Hudal was now unburdened and quite excited. He was going to get that package. He was sure its delivery was imminent and he decided if all went well he would definitely abide by his verbal commitment to release the father and son and also have them escorted to the airport. It made him feel cleansed both by acquiring the package as the first order of business and second by erasing the complication of caring for his so-called guests, or needing to take extreme measures.
None of this mattered anyway; Hudal had been dressed down by Montini—the one with all the influence at the Vatican. Hudal’s phone call to Monsignor Montini to keep him abreast of the situation, led to a contentious interaction. Montini’s answer to Hudal’s various options about the possible fate of Wharton and his son was a definite ‘No!’ Montini said it in no uncertain terms:
“They are not to be touched. The entire family is not to be touched. You see, Hudal, and remember that Hugh O’Flaherty is also not to be touched. Never! Keep in mind—so long as he can be an operative for his cause so can we do the same for what we do. He has become successful in his way and in numbers. But we have outstripped him and his cohorts by some enormous factor—an exponential factor. In all the years, he has spent rescuing perhaps hundreds of these Jews along with allied soldiers we, in contrast, now in our Lord’s year of one-thousand nine-hundred fifty-eight, have rescued as I say, of multitudes of thousands! And we have seeded them—seeded them in a dispersed fashion on every continent. Our Third Reich my dear Hudal, may not be over.
“In addition, Hugh knows of the package and probably assumes something about its contents. He knows who the two Americans are who appeared at the Rubens at the Palace. So now we have their photos that were taken secretly at the Rubens. And, by the way, they’ve been sent to New York City where our people identified them. One is named Alexander Kaye. He is a private detective based in New York. The other is an M-16 operative, James McKay, who is based in London.
“Hugh also knows about the Wharton family—and most of everything else. Therefore, as soon as you receive the package you will release them. Please tell me you understand! We must not add any variables to the complications we already have. Is that clear? It’s important that Hugh is untouched and not too distracted by the death of loved ones or driven to blow the top off what we do. There must not be any harm to those in his charge—like the Wharton family.
“To that extent we are limiting our own endangerment. Keep in mind the Pope’s position regarding this matter. Our mission is more important than the possible risk entailed by the endangerment of the lives of a few members of a family. Understood?
“However, because his cause can be characterized as a Libertarian one, ours can be characterized as anti-Communist. Therefore, the accusation of the Vatican as a Nazi-loving escape-instrument is nullified. So, any appearance of our connection to the fascist Nazi sympathizer-regimes like those of Peron, Salazar, Franco or Stroessner of Paraguay, and others are similarly nullified.
“You understand? Hugh O’Flaherty is our cover and therefore must at all costs be protected.”
“I do understand,” Hudal responded. “Please be assured. No harm will come to Hugh or to the Whartons. Once we get the package, we will no longer need to spend energy and time away from, as you say, from what is our anti-communist mission. So, of course, I do agree.”
“And listen, Hudal, in any event, it has been more than a month that we need to help Jani Kruger. The Israelis want him very badly. He is the one in the film who beat the old Jewess with a whip. She died. It was horrible. What is the matter with these people filming something like that? What is the matter with them? The world should not be seeing this. Therefore, let us get Kruger out of Germany, immediately. I think it is best to get him to Switzerland and from there I think to Cuba. Batista for sure will take him in because with Batista, it’s strictly for the gold. As we know, he loves the gold.
“Am I right? I think I remember that Kruger’s first location would be Cuba and then we prepared the second location as the United States. Is that right?”
“Yes, exactly right,” answered Hudal. “We had decided that the second location would be the United States where we could get him a job as a mechanic’s supervisor in a car repair shop on the West side of Manhattan. I have the name and location on the microfilm.”
“Hudal, we also have another problem with Gustav Wagner. Because of his record at Sobibor, many of the concentration camp survivors can identify him as the worst of the worst. We need to transfer him immediately. Where are his locations?”
“I’ve spoken to Draganovic and Siri,” Hudal instantly answered, “and they agree that Wagner goes to Sao Paulo first and then just in case, to Paraguay. We have another machine factory in Asuncion where there will be a managerial position awaiting him,—just in case. When we told him which was first and which, second, he readily agreed. He said that in the event of some catastrophe such as possibly being apprehended, especially imminently apprehended, he had always thought of either going to Sao Paulo or Asuncion but preferred Sao Paulo. That trip is now in contract and should be completed this week. He has provided us with one-hundred- thousand dollars in cash—American dollars. He brought it in one-hundred dollar bills carried by two men in three large suitcases. In addition, in the following two weeks we have a ship all ready to carry seventy others. They will be wearing liturgical garments since we know that such a presentation always works—especially in South American countries like Argentina and Brazil and in the Middle East especially in Egypt and Syria.”
The continued talking for another hour discussing travel plans for various highest-ranking Nazis on the run.”
Then Montini bade Hudal farewell and said: “Good work Bishop, very good.”
* * *
Disembarking from Idlewild was uneventful as was the trip itself. Both of Hudal’s escorts for Mrs. Wharton and her daughter Stevie were met by a greeter who led them to a limousine that took them straight to the Bronx from Idlewild. Within thirty-five minutes they were at the low end of the Grand Concourse in the Bronx.
They took the Concourse straight to Weeks Avenue where the Whartons lived. After the Whartons freshened up, the escorts insisted they get to the school and Stevie’s teacher’s classroom. With that, Mrs. Wharton tried to engage the escorts in conversation but they stopped her, with one of the escorts politely but firmly saying:
“Mrs. Wharton, we are trying to be efficient here. We have several instructions. One is to be nice and to treat you with respect. I think we are doing that. But there are other instructions as well. So, I think it’s best not to engage us in unnecessary conversation. However, please know that as soon as we obtain the package everything will be back to normal both for you and your daughter and then also for your husband and son.”
Without any more conversation or questions from Mrs. Wharton they all found themselves driving to Stevie’s school and Miss Messer’s classroom heading directly to Claremont Parkway. There they parked at the corner of Claremont Parkway and Washington Avenue, right at the public school number 42 schoolyard. As they were approaching the entrance of the school, Stevie saw two of her friends, young boys playing ball, throwing and catching in the lower schoolyard directly parallel to where the car had parked. One of the boys, Richard Grillo was playing with Henry Namrellek. The boys waved to her and Stevie waved back first to Richie who was closest, and then to Henry who was further away. It was clear that Stevie felt entirely comfortable at the school and apparently had many friends.
At this point it was a late Wednesday late morning and they all entered the school. If they were intercepted by anyone, Stevie was instructed to introduce her mother and the two men as her mother’s brothers and to say that her uncles wanted to see one of the classrooms to see what the classrooms in New York looked like.
As luck would have it for the uncles, no one intercepted them, so they climbed the stairs to the second floor. All classes were in session and Miss Messer, Gloria, was standing in front of her desk facing
the children and talking. The children were young, and seemed to be third graders. Gloria’s door was closed so that Stevie and she couldn’t see one another. However, Ms. Messer spotted both uncles looking in through the upper glass portion of the door and she stopped talking and walked to the door. She opened it and immediately saw Stevie, her mother, and these two “uncles.” Gloria sensed something just didn’t jibe. Of course, Gloria had originally surmised that Willy had given Stevie the package. She was sure of it. In the meantime, she was fully aware that Al was in Europe as were the Whartons, on a vacation. According to Al, the Whartons might have been in danger of some of Hudal’s evil doings. That was what Al had told her in the last phone call. The tension of it all for Gloria was that Al still didn’t know what she had. Oh boy, Gloria was nervous now, but was a fabulous actor so that apparently, revealed nothing.
“Hi, Stevie. Hi Mrs. Wharton.”
Looking at the ‘uncles’ she said: “Hello.”
Then she looked at Stevie. “Stevie, what can I do for you?”
Stevie thought fast. “Oh, your class is almost over. We’ll just wait here and I’ll talk to you about it when the class is over. Is that okay?”
“Okay. Fine. I won’t be long.”
The next few minutes for Mrs. Wharton were like a lifetime. The class ended and all the children began leaving the room in bunches. Gloria then exited the room and asked Stevie what she wanted.
“Oh, it’s not really anything. It’s just that I once needed to keep a package and had nowhere to put it so I came to ask you to keep it for me but the classroom was empty and you weren’t here. Well, I just dropped it off on the lower shelf of your closet where I knew it wouldn’t be disturbed because that’s where you keep all the materials you’re no longer using. See? I hope that was alright?”
“Of course, Stevie” she replied reassuringly. “Go ahead and take it.”
With that Stevie walked to the closet, kneeled down, rifled through some of the stuff languishing there and found the package. She took the package and walked out into the hall. They all said their goodbyes and Gloria shook hands with Mrs. Wharton and the uncles and embraced Stevie who was quite obviously in a state of distress which Gloria could see.
Mrs. Wharton, Stevie, and the “uncles” left the school and drove away in the limo. One of the uncles held the package, gripping it tightly. Mrs. Wharton and Stevie sat in the back seats and both uncles sat in the back jump-seats facing them. The uncle with the package instructed the limo driver to stop at the nearest public street phone. In a few blocks, the driver pulled the limo to the side of the street and parked adjacent to a public phone booth at the corner of the block. The uncle immediately made a phone call. He was speaking in German and as he was intensely conveying something, Stevie blurted out:
“I want my father and brother let go. You promised.”
At that she started crying. Mrs. Wharton jumped in, reassuring Stevie as well as indicating to the escorts that Stevie was right. She said:
“You’re right, Stevie, you’re right. They promised and they said they would keep their promise. The leader, that man promised.”
“The package-carrying uncle, who was on the phone quickly returned to the limo. Stevie was still crying. He held the package, shooshed both Stevie and Mrs. Wharton, held his hand out with finger pointing as though to say, ‘wait a minute,’ and then happily announced:
“They’re free. Mrs. Wharton, Stevie. Mr. Wharton and the boy are free. They’ve been released because of what I told my comrades regarding having the package. They’re about to be escorted to the airport. There will be no delay. From Rome to London is not that far. They’ll be in London soon. They are safe and sound and as soon as we get you home, actually as soon as you step out of the car, you will be free as well.”
With that both Mrs. Wharton and Stevie began sobbing.
* * *
As soon as they all left the school, Gloria quickly got on the phone and placed a trans-atlantic call to Hugh in Rome. The phone rang in Hugh’s apartment, and sure enough, it was answered.
“Is this Father O’Flaherty?” Gloria asked.
“Yes, it is,” was the answer. “Who may I ask is calling?”
“Father O’Flaherty, it’s me, Gloria. I know you know who I am. I need to get a message to Al. Tell him that the Wharton mother and daughter were here with two men looking for the package. Stevie, the Wharton daughter who was entrusted by Willy with the package apparently hid the package in my closet at the school.
“Please tell Al that without knowing what Stevie did, a few days ago before I left school at about 4:15 pm in the afternoon, I needed to go to that closet. While searching through my lower shelf for something that I thought I might have mistakenly stored there, I came across a small oblong package. I instantly shuddered because in some way I thought I knew what it was, or might be.
“I opened it right there and unpacked another package that was inside. And there, inside the second package was what looked like microfilm. I’ve taken the microfilm and hid it elsewhere. Today, Mrs. Wharten and Stevie along with two men with European accents and good manners, seemed nevertheless to be unsavory characters. They visited my classroom and Stevie retrieved the package which I had carefully rewrapped and returned to the place in the closet where I originally found it.
“They then all left with the repacked package. At some point, whoever opens it will see that the package is empty and figure out that probably either Stevie lied to them about where it was, or that I would be the likely person to have discovered Stevie’s hiding place and they will probably come after me or try to get Stevie to confess. Do you understand what I’ve said?”
“Yes, of course. Understood. I will convey everything to Alexander Kaye. Where did you hide the package? I must tell him. He will want to know.”
Gloria then froze. A smart girl from the southeast Bronx she probably could detect a con game when she sees or hears it. She later told Al that the way the person at the other end of the phone-call repeated that he would convey it all as he said: “to Alexander Kaye,” gave her chills. If that person knew Al why did he say Al’s full name. It didn’t have the ring of truth and now Gloria was convinced that the bad guys knew everything except of course the exact location of the microfilm. Then she figured that perhaps they, the so-called “unsavory characters” were instructed to deliver the package but to not tamper with it.
“Tell him,” Gloria calmly responded, “that Stevie had no idea I had found the package. It was when she was on vacation with her parents that I stumbled upon it.”
She then hung up the receiver. She now knew she had no choice but to run home only a few blocks from the school, quickly pack a few things, not to forget her keys, and certainly not to forget the microfilm, and then take off to—yes, she knew where—to the Van Cortlandt Motel, to be exact, at 6393 Broadway, not far from the park that she and Al knew so well. But first she needed to call Mrs. Wharton at home and get her and Stevie to meet her at the hotel, immediately.
“What?” Mrs. Wharton alarmingly asked.
“Yes,” Gloria said. “Get out of the house immediately and come to the Van Cortlandt Motel at 6393 Broadway. “Quickly pack some items you may need and meet me there. I’m on my way. Check at the office for my room number. Do you understand? This is not the time to discuss why. It’s urgent. Please. Hurry.”
As Gloria was leaving and about to lock her door, the phone rang. She rushed back into the apartment and lifted the receiver. When she heard Al’s voice she almost choked with relief. She quickly told Al the entire story and told him where she, Mrs. Wharton, and Stevie would be. Al told her she was right on because he figured Hugh’s phone was tapped. Before they said their goodbyes and “take care,” and “be careful” and “I love you,” Gloria could no longer hold it in and repeated:
“Al, we got it. We got the micro. It’ll be with me at the motel.”
Al told her to stay put at the motel, he’s on his way home and will meet her there
. Al hung up the and made a trans-Atlantic call to the 48th precinct. He asked for Mac or Lyle. He got Mac and told him the story—including that they had the microfilm. They agreed that the only thing to do was to have a squad of cops wait at the gate to TWA flights from Rome to Idlewild. He told Mac it was highly possible that foreign agents were planning to again kidnap Mr. Wharton and son. Al and Mac then agreed that the Wharton father and son should be brought to the motel immediately to a grateful reunion of the entire family. Mac also said that only Lyle and he and their other two buddies at the precinct, Detectives Jack Lehrman and Harry Harrison would know where the Whartons and Gloria were holed up. Thus, the Whartons and Gloria would be heavily guarded by professionals.
After the phone call, Al and Jimmy congratulated one another about finally corralling the microfilm. They then reached Hugh through an intermediary and made urgent plans with Hugh for him to use the phone to create a flow of disinformation knowing full well that Hudal was surely behind a phone tap and without any doubt had been and would continue to target Hugh’s phone.
Al and Jimmy decided to fly from Ciampino Airport — another airport near Rome close to the Greater Ring Road. They landed in London and from there Jimmy and Al shook hands and said their goodbyes. Jimmy wished him luck, and Al immediately headed to Heathrow for a trip to Idlewild.
PART 3
BACK TO THE BRONX
. 11 .
HUDAL’S PANIC
Gloria and Al knew everything there was to know about the Van Cortlandt Motel. Why? The answer is simple. Some years ago, when they first met, Gloria worked at a school near Poe Park, a small park in The Bronx celebrating the poet Edgar Allan Poe. They met because Al was investigating a case and was sitting on a park bench eating his sandwich. As Gloria was walking by and about to enter the park, she was passing by where Al was sitting. As Al was taking a bite out of his sandwich a slice of tomato squirted out from it and hit Gloria’s light tan coat at about knee length.
The Ghost Page 13