[2017] What Happened in Vienna, Jack?

by Daniel Kemp

  “Does Penni know any of this, Leeba?” I asked lamely, hoping I would get a chance of asking about her pre-war days in Vienna.

  “No, nor will she. I have lived too long with the shame of this family to allow it to spread and infect her.”

  “What about anyone else, other than Haynes of course?”

  “I'm not sure that he knows it all, Shaun, but I know someone who does and another person who knows most of it. Want me to carry on with the story, or want me to take you again?”

  “I want all that you can offer, Leeba. More on the Manhattan Project in Tennessee if you have it, but it can wait.”

  “I have nothing directly on that, Shaun. I have something far more interesting than atomic bombs to tell you of.” Finally I had the opportunity I'd been waiting for.

  “Is it anything to do with Vienna, before you arrived in New York?”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Late Afternoon In London

  Scrambled Lives

  One job that Dicky had expected to do on his return from the Home Office was to ring Group; however, some of his fading time was saved as that necessity had disappeared. On his desk was Archie's sealed buff dossier and marked Directors Eyes Only. He opened it and began to read:

  1) The operational names of Horace and Butler have been used twice before, but separately. Neither had the appendage of Sir added. We do not believe that to be a simple accident or oversight. The first time that name cropped up was in 1940. Butler was the name given to the transportation of the Duke of Windsor from Portugal to the Bahamas. It saw life as a War Department program after Group, not I of course, uncovered a Nazi plot to kidnap the ex-King and take him to Spain.

  2) We cannot conclusively say who initiated that directive, but Admiral Sir Maurice Curtis (Daniel Cardiff's uncle) was on the Privy Council, serving at the War Department in a supervisory position. He would at least have been consulted. I have confirmed that Barrington Trenchard was acting as his chargé d'affaires.

  3) The Admiral served no time at sea being seconded straight from Dartmouth College, at the outbreak of hostilities, to the Special Operations Executive where he stayed until the cessation of the war. Six months on from then he was appointed Private Personal Secretary to the then Philip Mountbatten.

  4) Horace was the 1944 code-name given to the extraction order mounted in Slovenia at a place called Divača. It was not sanctioned by any subordinate agency within the accepted intelligence services of the day, being solely a War Department independent sortie. A company from the Special Boat Squadron were landed by submarine four miles from the town and successfully lifted Yugoslav Marshal Josip Broz's (Tito) estranged wife Herta Haas and their three-year-old son “Mišo” from a German holding centre under the command of troops from Ante Pavelić. It was expertly done with no casualties on either side.

  4A) You may well be wondering why we and not Tito's own forces were engaged in that operation as I was until I discovered that Herta Haas had genetic links to the Battenberg family. She was a cousin of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. She died in 1970 and is buried at Frogmore.

  5) We have found three operations, emanating from offices other than our own integral intelligence services, where the word Sir has prefixed the code name. The one we discussed into Vietnam led by Jack Price; Sir Geraint. One in 1954 under the umbrella of Kenneth De Courcy's private security company into Malaysia; Sir Garwin and the third; Sir Tristan, thirteen years ago into Kenya. All three of these had an extraction element as had been the case with Horace and Butler, but they differed in a significant way. They all had fatalities.

  5A) In the Vietnam operation none of ours were harmed, however, it was reported by US forces on the ground that as JP's group broke cover with the evacuated subjects, three missiles were launched from an unmarked helicopter on a North Vietnamese position. We know that JP had three helicopters prescribed from covert ordinance, we also know that he had several AGM-12 Bullpup missiles, but what's unusual here is that if an air to surface strike was made by British forces against the Vietcong it was the first time such a missile had been launched from a helicopter. If JP was responsible for this action he was acting in direct conflict with Parliamentary dictate.

  5B) In Malaysia, several Chinese guerrillas were killed outside of Kuala Lumpur by De Courcy's mercenaries. They also suffered losses in the evacuation from a rubber plantation of an unnamed British dignitary thought to have been Richard Levine. Levine was at one time Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's private secretary.

  5C) In Kenya a detention camp holding hard-core Mau Mau rebels was raided one night by loyal natives who mutilated and then clubbed to death eleven inmates. The operation seems to have emanated from the War Department (unconfirmed) as the camp's commander (directly employed by WD) said he had orders from Whitehall not to intervene. Again, no orders were issued by accredited intelligence agencies that we could find. But we did find something. All of those that were killed were being held for the rape and murder of a coffee farming, land owning family named Holyport. That wasn't their real name. That was the place where their grandfather had lived. They were in fact descendants of Louis Mountbatten and the Queen Consort of Sweden.

  6) It is our belief that all operations with the names Horace, Butler or Sir had Royal accreditation. If this is true then it follows that the present operation involving JP is a similar one. The only conclusion we draw is that whatever Sir Horace Butler is, the taking, or loss, of life has been approved by Royal consent.

  7) We can find little of note about Patrick West. However, there are two entries of interest:

  7A) He was allowed to take his finals at Oxford, even though he had dropped out of university three months prior to the examination date (unusual, but not unheard of). He gained a first in both chemical analysis and psychology, with meritorious distinction being awarded for his thesis on The Good and Evil of Man. It was a paper in which he argued that no utopian society could exist without incorporating the two opposing spectrums of human nature. We have had time for only a 'scan' read. A more detailed analysis can be supplied if requested (thirty-six hours).

  7B) West's father, Harry West, served in the Royal Artillery, 8th Army Corps, through the North African Campaign, the invasion of Scilly and the occupation of Italy. At the battle of Monte Cassino he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant when his battery commander was killed in action. When the Italians surrendered he was again promoted. He was given the rank of Captain and posted to Squadron 21. This was a field-intelligence unit that he commanded. When discharged from the army (full set of campaign medals, three mentions of gallantry, one mention of hospitalisation and a glowing report from the discharging officer) he was employed at the War Department until his death in 1971 (same year his son joined Met Police) There are no records remaining of the work that Harry West conducted in the army intelligence corps in Italy nor his duties at the War Department.

  8) Daniel Cardiff is to meet with the present Private Secretary to HRH Prince Philip this coming week. Fraser Ughert's department is providing the legend that will gain him admittance into the Firm. Your operation. No details logged at Group as requested.

  9) Job: Real name Scott Muller. Born 3/06/1931 in Durban, South Africa to an English father (serving in the Diplomatic Corps) and a Dutch resident mother. His father was recalled to England in 1950, leading to the son volunteering for active service that same year. Enlisted and enrolled as a second Lieutenant into 29th Infantry Brigade (Royal Gloucestershire Regiment) and sent to Korea in 1951.

  9A) One of only 39 who escaped Chinese capture at the Battle of Injin River (suffered a severe facial wound) and one of two servicemen (a holding operation against 10,000 enemy insurgents) to receive the Victoria Cross for extreme bravery. He was in Malaysia in '54 with De Courcy, and in 1959 he was attached to the Kenyon Police Force at the detention camp at Garissa, East Kenya. He had arrived the day before the massacre, leaving the continent of Africa the day following. His flight was scheduled to land
in Berlin, but, guess what, it never did. Scott Miller resurfaced once. MI6 made the identification when Job departed for Vietnam. His military record has been sealed.

  10) Until this week neither JP nor Job have been active on any continent that we are aware of. We are unable to trace either person's financial issues.

  11) The C11 report from Scotland Yard is marked as awaiting.

  As he reach the end of the report his telephone rang. He lifted the receiver.

  “I have the product you ordered, sir.” It was Fraser Ughert.

  “One moment, Fraser, I'll have the call transferred to a private line,” he replied curtly.

  Two-seconds later, after pressing the button marked S on the terminal that connected all four of the telephones on his desk, the phone he held made a 'pinging' noise, the same sound as an underwater sonic device would make, only quieter.

  “Will she be ready for tonight, Fraser?” Dicky asked nervously.

  “Yes, sir! Only I don't know the target.”

  “Contact Sir Archibald at Group and liaise with him, particularly on backdated membership details. In his report, that's on my desk, he says you're in charge of the covers. How's that going?”

  “Out of towners up for the weekend. I understand that it is an exclusive club where they are to go.”

  “It is! Her escort is named Daniel Cardiff, with Annabel's, Berkeley Square the first point of introduction. Make sure they both adhere to the strict dress code. It's an unusual place for that sort of thing. Is she up for anything?”

  “The very best I've got, sir. I've heard it said that she could tease the last penny from a Scotsman's pocket by simply smiling at him.”

  “Both she and Cardiff will have to do more than smile tonight, I fear. Is there anything else?” Dicky enquired.

  “Only a name for the operation, sir, to keep things tidy as it were.”

  “Echo, I think sounds appropriate. The echo of a Cardiff choir in the Welsh valleys. Powerfully evocative stuff, don't you think?”

  “I do indeed, sir. Goodnight to you.”

  The hour hand on the wall-mounted ship's clock, a relic from HMS Victorious his father's last sea command before the ship sunk off the Netherlands coast, moved past the five bells it majestically struck. There was no time to get home and change for dinner.

  “Ah, Louise, I need someone to go to the Travellers to retrieve some clothes of mine I keep there for emergencies. Black suit, white shirt, grey tie sort of thing. Oh yes, pair of shoes. These need a good polish.” His trusted secretary's eyes followed his to the dusty brown brogues he was wearing.

  “I can have them polished for you, sir,” she announced on standing.

  “No, not necessary! Need black ones to match the suit. Cufflinks I'll need, plus clean black socks and of course the unmentionables in the company of ladies.” Normally he would have smiled, as was his custom, but today was as far from normal as it could have been.

  “You mean underpants, sir. Will you be requiring a clean vest as well?”

  “I think you're coming to know me too well. Yes, please!” He turned and was about to re-enter his office when she next spoke.

  “I will need your room key, sir. And I will see to it myself immediately.”

  “In that case I'll phone the club butler and inform him. Women are not normally admitted in peacetime and if there was a war you'd need a signed declaration from the PM to get past the foyer. He'll have a key and have all my stuff readied for you. I'll do that first before calling home. My wife will not be best pleased with me.”

  “The floor would like to wish you a happy anniversary, sir,” Louise said as the door closed behind him. It never registered. His mind was not on anniversaries nor on his wife, it was absorbed by the game ahead and how Daniel Cardiff's life was about to be scrambled beyond his wildest fears.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Tuesday Night In New York

  Revelations

  We lay beside one another with her head on my chest and her hands stilled when more revelations were disclosed; but not the one I was seeking.

  “No, Shaun, I was not about to mention Vienna and nor am I likely to. For thirty-five years I've lived peacefully without once being reminded of my last day there. I'm not about to change that for you or anyone. Now, if you want me to call a cab and go home you'll press me on the issue, if you'd rather I stayed and we continuing doing what I like best, you'll let it go and allow me to tell of Michael Clifford.”

  I know this sounds crazy but the only thought I had that moment was of Fianna and how she would have found some comical reply to make emanating from a misquoted film star. When my head cleared I gave the only answer any over-sexed young man would make.

  “Far be from me to put an end to a beautiful relationship. I won't mention it again, Leeba.” Without any perceptible change to her voice or manner she simply carried on as if nothing had happened.

  “Michael Clifford and his son-in-law started their resettlement of Nazis in April 1945 days before the end of the War. Martin Bormann was the last man who went through their hands. The early ones, eleven in total, went first to Ireland and then to Argentina, but that route was closed due to a mistake made by a submarine commander who thought he was surfacing near his supply ship in the Irish Channel, only to discover he had mistaken the silhouette and was in fact beside an American frigate. After a brief exchange of fire the American captain rammed his vessel into U-513, rescuing the crew from the icy water as the ship was scuttled. On interrogation, later that day, it was revealed that Oberbootsmann Richter, who had a Vatican passport in that name in his kit-bag, was in actual fact Obersturmbannführer Hans Kwellër, a prominent SS supervisory officer on transportation to concentration camps. The non-appearance of Kwellër prompted Clifford's organisation to pack their things up and flee to South America themselves, but not before signalling Clifford who in turn sent a diplomatic message to the German embassy in Lisbon, Portugal. Bormann, with two other escaping Nazis, was put ashore off the coast of Rhode Island on the night of 30th April 1945. He was driven straight to Newport where he boarded a ship bound for Buenos Aires along with one of the others; an Erich Priebke.”

  “I don't know a lot about the Nazis, Leeba, but I thought Martin Bormann was found shot dead in Berlin when the allies finally advanced on Hitler's bunker.”

  “No, Shaun! Bormann's death is still being speculated on. Even his family have been denied the burial of any body.”

  “Have these men remained in Argentina?”

  “I've no idea, but before I fall asleep let me introduce the man who might well be able to supply that answer. The one I implied knew everything. You've met him by the way. Dieter Chase is Karl Weilham's ex-commanding officer; Generaloberst Alexander Löhr.” That was a shook and I wondered if Jack knew.

  “Why did he stay in the States, do you think?” I asked.

  “Again I've no idea. I only found out all this when Earl died. I knew Earl, you see. He was the last man I made love to before you.”

  “How did you get to know Earl?”

  “Richard introduced us. He's the man I'm thinking of who may not know all that I'm telling you, but does know more than he's letting on.”

  “Tell me about your feelings for Earl and how you felt after he died.”

  She reached for her almost empty glass, drained it then poured another before kissing my lips, holding that kiss for seconds.

  “There are several things I find seductive about you, Shaun, some are blatantly obvious, but others not so. I've never heard you speak about yourself which most men love to do. You're an easy listener and just what I need right now.”

  “If you drink much more of that whisky you'll need more than me in the morning, Leeba.”

  “But you won't want more than me, Shaun. You'll be begging me to stop.”

  I laughed, as the begging bit about stopping was already true, only I never knew how to stop her and what's more, I didn't really want to know how.

  “Richard hos
ted a dinner party, which was an odd thing for him to do. He is a very private man, normally one to keep a fair distance from people, even ones he knows well. It was round about this time of year two years ago. Hot as hell, just like now. I think the last thing I wanted to do was eat a big dinner at that old house of ours, but he insisted that I come and play hostess, so I obeyed and there was Earl.

  Handsome man, tall, slim, dark-skinned from the sun and deep blue penetrating eyes that cut straight to my soul. We didn't sleep together that night but it didn't take us long as I offered little resistance on that score. I was less brazen with him than I was with you, Shaun. Perhaps his death taught me not to wait for something I want. We were lovers for about six months, breaking off a few weeks before that car crash. It was he who walked away from me otherwise I might well have been in that car with him. He learned of Dieter Chase when his father died. That's when he dumped me saying that being close to him was going to be dangerous from then on. He wasn't wrong, was he? He was an honest man and I believe it was that honesty that cost him his life!”

  There was a tear in those brown eyes as she drank from her glass, offering me a sip which I refused. Empathy was not the thinking behind my refusal. I was more interested in her warm body than the drink. For the next few minutes we were silent, being carried onto sandy beaches by waves of scotch whisky mixed with carnality. A heady combination of explosive adrenalin that required extinguishing.

  “I think Haynes killed Earl, Shaun, and it wouldn't surprise me if my brother was involved too. His car had gone off the road at a sharp bend, that overhung a deep crevice, in the hills near his home in Maine. The thing that I found so odd were the marks in the road just before that bend; four straight-line, double groves indicating four tyres deflating simultaneously. He drove a car with tyres that if punctured stayed inflated, tubeless things. I looked up the specification and consequences of a nail puncture. The only thing that could have happened in my opinion was if someone had laid one of those tyres shredders across the road then took it away before the local police arrived. The FBI found nothing to indicate homicide, or so they say. Haynes has very influential friends who are capable of covering any amount of evidence. They never gave me an answer to those marks in the tarmac. I doubt they looked very far to find one either.