Treason in the Secret City

by Diane Fanning

  ‘If the military picked him up, there’s no way for us to find out – unless you think Lieutenant Colonel Crenshaw will talk to you.’

  ‘Ha! Yes, sure, Crenshaw will talk to me – and probably tell me one lie after another.’

  ‘There’s got to be something we can do, Libby. Marvin is one of us. We can’t just forget about him.’

  ‘Of course not. But, we have to find out where – the exact spot – he was last seen. When we get back, it’ll be about the same time of night that Marvin and the rest of us left Joe’s. We need to walk from there to his dormitory and talk to anyone we see along the way. Maybe somebody saw something that evening.’

  The black Buick was still following us as we approached the gate. My stomach clenched tight as I feared I would once again be pulled from the car and taken for questioning. I didn’t breathe easy until we sailed past with a flash of our identification cards. The car was still behind us.

  I drove to Joe’s and parked in the lot. The Buick parked several spaces away. We got out of our vehicle and did our best to appear relaxed and unworried. Entering Joe’s, we moved toward a window and saw the man with his head down and brim pulled low over his brow walking our way. We rushed through the kitchen and out the back door.

  Using other buildings for cover, we circled around until we could see the front of the bar. The man was there peering in the window, shifting his body from one side to the other. Then, he made the move I had hoped he would: he stepped up to the entrance, pulled open the door and slipped inside. I stifled the urge to run as we walked quickly down the hill and headed in the direction of the dorms.

  ‘Do you think we lost him?’ Teddy asked.

  ‘Looks like it, but we can’t assume he won’t figure out what we’ve done, so keep your eyes peeled,’ I said. ‘I suspect though that he’ll go back to his car and wait for us to return to ours.’

  There were still a lot of people walking the boardwalk, some out for a casual stroll while others moved with more urgency. I approached a tall man wearing thick-lensed glasses while Teddy stopped someone else. ‘Were you out here two nights ago?’

  His eyes squinted and a frown replaced his initial smile of greeting. ‘Why do you want to know?’

  ‘It’s my boyfriend,’ I lied. ‘We had a little spat and he stomped off and I haven’t heard from him in two days. I’m trying to find out if he was meeting another woman. He’s not as tall as you. But his hair is about the color of yours and he has a very noticeable nose and Adam’s apple.’

  The man grinned. ‘Sorry. I was out here walking – I do most evenings. But I didn’t remember seeing any guy meeting a girl. Good luck,’ he said and walked away.

  I tried the same line a dozen times with the same kind of reaction and response before we reached the dormitory. Teddy hadn’t had any luck either.

  We walked inside the door and a thin young man with freckles and screaming carrot-top hair behind the front desk jumped up and went bananas. ‘No females allowed! You will have to leave.’

  ‘I just wanted to ask a question.’

  ‘Get out or I’ll call and have you removed.’

  We stepped out front and Teddy went in alone while I paced the boardwalk. Teddy trotted out looking excited. ‘Here’s what I learned. Marvin does live in this dorm—’

  ‘We knew that,’ I objected.

  ‘Yes, but he didn’t know we knew it. I didn’t tell him Marvin was missing or anything. I said you were his cousin and wanted to leave a message for him. He said that would be okay if I brought it inside – not you. He must have said that three times. Anyway, I told him the two of you had an argument about a family problem on Tuesday night and asked if he saw him returning then. He said, ‘Sure did. He came through the door and there was a man right behind him.’

  ‘What did the man look like?’

  Teddy shrugged. ‘He didn’t know much. He said that he was wearing a suit and a hat with a low brim that hid his face. I asked if he heard anything they said and all he got were a few words.’

  ‘What words?’

  Teddy blew out a big exhalation. ‘“Frannie” was one – Marvin said that a couple of times. He also said, “I don’t understand” in a loud voice more than once. He thought Marvin looked very upset but after a few minutes he left with the man.’

  ‘I wonder if it was the same man who was following us tonight.’

  ‘It had to be.’

  ‘But was it spies or was it some secret security thing? We’re going to have to go back to Joe’s and if he’s still there, we’ll ask him.’

  ‘Are you serious, Libby? That could get us hauled in, too.’

  ‘We can’t find out anything if we don’t take any risks. And there’s two of us and one of him – sounds like a good odds to me.’

  ‘You’ll do this with or without me, won’t you?’ Teddy said.

  ‘Definitely.’

  ‘Okay, I’m with you all the way.’

  When we got back to Joe’s, the black Buick was still parked in the same spot and I could see the man with the hat sitting behind the wheel, his head turned in the direction of our parking space. I headed straight for his car hoping he wouldn’t see me approaching from the opposite direction of where I’d left mine. But he did. His head jerked back, then forward and the engine started when we were about twenty feet away.

  I broke into a run but he peeled out of the lot before I could reach him. ‘Hey. Hey. Wait. Wait!’ I shouted. He continued driving away at a speed that made his Buick lurch from side to side as it encountered one mud hole after another on its way up the street.

  TWELVE

  I woke up Saturday morning with a sense of foreboding and a feeling of helplessness. Teddy and I decided an emergency meeting of the Walking Molecules was essential and both committed to trying to get everyone together at Joe’s that night. But before that, we had to get through another long work day and make a run into town so that Teddy could call the number we got from Frannie. No time today to go out to see her, but hopefully she’d be occupied with her new magazines and not be too anxious about spending the day alone.

  I drove Hank’s car to work that morning so Teddy and I were able to take off for Knoxville as soon as we both finished in the lab. The whole drive into town, we worried about every vehicle moving in the same direction as we were. It got pretty funny when we pondered the possibility that a farm tractor that pulled out behind us was a reason for concern.

  At the drug store, Teddy climbed into the booth and requested to be connected to the number in New York. Moments later, Teddy pulled the phone back from his ear when the receiver emitted an obnoxious sound. Then I heard the operator’s voice. ‘I’m sorry, sir, but that number is no longer in service.’

  ‘But my sister called it yesterday. Did he forget to pay his bill?’

  The operator repeated, ‘I’m sorry, sir. That number is no longer in service. I cannot provide any further information.’

  Teddy hung up and stared at me for a bit too long. The gray-haired woman next in line cleared her throat, getting our attention. ‘If y’all want to stare into each other’s eyes, could you please step outside the booth and let someone else make a call?’

  Back in the car, Teddy said, ‘Well, horsefeathers! The one solid piece of evidence we had to help Frannie just went up in smoke. We’ll never get her off the hook.’

  ‘Don’t panic. The FBI, the police, all those people have ways of finding out where that phone was connected even after it’s no longer in service. They’ll be able to tie it to someone. It still matters. But now I wish I’d never called yesterday. I should have thought first and known a woman’s voice might be unexpected and his reaction would not be predictable.’

  ‘Too late to cry over spilled milk, Libby. Let’s get to Joe’s. Between all of us, we should be able to come up with something.’

  Gathered around the table in a back room at Joe’s, Teddy and I told the group the bad news about the phone number. Tom criticized me for what he called
my Dumb Dora decision to place the first call and Teddy came to my defense. I interrupted before the confrontation could escalate. ‘Did anyone find out anything about Hansrote?’

  Joe spoke up first. ‘He was a physics professor at Columbia University before coming here to Oak Ridge. He is married to Henrietta Rockefeller, a distant relative of the most prominent members of that clan, but she came with her own tidy fortune. Word has it that although Hansrote married her for her money, he is a bit resentful of it and driven to build a fortune of his own.’

  For a moment, all I could do was stare at him open-mouthed and blink my eyes. How did he dig up that level of personal information? Then I, and everyone else, started bombarding Joe with questions more quickly than he could possibly sort out and answer. He held up his hands. ‘Please. I can’t understand anyone.’

  Everyone quieted down after a final grumble from Tom. ‘Libby,’ Joe said, ‘you first.’

  ‘How do you find that level of personal information about a scientist here without getting hauled in for questioning?’

  ‘That’s easy. My older sister, Gertie, went to the same finishing school in Switzerland as Henrietta. I thought I recognized Hansrote’s name the other day but didn’t want to say anything until I talked to my sister.’

  ‘Oh,’ Tom sneered, ‘so you’re rich and mighty, too. I’m surprised you deign to sit at the same table with us and drink our peasant beer.’

  Joe sighed. ‘My family had money – and notice, please, the past tense. My sister is twelve years older than me. They lost almost everything in the crash when I was ten years old and spent a few years selling off the assets and trying to maintain an image of prosperity. It paid for my education, but by then, nothing was left but just enough to keep my parents housed and fed. I barely remember that other life.’

  ‘You don’t owe us any explanation of your past, Joe,’ I said. ‘Let’s get back to the important questions – which are, I remind you all, about Hansrote. Is his wife here, Joe?’

  Joe grinned. ‘Her family still has their fortune and would not tolerate their society daughter living in the backwoods of Tennessee – or any other southern state for that matter.’

  ‘Do you know when he left Columbia to come here? Or anything else for that matter?’ Teddy asked.

  ‘He studied at Princeton and got a doctorate in Physics. That’s about it. Gertie said she could find an excuse to call Henrietta and see if she can learn more without being too obvious. I told her I’d let her know.’

  ‘You never know which tidbit might be useful, Joe. I say it’s worth a try. Does everyone agree?’ Gregg asked.

  Heads nodded around the room and Joe said, ‘Consider it done. I should be able to call her tomorrow sometime.’

  ‘Tomorrow – that brings up another concern,’ I said. ‘Marvin.’

  ‘Have you heard from him?’ Gregg asked.

  ‘No. He still hasn’t been seen by anyone that we asked. I think tomorrow is a good time for a hike to search for clues,’ I said, bracing myself for objections.

  True to form, Tom led the charge. ‘Sunday is our only day off and you want to run around in the woods like chickens with our heads cut off? We don’t even know where to start.’

  ‘Yes, we do,’ Teddy said. ‘Libby and I saw Frannie yesterday and we can find the way there. We need to scour the trail out to the shack and see if we can find anything that gives us an indication of what happened.’

  ‘Dumb!’ Tom proclaimed. ‘Didn’t you say that Frannie was at the hutments after dark? It was late when we left the meeting and Marvin never made it to his dorm room. He wouldn’t go to her hideout if she wasn’t there. He went somewhere with a man he met in the lobby. We need to find out who that is and then maybe we’ll know what happened to him.’

  I laid a palm flat on the surface and placed the other hand on top of it, as a reminder to remain calm. I leaned forward and asked, ‘How do you propose we do that, Tom?’

  ‘Well, we could – we might – well, you blew that chance didn’t you by approaching him.’

  I stared at Tom until he started to squirm.

  ‘What possible reason would he have to go out to the shack with that man when Frannie wasn’t there?’ Tom asked in a nasty tone of voice.

  ‘Let’s try this scenario on for size, Tom,’ I began. ‘The man tells Marvin that Frannie is having a problem. Maybe he said that her ruse at the hutments blew up in her face. Maybe he said she was sick. Or she broke a leg. There are a score of possibilities for Marvin heading out there. Whatever the reason, perhaps he believed the man at first. It’s possible that on the way Marvin got suspicious and went off in another direction. Frannie told me that Marvin was a dedicated Boy Scout who earned Eagle Scout honors. She is certain that he would have left a clue somewhere if he intentionally went the wrong way.’

  Gary laughed with scorn. ‘Sounds dumb to me.’

  ‘Maybe not,’ Tom said.

  ‘Oh, maybe not,’ Gary echoed.

  ‘I say the earlier in the day we do it, the better,’ Gregg said. ‘All in favor of meeting up at first light and hiking out, raise their hands.’

  Every arm reached for the air. ‘Okay, Libby, we’re all going. You’re in charge of this expedition. Where do we rendezvous?’

  THIRTEEN

  Teddy and I met on the boardwalk in front of my house and set out while it was still dark. This morning, I packed one of my dresses, some undergarments, clean socks, and a pair of pajamas for Frannie whose clothing had definitely seen better days. I figured before the day was over, I’d find some time to go out to the shack. After arguing about possible locations last night, we’d decided against the Chapel on the Hill. Initially, the group leaned toward meeting there because every Sunday morning, a nearly non-stop rotation of services for different denominations took place at the church building. That meant that we could lose ourselves in the crowds going to and fro without raising any suspicions. That idea was dashed when Joe said, ‘Personally, I don’t want to wear a suit, a tie, and my good shoes to stomp off into the wilderness. I plan on wearing hiking boots, short pants and a knit shirt. I imagine I’d stand out in a group of folks wearing their Sunday finery.’

  We eventually decided to meet at a massive, dying ancient oak on the edge of the forested area. As we’d planned, Teddy and I were the first to arrive. We waited, listening to the jubilant songs of wakening birds while the others straggled in muttering complaints about the heat and humidity that was already making the air feel sticky and uncomfortable.

  ‘Everybody got a canteen of water?’ Gregg asked. When he got positive responses all around, he said, ‘Okay, Libby, lead the way.’

  ‘Before we start, I think I can go straight to the shack without any wrong turns, but if we get close, I’m going to ask all of you to stop while Teddy and I approach Frannie on our own. We won’t get that far, however, if Marvin detoured and we find his trail signs. We all need to be on the lookout for any path – no matter how faint – that diverges in another direction. And hope that if Marvin turned that way, he would have marked a tree or rock or something to indicate it. Also look for any dropped items that he may have used instead. Okay, this way.’

  When we saw a thin deer trail off to the right, we stopped to examine the area thoroughly. After half an hour of finding nothing more than broken bottles and rusted spent shotgun shells, we moved back to the main trail. We repeated this procedure three more times with the same result. Then we approached a little alcove, about five foot deep in the trees and brush. The grass and weeds were flattened as if a number of people or animals had milled about in that spot. Scattered around were a large number of cigarette butts – scratch a herd of deer off the list.

  I think all of us were contemplating the significance of the find but it was Gregg who asked the question: ‘Does this have anything to do with Marvin? Could people have stood here waiting to ambush him?’

  ‘If so,’ Joe said, ‘the man who brought him out here had to know they were lying in wait.�
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  ‘Should we push our way through the brush and see what’s on the other side?’ Tom asked.

  ‘Nah,’ Teddy chimed in. ‘Look, none of those branches are broken and not enough time has passed for it to grow back that dense if they’d been knocked aside a couple of days ago. I think we ought to move up the main path. Seems like if it was some sort of trap, Marvin would have known it and that’s why he would have moved them away from Frannie’s hideout.’

  After a little back and forth, we all agreed and trudged off in the direction of the shack. Tom headed down the next side path first and in a moment let out an Indian whoop. We all ran up to him. Following the length of Tom’s pointing finger, we all saw a huge gouge in the side of a hickory tree. It was a sort-of straight line with a diagonal line on the end as if someone tried to cut an arrow into the bark but had to stop before he finished.

  ‘That, lady and gentlemen, is a scout trail marker. And it looks fresh,’ Rudy said.

  ‘Oh,’ Tom said in a snotty tone of voice. ‘You’re a Boy Scout, too.’

  ‘Yeah, I was, Tom. You want to make something out of it,’ Rudy said as he jutted out his chin and clenched his fists at his sides.

  ‘I didn’t say anything,’ Tom protested.

  Gregg cast a stern look at him and the friction of suppressed anger in his words seemed to echo in the hills. ‘Just cut it out, Tom. We all heard your tone of voice. Someday you’re going to have to address that chip on your shoulder. But right now, we need to find Marvin, so let’s focus on that and be grateful that someone here knows something about trail markers.’

  We walked further up that new path and just as I was thinking we were reading too much into what we had found, Teddy shouted, ‘Eureka!’

  At a fork in a path, pushed down on the tip of a young sapling set back two feet up the left fork, was a bold turquoise ring. ‘Is that Marvin’s?’ I asked.

  ‘It looks like one I’ve seen him wearing. I doubt if many people around here have one like it,’ Teddy said.