Fifth Column

by Christopher Remy

  "Go ahead and shoot me if you want," she said, pulling her arm back.

  She looked around to see if anyone was noticing their argument. She saw a pair of businessmen looking their way but they smiled at her and raised their eyebrows at Hagen, probably assuming they were having a lovers' quarrel.

  Hagen closed his eyes in resignation. "Very well. Please don't make me regret this."

  "Don't worry," Johanna replied with a smile. "I won't." With that she patted his cheek, completing the picture of the arguing couple. She turned on her heel and headed for the café, forcing herself not to laugh as she imagined the look on Hagen's face behind her.

  Johanna opened the door to the café and entered. A long bar lined the left wall with small tables opposite. The place seemed deserted. She took a step in towards the bar and saw that there was a small alcove with a view out the plate-glass window onto the street. Viersing was sitting there with his back to the room, sipping coffee.

  He had thick black hair perfectly pomaded into place, with a razor sharp part. Every aspect of his person was perfectly in place, his tie knotted just so and his clothes impeccably pressed. Johanna noticed once again his gold cufflinks and many gold rings, seeing the reflected flashes playing on the wall.

  Then it hit her.

  She had seen this man before. When she met Friedrich and his Bund friends (had it been weeks? Months?), her brother had greeted Viersing. She remembered how deferential he had been. What was the connection between the two?

  Viersing noticed her standing there and his eyes went straight to her legs. He made no attempt to be discreet as his eyes roamed her body.

  Just then Hagen brushed past her and sat down in the empty chair across from Viersing, who acted indignant.

  "I beg your pardon! What is this?" he huffed, his coffee cup clattering on the saucer.

  Hagen leaned over the table and said in a stage whisper, "I bring greetings from Uncle Heini."

  Viersing's entire demeanor changed. Johanna imagined she could see his pomposity visibly leave his body. She wasn't sure who Uncle Heini was supposed to be, but Hagen's air of authority had brought a complete change. It was clear that he saw Hagen as someone who knew the truth about him, and was not to be fooled with his air of self-importance.

  "Yes?" Viersing said in a quiet, pleading voice.

  "Is it safe to speak here?" Hagen asked.

  Viersing nodded, eyes wide. "Oh yes."

  Hagen's really pouring the secret agent stuff on thick, Johanna thought with a smile.

  "Good. I've been sent to assist a certain man in the employ of our friend Herr Heydrich."

  Viersing didn't blink, but nodded.

  "Yes, yes. I haven't heard anything from Berlin since the consulates were closed. What can I do to help?"

  Johanna saw the disappointment in Hagen's eyes. Viersing's a dead end. He doesn't know anything.

  Hagen stood up and walked toward the door, telling Viersing to await instructions. Johanna followed him out.

  "Scheisse!" Hagen swore when they were outside. "Either he's playing coy or he doesn't know anything."

  Johanna didn't say anything. Even with her long legs, she struggled to keep up with Hagen as he walked back to the car.

  "He must be playing coy. He must be," Hagen muttered to himself.

  SAC Dan Wexler shook a fresh Camel out of a crumpled pack and lit it with the tip of another. He jammed the butt into the overflowing ashtray, careful not to let any fall on the floor of the car. He considered these stakeout operations insufferable, doubly so when he had to sit in a car with an idiot such as SA Mark White. It was bad enough eating greasy food and torturing his bladder without being peppered with inane questions.

  After the hundreds of Nazi spies he had arrested over the summer, he was leading what J. Edgar Hoover was calling a 'mop-up' operation. In other words, instead of enjoying the fruits of his successful, high-profile counter-intelligence job with a swift promotion, he was tracking down Nazi pretenders and any of the genuine article that had fallen through the cracks.

  If it had been up to him, he would be sitting here across from the Café Hindenberg alone, but some paper pusher in Washington had decided that Special Agents-in-Charge were to give special attention to rookies for on-the-job training. Hence, his personal curse that was White.

  "I don't understand why we don't just pick the guy up," White offered. Wexler had been counting how many times White tried to initiate a conversation with him but had lost track. He said nothing.

  "I mean, we know this Viersing guy is here illegally and probably a spy," White continued, smacking his gum. "Why don't we pick the Nazi bastard up and put the screws to him? Find out what he knows?"

  Wexler took a deep breath.

  "Because we know where he is and can follow his every move," he replied, packing every possible bit of condescension into his voice. "He's not going to get away with anything while we're watching him and if he is what we think he is, he'll lead us to other spies. Just like that guy in the Navy Yards, remember? He was as dumb as a box of rocks, but he knew just about every Nazi spy working in the Yards. This Viersing guy is from the consulate. You can bet that if he's not a spy himself, he'll lead us to a couple fat and juicy ones."

  He drew on his cigarette and cracked the window to blow out the smoke. Wexler never took his eyes off of Viersing through the café window. He was eating little dainty bites of what looked like eggs.

  A man and a woman went in the café door and Wexler saw the man sit down at the table opposite Viersing. He didn't recognize him.

  Frowning, he pulled open the accordion file that lay on the seat next to him and began to flip through the mug shots and surveillance photographs. He glanced back and forth between the photos and the café, hoping to be able to identify the man. He was tall and powerfully built, with close-cropped blond hair that was almost white.

  Wexler picked up his camera and tried to get a shot of the man's face. He got him into focus, but his back was to the window and the man never turned his face. He put the camera back on the dashboard and watched the two men have a brief conversation. The woman who had gone in with the mystery man was hidden behind a wooden column. Wexler could only see her sleeve.

  The blond man got up and walked out, the woman behind him. The man looked angry and was walking at a brisk pace down the street. Wexler picked up the camera again and got several shots of his face. He then pointed the lens at the woman who was trying to keep up. He turned the ring on the lens and got her into focus.

  "I'll be damned," he exclaimed. He pressed the shutter release and advanced the film, watching Johanna Falck walk down the sidewalk.

  "Hey, that's the broad I told you about yesterday," White said, pointing. "The one with the great rack. Too bad she's got on that heavy overcoat, you can't see 'em."

  Wexler gritted his teeth and took another photo.

  Wasn't she supposed to be in Germany?, he wondered. He made a mental note to check with the newly-opened New York office of the Coordinator of Information. The deal was that, in return for their cooperation, the FBI was supposed to get copies of her reports pertaining to Nazi espionage and subversion in the U.S. He had forgotten all about it, until now.

  Of course, I haven't seen a damn one of those COI reports. Typical.

  Johanna stared out the windshield trying to make sense of what she had just seen. Hagen had obviously tried the "official Nazi" act that had worked with his own Abwehr agents. Either it hadn't worked with Viersing, or he really was a dead end. If he was a dead end, then there was some other SD agent on the loose, up to God knows what. If he was the right man, she was still no closer to figuring it all out on her own and she would still have to wait to see how it all unfolded.

  She tucked an errant lock of hair behind her ear and noticed a group of men walking towards the Café Hindenberg. As they got closer, she realized that the one out front with the gray newsboy hat was her brother.

  "Freddy!" she exclaimed.

  Hagen
, lost in his thoughts raised his eyebrows. "What?"

  Johanna pointed. "That is my brother, Freddy. The three men with him are Bundists. I've met them."

  Hagen watched them enter the café.

  "And Freddy knows Viersing," she added.

  "How do you know this?" he asked. She told him. He quizzed her about her brother and his friends. She told him everything she knew, which wasn't much. She hadn't seen him much when she was away at school and when she came back he was unrecognizable as an angry Nazi. His friends she had only met a couple of times.

  Hagen pulled his black notebook out of a jacket pocket. He slipped the elastic off and began writing. He stopped mid-sentence and looked up.

  "You are going to make contact with your brother." His tone made it clear that he was not asking.

  "I'll talk to Freddy if you tell me everything," she offered.

  "No. I have told you all you need to know."

  She persisted.

  "You have 'Top Secret' in your government, yes?" he asked. "I have seen enough American movies to know this is true. So do we. What you and I are here to do is extremely 'Top Secret'. I will not divulge any more information than I absolutely have to. Just as you are a patriot, so am I."

  Johanna bristled at this last comment.

  "You're a patriot, all right. A patriot for Adolf Hitler."

  Hagen's head snapped up and he stared out the windshield, his face reddening.

  "For Germany," he said through clenched teeth.

  She noted the expression on his face and agreed to do it.

  Soon Freddy and his three friends left the café. Hagen and Johanna got out of the car and followed them, hurrying to catch up.

  For half a block, they kept pace just behind them. Hagen obviously felt the sidewalks were too crowded, so he waited until they turned onto a side street before he jabbed Johanna in the shoulder and nodded towards Freddy. She called out his name.

  Freddy and the three other Bundists were surprised to see Johanna and peppered her with questions. They were all impressed with her supposed espionage arrest and escape, none more so than Freddy. She introduced Hagen and said that they needed to speak with Freddy alone. The friends left.

  As soon as they were alone, Hagen immediately launched into the same Nazi act that he had used with Viersing.

  "Your sister and I have come to the United States on a mission of critical importance," he said, like an officer speaking to a subordinate. Freddy straightened and paid close attention.

  "We are here on the orders of the Führer himself," he continued. Freddy's eyes widened and he looked at Johanna in wonder. "There is an agent on the ground in America who is suspected of being a double agent working with the American government. We must stop him. Tell me what you know about Otto Viersing."

  Freddy tipped his cap back on his head and nodded, his face serious.

  "You don't have to worry about Viersing, sir. He's a loyal Nazi." Johanna's heart sank at Freddy's obvious admiration for a 'loyal Nazi.' "He's SS, you know – an important SD man."

  Hagen nodded and motioned for Freddy to continue.

  "I just run errands for him sometimes, deliver packages and letters for him around the City. That's all. He buys us drinks sometimes and pays me well." Freddy shrugged. "I don't know what else to tell you."

  "Do you know if Viersing has had any meetings with anyone that you would consider 'prominent'?" Hagen asked.

  "No, I don't think so."

  "Alright," Hagen said. "I am enlisting your help. Remember, this is for the Fatherland and the Führer himself. You must not tell anyone that we are here and reveal nothing of our conversation today. Not even to your parents. They must not know that Johanna is back. Understand?"

  Freddy gave a curt nod and his face flushed with pride. Johanna felt like shaking him. What is wrong with you?

  "Very good. You must keep an eye on Viersing, but not so much that he becomes suspicious. If he is not our man, then we don't want to bother him more than we need to. Johanna and I will check back with you to see if you've learned anything."

  He put his hand on Freddy's shoulder. "I'm counting on you."

  Johanna stifled the urge to roll her eyes at Hagen's over-the-top performance.

  She asked Freddy about their parents.

  Freddy sniffed.

  "They were so embarrassed after you were arrested it was pathetic. Now they scurry around like scared little mice, afraid that someone they know will see them on the street. They're so stupid they don't even realize they should be proud."

  Johanna gave him a wan smile to hide her true feelings. As much as she had wanted to distance herself from them her whole life, she felt guilty knowing that she had brought them such shame. She had been ashamed of them all these years, now they were the ones to be embarrassed by her.

  She hoped she would soon have the opportunity to tell them the truth. They left Freddy and returned to the car.

  As they pulled away from the curb, Hagen muttered angrily under his breath. He drove to a nearby service station and parked next to a phone booth in the lot.

  Again he flashed his gun to get Johanna's attention and told her to stay in the car.

  "I'm going to call Simon at the safe house and tell him to get a report from the other Abwehr agents. I'm sure they've found nothing, worthless idiots that they are."

  It was late afternoon now, and the shadows had lengthened with the early autumn twilight. Johanna watched the phone booth light flick on over Hagen's head. The light had the effect of accentuating Hagen's heavy jaw and wide shoulders. As intimidating as he was, Johanna thought that there was something not quite right with the picture of the Nazi automaton that she expected him to be. What it was, she couldn't quite put her finger on just yet.

  She filed that question away for the moment and ran their conversation with Freddy over in her head.

  Hagen asked Freddy if Viersing had met with any 'prominent' people. That fit with the phony double agent story he was telling everyone, but didn't jibe with the truth so far as I know it. Whatever the SS has planned that Hagen is trying to stop must involve someone 'prominent.' Does that mean someone in the US Government or military?

  Prominent, she repeated to herself. Another piece to the puzzle.

  A blast of cold air blew into the car as Hagen opened the door and got in.

  "Viersing is all I have, so I am going to stick with him." He pointed with his thumb toward the back seat. "Reach behind you. On the seat is a case with some food in it. We'll have something to eat on our way over to Viersing's. Let's see what he does tonight."

  Once again they sat in the car down the street from Viersing's apartment. Johanna munched on the last of her cheese sandwich, watching Viersing's door. A light shone behind gauzy curtains in a small grated window, a hopeful sign that he was home.

  Hagen had found a dark spot to park the car so Johanna wasn't able to see her watch, but the people on the street had gone from workers on their way home for the day to people out for the night. She guessed it was about six or seven.

  Soon after, the door opened and Viersing walked out. The three times Johanna had seen him, he had been wearing a white suit. Tonight he had on dark coveralls. He stood with his fists balled in his pockets, his back to the door.

  Hagen started the car and waited with the lights off. It was clear Viersing was waiting for someone and the way he was dressed was not for a Yorkville nightclub.

  A dark Chevrolet sedan pulled up to the curb in front of Viersing and he walked over to it. He leaned in the passenger window to speak with the driver and got in. As the car pulled away, Hagen allowed a few cars to get between them, and then followed.

  Johanna felt her anticipation rising. If Viersing led them to someone (someone 'prominent'?), maybe another piece would fall into place.

  They followed Viersing's car down the East River Drive and through the Queens Midtown Tunnel into Long IslandCity. They were clearly heading out of the city, which puzzled Johanna. Everything
that she knew about Nazi spies told her that they were concentrated in New York City. What could Viersing be doing out on Long Island?

  Viersing's car continued east on the Long Island Expressway and followed a serpentine path through so many state routes and highways that Johanna couldn't keep track.

  The city traffic had thinned and they were now alone on the road with the other car. Hagen slowed down to let Viersing get ahead. Johanna could see that Hagen was working hard to keep some distance between them without losing them on the narrow back roads.

  After an hour or so, they found themselves on a narrow causeway in Lloyd Neck. Johanna could see whitecaps reflected in the headlights. As they reached the other end of the causeway, they came upon a wooded area where the road bent to the right. On the left it looked like solid forest, but the water was visible through the trees on the right.