take Italy. The king was determined that Il Duce should not be freed to attempt to resume control of the government."

"I saw that the Allies have landed . . ."

"At Anzio," von Gradny-Sawz confirmed. "And Italy has surrendered unconditionally to the Allies. The Wehrmacht is in the process of disarming the Italian army."

The waiter appeared with two bottles of Don Guillermo Cabernet Sauvignon, apologized for not having the 1939, but reported that he had a bottle of both 1938 and 1937, and hoped His Excellency would approve.

They went through the opening, tasting, and pouring ritual.

They ordered sauerbraten mit Kartoffelknodel und sauerkraut.

They raised their glasses.

"To good friends, good food, and good wine," Martin offered.

"In the best of all possible worlds, a Hungarian Bikaver, as red as the blood of a bull, but failing that, this magnificent Don Guillermo," von Gradny-Sawz responded.

They sipped, swallowed, and smiled.

"So what was the purpose of rescuing Il Duce?" Martin asked.

"I'm sure the Fuhrer had his reasons. Our Fuhrer doesn't always explain his decisions, but we are all agreed that he is virtually incapable of making a mistake."

Martin did not reply.

"According to the story our commercial counselor, Senor Cranz, got from some friends of his in Germany," von Gradny-Sawz went on, "what the SS did--and I think this was brilliant--was kidnap a senior Carabinieri officer, a colonel or a general, I didn't get his name. They loaded him on one of the gliders and took him to the hotel. Under a flag of truce, the senior SS officer present--most of the attackers were parachutists, but this was an SS captain named Skorzeny--went to the senior Carabinieri officer and told him he had a choice. Either release Mussolini and no one would be hurt, or shoot Mussolini, whereupon the SS would shoot the Carabinieri colonel and then all the Carabinieri.

"Il Duce was released. Not a shot was fired. A Storch and a pilot were waiting nearby . . ." He waited to see on Martin's face that he knew what a Storch was, then went on: "Then Captain Skorzeny squeezed Il Duce and himself into the plane and flew to Rome."

Martin said: "I thought the Storch--you have one at the embassy, right?"

Von Gradny-Sawz nodded.

"--was a two-place airplane?"

"I wondered about that, too," von Gradny-Sawz said. "But I have found it wise never to question Herr Cranz about any detail of an SS operation."

"I understand," Martin said.

"Herr Cranz was inspired by the kidnapping," von Gradny-Sawz said.

"Excuse me?"

The waiter appeared with their sauerbraten mit Kartoffelknodel und sauerkraut.

"In Germany, you understand, Alejandro, where they don't have your magnificent Argentine beef, the meat sometimes has the consistency of shoe leather. I don't find that a problem. I love the sauce. If I were facing execution, I think I would request for my last meal the Kartoffelknodel and the sauce, hold the sauerbraten. And, of course, a bottle of Bikaver and some hard-crusted bread."

Martin chuckled.

"You were saying something about Senor Cranz being inspired by the ki dnapping?"

By the time he asked the question, von Gradny-Sawz had a mouthful of the sauerbraten. When he finally had it all chewed and swallowed, he said:

"If I was guaranteed Argentine beef like this, I would add sauerbraten to my last meal." And then, without a perceptible pause, he continued, "What SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer Cranz plans to do is kidnap Senora Pamela Holworth-Talley de Mallin, Dona Dorotea Mallin de Frade's mother. He also plans to kidnap Dona Dorotea's fifteen-year-old brother Enrique--and possibly Senor Mallin himself. And then he plans to exchange them all for the Froggers."

He then sawed off a piece of the Kartoffelknodel, moved it around his plate to coat it with the sauce, and put it into his mouth.

Martin laid down his knife and fork, then took a swallow of his wine before asking, "Anton, why are you telling me this?"

Von Gradny-Sawz finished chewing the Kartoffelknodel, dabbed at his mouth with a napkin, and took a swallow of his wine. He refilled his glass before continuing.

"Two reasons, Alejandro, one of them being that I like to think of myself as a Christian gentleman, and as such am morally offended at the involvement of an innocent woman and her fifteen-year-old son in this sordid business, let alone Senor Mallin."