by James R Benn
Photographs. They were photographs, some of them charred at the corners, all of them wet and muddy. The blast and the wind must have scattered them, and these had been caught up within the hedge. Maybe there were more out on the lawn. It was too dark to make out what the photos showed. I gathered them up, stuck them under my coat, and backed out of the small space. I went right into the kitchen, leaving a trail of black mud and dripping rainwater behind me. The kitchen staff was preparing dinner. I pushed aside a pile of turnips and laid the photographs out on the wooden table.
“Hva helvetet er De som gjore?” demanded a cook, a mean look on his face as he advanced toward me with a meat cleaver.
“Excuse me, sir,” another guy said in pretty good English. “What are you doing?”
He had a dish towel draped over his shoulder and I grabbed it and wiped away the water that was dripping in my eyes.
“Hold on,” I said, using the towel to wipe off the worst of the mud on the photos. They were all black and whites, printed on eight-by-ten glossy sheets. On the back of each was stamped “Ministry of Defence-cleared by censor.” At first glance, they were pictures of British soldiers. As I laid them out, I realized they were all commandos. There were a few grinning thumbs-up photos that clearly showed the commando shoulder patch. There were commandos running, firing weapons, but it all looked… staged. Publicity photos. That’s what they were cleared for. Photos for the papers about the brilliant exploits of the commando chaps. What was the big deal?
As I went through them, I noticed several showed commandos on small boats along a rocky coast. In one, there were several boats at a dock, burning, with a group of commandos smiling at the camera. This one had a caption on the back: The Nazis won’t be making nitroglycerin from fish caught by these boats, thanks to a recent raid on the Norwegian coast by a joint British and Norwegian commando unit!
I went back and looked through the photos again. I realized these were all probably taken on raids into Norway. In a few, there were signs in Norwegian. I didn’t know what they meant, but I had seen enough Norwegian to recognize it.
By now, the kitchen crew was all gathered around and looking at the photos with me. They saw the Norwegian, too, and started chattering. The cook with the meat cleaver put it down and joined the crowd. I tried to tune them out and see if I could find what was special about these pictures. What had been worth two lives? What would incriminate Rolf Kayser? I flipped through them again. Then I saw it, as clear as day. A photo of a commando standing back from a burning wooden building, a can of gasoline in his hand. It was a two-story structure on a dock; a small town was visible in the background. Flames were licking the side of the building, just below the name of the business painted up on the second story, between two windows. Kayser Fiskeri.
I didn’t need to ask, but I did anyway.
“What’s fiskeri?” I asked the group.
“Fishery,” said the English-speaking guy. “A fish-processing plant.”
Money. It had just been about money all along. Goddamn! Had Birkeland and Daphne died because of Rolf Kayser’s family business? I wanted to cry, but like I said, a Boston cop doesn’t cry. I gathered up the photos slowly and wiped my face one more time. Seemed like there was still rainwater in my eyes.
I decided Harding could damn well wait and went up to my room to clean up. I ran a hot bath, dumped my muddy clothes, and soaked for a while. I was trying to figure out a way to get close to Rolf before they took him into custody. I didn’t have any bright ideas, but I knew I didn’t want him sitting out the war safely in a cell as the Allied wheels of justice slowly turned and better men and women than he died by the score. I put on fresh fatigues and boots, strapped on my. 45, looked at the pictures again, and thought it all through.
Twenty minutes later I was in the map room, where I found Harding and Jens, sitting across from each other at the long table, drinking coffee. They weren’t working, or talking. I tossed the incriminating photograph down between them.
“I learned a new Norwegian word today,” I said. “ Fiskeri.”
“What’s this?” Harding asked, picking up the photo with his good hand.
“A picture taken less than two months ago on a commando raid on the Norwegian coast. There are other pictures of them burning fishing boats, part of the campaign to cut off the German supply of fish oil, for making nitroglycerin. In this one they’re burning a fish-processing facility, evidently owned by the Kayser family. Kayser Fiskeri.”
“But Rolf himself went on some of these raids,” protested Jens.
“What else could he do? If he refused, somebody else would do the honors. He’s not stupid. He probably knew that the issue would be decided when the king appointed the senior adviser and tried to move things in his favor by getting rid of Birkeland.”
“Didn’t anyone here know about his family’s business?” asked Harding with a hard glance at Jens.
“Only what he told us, that his family was well off, and wanted him to go to law school. It would be difficult to check, and we had no reason to do so. Rolf was with us from the beginning. Kayser is not an uncommon name in Norway, you know.” Jens shrugged.
“I’ll bet his family owns a whole string of these plants,” I said, “maybe fishing boats, too, and he was determined to protect their investments. Kaz may have found some other proof, but this photo clinches it for me. It’s the missing motive.”
“I follow what you’re saying, Boyle,” Harding said. “But what about the note that Daphne and Kaz received? And how could Kayser have killed Birkeland when he had gone hunting with the king?”
“No one ever saw the note; Rolf delivered the message personally. As for the time of death, I have a few questions to ask Rolf before I can explain that. I think I have it straight, but I want to talk to him first.” Talk to him alone, I thought. “Do we have him in custody yet?”
“There’s a little problem, Boyle. He’s already left.”
“What? Where the hell did he go?”
“Norway,” answered Jens. “On a mission to the Nordland province.”
“What’s going on here? How could you let him go?”
“Simmer down, Boyle,” Harding said. “By the time Jens got through to Southwold, Kayser was long gone. He must have driven straight there this morning. Then he hopped a Sunderland flying boat that dropped him at a base up north in the Shetland Islands. The SOE runs a sort of ferry service between there and Norway.”
“How did he just happen to hop on this aircraft and then conveniently catch a boat to Norway?” I asked.
Jens answered, “We wanted to dispatch a team to train Underground Army units in the use of explosives, so they could go into action in coordination with the invasion. Rolf organized the transport, landing areas, contacts, everything. We have been waiting for the right weather for them to take the Shetland Bus.”
“The what?” This was getting stranger all the time. I sat down hard, the energy I had received from finding the photographs and learning Rolf Kayser’s motive, drained by the distance Rolf had put between us.
“That’s what we call the boats that go back and forth to Norway. Most are Norwegian fishing boats that have fled to England. They carry agents and supplies over, mingle with the regular fishing fleet, make their drops, and then bring back recruits. It works quite well.”
“Kayser wasn’t scheduled to go over,” Harding explained. “He added his name to the list at the last minute. Since he had been in on the plan from the beginning, no one questioned it.”
“Seems like a pretty loose operation,” I said.
“No, not at all,” Jens protested. “As a member of the planning staff, it was appropriate for Rolf to fly up to Shetland to check on weather conditions. And once the boat was ready to leave, he could easily join the others. No one else involved in the planning of the mission was there to contradict him.”
“This Shetland operation,” Harding explained, “the Shetland Bus, is a bit unorthodox in its methods. It’s nomina
lly run by the Royal Navy, but the sailors are all volunteer Norwegian fishermen. Very effective, but Kayser could easily take advantage of their informality.”
“Can’t you radio them? They can’t leave until this storm clears, can they?”
“Sorry, Billy, but this is perfect weather,” Jens said. “We usually don’t make runs in the summer, because of the long daylight. Too much chance of being spotted by German air or naval patrols. But in this weather, they don’t go out. There’s rain and fog up north. Fishermen are used to it, but the Luftwaffe won’t fly and even if they send out patrol boats they won’t be able to see two meters in front of them.”
“In any case,” Harding added, “this is a top-secret mission. Complete radio silence. There’s no way to get in touch with them.”
There was a note of finality in Harding’s voice that depressed me. He looked down at the table, then at his injured hand. What had he seen in those last seconds when he tried to get to Daphne? Had she screamed, and did he still hear her?
“You must know where they’re going in Nordland,” I said, trying to stay focused. I wasn’t ready to give up. “Send someone in after them.”
“We don’t know exactly,” said Jens. “We gave them a list of contacts to make. It was up to the commando team to work out the timing. For security reasons, only one other person, in addition to those on the mission, knew when and where they were to meet those contacts.”
“And, of course, that person was Rolf Kayser,” I guessed.
Jens nodded.
“He must’ve had this planned as an escape option,” I thought out loud. “After he drove away, he must’ve stopped to watch the explosion. He saw that Kaz wasn’t dead, or at least he couldn’t be certain of it. So he went to Plan B. He got himself to safety behind enemy lines, into his own country, where he can melt into the mountains anytime. He knows we can’t track him down.”
“Damn!” cursed Harding. We all just sat there for a minute.
“There might be one way to find him,” Jens said finally.
“How?”
“I do not know Rolf’s schedule, but I do know Major Arnesen’s. I planned it out with him.”
“What’s that got to do with it?” I asked.
“Anders is on a mission to assess the readiness of the Underground Army. Rolf’s group was to link up with him and pass on information about the underground groups they’d trained and their ability to conduct sabotage operations with a very large shipment of plastic explosive we will be bringing into Nordland. Remember, part of the invasion plan is to seal off Nordland at its narrowest point.”
“When and where is the meet?” I asked.
“At a hut in the mountains above Leirfjord. I will have to check the exact date,” Jens answered.
“Major Harding,” I said, trying to summon up every bit of military bearing I possessed, “I request permission to apprehend Rolf Kayser at this meeting place and bring him back for trial.” Harding looked like the pope had just asked him for a kiss. He sucked in some air, then quickly composed himself. Jens looked surprised, and then smiled.
“Denied,” Harding said firmly. “You wouldn’t last ten minutes.”
“Sir, there are underground units throughout Nordland. Jens could put me in touch with one and they could guide me to this Leirfjord place-”
“I said no, Boyle. You’d either be killed or captured, preferably the former, because if you were captured, the Gestapo would get all of this out of you in nothing flat. I’ll not have you endangering the invasion plan. Period. End of discussion.” He got up and walked out of the room.
“I think he needs some time to think it over,” I said to Jens, after the door slammed.
“We don’t have that much time,” he answered. He sounded serious.
“We?”
“We. As a Norwegian, I feel responsible for my countryman’s conduct. As one who once counted Rolf Kayser as a friend, I feel betrayed. If we do nothing, as Major Harding suggests, he will certainly get away. Sweden is less than one hundred kilometers from almost anywhere in Nordland.”
“Aren’t you worried about the Gestapo getting hold of me?”
“I think you are a man of many surprises, Lieutenant Boyle. I think others should worry about you. Rolf Kayser, especially.”
Jens called for sandwiches and whiskey and we got down to some serious study. He rolled out a huge map and showed me the route Anders would follow by submarine from Scapa Flow and the shorter route Rolf was taking from the Shetland Islands. They both ended up off a little island, Tomma, on the coast of Nordland province.
“Tomma is about thirty kilometers south of the Arctic Circle. A small local boat can ferry you from it to the mainland here,” Jens pointed, “at Nesna. You take the main road from there to Leirfjord. I’ll draw a map of the path to the hut for you to memorize.”
“When would I need to be there?”
“By the 22nd of July. You have just under two weeks.”
“And how do we accomplish that, against the wishes of my commanding officer?”
Jens drummed his fingers on the table, looking at the map and then me. The drumming stopped.
“Let me see the orders Daphne typed up for you.”
I gave him the envelope. I realized that in all the excitement I hadn’t thought about Daphne’s death for several minutes. And suddenly, it was as if I had just found out again. I stared at the map while Jens read through the orders, and managed to regroup. Norway sure was a long way away. There was one advantage, though. Rolf Kayser would never expect me to come after him. What would be the German reaction to me if I was captured? I wasn’t so sure.
“Look, Billy,” Jens said excitedly, jabbing his finger at the papers. “Your orders are still valid. The cover sheet says thirty days, AAA priority, and identifies the issuing office. U.S. Army ETO headquarters, in this case.”
“Yeah, great,” I said. “But that and a nickel will get you a phone call.”
Jens looked up quizzically, but then went on. “The second page is the actual listing of orders, see? Then the third page contains the last order, an instruction to all Allied personnel to assist you in your duties. That is followed by the signature of Major Harding for General Eisenhower and Major Cosgrove for the Imperial Staff. Very impressive.”
“It only goes so far, Jens. At Southwold I couldn’t even get four wheels…”
While I was talking, Jens had laid out the three sheets next to each other. He then removed the middle sheet containing the actual orders and substituted a blank sheet of paper.
“Holy shit, Jens. You’re a genius. We can add whatever we want.”
He smiled triumphantly, but the smile faded quickly. “No, Billy. You should rather say we can add whatever you are willing to add. It may cost you your life.”
It was nice that Jens was thinking about my life expectancy, but something else was stirring in my mind. The last piece of the puzzle. I took away the first and second sheets and just stared at the third sheet, all by itself.
It was so simple. So damn simple that a real clever guy like me had never even had a chance.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Everything had been so easy, I knew there had to be a catch. Jens had doctored the orders, and late that night I was back at Southwold, returning the BMW no worse for wear and grabbing some of the winter gear the GIs had been issued. I jumped an air transport to Scotland the next morning. I had a Thompson submachine gun, my own. 45, a couple of grenades, and I felt ready to take on the whole German army. Then I realized that was exactly what I was about to do.
The orders got me into Scapa Flow, the huge Royal Navy base in the north of Scotland, no problem. I found the Fifteenth Motor Gunboat Flotilla and presented my paperwork. Jens had selected this unit because he had worked with them before and knew they were used to operatives showing up at all hours with top priority orders. The Fifteenth specialized in clandestine operations and was involved in ferrying agents in and out of Norway. This was right up thei
r alley; a strange officer showing up unannounced with secret orders was routine. Even though my orders instructed the Fifteenth Motor Gunboat Flotilla to provide me with “immediate” transport to the island of Tomma off the coast of Norway, the commanding officer told me I’d have to wait two days for a moonless period. Motor Torpedo Boat 718 was due to leave then to pick up some downed British airmen and could be rerouted to drop me off at Tomma first. Not wanting to kick up a fuss and have my phony orders looked at any more closely, I graciously agreed. It didn’t bother me since I still had plenty of time to make the rendezvous. I was more worried about Harding. Jens was going to tell him I’d gone to Southwold to try and get firm evidence that Rolf Kayser had stolen a tire bomb. It wasn’t much of a story, but it would do to buy me a day or two.
Standing on the dock the morning of our departure, my gear slung over my shoulder, I looked out to sea at the rough water and low clouds, and then back at MTB 718. There was a catch all right. She looked big enough for a fishing trip off Cape Cod, not a rough North Sea crossing. She was about a hundred feet long and very low in the water. A voice hailed me from the boat.
“You there, Yank! Are you our Joey?”
“My name’s Billy,” I said. Laughter rolled through the crew until an officer showed up at the gangplank.
“Welcome aboard, Lieutenant Boyle. I’m Lieutenant Harold Dickinson, Royal Navy Reserve.” He was tall, thin, graceful, and hatless. His head of thick blond hair blew in every direction in the freshening wind. He wore a soiled fisherman’s thick white turtleneck sweater, and could’ve been a Harvard kid getting ready for a sail, except for the twin-mounted. 50 caliber machine guns he was leaning against.