Treason in the Secret City

by Diane Fanning

  I trotted up the trail to catch up with Frannie who was now retelling the same magazine stories to Joe and Rudy who both looked like they might be capable of falling asleep and walking at the same time. I wrapped my elbow in the crook of her arm to keep her moving while I explained. ‘Frannie, here is what is going to happen next. Up ahead is a point where the trail comes close to a road. I was able to hear the traffic noise each time I reached that point when I walked this trail. You will veer off toward that sound with Gregg and Joe.’

  I felt her step hesitate and added a little more pressure to her arm and kept up my pace, dragging her speed back up to meet mine. ‘What if we get lost?’ she asked.

  ‘You won’t,’ I promised, hoping I was right. ‘Gregg has a compass and he’ll get you there. You need to follow his instructions without hesitation. You can do that, can’t you?’

  Frannie nodded. ‘I try to pretend like this isn’t all that serious but I know how serious it is. I just don’t like to think about it.’

  ‘You don’t have to, Frannie, just listen to us and we’ll do the best we can. Joe will drive you and Gregg to the Andrew Johnson Hotel. Mr and Mrs Gregg Abbott will check in and go to their room.’

  ‘When do I meet her?’

  ‘Who?’ I asked.

  ‘Mrs Gregg Abbott.’

  I shook my head – it had seemed an obvious conclusion to me – but Marvin had said that his cousin accepted everything at face value. ‘That’s you, Frannie.’

  She stepped in front of me, making a sudden stop that made me nearly lose my balance. Arms akimbo, she said, ‘I will not do it.’

  ‘Frannie, don’t worry. Gregg is not going to stay in the room with you. He’s just going to go up, get you settled into the room and pick up anything you need before he goes back to his dormitory.’

  ‘How do you know he won’t take advantage of me?’

  ‘Gregg knows how important it is to protect you and to find the truth to set you free.’

  ‘Once I’m outside the fence, how do you know I won’t run off and leave you holding the bag?’

  What an odd question, I thought. ‘Frannie, I believed Marvin when he said you wanted your name cleared. If you run off, that will never happen. Everyone will assume you are guilty.’

  A harsh tone was in her voice when she said, ‘That’s true.’ Then, it softened to its normal girlishness and she said, ‘I will not marry him, under any circumstances.’

  ‘Oh, Frannie, you’re not going to really marry him. It’s just pretend. It’s like you’re an actress in a movie. You’ll be the leading lady. Isn’t that exciting?’

  Frannie’s face brightened and she flashed a grin. ‘That’s killer diller, Libby.’

  That phrase made me wince. It came too close to the literal truth for my liking.

  ‘I can do that,’ Frannie continued. ‘Should I go for the Katherine Hepburn style or maybe I’m more a Bette Davis type, what do you think?’

  ‘Pretend that Gregg is Cary Grant …’

  Frannie crinkled her nose and scowled. ‘Not exactly.’

  ‘Just pretend and act like the woman you think belongs at Cary’s side.’

  ‘Oh, yes. Katherine Hepburn it is.’

  I certainly hoped she didn’t ham it up too much. I found it easy to believe that it was child’s play for Hansrote to manipulate her.

  Teddy and I parted ways with the group and Frannie surprised me with a huge hug and eyes full of tears. ‘Thank you, Libby. You’re the best friend Marvin ever had.’

  I’m not sure she’d feel the same way once I told her what had happened to her cousin. But that day of reckoning was still undetermined. I had to face Crenshaw first.

  ‘It’s Sunday,’ Teddy said. ‘Where will we find Crenshaw?’

  ‘He might be at his office but I think it’s more likely that he is at home.’

  ‘You know where he lives?’

  ‘Yes. Mrs Crenshaw sent me a card inviting me to dinner after the conflict between her husband and I was resolved.’

  ‘You went to dinner at his house? You sat down and ate a meal with him?’

  ‘No. I politely excused myself but made a mental note of the street address.’

  ‘How much are we going to tell him?’

  ‘I’m not sure. I tend to think, at this point, we should just tell him we found Marvin’s body and leave it at that. We need to have something to implicate Hansrote before we take it any further.’

  ‘Do you have any ideas on that front, Libby?’

  ‘I’m thinking about something. I’m just not ready to talk about it yet.’ I was thinking of something very risky. Would Henrietta Rockefeller be appalled enough at the idea of her husband spying on her country to cooperate? I hoped that Joe could uncover more first from his older sister. Until then, I was keeping that option as a last resort.

  When we knocked on the door of one of the larger cemesto houses, a gangly teenaged boy answered. I asked for his father and he walked away leaving the front door open. I could hear talking in the distance.

  ‘Who is it?’ Crenshaw said. After he pause he said, ‘Why didn’t you ask them?’

  The boy shuffled back to the door and asked, ‘May I tell him who’s calling?’

  From another part of the house, a woman’s voice said, ‘Please, William. Who’s calling please?’

  The boy sighed, turned beet red and exaggerating the emphasis on the word ‘please’, said, ‘May I please, tell him who’s calling, please?’

  The woman’s voice scolded, ‘Watch yourself, mister.’

  It was such a typical family interaction, it was all I could do not to laugh in his chagrined face. ‘Tell Lieutenant Colonel that Miss Elizabeth Clark and Mr Theodore Mullins are here to see him.’

  Crenshaw came to the door immediately. ‘To what do I owe this pleasure, Miss Clark, Mr Mullins?’ He stretched his arm out, shaking both of our hands. ‘You didn’t find another body, did you, Miss Clark?’ he said with a chuckle.

  ‘Actually, we did,’ Teddy answered.

  The smile fled from Crenshaw’s face. ‘This way,’ he said.

  We followed him through the foyer and into the living room where he invited us to have a seat. Mrs Crenshaw was there before we could sit down. ‘Dear,’ she said, ‘can I bring a pot of coffee? Won’t take but a minute to fix it.’

  Crenshaw looked at us with raised eyebrows. We both shook our heads.

  ‘No, thank you, Martha. If you and William would grant us a few uninterrupted minutes, please.’

  ‘Certainly, dear,’ she said with a smile and disappeared into another room.

  ‘I trust that wasn’t a joke, Mr Mullins.’

  ‘No, sir. We found the body of a scientist out in the woods, tied to a tree.’

  ‘Tied to a tree?’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ I said. ‘It appears as if Marvin Gray’s legs and fingers have been broken and his face battered badly.’

  ‘Do you know who is responsible?’ he asked.

  ‘No, sir,’ Teddy and I said in unison and far too quickly.

  He looked back and forth at our faces trying to read what was behind our denial. I smiled as sweetly as I could.

  ‘You both saw this body?’

  We nodded in response.

  ‘Did anyone else see this body?’

  We nodded again.

  ‘And I suppose, just like the time before, you won’t tell me who they are.’

  ‘I’m sorry, sir,’ I said. ‘I made a commitment to the group.’

  ‘Yes, of course you did. What you’re telling me sounds like torture. What information would Mr Gray have that would have put him at risk? What was he working on?’

  ‘Sir, I wouldn’t know. We don’t discuss our work within the group.’

  Crenshaw gave a cynical laugh. ‘Of course you don’t. And you don’t debate any theories about the nature of the gadget you are working on, do you?’

  Teddy and I both sat in silence. I stared intently at a pencil that had rolled under a nea
rby chair.

  ‘So did this whole mysterious group see the body? Did they all trample over any evidence in the immediate vicinity?’

  ‘Yes, sir and no, sir,’ I said, relieved to have a question I could answer. ‘We all saw the body, but from a distance. Two of us approached it to determine if he was still alive and to see if we could ascertain what had happened to him.’

  ‘The two of you?’ the lieutenant colonel said pointing his finger from one of us to the other.

  ‘No sir,’ Teddy said. ‘Not me.’

  ‘I need to know who the other person was.’

  ‘Not at this time, sir,’ I said. ‘If there comes a point in your investigation where you can convince me that you genuinely do have a need to know, I will talk to that person about coming forward.’

  Crenshaw bowed his head and shook it from side to side. ‘Very well,’ he said when he looked us in the eyes again. ‘And you can show me where this body is?’

  We nodded again.

  ‘Let’s hope nothing untoward happens before we get there.’

  ‘We left men standing guard, sir,’ I said.

  Crenshaw stood, walked to the phone and barked orders into the receiver. ‘Send my driver here now to transport me and two others. And send three or four MPs in another vehicle. Then contact the Provost Marshall General’s office and alert him to stand by for a request to provide the service of the Criminal Investigation Division. Tell them I’ll call later today to verify our need or with orders to stand down.’ He disconnected the call without waiting for a response.

  From the back seat of the jeep, I directed the driver as close as I could to the ancient oak, while another jeep with four military police followed behind us. We set out on foot with Teddy and me leading the way. When we reached the alcove where the ground was littered with cigarette butts, I stopped and said, ‘This seems to be the spot where some people laid in wait for Marvin.’

  ‘How in heaven’s name did you find this place?’

  I kept my eyes away from Teddy, afraid that I’d give something away if I looked at him when I answered. ‘I went walking this way with Marvin last week so it seemed a good place to start looking for him.’

  ‘Are – were you involved with this young man, Miss Clark?’

  ‘No sir. I knew him. He had a personal problem and he wanted my advice. We were discussing that while we hiked. He was a friend but that’s the extent of it.’

  ‘How much further?’ Crenshaw asked.

  ‘Just a little further,’ I said and led them to the marked tree. ‘You’re all going to have to wait here while I give the men guarding the body a chance to conceal themselves.’

  One of the MPs objected but Crenshaw cut him off. ‘Do as she says, corporal.’

  I dashed up the path, explained the situation to Dennis, Tom and Gary and watched as they faded into the woods. Returning back to the turn-off, I warned them all about the horrible smell.

  When we were in sight of the body, Crenshaw said, ‘You two stay right here,’ and motioned for the MPs to follow him. They examined the body for a few minutes and Crenshaw walked back our way. ‘Did you remove anything on or near the body?’

  ‘No sir,’ I said.

  ‘You didn’t remove a rope from around his neck?’

  ‘He was strangled?’ I said, feeling nauseous. What a horrible way to die.

  He paused for a moment as if deciding whether or not to answer my question. ‘It appears so. You didn’t remove a rope?’

  ‘No, sir, we did not.’

  Crenshaw turned around and said, ‘One man – whoever has the strongest stomach or the weakest sense of smell – needs to stand guard by the body. Another needs to take up a position at the end of this cut-off. A third will remain at that area where Miss Clark suggested might be the site of an ambush.’

  ‘Are you just going to leave him there?’ I objected.

  ‘For now, Miss Clark. Criminal investigators from the Provost Marshall General’s office will arrive as soon as possible. He will remain out here until I get instructions to the contrary from them.’

  I didn’t want to desert Marvin again. I knew he was dead, but still, I didn’t want to turn him over to the military; it felt like betrayal.

  SIXTEEN

  We told the driver to drop us off at men’s dormitories so that we could tell Jubal that Marvin would not be returning. That earned us a lecture from Crenshaw on not revealing any details of the situation to anyone. We listened in silence and nodded in agreement. It was the perfect cover-up for our real motivation in not being given a ride back to my place. I wasn’t sure who we’d find there besides Rudy. I was determined to conceal the identity of the rest of the group for as long as we could. Once Crenshaw’s driver left, we walked straight to my house. Marvin’s roommate could wait.

  Tom and Gary were sitting on the steps leading from the boardwalk to my little flattop. Tom spewed out a litany of questions without any pause for answers. ‘Did you find Crenshaw? Did you talk to him? Did he believe you? Were you interrogated? Did they lock you up? Did you escape? Did you take them out to the tree? Well, come on, what’s going on? We were worried.’

  ‘Is Rudy inside?’ I asked.

  ‘Him and everyone else, too. Well, except for that girl. Gregg left her at the hotel. What happened for pity’s sake?’

  ‘Why don’t we go inside and we’ll tell everyone at once.’

  When I walked in the door, Gregg bounced up from my easy chair and motioned for me to have a seat.

  ‘Let me make a couple pots of coffee first.’

  ‘Real coffee?’ Dennis asked and looked ready to drool.

  ‘Yes. Got a fresh tin from my Aunt Dorothy for my birthday. How she gets her hands on these things I’ll never know. She always changes the subject when I ask.’

  Teddy sat down on the sofa beneath an open window that brought a welcome breeze. The rest, instead of sitting down and battering him with questions, all crowded after me into the kitchen. Even with just me, and sometimes one other person in there, the room didn’t feel spacious but it certainly was roomy enough. Now, it felt like a shrinking box. I didn’t object, though. I was rather touched by their obvious show of concern and offers to help.

  When the cups were filled and passed around, we all sat down in the next room on the sofa, the easy chair, one of the two dining table chairs or cross-legged on the floor. ‘I’ll give a brief report on what happened but before I answer any questions, I would like to hear from Gregg about how Frannie has handled herself since I saw her.’

  I ran down the sequence of events and, despite my request, queries started bombarding me immediately. I held up my hands and said, ‘Wait. Gregg, how did it go?’

  Gregg shook his head and laughed. ‘I had a very clingy girlfriend in high school, but she was nothing compared to Frannie. She snuggled by my side, touched my face time and time again and kept clutching my hand. I think the young clerk at the front desk was embarrassed by her profuse display. But she was convincing. When we got into the room itself, she backed away from me so fast, you would have thought I was diseased. On the way out, I spoke to the staff in the lobby again explaining how my wife had been very ill and would probably spend most of her time recovering in the room and want room service for most meals. They seemed to accept that, too. So I’d say all went very well.’

  ‘Does anything about Crenshaw have you worried, Libby?’ Rudy asked.

  ‘Yes. I think he suspects I know more than I am telling him. Of course he is aware that our group exists and is aware that I won’t reveal any names. Beyond that, I can tell he knows I’m up to something. He knows better than to ask me vague questions just fishing for answers but I can tell he’s looking for clues to what I’m thinking. He did, Tom, ask for your name but I wouldn’t tell him.’

  ‘Me? Why does he care about me?’

  ‘He wanted to know who else approached Marvin’s body. I told him that if he reaches a point in the investigation where he can convince me he needs to know,
I would ask you if you wanted to come forward.’

  ‘He knows who you and Teddy are and you’re doing fine so it probably doesn’t matter.’

  ‘Probably,’ Teddy said. ‘But it is also possible that the only reason we are fine is because he thinks we might eventually disclose all your names. If that happens, who knows what he’ll do.’

  ‘Very possible,’ Gregg said. ‘I think it could be what is keeping you and Libby safe. Give up a name if you have to do so – but not until you have no other choice.’

  ‘The question I have for all of you is, what do we do next?’ I asked.

  ‘We need to make sure that Marvin’s body is removed from the woods,’ Tom insisted.

  ‘I already planned to check with Crenshaw on Tuesday morning about that.’

  ‘Tuesday?’

  ‘Tom, I’ve got to give investigators time to get here and look over the scene. If I go tomorrow, I’ll just annoy Crenshaw and possibly shut the door to any communications from him.’

  Tom grumbled and then asked, ‘What did you have in mind?’

  ‘Teddy and I were talking as we headed back here. To us, it seemed obvious that we needed to follow Hansrote. He’s bound to have found or be looking for someone who can provide him with a clean connection to the outside world and to that Raymond guy in Manhattan.’

  ‘I don’t think that he would go with another switchboard operator on the off-chance that Frannie said something to someone before she fled,’ Teddy added.

  ‘And I don’t think he’ll stand in line at the drug store or any other public pay phone. It has to be a private residence,’ I added.

  Gregg asked, ‘Do you think that means he’d go off the reservation, then?’

  I nodded.

  ‘So we’d only need to follow him when he goes outside of the fence. That sounds doable, Libby, if you’ll make your car available.’

  ‘There’s a problem with that,’ Gregg said. ‘We don’t know where he works.’

  ‘But,’ Joe offered, ‘we do know where he lives.’

  ‘We do?’ I said.

  ‘Well, Henrietta knew.’