Max slowly, but with his destination in mind sauntered back to where the four of them had been sitting. He moved in what could be described as a three-beat horse-canter all the way back to Shmuel. The horse-canter was Maxie’s version of sauntering. He didn’t want to call any attention to himself.
When he reached Shmuel and the women, he motioned to Shmuel that they should get the women back to the main drag. Shmuel picked up the cue and announced that they all really should get back. The women seemed a bit perplexed but nevertheless, complied.
Shmuel and Max tried walking with them all the way back to the hotel but the women couldn’t make the walk so they all cabbed it back. By the time they reached the hotel it became evident that Shmuel and Max would need to walk the women to where they were staying. At the hotel, they all said their goodnights and goodbyes.
Now, Max couldn’t get the news out fast enough. Yes, he lost the sailor but in following him he hit upon where the sailor may have gone. And of course, he then he told Shmuel about the big house perched, but recessed on the ledge of the top tier of the hill.
Shmuel was overjoyed because he also could sense they were onto something important; possibly, hopefully, nothing less than probably or perhaps, Gustav Schell’s location. It was precisely then that Shmuel and Max were overeager to meet with Jimmy and Imi whose arrival was imminent. Max needed to ask Shmueli a final question. He asked whether anyone would believe this because what everyone had been told with newsworthy finality didn’t jibe with what he and Shmueli and the others now strongly believed they knew—and therefore what they were about to do.
“Max,” Shmueli instantly answered, “it no mattering. Vhat vee know un vhat vee did—dis vhat it counts. Dis vorld ist how you saying—stupid, un how you say—brain ist dead! So, no mattering vhat day knowing or vhat day no knowing! World no learning from dis experience. Holocausts happening before dis vone—you knowing like Armenians un vhat Turks did dis to dem—un I knowing deese tings like in Africa mit dis tribal varfare, mit lot hunger for dis vealth un conqvesting of dis Africans. Oders—also like dis Spanish Inqvuisition. So, history dis ist show den vill happening more times, un vherever. Un again un again un again.”
“Of course, Shumueli,” Max answered. “In our case, it was the church that did it. These atavistic, primitive Christian priests who only had religion but no culture, just religion. And they swallowed whole the hatred of Jews based on the lie about killing Jesus and then infusing the world with anti-Jewish hatred—and this along with the counterfeit Protocols of the Elders of Zion written by Russian Orthodox Christian priests claiming world-wide conspiracy nonsense. It was they who did it. Even now, in 1958, they continue to fulminate, to rage and lie and as they’ve done in the past like during the Inquisition, to plunder all possessions of Jews that they’ve murdered and then to conveniently confiscate the homes and businesses of these murdered Jews and then more-so, even to the vicious, avaricious extent, of digging out gold or silver teeth or even teeth fillings.
“The only solution,” Max continued, “is to get the top guy. When you get the chance, just take him out. And if you don’t get the chance then make the chance. Just do it. Plain and simple. You don’t mess around with a rabid dog. You stop it in its tracks. You kill it!”
PART 5
CODA
. 21 .
GUSTAV SCHELL
Late the next morning the gang showed up and checked into the Hotel Columbus keeping their distance from one another by checking in within about twenty-minute intervals. Along with Jimmy in the group that arrived were Sam Silver, Shimen Pargament, and Joseph Eskenazy. Imi Lichtenfeld was absent but Jimmy said he was on a specific mission and would join them later.
Now, altogether, and not yet counting Imi, they were six. They all also arrived in a staggered fashion to Shmueli’s room and after the excitement of seeing one another, laid out tentative primary plans as well as backup plans. They all knew who they were after.
But it was Shmueli who launched into some kind of idiosyncratic speech. But what he was saying was intensely felt. It boiled down to a disquisition of a dystopian view of the world; simply said, stuff that was horrible about the world. What he essentially laid out was that with counting only those of our action-group in the physical pursuit of these Nazis, we are seven: Jimmy, Imi, Max, Sam, Shimen, Joseph, and himself. He then started by noting that seven is the number of shiva-sitting days—days of mourning. In addition, he actually recounted that there is an Eastern mythology about ‘seven’ that he’d apparently read about. He said it is called the seven blunders of the world and is reputed to be the iron-clad cause of violence.
He called it a very interesting list. He reported that these so-called blunders will, in the long run, lead inexorably to violence: stolen wealth; pleasure without conscience as for example in sadism; knowledge but no character—like the person knows things but has no integrity; money dealings but no honesty; also another one is like being scientific but disregarding humanity; and another is making political decisions for self-interest but not having any principle—meaning not standing up for what’s right; and he thought the last one is practicing religion minus considering the troubles of others which then makes the religious thing being venerated, as not meaningful—even perhaps, evil.
He continued to say that other than the hard-core of the ‘why’ we were here, that in addition, the so-called soft-core reason was because this ‘seven’ business gave him the feeling that this evil character who they were after—assuming their guess was correct, was surely doomed. And this, Shmueli also noted was not because of any Shiva call. Rather, he further felt that the call to the ‘seven,’—labeled as ‘blunders’—is a function of a Devil’s work and as far as violence is concerned is profoundly more serious than any random blunders.
Shmueli felt that all of it, especially the main part, meaning our suspicions, along with all of the hard and soft-core mythology combined, makes this, our mission, sacred. Whoever he is, this evil one, if he truly is who we think he is, then he’s guilty. We the jury declare him guilty.
“Shmueli,” Jimmy said, “I like the way you express yourself. Of course, we all agree. But, we need anything we can get to justify this mission and then to get some data that would verify our guess. Now, let’s stop the philosophizing and get down to business.”
“Okay,” Shmuel answered, “but I vont to knowing vott Max tinks. Max, he von who fin informatzie. Max, please, you telling.”
“Okay, here it is. Shmueli and I were out last night and spotted the yacht. We saw two sailors—one obviously low rank, the other more of a commanding rank. The low rank one was given an order and then jumped off the boat and headed very quickly out into the interior of Mentone. I followed him but lost him. But in following him I stumbled upon a hill with cottages set in tiers on the hill with a large house on the very top that was recessed and was mostly hidden from the road. That spot was on the road from where I think the sailor disappeared.
“Of course, I was considering that maybe that sailor made it up to that house before I got there. If our guy is who we think he is, then having that conspicuous yacht named Salvation, in a way corresponds to having the biggest yacht and the biggest but most difficult house to see with the naked eye.
“Early this morning, at nine o’clock, when the Post-Office opened, I asked about that big house on top of the hill that looks onto the harbor. I was told that Jean Cocteau, the novelist, artist, film-maker and poet, once lived there. The woman behind the counter also said that Cocteau was an apologist for Hitler, no less. You hear that? She also said she never liked Cocteau and hated Hitler. Can you imagine that? It’s the house where Cocteau lived! I then asked her who now lived there and without blinking she said the magic words: Mr. Gustav Schell. She said she knew he was either Austrian or German because mail he received was sometimes addressed as Herr G. Schell. Then she added: “I never met him. He never comes for his mail. We have his signed letter that was notarized stating that a Mr. Thomas A
quilo is authorized to collect all mail for Mr. Schell.”
“Okay,” Jimmy said, “I guess we need to get a closer look at that house. I’d like to see what this Schell looks like. Yes, I know, we all want to see what he looks like.
“By dis vay,” Shmueli piped up. “I too, having mail coming. If he ist dis who vee tink he ist, den dis mail vill be zeher vikhtik—dis meaning much important to taking care of body vhen vee killing him.”
It became silent.
Shmueli’s mail did arrive the very next day and now he had both cylinder and acid. Jimmy then shared what the first plan was as well as describing the back-up plan and still another little thing that had to be done. As a matter of fact, it was essential that this other little thing, get done.
“Okay, this is it,” Jimmy started. “We can’t waste any time. It could take us who knows how long to gain access to the house or in some other way find things out. So that leaves us in a position of no control. What we at M-16 decided, along with advice from some others was this: We do a house break-in, if necessary, even in broad daylight. We approach from both sides of the house and just break the door in. We’ll come in first with two of us leading and then another two after us. That leaves three standing watch outside. Only if he puts up armed resistance do we shoot. It’s good that Max got to that house and knows where it is. That was luck but it was luck with preparation.
“When we get him we’ll inject him with a Nazi favorite. It’s the truth serum called Scopolamine. Then we take him into the woods. Max, since you’ve seen the terrain, at least some of it, you need to lead us to a place in the woods that’s secluded. Okay?”
Max nodded.
“I have another surprise for you, Max,” Jimmy continued. “I need to announce that you’re a trained frogman and not all of us know that. True?”
Max nodded.
“So, look at this.”
With that Jimmy pulls an oxygen tank out of the hotel’s closet along with an attached breathing tube, and he didn’t forget frogman flippers.
“This is the essential tack we need to take. Max, you need to somehow swim under the Salvation and in whatever way you can, to de-salvation it without those aboard seeing or hearing it! We can’t chance it that Schell might be on the boat and not at home. Therefore, if he gets wind that we’ve broken into his life, there’s no doubt he’d take off in that speed-demon yacht.”
“I’ll reconnoiter it tonight after dark,” Max said. “I’ll take a swim with the equipment and of course, carry my trustworthy underwater single-beam flashlight. My hunch is that the propeller is the soft spot of the boat. Deactivate or neutralize it, and there is no boat.”
At that moment, Imi entered.
“Okay,” Imi said. “I’ve got the information on who ordered the upgrades on Schell’s boat. It was the same company that built U-boats during the war in the North of Germany in a town called Bremen. Bremen had several shipyards and was the largest shipbuilding arena in all of Germany. A Herr Kupperblatt was very cooperative and told me that his records show all orders for the upgrades were signed by a Herr Gustav Schell and materials were sent to Monte Carlo, Monaco to be picked up for delivery to the address in Mentone Harbor for the yacht named Salvation. The company that sent the material that was ordered was the Atlas Werke Shipbuilding Co. And, by the way, it was the Atlas’s shipyards that were bombed during the war. But now they manufacture and supply all sorts of advanced equipment for large yachts as well as for ocean liners. And that’s that.”
“See,” Jimmy said, “our guy’s familiar with it all—with all the ins and outs of inside stuff that only the high command in Germany was privy to. At this point we have to wait and see if Max can do the job and neutralize the yacht. So, I think we do it tomorrow. All of you, get some rest, have lunch and dinner but not together. Then get a good night’s sleep. We’ll meet in Max’s room tomorrow morning after breakfast at about 9 am. Keep in mind we have a watch on all night. I’ll take the first shift from ten to midnight. I’ll be sitting in the lobby reading—but watching. Then Jimmy, you go from midnight to two, followed by Sam, from two to four, and then by Shimen from four to six. Joseph, you do the last lap from six to eight.
“Max, I agree,” Imi finally said. “If we’re doing it tomorrow, then tonight is your night like you said, for reconnoitering. Alright?”
Max nodded.
* * *
Max got everything he needed ready. He had his oxygen tank, the breathing tube, flippers, and a roll of wire—and his trustworthy flash-light with the single-beam. He thanked Imi for mentoring him not only in Krav but also in frogman tactics and use of necessary frogman materials. Then he carried everything to a taxi and took it directly to Mentone Harbor.
It was still evening but getting late. Max waited some distance away from the main road leading to the dock where many boats, including Salvation, were moored. He looked at his waterproof watch which read 11 pm. Luck was with him because the moon was obscured by cloud cover.
He hooked up his paraphernalia and slid into the Mediterranean. He swam directly toward where the Salvation was moored and every so often, would surface and gauge where he was in relation to the yacht. When he was no more than fifty yards from the yacht he submerged and swam for it. He reached it and swam under it. As far as he could tell, he heard no voices.
He reached the propeller shaft, looked around, and with his single-beamed flashlight held in his mouth and pointed directly at the propeller shaft, he tied a wad of wire around the housing unit and then squeezed the wire around the rim forcing the wire into the housing unit. It was the kind of job that could be done silently and even if the propeller was later examined, it would be difficult to see the wire inserted into the housing unit thus interfering with the function of the propeller itself.
Before swimming away, Max decided to surface once more to see if he could spot anyone on board from about ten or so yards away. The darkness shielded him but any light on board would reveal who they were—man or woman, tall or short, and so forth. What Max saw startled him. There he was! In a flash, the face in detail but in the next second, escorted off the yacht by two men flanking him who then accompanied him off the dock and onto the path which in all likelihood was leading as best that Max could tell, in the direction of the path that in turn led to the house on the hill.
Max then swam back to his take-off spot and furtively as possible crawled out of the water. He changed his clothes dressing in those that were stored in a plastic bag covered by foliage. He then carried all this paraphernalia to a cab which brought him back to Hotel Columbus. He entered through a side entrance to avoid any conspicuous glances, and headed directly to the elevator and to his room.
“Jimmy,” Max said into the phone. “I did it. I did it and I saw something you need to hear. Come over.”
Jimmy arrived in less than a minute.
“I saw him. I saw him. It’s him. He was on board and then was escorted off the yacht by two men. They walked him toward the path leading to where those cottages are and where the big house on the hill is located. I swear to you. I saw him.”
The next morning, after breakfast, they all met in Max’s room and Max told them all what he had told Jimmy. They were all stunned. Over-stimulated and hyper-tense would probably be more accurate.
“Okay, we got him,” Jimmy said. “We got him. Now all we have to do is get him. So, today, the house break-in is on just as we planned. Everyone’s got to be armed. Let’s face it, he’s not going to be unguarded and the place is not going to be an unarmed refuge. On the contrary. We need to expect that it will be very well armed and even ready for just about all possible occurrences—like ours, for example. Max, tell them.”
“Well, I’ve got the spot,” Max declared. “Last night before I swam to the yacht, I located a spot more to the interior of the land and away from the cottages and from the house. I think it would be the perfect place. My feeling is that me, you Sammy, and you Shimen, are the ones to dig the hole and I think we sho
uld do it now before any more time passes. I’ve got shovels and spades to dig. It’s going to be tough because we need to dig twelve feet down and two feet across.”
It was agreed that Max, Sam and Shimen should do it and they immediately took off. They arrived at the spot that was actually a distance away from where Schell’s house was located, and, from that spot the house and all of the other cottages couldn’t be seen. It took them three hours to dig out what needed to be done. By the time they got back to the hotel it was late afternoon and the original plan to do the deed that day was postponed for the next day. Then Max, Sam and Shimen, exhausted as they were, were all asleep even before it was time for dinner.
The next day they all met after breakfast, and one by one they left the hotel—each fully armed. They headed for Mentone sharing three different taxis. They reached Mentone, and regrouped. Max took Shmueli, Sam, and Shimen and narrated to them the scenic route which was going to take the four of them extra time because they needed to reach the house from the far side. Jimmy, Imi, and Joseph walked straight up the same path Max took when he first followed the sailor.
Jimmy led his team of Imi and Joseph but they waited to make sure Max could see them from the far side of the house. When each group saw one another Max, Shmuel, Sam, and Shimen approached the front door from the blind side—away from the main road and away from the path that Jimmy’s group had taken.
The situation was additionally tense because along with their general tension they were surprised to see no guards anywhere around or near to the house. They inched themselves toward the front door and then, suddenly, in one muscular thrust, Max kicked the door open. Two by two, as planned, first Max and Shmueli, and then Sam and Shimen rushed into the house.
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