‘‘And what’s your role in all this?’’
‘‘Can I get you something?’’ she asked, ignoring the question. ‘‘Something to eat?’’
‘‘I ate a sandwich on the train,’’ he said. ‘‘I asked, what’s your role in all this?’’
‘‘I knew you were probably going to be difficult,’’ she said. ‘‘Can’t it wait until morning, Dick?’’
‘‘And if I said no, you would say ‘It’ll have to,’ right?’’
‘‘Yes.’’ She grinned. ‘‘Now, is there anything I can get you? Or can I take you to your room?’’
‘‘Is there a phone in my room?’’
"Why?"
‘‘I want to call my father,’’ he said.
‘‘You’re not supposed to do that,’’ she said. Then she saw the look on his face and quickly went on. ‘‘You’re under certain restrictions here, Dick. They’ll be explained to you in detail in the morning. Until they are, you aren’t supposed to use the telephone or mail letters. . . .’’
‘‘For Christ’s sake!’’ Canidy fumed. ‘‘That’s absurd!’’
‘‘That’s the way it is,’’ she said. ‘‘I’m sorry.’’
He started toward the library door. ‘‘Nice to have seen you again, Cynthia,’’ he said.
‘‘And you’re restricted to the property,’’ she said. ‘‘You can’t leave.’’
He stopped. ‘‘Those cops, you mean?’’
‘‘Dick, I can get you an outside line to call your father,’’ she said. ‘‘Provided you don’t tell him you’re here. Just to say hello, that’s all. And I’ll have to listen. If you say anything you shouldn’t, I’ll cut you off.’’
He looked at her, then turned and came closer to her.
‘‘All I want to do is let him know I’m in the States,’’ he said. ‘‘Can I do that?’’
‘‘Sure,’’ she said. ‘‘Give me a minute to place the call; then pick up the extension in here. You have the number?’’
‘‘Sure.’’
‘‘OK, wait sixty seconds, then pick up,’’ she said, and walked out of the library.
When he picked up the telephone, his father was on the line.
He told him he was back in the United States and safe. But he had no idea when he could get a leave to come home.
‘‘The FBI has been to see me,’’ his father said. ‘‘They were asking all sorts of questions about you and Eric Fulmar. Do you have any idea what that was all about?’’
‘‘No, Dad,’’ Canidy said. ‘‘Maybe they think he’s a spy in Morocco.’’
‘‘I assured them that there was no question of his patriotism or character,’’ the Reverend Dr. Canidy said.
After Dick said good-bye to his father, Cynthia reappeared at the library door.
‘‘Come on,’’ she said. ‘‘I’ll show you to your room.’’
He followed her upstairs.
At the door to a room across from the master bedroom, she touched his arm.
‘‘Dick, I’m really glad you came through China in one piece,’’ she said. And then she surprised him by quickly kissing him on the cheek. ‘‘Good night,’’ she said. ‘‘Happy New Year.’’
The kiss meant two things: She liked him. And she was not going to screw him. He had been kissed that way before.
4
Washington, D.C. January 1, 1942
A hand stabbing his shoulder woke Canidy and a ruddy-faced chief boatswain’s mate stood over him, a cup of coffee in his hand.
‘‘Good morning, Mr. Canidy,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m Chief Ellis. I figured you could use this. As soon as you can make it, they’re waiting for you.’’
‘‘Thank you,’’ Canidy said. He looked at his watch. It was nine o’clock. ‘‘Who’s ‘they’?’’
‘‘The captain, Mr. Baker, Miss Chenowith,’’ Ellis said.
‘‘You’re a long way from the briny deep, Chief,’’ Canidy said.
‘‘Yeah.’’ Ellis smiled. ‘‘Ain’t we?’’
Five minutes later, Canidy followed Ellis into the dining room. Cynthia Chenowith was in a sweater and skirt that reminded him painfully of her platonic kiss. Doug Douglass’s father was in uniform, and Baker wore a business suit.
‘‘Welcome home,’’ Douglass said, shaking Canidy’s hand with a strong grip. ‘‘I’m Captain Peter Douglass.’’
‘‘How do you do?’’ Canidy said.
Douglass pushed a box across the table to him.
‘‘That’s yours,’’ he said. ‘‘You left it behind. Doug sent it to me.’’
Canidy opened the box. It was his Order of the Cloud Banner.
‘‘I’m sorry that had to go the way it did,’’ Douglass said. ‘‘But Baker was right. It kept a lot of questions from being asked. Anyhow’’—he looked at Canidy—‘‘I thought you might want to send that to your father.’’
A thin black woman appeared and laid ham and eggs in front of Canidy.
‘‘I took the liberty of ordering for you,’’ Douglass said. ‘‘We’ve already eaten.’’
‘‘Fine,’’ Canidy said.
‘‘Can you eat and read?’’ Douglass said. ‘‘It would save time.’’
‘‘Yes, sir.’’
‘‘Give him Hansen’s report, Ellis,’’ Douglass ordered.
Hansen’s report came in a manila folder, stamped SECRET. Canidy opened it and found several sheets of paper.
SECRET INTERNAL MEMORANDUM
DATE: 16 DECEMBER 1941
FROM: P. D. HANSEN
TO: E. C. BAKER
SUBJ: FULMAR, ERIC
THE FOLLOWING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION HAS BEEN DEVELOPED CONCERNING SUBJECT FULMAR. (SOURCE INDICATED.)
(FROM POSTAL INSPECTION SERVICE):SUBJECT HAS BEEN IN REGULAR CORRESPONDENCE WITH REV. GEORGE CRATER CANIDY, D.D., HEADMASTER ST. PAUL’S SCHOOL, CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA.
(FROM FBI):REV. CANIDY HIGHLY RESPECTED CLERGYMAN/ EDUCATOR (EPISCOPALIAN) WITH NO KNOWN AXIS SYMPATHIES.
FBI INTERVIEW WITH REV. CANIDY PRODUCED THE FOLLOWING:SUBJECT SPENT SIX (6) YEARS AS BOARDING STUDENT AT ST. PAUL’S SCHOOL, AND HIS CLOSE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH REV. CANIDY DATES FROM THAT PERIOD.
REV. CANIDY BELIEVES IT IMPOSSIBLE THAT SUBJECT COULD BE GERMAN SYMPATHIZER.
REV. CANIDY STATES THAT SUBJECT’S CLOSEST FRIEND WAS CANIDY’S SON, RICHARD CANIDY (SEE ONI INFORMATION FOLLOWING) WHO WAS AT ST. PAUL’S SCHOOL WITH SUBJECT AND LATER WITH SUBJECT AT ST. MARK’S SCHOOL, SOUTHBORO, MASS.
(FROM FBI):FBI INTERVIEW WITH VARIOUS FACULTY MEMBERS, ST. MARK’S SCHOOL, PRODUCED THE FOLLOWING:SUBJECT ATTENDED ST. MARK’S SCHOOL FOR TWO YEARS. SUBJECT WAS ORDINARY STUDENT, WITH NO OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC OR DISCIPLINARY PROBLEMS.
SUBJECT WAS WITHDRAWN FROM SCHOOL INTO CUSTODY OF STANLEY S. FINE (SEE FBI INFORMATION FOLLOWING). SUBJECT’S ACADEMIC RECORDS WERE SUBSEQUENTLY REQUESTED BY AND FURNISHED TO DIE SCHULE AM ROSENBERG, IN SWITZERLAND.
SUBJECT’S CLOSEST FRIENDS AT SCHOOL WERE RICHARD CANIDY AND JAMES M. C. WHITTAKER. (SEE WD G-2 INFORMATION FOLLOWING.)
SUBJECT’S MOTHER, MOTION-PICTURE ACTRESS MONICA CARLISLE (B. MARY ELIZABETH CHER-NICK) , REFUSED FBI INTERVIEW ON ADVICE OF COUNSEL.
FBI INTERVIEW WITH STANLEY S. FINE, VICE-PRESIDENT, LEGAL CONTINENTAL STUDIOS, PRODUCED THE FOLLOWING:FINE IS HIGHLY REGARDED ATTORNEY AND BUSINESS EXECUTIVE WITH KNOWN ANTI-GERMAN SYMPATHIES.
FINE STATED THAT FOR BUSINESS CONSIDERATIONS, CARLISLE/CHERNICK DID NOT WISH THE EXISTENCE OF A SON KNOWN PUBLICLY. FINE STATED HE HAD HANDLED BOARDING SCHOOL AND SUMMER CAMP AND OTHER ARRANGEMENTS DESIGNED TO KEEP SUBJECT OUT OF PUBLIC NOTICE UNTIL 1933, WHEN, OVER HIS OBJECTIONS, CARLISLE/CHERNICK AGREED TO HAVE SUBJECT EDUCATED AT HIS FATHER’S EXPENSE IN SWITZERLAND.
FINE STATED HE BELIEVES CARLISLE/CHER-NICK HAS HAD NO CONTACT WITH SUBJECT SUBSEQUENT TO APPROXIMATELY 1937. FINE MAINTAINED SOCIAL CONTACT WITH SUBJECT UNTIL 1940.
(FROM OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE): RICHARD CANIDY COMMISSIONED ENSIGN USNR ON GRADUATION (A
.E.) FROM MASS. INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 1938. DESIGNATED NAVAL AVIATOR, PENSACOLA, FLA., MAR. 1939. ASSIGNED NAS PENSACOLA PRIMARILY AS INSTRUCTOR PILOT. PROMOTED LIEUTENANT (JG) JUNE 1940. CANIDY HON. DISCH. (CONVENIENCE OF GOVT.) JUNE 1941 TO ACCEPT ONE-YEAR EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT WITH AMERICAN VOLUNTEER GROUP, CHINA. CANIDY BELIEVED TO BE IN KUNMING, CHINA.
(FROM G-2, WAR DEPARTMENT):JAMES M. C. WHITTAKER COMMISSIONED SECOND LIEUTENANT ARTILLERY ON GRADUATION (B.A.) FROM HARVARD COLLEGE 1938. TRANSFERRED ARMY AIR CORPS. DESIGNATED PILOT RANDOLPH FIELD, TEXAS, 1940. TRANSFERRED USAAC IN PHILIPPINE COMMONWEALTH. PRESENT WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN. WHITTAKER’ S RECORDS INDICATE CONSIDERABLE POLITICAL INFLUENCE. KNOWN TO BE SOCIALLY ACQUAINTED WITH THE PRESIDENT.
(FROM TREASURY DEPARTMENT):SUBJECT CAME TO TREASURY DEPARTMENT ATTENTION FOLLOWING REPORT BY FIRST NATIONAL CITY BANK OF NEW YORK THAT SUBJECT TRANSFERRED TO SMALL, DORMANT ACCOUNT AMOUNT OF $21,545 FROM FIRST NATIONAL CITY BANK BRANCH IN BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA. SIX (6) SUBSEQUENT TRANSFERS FROM FNCB BUENOS AIRES, TOTALING $111,405, HAVE BEEN MADE, THE MOST RECENT NOVEMBER 12, 1941.
PRIOR TO DEC. 12, 1941, WHEN UNLICENSED FOREIGN TRANSFER OF U.S. DOLLAR FUNDS WAS PROSCRIBED BY PRESIDENTIAL ORDER, SUBJECT DREW NINE (9) TIMES UPON THESE FUNDS AT THE FNCB BRANCH IN CASABLANCA, MOROCCO, FOR A TOTAL OF $6,500.
IRS RECORDS SHOW SUBJECT HAS NEVER FILED PERSONAL INCOME TAX RETURNS.
IF SUBJECT CLAIMS GERMAN CITIZENSHIP, HIS FNCB ACCOUNT IS SUBJECT TO IMPOUNDMENT UNDER THE ENEMY ALIEN PROPERTY ACT, AS AMENDED. IF SUBJECT CLAIMS AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP, HE IS IN VIOLATION OF THE IRS CODE, AND THE FNCB ACCOUNT LIABLE TO SEIZURE FOR NONPAYMENT OF APPLICABLE TAXES, PLUS PENALTY.
PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE (HOMER HUNGERFORD, M.D., CHIEF OF PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES, GEORGETOWN MEDICAL CENTER [AND OTHER]):‘‘BASED ON THE INFORMATION MADE AVAILABLE IT IS NOT OF COURSE POSSIBLE TO PREPARE A THOROUGH EVALUATION, MUCH LESS A PROFILE, BUT SEVERAL THINGS SEEM PROBABLE, AND WHAT FOLLOWS IS THE CONSENSUS OF THOSE CONSULTED.
PATIENT WOULD INESCAPABLY HAVE EXPERIENCED REJECTION AS THE RESULT OF HIS FATHERLESS CHILDHOOD, AND THESE FEELINGS WOULD HAVE BEEN EXACERBATED BY THE EXTRAORDINARY REJECTION BEHAVIOR OF PATIENT’S MOTHER. PATIENT HAS APPARENTLY TRANSFERRED (JUDGING BY LETTERS SEEKING APPROVAL) PARENTAL FEELINGS TO THE REV. DR. CANIDY, AND PATIENT STILL APPARENTLY FEELS A STRONG SIBLING BOND WITH CANIDY AND WHITTAKER. (IN OTHER WORDS, HAVING BEEN DEPRIVED OF A FAMILY, PATIENT HAS FORMED HIS OWN FROM THOSE PERSONS WHO HAVE BEEN CLOSE TO HIM.)
PATIENT, WHOSE ACADEMIC RECORDS INDICATE HIGH INTELLIGENCE, HAS NECESSARILY DEVELOPED SELF-RELIANCE TO AN UNUSUAL DEGREE. THIS WOULD LIKELY
MANIFEST ITSELF THROUGH DISTRUST OF THOSE WHO HAVE NOT PROVEN THEIR TRUSTWORTHINESS; A HIGH LEVEL OF DETERMINATION; A RELUCTANCE TO SEEK, OR HEED, ADVICE FROM OTHERS; AND A LACK OF CONCERN FOR THE APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF HIS PEER GROUP.
PATIENT IS PROBABLY VERY STABLE, ANY INSTABILITY HAVING BEEN RESOLVED IN PATIENT’S FORMATIVE (IMMEDIATE PRE- AND POSTPUBERTY) PERIOD. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE HERE THAT THIS STABILITY WILL PROBABLY TEND TO MAKE PATIENT IMMUNE TO MOST NORMAL SOCIAL PRESSURES, AND DISRESPECTFUL OF NORMAL AUTHORITY FIGURES. PATIENT’S PSYCHOLOGICAL MAKEUP IS PROBABLY FIRMLY ESTABLISHED, AND PROBABLY RELATIVELY IMMUNE TO CHANGE. IF, HOWEVER, THERE WERE TO BE A FURTHER PROFOUND EMOTIONAL TRAUMA (FOR EXAMPLE, IF ONE OF HIS ‘‘FAMILY’’ BETRAYED HIM), THERE WOULD PROBABLY BE SOME PSYCHOLOGICAL DIFFICULTY.’’
COMMENTS:INASMUCH AS SUBJECT HAS BEEN ABROAD FOR SO LONG AND UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES DESCRIBED HEREIN, IT IS BELIEVED LIKELY THAT HE WILL CONTINUE TO REFUSE OVERTURES FROM OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIVES OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT.
TWO (CANIDY, RICHARD; WHITTAKER, JAMES M.C.) OF THE THREE INDIVIDUALS WHO MIGHT BE ABLE TO APPEAL TO HIM ON PERSONAL GROUNDS ARE OBVIOUSLY UNAVAILABLE. FINE IS NOT CONNECTED WITH THE GOVERNMENT.
SHOULD IT BE DECIDED ADVANTAGEOUS TO ESTABLISH A WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH SUBJECT, HIS FNCB FUNDS MAY PROVE USEFUL. THEY ARE MOST LIKELY SUBJECT’S PROCEEDS FROM HIS ACTIVITIES IN MOVING CASH AND NEGOTIABLES, IN CONCERN WITH HIS FRIEND SIDI EL FERRUCH (A MOROCCAN NOBLEMAN), FROM OCCUPIED FRANCE, AND ARE HIS ONLY ASSETS. INASMUCH AS THE DEATH PENALTY HAS BEEN PRESCRIBED FOR ILLEGAL TRANSFERS OF MONIES AND VALUABLES, AND INASMUCH AS SUBJECT WAS SO ENGAGED WITH SIDI EL FERRUCH, IT CAN THEREFORE BE LOGICALLY PRESUMED THAT SUBJECT ENJOYS TRUST AND CONFIDENCE OF EL FERRUCH, AND WOULD HAVE A CORRESPONDING DEGREE OF INFLUENCE WITH HIM.
HANSEN
SECRET
‘‘If I thought I could get an answer,’’ Canidy said, ‘‘I’d ask, why all the interest in Eric Fulmar?’’
Douglass didn’t reply directly. ‘‘Fulmar is so important that a radio over General Marshall’s signature was sent to the Philippines ordering Lieutenant Whittaker home at the first opportunity. There has been no reply.’’
‘‘Meaning what? That he’s dead?’’ Canidy asked.
"That he can’t be located, or that Douglas MacArthur is once again expressing his contempt for George Marshall— or for the President,’’ Douglass said. ‘‘The point is that you’re the only person we have we feel can deal with Fulmar. ’’
‘‘Deal with him how?’’
Again, Douglass avoided a direct response. ‘‘Baker tells me that in China he put it to you that we’re asking you to volunteer for a mission of great importance to the war effort and that the mission involves a considerable risk. If you don’t mind, I’d like to put the same question to you now, Canidy.’’
‘‘Baker wouldn’t tell me what this mission is all about,’’ Canidy said. ‘‘Will you?’’
‘‘The question you were asked,’’ Douglass said, ‘‘is whether or not you are willing to go into it under the conditions outlined.’’
‘‘What are my options?’’ Canidy said. ‘‘What if I say no?’’
‘‘Yes or no, Canidy.’’
He’s acting like a character in a bad spy movie, Canidy thought. In every dangerous-mission thriller I have ever seen, there was a scene where the commanding officer gave the hero one last chance to change his mind: ‘‘Are you sure you want to go through with this?’’ The hero always wanted to go through with it. That doesn’t mean I will have to go through with it. I know how to say, ‘‘I quit.’’
‘‘OK,’’ Canidy said.
‘‘All right,’’ Captain Douglass said. ‘‘Thank you. But you mentioned options a moment ago. I think I should tell you that if you had declined the offer, you would have been sent to some very secure psychiatric institution for examination. That examination would take a very long time. In the Civil War, Lincoln suspended the rules of habeas corpus. President Roosevelt isn’t going to do that. The attorney general has told him that under existing law, persons suspected of being non compos mentis don’t fall under the rule of habeas corpus. They are being examined, not incarcerated.’’
Canidy and Douglass locked eyes for a long moment.
‘‘Canidy,’’ Douglass said, ‘‘if I could tell you what’s behind all this, that threat would not have been necessary. But I can’t tell you, and it was.’’
He’s dead serious, Canidy thought. Maybe truth really is stranger than fiction.
‘‘Yes, sir,’’ he said.
‘‘There is a Frenchman now in Morocco,’’ Douglass began, ‘‘whom we absolutely have to bring to the United States. It is critically important that when we bring him out, the Germans will not connect his disappearance with us. Otherwise they would doubtless realize why we want him. What we desperately hope they will believe is that he escaped by his own means to join General de Gaulle in London. ’’
‘‘And you want Fulmar to smuggle him out,’’ Canidy said. ‘‘And think I can talk him into it.’’
‘‘Not exactly,’’ Douglass said. ‘‘Not him alone. For reasons we can’t get into, we want Sidi Hassan el Ferruch involved as well.’’
"Why?"
‘‘We have other plans for him later,’’ Douglass said. ‘‘The best possible scenario is that you meet Fulmar, he greets you as a beloved friend, and he instantly agrees to persuade el F
erruch to help you. Mr. Baker does not believe that. He thinks the worst possible scenario is more probable. In that Fulmar would denounce you to the Germans.’’
‘‘Why do you think he would do that?’’
‘‘Despite your father’s character reference, it is Baker’s belief that Eric Fulmar’s loyalties are solely to Eric Fulmar. ’’
‘‘I’ve seen him since you have, Dick,’’ Baker said. ‘‘You have to keep in mind that he was educated in Germany and is in many ways German. When I first met him, he was having dinner in Fouquet’s restaurant in Paris with the daughter of a German major general. His father is a member of the Nazi party.’’
‘‘He’s an American,’’ Canidy said loyally.
‘‘We’re taking what solace we can from his skillful avoidance of German military service,’’ Baker said. ‘‘It’s not much. You saw that psychological profile.’’
‘‘It also said he thinks of me as a brother,’’ Canidy said.
‘‘Furthermore,’’ Douglass said, ‘‘el Ferruch is an unknown quantity. We have to go on the presumption that el Ferruch is even more likely to turn you over to the Germans. ’’
‘‘There are several other scenarios,’’ Baker said. ‘‘One is that we establish contact with Fulmar, he tells us he wants nothing to do with us at all, no matter what the price, but, because you are old friends, he won’t turn you over to the Germans.’’
‘‘Pleasant thought,’’ Canidy said. ‘‘So where is good old Eric?’’
‘‘We found out a few days ago,’’ Douglass said, ‘‘that he’s in the palace at Ksar es Souk in the middle of the desert. Which gives us the opening for one of the happy scenarios.’’
‘‘What’s that?’’
‘‘We get you to Ksar es Souk,’’ Baker said. ‘‘We offer Fulmar and el Ferruch a lot of money to grab the French-man—and Fulmar a way out of Morocco.’’
‘‘ ‘Grab’ the Frenchman?’’ Canidy asked.
The Last Heroes Page 30