by Unknown
“You ever notice anything out of the ordinary?” Dresner asked. He continued to push without making the man angry or suspicious.
The old man chuckled. “Oh, I once caught a couple of our workers sneaking out for a little rendezvous. Once even saw a dog come across the tracks.” Both men chucked at the thought.
“Then there are the occasional problems. Just a few weeks ago I thought I saw someone around one of the tanks but when I hit the light switch, nothing happened. It turned out to be a broken electric line,” the man said. “Matter of fact, that was the second time that happened on the same set of lights,” he said. “I think an animal had gnawed through it.”
“When was that?” Dresner asked.
The man thought a moment. “It was about three weeks ago as I recall.”
“Did you call the security force?”
The man shook his head. “I figured it was just an animal. There weren’t any lights and people don’t go to that section of the yard without their torches.”
“Which camera was it?” Dresner asked.
“Not sure what’s stored there. We just go by the monitor number. The one was Number 7,” he said.
Dresner nodded and made a mental note. Number 7 was the camera overlooking the nitric acid tank. “Why did you think it was animals?” he asked.
“We got the word some had been seen out back,” the old man said nonchalantly. “Herr Mantz came in those nights and told us about them. He said not to worry too much,” he said.
“I see,” Dresner said. “Does your supervisor come out for the night shift often?” he asked.
The old man gave a grunt. “Those are the only times he’s ever been out here at night. Herr Mantz only stays as long as necessary,” he said.
Dresner asked a couple more easy questions and thanked the man for his help. As he left, the old man sat back in his swivel chair and began staring at the monitors. Dresner made his way to his car. His next effort would be to gain access to Mantz’s car.
The two young men were ushered into the colonel’s office and the door shut. Colonel Müller was seated at his desk and looked angry with the two young men. Both were brought to attention.
“It has come to my attention that you two have violated my orders about meeting together outside the meetings. I am not used to having my orders violated. Now tell me why I should not have you both shot,” he demanded. Otto turned white as a sheet, but Fredrick remained confident. “Of course, Herr Colonel. You told us we should never draw attention to ourselves, so I have taken the steps so that your orders are carried out,” he stated forcefully.
“Explain,” the colonel said, still angry, but more subdued.
“Herr Colonel, Otto and I have been good friends since we were very young. We do things together often. When we first started coming to the meetings we followed your orders to the letter. But people started coming to us asking what had happened to our friendship. I realized immediately that we would have to return to doing things together so that suspicions would not be aroused. That is why I asked to speak to you just before we were summoned to your office. You needed to know what we were doing,” Fredrich said confidently.
Colonel Müller thought for a moment. Most of the young men had never known each other before they joined the group. Friendships were something he had not taken into consideration. He nodded slowly. “You were correct to make that decision, young Stadt. Has this been successful?”
Fredrich continued to look straight ahead. He knew he was still at attention and familiarity was not one of the colonel’s favorite pastimes. “We started sitting together just today, Herr Colonel. We talked about the food, our studies and yesterday’s football game. If anyone joined us, they would have heard nothing but what we usually talk about,” he said.
Colonel Müller glared back. “I was told someone overheard you talk about plans and us being a small group, and that you,” he said pointing to Otto, “said you could still be friends,” he said correctly quoting their conversation.
“Yes, Herr Colonel. We are a small group. The core of our football team is. We don’t know yet the plans for the league playoffs, but our team should be in them,” he said with a slight smile.
“And the friendship?”
Otto spoke up. “I am afraid I didn’t think much of our team this year Herr Colonel. I have had to live that down ever since I said it,” he said turning slightly red in the face.
The two saw the Colonel visibly relax. “Good. I was told something else,” he said.
“I know, Herr Colonel, and that may be a problem. The person who told you came up to our table, sat down and began to threaten us. If someone had overheard there might have been a problem. Luckily he is the school bully and no one noticed. I stood up to him and acted as if he was just up to his old tricks and he stormed out. Herr Colonel, our cause cannot have someone’s temper jeopardize it. I have learned from our meetings and I know that patience has served us well. It cannot be ruined because someone doesn’t know how to maintain himself,” Fredrich said hoping he hadn’t overstepped his bounds.
“You are quite correct, Stadt. Both of you are. I will talk to the individual in question. But remember, he is as valuable to the Party as you are. You must understand we all have our place. We will all need each other when the time comes,” he said finally smiling. “You may continue your program, Stadt. It was smart of you to realize the danger and act on it. Keep me personally informed of your progress,” he demanded.
The two young men took a step back and raised their right arms in a Nazi salute. The Colonel returned it. As the two left the room the colonel called out, “By the way, who won the football game?”
Fredrick broke into a big grin. “We did, Herr Colonel.”
Müller smiled and waved them on. Discipline had been maintained, although he would have to talk to Johann. Inwardly, he feared Johann would try to take it out on these two young men. On second thought, young Fredrich would probably be able to handle that problem as well.
Sergeant Betz and Inspector Dresner had a warrant to search Mantz’s house and vehicle, but had decided to make the search a clandestine one. They had almost been caught when Mantz unexpectedly came out the back door, locked it, and walked past the car to the street where another car picked him up and departed for some unknown destination. The old Mercedes was parked beside the small house under a tree. There was a tall set of shrubs along the drive and the other side of the tree that blocked the view from the next door neighbors. There were no lights on in Mantz’s house.
Dresner and Betz made their way to the car, opened the rear doors and got in. The floor of the car was littered with old candy wrappers, paper, tools and various parts. The men meticulously sorted through each item and noted it. They then looked under the seats, in the glove box and under the dashboard. That is where they discovered the Sauer 38H pistol hidden between the bottom of the dash and the radio. The serial number was taken and it was replaced. Since all hand guns had to be registered, they would check that first.
Once the interior was complete, the men moved to the boot. Betz pulled out his key set from Mercedes. It had all of the master keys on it. In just a few minutes the boot was open. The boot was almost as bad as the back of the car. It was littered with junk. Using their penlights the men began working through the pile. It didn’t take long. To one side was a pair of rubber gloves. “Isn’t that interesting,” Dresner whispered to Betz. “Let’s take some photos,” he said.
Using his Leika with one of the new electronic flashes, Betz took several photos and waited as Dresner carefully lifted the gloves from their resting place with some tongs. Under the places where the gloves touched the mat on the floor the area was discolored and in some cases partially eaten away. Under the mat, the metal of the car was corroded. More photos were taken. Inside a cloth next to the gloves was a set of American vice grips. The teeth were corroded. Once the search was complete, Dresner bagged up the gloves and the vice grips to be taken and tested.
> Next came the house. Betz easily opened the door and went inside. Unlike the car, the house was immaculate. It appeared that everything was in its place. The two men quietly went through, room by room searching the closets, furniture, cabinets and any place where something could be hidden. The house had two bedrooms and the answer came in the closet of the second bedroom. The back wall sounded hollow when tapped. Removing the few clothes hanging there, the men found a spring loaded latch hidden in what appeared to simply be an imperfection on the top of the shelf. The back of the closet pushed in and slid to the side.
Inside were several German uniforms, each with its SS insignia and red arm band. There was also a submachine gun, a rifle and pistols. There were no papers or other evidence that this was not just a nostalgic reminder of former duty.
Dresner stared at the uniforms, his mind remembering those days and especially the fanatic lengths the SS had gone to weed out traitors in the final days of the war. It was almost as if the Nazis were reaching out for one last wave of terror before giving their last gasp. Squads of SS troops were killing up to the very last. Surely this was not what was going on. It had been seventeen years since the war ended. Even the werewolf bands of men to sabotage the occupation efforts had been routed or given up long ago. What was going on? Why was this man stealing acid? Dresner needed to find out before he made the arrest.
“Maybe our little company didn’t get the job completely finished, Herr Major,” Betz said behind him, obviously thinking some of the same things.
Dresner turned to look at his friend. “Let us hope not,” he said sadly. He had hoped that chapter of his life was long over. “But either way we have a job to do. When we first talked, I noticed an orange discoloration on Mantz’s hand. According to the chemistry professor at the university, it is a sign of someone getting splashed by nitric acid. It does something to the pigment in the hand. If the gloves and the tool have acid on them, we know who did this. Our problem is we don’t know why and we don’t know where the acid is.”
“Ja, Herr Major. I suggest we watch him for a while before we strike,” Betz suggested. “Maybe we shall get both answers.”
Dresner nodded. “I agree. Let’s close this place up like we never entered and watch him. Too bad we don’t know where he went tonight. He’s been gone a long time.”
“I am not complaining,” Betz chuckled.
Silently and quickly the men returned everything to its place, gave a second look to make sure all was where it should be, and left the house. They made their way to the car and returned to the police station to have the items tested and to get the film developed. Mantz returned to his home after midnight and seeing nothing amiss, went straight to bed.
The next day Fredrich did not see Otto at school. Figuring Otto might not be feeling too well, he finished his classes and went through his football drills like he always did. Catching the city bus back home, Fredrich decided to get off the bus early and go by Otto’s home. Otto’s parents both worked and usually didn’t get home until after seven pm, so he wasn’t concerned when there was no car in the driveway. The shock came when Otto opened the door.
Otto’s face was puffy and red. There was a huge bruise on one cheek and one eye was darkened.
“Mein Gott! What happened?” asked Fredrich. Otto just shook his head and turned into his home. Fredrich followed as Otto walked in and sat quietly on the couch. “Did Johann do this for what we said last night?”
Otto shook his head. “No. He told my father that we both were disobeying our orders and that Colonel Müller was angry with us. He said I was a great disappointment to him and that I should learn discipline or else. Then he started hitting me. With each hit he quoted one of the rules,” he said as he lifted up his shirt. Otto’s chest and abdomen were covered with bruises along with his face.
Fredrich had a shocked look on his face. He reached out and took Otto’s arm. “Your father did all this to you? Why? We did nothing wrong.”
“You don’t know him like I do,” Otto said almost pleadingly. There were tears in his eyes as he spoke. “He didn’t want to listen. My father has always insisted on duty above everything. He keeps urging me to be strong, to stand up for myself and to be ready when duty calls.” He sighed and wiped his eyes. “I guess I have been a great disappointment to him. I just don’t want to be pushy or to bully other people. I’ve tried to be more assertive, but it never seems to be enough,” he said.
“Yes, but why this? Why beat you?”
“Because that’s the way he said he was brought up. Remember, he was a product of the Hitler Youth – a member of the master race,” Otto cried out in anguish. He lowered his head for a moment, then slowly looked up at his friend. “I’m not like most other guys,” he said. “I don’t think I would fit the profile of one of them,” he said slowly.
Fredrich watched his friend carefully. Otto had always been a quiet person, but a good friend. Fredrich had always been impressed with his intelligence. Otto always had perfect scores on his tests, but he never tried to show off or act superior. On several occasions, Otto had helped him understand things he didn’t get in class. He was Fredrich’s friend and needed his help. Fredrich had always been strong and pretty self sufficient. Now it was time to make a choice.
“People aren’t alike. The strengths of one aren’t the strengths of another. You may not be strong physically or in the way you deal with others. Your strength is in your mind and in the loyalty you have to your friends,” Fredrich said. “I don’t know, but in some ways that’s a much better strength than blind obedience. Besides, we both have a lot more growing up to do. We don’t know what all our strengths are yet.” He squeezed Otto’s shoulder. “The things they are teaching us are wrong. I know we have to keep going, but at the right time we’ll make it end. No matter what, we will do it together,” he said.
Otto looked at his friend and smiled faintly. Fredrich had always been there for him, and was still there. He would trust his judgment. “Yes, together. Thank you Fredrich.”
Just then the door swung open. Otto’s father looked round and became enraged when he saw the two together. “So both of you disobey!” he nearly screamed. He took a step forward and Otto cringed.
Fredrich stood up and pointed his finger. “Halt or Colonel Müller shall hear of this!” he said firmly standing ramrod straight.
The mention of the Colonel’s name stopped the man dead in his tracks. “And what has he to do with this?”
“The colonel approved of our change of plan last night. He realized, like we did that because we are friends and well known among our classmates, it appeared strange that we were no longer speaking. It drew attention to our mission and could have caused people to question what may be happening. So we are now to continue our friendship as before,” he said, placing his hands on his hips. “Otto was carrying out his orders. But you didn’t ask questions and you didn’t care. Instead you took things in your own hands. Now you have jeopardized our mission by trying to instill what you think is discipline in your son. Do you think people will not ask questions when they see his face? What if he had to go to the hospital? The Party requires more of us than blind obedience. It also requires us to think and plan. You seem to forget this!” he nearly shouted as he pointed directly at the man’s face.
Otto’s father blinked. He was not used to being scolded, especially by a boy. But he remembered his training as he was a child and it was the same as he remembered. But this demanded a response. “And who are you to point your finger at me?”
Fredrich knew his bluff would either make it or fail in his next words. He pressed on. “We are the next generation of the Führer’s soldiers. We are the ones to build a new Germany. We are a part of the team which will change the world’s order. And we cannot accept failure or incompetence!” he said firmly.
Otto’s father stood back. It was just as it had been in the 1930s when he was 15. Like his own father, he had to accept it. The young man was right. He had nearly blown e
verything. That was a stronger slap in the face than being upbraided by a child. He looked at Fredrick and then his son. He shook his head. “I will be back later on,” he said as he turned and walked out the door.
The two young men watched him leave. They heard a car start and pull away. Only then did Fredrich hear Otto let out a breath. “How did you do that?” Otto asked. It was amazing to see his friend take on his own father, much less win the argument.
Fredrich also let out a breath. “I just hope I don’t have to do it again,” he said. “The trick is for us to act like they want us to act. We have to make believe we completely agree with what they are telling us. We have to act proud and firm just like we have seen in the old movies about the Hitler Youth. We have to spout their own language as if we totally accept what is about to happen. Then, when we are ready to get away or if we can prevent whatever they plan from happening, we will be in a much better position to get things done.”
“I’m not sure I can do that,” Otto said shyly.
“But you must, Otto! We both have to be perfect little Nazis until the time comes, otherwise they won’t trust us and they will always watch us. I know neither of us really wants to be around these people, but our fathers can still make us go. I don’t know what their plan is yet, but I do know it must be soon. Both the General and the Colonel are getting very anxious. Once we find out, we can decide then what we can do and how. Till then we just have to play the game.”
Otto nodded. “I guess if you can, I can. Let’s just not forget which side we are on,” he said with a grin.
Fredrich helped his friend to his feet. “Come on, let me get something for your face,” he said as he led his friend to the bathroom.
The gloves and vice grips tested positive for nitric acid. The serial numbers on the weapons found were not registered. Already Herr Mantz was in violation of a number of laws which would land him in prison for a long time. Dresner had assigned teams to follow Mantz 24 hours a day. His goal now was the motivation for the theft and to possibly recover the acid. After two days they had still turned up nothing. Then an idea hit him. What about those SS uniforms? He had not known Mantz was in the SS. He called Betz into his office.