He paused for a moment. His lips were trembling as he continued.
“Another one had infiltrated our group in Vienna. When it was obvious the man who called himself Fish had nothing else to tell us, Avrum shot him in the head. And then he swore to kill the other three. He killed the man in Zurich and the one in Vienna but the third one was out of his reach.
“After we interrogated Fish, Avrum told me to memorize all the shorthand notes so I could give the information to you. Only three people know about this, Ire. The woman who took the notes, Avrum and me. You will make four.”
“I’m listening.”
“Fish said that when he was in training in the Bavarian Alps there was another agent there. A very special man who was kept separate from the others and known only as Siebenundzwanzig..
“Twenty-seven?”
‘Ja. This agent was being trained for something very special, a mission in America.”
Keegan perked up. His eyes came to life.
“He’s here? In America?”
“Please, let me continue.”
“Sorry.”
“Fish did not know the nature of the mission—according to Fish only Hitler and Vierhaus know what he was being trained to do. But he said this assignment could neutralize America if England and France go to war against Germany.”
“Neutralize America?”
“It would force the United States to stay out of the war.”
“What could that possibly be?”
Gebhart shook his head. “I do not know. We speculated on it for months, imagining every possibility, but nothing made any sense.”
“One man is going to pull this off?”
Gebhart nodded. “According to Fish, he will have some help but basically it is to be a one-man job. The other members of Vierhaus’s group call him the Gespenstspion.”
“The ghost spy?”
‘ja. Siebenundzwanzig is a lone agent and his true identity is known only to Hitler and Vierhaus. We have no description and no name. Only that he is very, how do you say it, gefahrlich?”
“Dangerous?”
Gebhart nodded. “And he is an expert at Verkleidung.
“Disguise
Werner nodded vigorously. “Also an expert skier. He first came here in late summer of 1933. But the following spring something happened—he was caught up in some kind of FBI inquiry and he had to run.”
“But he’s here now? Has been for . . . Jesus, almost five years!”
“If the information is correct.”
“And this Twenty-seven, he got in trouble with the government here in 1934? You’re sure it was the FBI?”
‘Jo. But it was not exactly that way. It was more like . . . he was involved in something as a bystander, a “Witness?’’
‘Ja, a witness. But because the government police were also involved he could not risk an investigation.”
“What the hell Keegan stood up and started pacing the kitchen. His energy had suddenly skyrocketed. A superspy, here in America, to perform a job so insidious it could force America to remain neutral in the event of war with Germany? Well, he thought, whatever it is, his time is running out. Events in Europe were escalating. The whole continent could be at war before the next New Year. But what could it be? And how could he find this man? He had no description, no name other than Siebenundzwanzig, no location. And why did Avrum want Keegan to pursue him?
“Avrum wants me to try and catch this Twenty-seven?”
‘Ja’
“Why me?”
“So you get him first, before the police. So there is no chance he would be tried and perhaps sent to prison instead of · · of. .
“I’m not an investigator, Werner,” Keegan cut him off, ignoring for a moment Gebhart’s last remark. “I have no experience at such things.”
“He says you can do it because you are as tormented by what they did to Jenny as he is.”
“There are many, many others far more qualified to do this than me, Werner. The FBI for one. They are trained for this.”
“They do not have the obsession . .
“Avrum learned a lot about me in a few days.”
“Also they would probably not believe you. Also, Ire, you cannot tell them that I brought you the message or they will come after me.”
“Yeah, the FBI and I have hardly been bosom buddies anyway. Our problems go back aways.”
“When you were a gangster?” Gebhart asked innocently. Keegan laughed. “Yeah, Werner, when I was a gangster.”
Then he stopped. “Wait a minute, you said he doesn’t want him to be tried in a court?”
Gebhart shook his head.
“Then. . . ?“
Gebhart said one word under his breath, a whisper, barely breathed: “Töten
“He wants me to kill the spy?”
Gebhart looked down and nodded.
“Avrum reasons that the only chance Germany has is if America, England and France go to war with Hitler. If England and France declare war on Germany do you think America will follow?”
“I don’t know,” Keegan said. “I seriously doubt it.”
“Why? They are your allies.”
“I don’t know whether you can understand this, Werner, but I have a hard time getting emotional over the plight of one hundred thousand people. Or even fifty people, for that matter. It shocks me but it doesn’t touch me personally. But when it became one-to-one, when it was somebody I knew, somebody I loved, when it was Jenny, then finally I understood. I think most Americans are like that. Until it hits home, until people they know start dying, they will stay away from war.”
“Do you believe this story Fish told?” Gebhart asked.
“Do you?”
“I told you, Ire, I was there,” he said nodding. “And I will tell you, this man did not lie or make it up, I assure you of that. What he said he said out of pure terror and pain.”
“If you and Avrum are convinced, then I believe it.”
“And will you pursue him?”
“Yes,” Keegan said without hesitation. He stared at the German sitting across the table from him and saw great sadness in his young face.
“And kill him?” Gebhart asked.
It was not an easy question to answer. For all these years Keegan had been frustrated, filled with anger because he was powerless to help Jenny. He could do nothing. He owed one to Wolffson, now Wolffson had called in the marker and he could do something about that. The thought of it excited him. If the security of the country was at stake, that alone was reason to track down the agent known as 27. If he were doing it purely out of need for revenge that was all right, too. And if tracking this dangerous superspy gave his own existence a new purpose, all the better.
“Yes, if it’s possible I’ll kill him.”
“Vengeance is mine,” Gebhart replied. “The Lord said that.”
“You have to get even before you get well,” Keegan snapped back. “Ned Beerbohm said that.”