She opened her eyes, not knowing how long she had been unconscious. Gerhardt had managed to prop her up against the ottoman and was holding a glass of brandy beneath her nostrils. She gripped the glass and swallowed, the alcohol spreading quickly, bringing her back to the terrible moment.
«Johann,» she whispered, the name itself a cry of pain. «That’s why Herr Oberst—»
«Yes,» said the old man, anticipating her. «It’s why Klaus had you brought to him. The rebellious Von Tiebolt daughter, born in Rio, estranged from her brother and sister. Was that estrangement real, or were you being used to infiltrate the ranks of wandering, disaffected German youth? We had to know.»
«Used, then killed,» added Helden, shuddering. «They tried to kill me in Montereau. Oh, God, my brother.»
The old man stood up with difficulty. «I’m afraid you’re wrong,» he said. «It was a tragic afternoon, filled with errors. The two men who came after you were from us. Their instructions were clear: Learn everything there was to learn about Holcroft. He was still an unknown factor then. Was he part of Wolfsschanze—their Wolfsschanze? If an unknowing conduit, he was to live, and we would convince him to come with us. If part of Wolfsschanze, he was to be killed. If that was the case, you were to be taken away before you were harmed, before you were implicated. For reasons we don’t know, our men decided to kill him.»
Helden lowered her eyes. «Johann sent a man to follow us that afternoon. To find out who was so interested in Noel.»
Gerhardt sat down. «So our people saw that man and thought it was a rendezvous with Von Tiebolt, with an emissary of the Sonnenkinder. For them it meant Holcroft was part of Wolfsschanze. They needed nothing else.»
«It was my fault,» said Helden. «When that man took my arm in the crowd, I was frightened. He told me I had to go with him. He spoke German. I thought he was ODESSA.»
«He was the furthest thing from it. He was a Jew from a place called Har Sha’alav.»
«A Jew?»
Gerhardt told her briefly of the strange kibbutz in the Negev desert. «They are our small army. A cable is sent; men are dispatched. It’s as simple as that.»
Orders must be relayed… to the courageous men who will stand at the final barricade. Helden understood Herr Oberst’s words. «You’ll send that cable now?»
«You will send it. A while ago, I mentioned a Dr. Litvak at the clinic. He keeps my medical records for any who may be curious. He’s one of us; he has long-range-radio equipment and checks with me every day. It’s too dangerous to have a telephone here. Go to him tonight. He knows the codes and will reach Har Sha’alav. A team must be sent to Geneva; you must tell them what to do. Johann, Kessler, even Noel Holcroft, if he’s beyond pulling out, must be killed. Those funds must not be dispersed.»
«I’ll convince Noel.»
«For your sake, I hope you can. It may not be as simple as you think. He’s been manipulated brilliantly. He believes deeply, even to the point of vindicating a father he never knew.»
«How did you learn?»
«From his mother. For years we believed she was part of Clausen’s plan, and for years we waited. Then we confronted her and learned she was never part of it. She was the bridge to—as well as the source of—the perfect conduit. Who else but a Noel Clausen-Holcroft, whose origins had been obliterated from every record but his own mind, would accept the conditions of secrecy demanded by the Geneva document? A normal man would have asked for legal and financial advice. But Holcroft, believing in his covenant, kept everything to himself.»
«But he had to be convinced,» said Helden. «He’s a strong man, a very moral man. How could they do it?»
«How is anyone convinced his cause is just?» asked the old man rhetorically. «By seeing that there are those who desperately wish to stop him. We’ve read the reports out of Rio. Holcroft’s experience with Maurice Graff, the charges he registered with the embassy. It was all a charade; no one tried to kill him in Rio, but Graff wanted him to think so.»
«He’s ODESSA.»
«Never. He’s one of the leaders of the false Wolfsschanze… the only Wolfsschanze now. I should say he was; he’s dead.»
«What?»
«Shot yesterday by a man who left a note claiming vengeance from Portuguese Jews. Your brother’s work, of course. Graff was too old, too cantankerous. He’d served his purpose.»
Helden placed the glass of brandy on the floor. The question had to be asked. «Herr Gerhardt, why haven’t you ever exposed Geneva for what it was?»
The old man returned her inquisitive stare. «Because exposing Geneva would be only half the story. As soon as we did, we’d be killed; but that’s inconsequential. It’s the rest.»
«The rest?»
«The second half. Who are the Sonnenkinder? What are their names? Where are they? A master list was made thirty years ago; your brother must have it. It’s huge—hundreds of pages—and has to be hidden somewhere. Von Tiebolt would die in fire before revealing its whereabouts. But there has to be another list! A short one—a few pages, perhaps. It’s either on his person or near him. The identities of all those receiving funds. These will be the trusted manipulators of Wolfsschanze. This is the list that can and must be found. You must tell the soldiers of Har Sha’alav to find it. Stop the money and find the list. It’s our only hope.»
«I’ll tell them,» said Helden. «They’ll find it.» She looked away, lost in another thought. «Wolfsschanze. Even the letter written to Noel Holcroft more than thirty years ago—pleading with him, threatening him—was part of it.»
«They appealed and threatened in the name of eagles, but their commitment was to animals.»
«He couldn’t know that.»
«No, he couldn’t. The name ‘Wolfsschanze’ is awesome, a symbol of bravery. That was the only Wolfsschanze Holcroft could relate to. He had no knowledge of the other Wolfsschanze, the filth. No one did. Save one.»
«Herr Oberst?»
«Falkenheim, yes.»
«How did he escape?»
«By the most basic of coincidences. A confusion of identities.» Gerhardt walked to the fireplace and prodded the logs with a poker. «Among the giants of Wolfsschanze was the commander of the Belgian sector, Alexander von Falkenhausen. Falkenhausen, Falkenheim. Klaus Falkenheim had left East Prussia for a meeting in Berlin. When the assassination attempt failed, Falkenhausen somehow managed to reach Falkenheim by radio to tell him of the disaster. He begged Klaus to stay away. He would be the ‘falcon’ who was caught. The other ‘falcon’ was loyal to Hitler; he would make that clear. Klaus objected, but understood. He had work to do. Someone had to survive.»
«Where is Noel’s mother?» Helden asked. «What has she learned?»
«She knows everything now. Let’s hope she hasn’t panicked. We lost her in Mexico; we think she’s trying to reach her son in Geneva. She’ll fail. The instant she’s spotted, she’s a dead woman.»
«We’ve got to find her.»
«Not at the expense of the other priorities,» said the old man. «Remember, there is only one Wolfsschanze now. Crippling it is all that matters.» Gerhardt put the poker down. «You’ll see Dr. Litvak tonight. His house is near the clinic, above it, on a hill two kilometers north. The hill is quite steep; the radio functions well there, I’ll give you—»
A sharp humming sound filled the room. It echoed off the walls so loudly that Helden felt the vibrations going through her and jumped to her feet. Gerhardt turned from the fireplace and stared up at a narrow window high in the left wall. He seemed to be studying the panes of glass that were too far above him to see through.