“I have no idea,” said Dietz. “But no matter, it is yours now, so let’s look around.”
Room by room, the men walked through the house. It was fully furnished. The beds were made and aside from a layer of dust, looked as if they were ready for their next occupant. The pantry was filled with two sets of fine china. The kitchen was fully equipped but the cupboards were bare. The house was wired for electricity and the plumbing was there, but nothing worked. A door was found leading to a cellar. It was a large room with empty racks for wine bottles, and three large casks decorating one wall. The casks looked huge and when he tapped one with his knuckles, it sounded hollow.
“Too bad they’re just for decoration,” Anderson said.
The men had finished walking through the house looking in every room and taking note of what was there. The closets were empty, but there were clean sheets and blankets in the side chests. In the end they had more questions than answers.
By the time they went back outside all three men were sweating. Dietz called over to Anderson. “You mentioned Rolf and his people were searching the area for secret places. Do you think this was one of them?” he asked.
Anderson shook his head. “I’ve been thinking the same thing, but we went over every inch of this area and found nothing. I feel certain if there was a place, he would have let me know. You know what I think it is?”
Dietz shook his head.
“I think this is a getaway house.” Dietz looked like he didn’t understand. Anderson smiled. “You know. A place some high ranking Nazi built in secret where he could hide in relative comfort once the war started going bad. Well, whoever it was never made it here. That would explain the empty kitchen cupboards and an empty wine cellar. He must have been killed before he could escape.”
“That sounds like it would fit,” said the pilot. “I found a radio transmitter and receiver in one of the rooms in the servant wing. If I had electricity it would probably still work. It looks like it has never been used.”
Dietz nodded. “In any case it doesn’t look like you will need to build anything here. The house is ready made.”
“Yes, it’s a fine house,” Anderson said looking over the exterior walls one more time. “But I have some ideas to make it a little more livable, and I know my wife will have a few things to say about it.” The men chuckled as Anderson looked around just a little more.
“What are you looking for?” asked the pilot.
“Electric lines. The house is wired but I can’t see any lines coming in. Let’s walk down the road and see where the tunnel is leading into this place.”
“Tunnel?” Dietz questioned.
Anderson nodded. “Somebody had to bring all the building materials up here.”
The road had originally been made of gravel and the weeds had simply grown through it. After only 300 yards the men stood at the entrance of a large tunnel heading back into the mountain. Checking to see if the flashlights were still bright, the men walked cautiously into the darkness.
The curved walls and floor of the tunnel were concrete and although there was some evidence of seepage, the tunnel was bone dry. Just thirty yards into the tunnel it began to curve to the right and angle downwards. Fifty yards further and the men noticed a metal door into the side of the tunnel wall. A sign beside the door said “Turbine.” Continuing on nearly 100 more yards and the tunnel flattened out for a few yards then came to an abrupt end. A door as wide as the entire tunnel blocked the way. Upon closer study the men saw wheels along the bottom of the door and at one end there appeared to be a large latch holding it in place.
Anderson looked at the other men. “I guess we have nothing to lose,” he said. Surprisingly, the latch was heavily greased and showed little signs of rust. Anderson grabbed the latch and pulled. There was s short screech and a snap as the latch pulled loose. Grabbing a couple of handles on the door surface, the men slowly pulled the door away from its stops and back into the tunnel. Daylight streamed in as the door opened wider and a rapid rush of wind seemed to travel from the direction of the house, back down through the tunnel and out the opening, carrying with it the misty air from above.
The men stepped out onto a road which led along the mountain to the small flat area near the falls on the other side. The door had been made to look like all the other retaining walls used to protect the road. As the men gazed out upon the now green landscape they could see the waterfall and park 200 yards to their left. The edge of the road dropped off sharply into the ravine some 300 feet below. The drop was almost straight down, lined with jagged rocks. The road was gravel and well maintained. It led in a series of switchbacks down the mountain and out the valley. On the other side it ended at the small park.
“Now we know how the place got built,” Anderson said.
“It’s amazing to me how no one ever discovered this place,” said Dietz.
Anderson shrugged his shoulders. “I doubt anyone would be testing what they thought was a retaining wall. With the mist hiding the valley most of the time, there’s a good chance no one would notice. It’s a great place not to be found.”
“Nice view though,” said the pilot. “I’ve been up here to this little park lots of times just to feel the power of that water and enjoy nature.” He turned to Anderson. “You’re right. I would never have looked around these retaining walls. I was too intent on getting to the park.”
“Yep. Kind of like hiding in plain sight,” said Anderson. They talked a few minutes and then Anderson turned to his friends. “Let’s close this door. I want to protect this property for a while longer.”
The men struggled to get the massive door closed, but soon everything was in place. The door was not latched so that Anderson could get back inside later on. “Now let’s check out that door up the street,” Anderson said.
Walking back up the tunnel was a lot more exhausting than going down. All three men were puffing hard when they got to the door marked “Turbine.” It was a metal door with a knob. Anderson grasped it and turned. To his surprise, the knob turned and the door clicked open. In the beam of the flashlights the men could see a vertical shaft with a circular metal staircase. After a quick examination the men could see the stairs were as sound as the day they were made. The shaft was also lined with heavy cables that came up from the bottom and exited beside the first door. The men went down 30 feet to another door. This door also opened easily.
The men entered a room filled with metal cabinets and consoles. Through the dust, the men could see the consoles were covered with gauges, switches and knobs. Large cables ran to and from the consoles along the walls and out into the entrance shaft. Cobwebs hung from the fixtures giving the whole room an eerie look.
At the far end of the room was a set of large wheels leading down to some very large valves the men could see under the gratings at their feet. Behind that was some sort of large circular machine. But what was more unnerving, the whole room shook faintly. Each of the men could feel it in his feet. “What is that?” asked Dietz.
The pilot got a surprised look on his face and rushed over to the valve wheels. Looking at their markings he stood back in amazement. “I know exactly what it is,” he said. He turned to Anderson. “You mind if I try something?”
“Go ahead. With everything else we’ve seen I can do with some more surprises.”
The pilot grasped the control wheel and gave it a firm twist in the “open” direction. After several turns there was a change in the sound of the rumbling and a noise began to increase at the back of the room near the large circular machine. Slowly, the electric lights in the room began to glow and become brighter. The more the pilot turned the wheel, the brighter they became. After a moment, the pilot ran to the center console and began reading the gauges. He searched the next one until he found what he was looking for and threw some switches. With an electric hum, the wheels began to move on their own and the gauges settled exactly on markings someone long ago had placed on the dials.