A pair of American P47s did make it into the air and a couple more Zeros were shot down before the American planes went down in flames too.
It was over as quickly as it had begun. Farris checked his watch. He thought the raid had lasted no more than fifteen minutes. A grim-faced Colonel Gavin began shouting orders and yelling at a major who looked like wanted to be anyplace else on the planet. Perhaps it was the major’s fault that the Japs had gotten so close, although overall responsibility for the base was Gavin’s.
Ambulances had begun to pick up the wounded and the dead, while shocked but unhurt GIs crawled out from where they’d been hiding. Stecher grabbed Farris’s arm and pulled him.
“Come this way.”
Farris did as directed. In a little while they stood with a bunch of others around the wreckage of an airplane, a Japanese Zero. The tail was burning brightly. The gas tank had exploded and fires were consuming it.
“Look in the cockpit,” Stecher said, laughing. “That’s a fucking Jap.”
Indeed it was, Farris thought. The man had been burned to a crisp and was little more than a charred and blackened skeleton. His white teeth seemed to be laughing at them. Should I feel sympathy for him, Farris wondered. After all, didn’t the pilot have a family? Or friends? Where there people who would mourn for him when they received word that he’d gone on a final mission?
So, should I feel sorry for him? Farris asked himself.
Fuck no.
CHAPTER 16
A TALL, RANGY MARINE LANCE CORPORAL WALKED INTO HARRIS’S office and almost saluted, stopping quickly when he remembered that he was seeing a civilian, and not an officer. His face was pale and there was a large white bandage on his head. He looked around curiously at the decrepit furniture that was clearly a bunch of castoffs.
The FBI, recognizing its lack of numbers and communications limitations in the San Diego area, had convinced the navy to give them a group of offices on base and, by design, these were down a drab hallway from where Dane worked. As usual, the last to show up got the crummiest in the way of chairs, tables, and desks. Harris did not complain. It was how the game was played and, besides, he didn’t anticipate spending a whole lot of time in the office. Once the problem of the saboteurs was solved, he would move on to other cases.
“What’s your name, son?” Harris asked softly to try and gain the Marine’s confidence. The young man had telephoned earlier and said he wanted to meet. Harris guessed him as in his early twenties.
“Eppler, sir, Lance Corporal Lee Eppler.”
“Great. Now close the door and sit down.” Eppler did as directed and Harris continued. “Now tell me what you have on your mind.”
Eppler took a deep breath as if what he was going to say was difficult to admit. “Sir, there are rumors all over the place, and me being here talking to you confirms one of them, and that’s that the FBI is actually here on base. The second rumor is that you’re chasing saboteurs like the ones who derailed those trains.”
“We haven’t announced that any saboteurs derailed anything.”
“You don’t have to, sir. A whole bunch of people were working on clearing wrecks, treating injured, and stuff like that. They could see things and they listened to you guys talk. The trains were sabotaged.”
Harris was intrigued. He was also a little pissed that there were no secrets on a naval base. Despite the war, San Diego was still a small town full of gossips.
“Okay, son, what do you know about sabotaging trains?”
“Seriously, sir, I don’t know anything specific. But something strange did happen to me. Last weekend, some guys I know slightly offered me twenty bucks if I’d be a doorman at some kind of big-money card game. I was to keep unwanted people out and give a warning if the cops were in the area.”
Harris smiled. “Does the military really give a shit about card games?”
“Generally no, sir, but there was going to be a ton of money in this one, maybe thousands of dollars, so nobody wanted to take chances. Since I send almost all my money home, I knew I could use the twenty bucks. At any rate, I didn’t do a very good job. While I thought I was keeping watch, somebody sneaked up on me and knocked me cold.” He fingered the bandage on his skull. “The medics said I was lucky to get away with a few stitches and a mild concussion. When I came to, I was tied up and gagged. There was yelling in the room where the action was. I couldn’t hardly believe it, but the bad guys were telling the gamblers to strip. Finally, two guys came out with a bag that I later learned contained the money. Like I said, maybe as much as several thousand dollars.”
Harris whistled. “That is a good-sized haul and one hell of a poker game for a bunch of swabbies and jarheads to be playing.”
Eppler laughed. “Yeah. My so-called friends must have been pros in real life. The bad guys also had the players’ clothes with them. They talked among themselves for a second, and that’s why I thought of calling you.”
Harris leaned forward. “Really?”
“Yes, sir, they were speaking German.”
A few moments later, both Dane and Merchant arrived. Harris had summoned them since Eppler was part of the military and, therefore, under their jurisdiction. Also, he was likely to be impressed with their rank. He was right. Eppler seemed momentarily nonplussed but quickly got over it.
“How did you know they were speaking German?” Merchant asked.
“Both my grandparents came from Germany and my mother speaks it fluently. After a number of years talking to the old people, a little of it rubbed off on me, so, yes, sir, I did recognize it as German.”
“What were they saying?” Dane inquired.
“I really couldn’t tell completely, sir. I picked up a lot of words, but I don’t know all that much. It did sound like one, the older of the two, was telling the other guy, who was a little younger but bigger, to hurry up.”
Dane smiled. “Did you see them?”
“I pretended I was unconscious. They had guns and had already hurt me. If they thought I was listening and watching I was afraid they’d kill me, so I played dead.”
“Good move,” said Harris.
“But I did sneak a look as they were leaving. They’d taken off their masks so they wouldn’t look weird on the outside, and I got a decent look at the bigger guy.”
Merchant smiled happily. “Could you pick him out?”
“Don’t know, sir, but I’d sure as hell be happy to try.”
Dane opened a folder filled with photographs which he then spread on the table. “Is he in this group?”
Lance Corporal Eppler looked over the array, staring intently. He fingered several photos, paused, and smiled. “This is the big guy.”
Harris, Merchant, and Dane grinned at each other. The young Marine had picked out Wilhelm Braun’s associate, Gunther Krause.
Now what? they thought. First, Harris asked if Eppler had gotten his twenty and was told, no. “Hell no, sir, and I have no problem with that. After all, I really didn’t do my job very well, did I? Actually, the guys in the game first thought I was in cahoots with the bad guys until they realized that I was actually hurt. Then they drove me on base and dumped me at the hospital, right by the emergency room. I managed to stagger in under my own power.”
“What did you tell the medics?” Harris asked.
“That I fell and hit my head on a curb.”
“They believe that?” he continued.
Eppler grinned. “Not for a moment, sir, but a lot of guys get drunk, fall down, and hurt themselves. Also, they had more important things on their minds. There had been a couple of stabbings, so they patched me up, gave me some aspirin, and put me on light duty for a couple of weeks. I kind of like light duty.”