Instruments of Night

by Thomas H. Cook

  “And Faye knows he’s looking at her. See how stiff she looks. A fake smile. Not a natural one. She knows Grossman is looking at her, and she’s trying to avoid his gaze. Why?”

  If Portman had ever discovered the answer to that question, there was no indication of it in any of the materials he’d gathered on Faye Harrison. Instead, as Graves and Eleanor went through the rest of the papers he’d assembled over the years, they found only a baffling collection of school records, teacher comments, report cards. Portman had even managed to get hold of Faye’s medical records, the accumulated history of her physical existence, charts of height and weight from the time she was eight until her sixteenth birthday. Nearly two hours had passed before they’d gone over the last of the documents, studied the final photograph, read the last list or chart.

  Graves stated the unavoidable conclusion. “I think Charlie Portman was wrong. I think his father died in the dark. And even if he did find the truth at the very end, he didn’t leave a clue as to what it was.”

  “Yes, he did,” Eleanor said. She thought a moment, then began going through the material that still lay spread across the bed. When she found the picture in which Portman had drawn a line connecting Faye and Grossman, she turned it toward Graves. “This is his clue. The one he left behind. There had to have been a reason for him to have drawn that line. Something he found. Something he saw but that we haven’t seen.” She plucked the envelope marked Devane & Assoc. from the pile and held it up, displaying its empty interior. “Because it was taken.”

  They found Charlie Portman exactly where he said he’d be, stretched out in a dusty hammock behind the house, snoring softly as they approached, rousing himself immediately when Eleanor said his name.

  “Oh, boy, out like a light,” he said drowsily as he pulled himself up, blinking.

  “Sorry to disturb you,” Eleanor said.

  “No, no, that’s all right. Did you find anything?”

  “Not exactly,” Eleanor replied. “But we noticed that something was missing.”

  “Missing? From Dad’s files?”

  “Every other envelope had something in it. This one didn’t.” Eleanor handed him the empty envelope.

  “Yes, it did,” Portman said. He was now upright in the hammock, his shoulders slumped, his belly hanging loosely over his belt. “There was some kind of inventory in it. It didn’t have anything to do with the murder.” What he said next did not appear to bother him. “That’s why I let Miss Davies take it.”

  CHAPTER 29

  Miss Davies sat on the side porch, reading a book. She seemed pleased to see them. “I was hoping you’d come by,” she said, removing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. “I was quite curious about your visit with my brother.”

  “We couldn’t find a reason for him to have hurt Faye,” Graves told her.

  “That doesn’t surprise me. I don’t think he had one. Nor his girlfriend either.” Miss Davies placed her glasses in a velvet case and closed the lid. “So, where does that leave you?”

  Eleanor handed her the envelope they’d found in Dennis Portman’s files. “Have you ever seen this?”

  Miss Davies took the envelope, glanced at it, offered it back to Eleanor. Her expression did not change. “I see that you’ve gone to Charles Portman’s house.”

  “It was the only empty envelope in Dennis Portman’s files,” Eleanor told her. “And you were the only one who’d been through his papers since he died.”

  Miss Davies looked at Graves warily. “Am I a suspect now?” Before he could answer, her eyes shot back to Eleanor. “Did Mr. Portman tell you why I went through his father’s papers? Or have you simply assumed the worst? That I have something to hide. Well, I’m not surprised. It’s our national disease, after all. Always looking for conspiracies, cover-ups.” She seemed disappointed in Eleanor, resentful of her suspicion, perhaps even a little wounded by it. “It’s quite contagious, evidently. Although I’m always surprised when intelligent, even gifted people prove susceptible to such delusions.”

  Eleanor faced Miss Davies evenly, not in the least intimidated by her manner. “Charlie Portman said you came to his office a month ago. You told him you were gathering material on the murder. You wanted to look through any papers his father might have on the case.”

  “Precisely,” Miss Davies said. “Unfortunately, I found nothing of importance in the senior Portman’s files. As to what I found in that envelope, it had nothing to do with Faye’s murder.” She rose. “Come. I’ll show you what it was.”

  Graves and Eleanor followed her upstairs into what had once been Warren Davies’ private office. It was a spacious room, flooded with light, its bookshelves cluttered with a large assortment of objects collected over the years. To the right of his desk, a glass cabinet held an array of antique medical instruments and medicine jars. To the left, another cabinet contained an assortment of objects that appeared to have nothing in common.

  “My father had a foundation,” Miss Davies told them. “He ran it from this office.” She was clearly proud of the man the room portrayed, accomplished, learned, a man of broad interests. “The things he put in these cabinets were of no particular value. Except as memories. President Roosevelt gave him this pen, for example. And that little wooden ring you see there came from Borneo. The gift of a native chief.” She opened the top drawer of the desk, riffled through a stack of papers, and took out a single white sheet. “This is what you’re looking for, I believe.”

  The letterhead read “Devane & Assoc.” The letter was dated July 17, 1946, and had been written to Andre Grossman. There was a photograph clipped to the top right-hand corner. It showed a small enameled box, a number written just beneath it: Item 6401.

  “When I was going through Mr. Portman’s papers, I found that,” Miss Davies explained. “Of course, I recognized the box.” She looked at Graves. “I’m sure you must have recognized it too. My mother later used that box to store the letters she received from Mr. Grossman after he left Riverwood. I couldn’t imagine why Mr. Portman had the letter in his files. As you’ll see after you’ve read it, the contents have absolutely nothing to do with Faye.”

  Dear Mr. Grossman:

  As per your request, Devane & Assoc. has done a full inquiry into item 6401, picture enclosed. Since we did not actually have the item in hand, our determination as to its value is dependent upon the description and photograph you provided.

  The item is listed in Bridges’ Authenticity as Kaminsky 12. Although we have not physically examined the object, we can say that should it be authentic—which by photographic examination it appears to be—its worth is estimated at approximately $110,000. Of course, Devane Assoc. cannot calculate what any particular item might bring at auction. Nor can we be held liable for any discrepancy between estimate and final price. However, should you wish to deliver the object for authentication and auction, we would be pleased to make the appropriate arrangements.

  Below please find the item’s full provenance as recorded in Bridges’ Authenticity: In each case, transfer was made without encumbrance.

  CZAR NICOLA/ ROMANOV ——14 January 1914 to:

  MAXIMILIAN BURATSKY ——16 March 1916 to:

  PIERRE KIROV ——4 June 1924 to:

  KARL CLAUBERG ——24 October 1939 to:

  WARREN DAVIES 27 June 1942, (currently in possession)

  “A provenance is, as I’m sure you know, the history of ownership for a work of art,” Miss Davies told them. “I didn’t recognize any of the names on the list Devane and Associates provided. Other than my father’s, of course. But who they are would hardly matter. The names are listed only to establish the authenticity of the box. And, of course, proof of authenticity establishes value. Andre Grossman had worked as a curator for a museum in Vienna. He must have known how valuable the box was. That’s what he wanted to find out from Devane and Associates. Whether the box my father had in his office was, in fact, authentic.” She gazed at them pointedly. “I can only conclude that Mr. Grossman
, my mother’s dear, dear friend, was a thief.”

  Their final lead had led nowhere. Save back to Grossman. During the previous few minutes, Miss Davies had made what appeared to be perfectly sensible assumptions as to the painter’s situation. Grossman was poor, she said, with few prospects. Her father would certainly have refused to recommend him to anyone in his circle. The artist had, in fact, been more or less thrown out of Riverwood. With the portrait of Mrs. Davies finished, he had no future income upon which he could depend. In such a state of desperation, he might well have hit upon the idea of stealing the Kaminsky box. Even selling it on the underground market, Grossman would have made a substantial amount of money. Enough to sustain him for months.

  And yet, for all that, one question remained. They had reached the bottom of the stairs when Eleanor voiced it. “If Grossman intended to steal the box, Paul, why didn’t he do it? Why did he leave Riverwood without it?”

  “But if he didn’t intend to steal it,” Graves said, “then why did he bother to find out whether it was authentic and how much it was worth?”

  “Maybe it wasn’t the value of the box that interested him.”

  “Then what was he interested in?”

  “The provenance.” Eleanor’s tone struck Graves as curiously assured. “The letter said that in every case the box was transferred from one person to another ‘without encumbrance.’ That means that no money changed hands, that it wasn’t bought.”

  “So Mr. Davies got it as a gift?”

  “Yes. A gift from someone named Karl Clauberg.”

  “Who’s probably been dead for years,” Graves said.

  “Dead or alive doesn’t matter,” Eleanor said. “It’s never too late to find someone.”

  Seconds later they were at her computer. Graves watched as the screen illuminated, a green background with several distinct figures, all of them indecipherable to him, part of a language and process he knew nothing of.

  Eleanor’s fingers tapped the keys. In response, the screen threw up another pattern, this one with a white rectangle in the far left corner. As Eleanor began to type, the letters appeared instantly inside the white rectangle: CLAUBERG.

  Two seconds passed. Three. Four. The screen did not change. Five. Six.

  Then it came up, a completely different page. Graves leaned forward to see it.

  A: INTELLICO/HAMBURG

  URL: http://www.mission.online/home/datamedia.htm

  Summary: Interessierte Intellico, die hier ihre Uhrenbörsen-Termine veröffentlich haben möchten, wenden sich bitte direkt an die Redaktion (Johan Clauberg).

  B: IMPRESARIO

  URL: http://WWW.impresario/entertainmentIbrd/cir.com.htm

  Summary: Entertainment management. Child/Adult. Commercials, industrials. Catalogue modeling. USA/ EUROPE/ASIA. Contact: Sydney Clauberg, 701 Ventura Blvd., Los Angeles, California.

  C: JOHNS/FOWLER/CLAUBERG & ASSOCIATES

  URL: http://www.legal/tst.net/logico/firm.htm

  Summary: Documentation and authentication services. Specializing in antique documents, wills, manuscripts, celebrity letters. Estate appraisals. 1242 Lexington Avenue, NYC, NY. REF: Edward Johns, Morris Fowler, David Clauberg.

  “Nothing,” Eleanor said. She hit a key marked Next, and a second page appeared.

  D: CLAUBERG SCHOOL OF GARDENING

  URL: http://www.roses/thk.124.2231.abc/net.com.htm

  Summary: See ref: daubers Gardens, Vancouver. Picture tour. Miniature gardens. English. Japanese. Classes Spring/Fall. Landscape architecture. Fountain/ Sculpture Placement

  E: AMERICAN MODEL TRAIN ENTHUSIASTS

  URL: http://www.trains.ent.amer.htm

  Summary: Convention details. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Newsletter. Recent publications. Sources. FAQ. Jerry Partini, Pres.; BUI Clauberg, V.P.; Sandy Kramer, Treasurer.

  F: AUSTRIA

  URL: http//www.travel.aust/cybertrip/vienna/off.htm

  Summary: Comprehensive guide to Austria. Available in English, French, Italian. 399 pgs/text. Photos. Best buys. Shopping and entertainment guide. Author Hans Wilhelm Clauberg. Marco Polo Press: Cambridge.

  G: BLOCK 10

  URL: http://www.wwil/archive/Nurembergl/ausch/dc.htm

  Summary: German doctors. Medical Experiments. Kock 10. Auschwitz. Under Himmler Directive.

  “Block Ten?” Eleanor asked.

  Graves shrugged.

  “Let’s follow it,” Eleanor said. She placed the arrow on “Block 10” and clicked.

  There was a pause. Then a different page flashed into view.

  Auschwitz:

  Medical Experimentation

  Archive Services

  [Previous | Index | Next]

  Medical personnel

  Block 10

  Auschwitz

  German doctors charged with conducting medical

  experiments on live human subjects. Medical compound.

  Experimental Block 10.

  Vivisection:

  Dr. Dietrich Mann—committed suicide, August 1946.

  Dr. Klaus Gebhardt—hanged, September 1947.

  Dr. Johan Gerber—sentenced to 20 years in prison.

  Freezing Experiments:

  Dr. Wolfgang Meyer—hanged, November 1947.

  Dr. Hans Kenner—sentenced to fifteen years.

  Dr. Gerta Fleck—sentenced to ten years.

  Twins:

  Dr. Josef Mengele—chief doctor at Auschwitz—twins

  studies—presumed dead.

  Sterilization

  Dr. Karl Clauberg—sentenced to twenty years.

  “There he is,” Eleanor said. “Karl Clauberg.” She stared at the name a moment. “Of course, this isn’t necessarily the same Clauberg who gave Mr. Davies the box. But if it is, then why would—” She stopped, clearly realizing that without more information, further speculation was unwarranted. She returned her attention to the screen, positioned the arrow on “Clauberg,” and clicked.

  Karl Clauberg

  [Previous | Index | Next]

  Nazi Doctor

  Anschwitz

  Field of Experimentation: Sterilization

  Professor Karl Clauberg had, in the years preceding World War 2, expressed considerable scientific interest in the question of sterilization. Upon arrival at Auschwitz, be immediately began to perform human experimentation in Block 10.

  Clauberg’s experiments involved female human subjects. Clauberg and the doctors who worked under his direction injected chemical substances into the wombs of Jewish and Gypsy women during “normal” gynecological examinations. Clauberg’s caustic chemical was injected into the cervix in order to obstruct the fallopian tubes. The injections destroyed the lining of the womb and damaged the ovaries.

  In a letter to H. Himmler, Clauberg stated that by using this form of sterilization, a doctor with ten assistants would be able to sterilize one thousand women per day.

  Letters on Sterilization—Karl Clauberg

  Without a word, Eleanor clicked on “Letters on Sterilization.”

  Karl Clauberg

  [previous | Index | Next]

  Nazi Doctor

  Auschwitz

  Field of Experimentation: Sterilization

  Letter proposing Sterilization Experiments on live Human Subjects—Karl Clauberg

  Addressed to Heinrich Himmler—17 Jone 1940

  Honorable Reichsfuehrer!

  I am pleased to present myself as a scientist long interested in the benefits of sterilization. If I may say so, my interest predates even those recent efforts to which the Reich has given its full and generous support. As the Reich expands, it will inevitably incorporate vast numbers of people of non-Aryan race. This material can serve as a labor supply for the Reich, but it is doubtful that this supply should replenish itself in equal numbers during future generations. Thus the question of sterilization rises as a critical factor in the future health of the Reich. Many proposals have been entertained as regards the sterilization of this population. The use of X rays, for exam
ple. This method has indeed shown itself to be both effective and inexpensive.

  However, I believe that the same result can be obtained even more effectively and with less expense by means of a chemical formula which can be injected into the womb. This method requires considerable experimentation, and I am hereby offering my services to the Reich as a doctor and scientist of considerable standing. Should the Reichsfuehrer look favorably upon future experimentation, I should be most happy to acquaint you with the scientific details of my proposal.

  So far, there has been but one opportunity to test my formula. However, I am pleased to report that this effort, which was initiated in 1938, continues to show positive results. All data indicate that the subject of this experiment remains strong and healthy. There has been no change in the rate or pattern of overall physical development. This is especially important in regard to all aspects of the digestive system. Should these very positive results continue, it is conceivable that an entire generation of inferior people could be sterilized in secret, and at a minimum expense.

  I might also add that as a gesture of gratitude I have taken the liberty of transferring a most valuable gift to the project head of tins experiment. It should serve to show the Reich’s deep appreciation for the work that has been so successfully (and in deepest confidence) carried on.

  [Auschwitz Image]

  “Project head,” Eleanor murmured, then immediately clicked on “Auschwitz Image.”

  The first photograph showed two rows of emaciated young girls. They were naked, their skulls large and imposing above their withered bodies. They sat, staring vacantly at the camera, without smiles, their heads shaved, their ribs clearly visible beneath pale, malnourished flesh. Beneath the picture, the caption read: Subjects of sterilization experiments conducted by Dr. Karl Clauberg on Block 10, Auschwitz. Ages 8–10.