“It shows your success in charming people.”

  “Are you going somewhere with this, Karl?” Wicklein asked.

  “Just that they informed me that they consider your safety as important to them. As a rule, they ignore the intraparty conflicts that pop up from time to time. But they consider you as worthy of protection.”

  “And what does that mean, exactly?”

  Rainer pursed his lips and gave a slight head shake. “That is a good question, Gerhard. The Gestapo is like having a temperamental dog. You never know if it will want to be petted or if it will bite you. I mainly told you about this for your own information. I suggest that you not try to take advantage of their goodwill. It would be better if you could keep running up the score.”

  Gerhard glanced around the room as if looking for answers. He knew he wouldn’t find it here. Rainer had the most sterile office in the place. The only decoration was the requisite picture of Hitler on the wall. There was nothing that gave a clue to Rainer’s personality. Gerhard had run into people who knew Rainer during the time he was in the Polizei in Munich. He seemed to show up at the right time and place like a ghost. He could disappear from the party headquarters, and no one would know he was ever here.

  “I shall keep that in mind,” Gerhard finally said.

  “Good. It’s been over a month since the last attack. I hope that is the last of it.”

  “I hope so, too. I would like a normal life. I’m glad the bombing raids have tapered off. Do you think the war will end?”

  “Herr Schloss is leaving tomorrow for Lisbon to talk to the Americans. That’s confidential, by the way. We want to do everything possible to keep the Americans from coming into the war on the side of the English.”

  “If the Americans came into the war, we would be destroyed.”

  “Eventually,” Rainer agreed.

  “Is the Parteileiter fit to travel?” Wicklein asked. “He hasn’t looked well lately.”

  “He broke a tooth a couple weeks ago and had to visit the dentist. Then it became infected.”

  “That would explain his foul mood,” Gerhard said.

  “He has insisted on going. His brother-in-law is also going, and I think he will carry water for Herr Schloss.”

  “If Churchill finds out about this meeting, he may burst a blood vessel.”

  “We can hope,” Rainer smiled. “We have offered, through various third parties, to sit down and discuss an end to the war, but Churchill has refused to consider it.”

  “What would we need to do to force Churchill to the table?” Gerhard asked.

  “A good question, Gerhard,” Rainer said. “I don’t know the answer to that. But the Parteileiter has given it a lot of thought.”

  “I hope this trip ends well. Are you going along?”

  “No, he wants me here minding the store. There are reasons he doesn’t trust the other members of the government. But I am nervous about allowing Herr Schloss to leave the country on his own,” Rainer explained. “I pushed him about it until he lost his temper.”

  “He gets mad at you, Karl?” Gerhard asked, his eyes widening.

  “Shut up, Gerhard. Yes, and I usually know he’s reached that point when he calls me an old woman.”

  “But everyone already knows that.”

  “It appears you don’t know when to recognize when I’m losing my temper.”

  Wicklein laughed.

  “Back to business,” Rainer said.

  Wicklein understood that the time for innocuous conversation was over.

  “Are you making any progress on the Kdf project?”

  Gerhard leaned forward in his chair to make better eye contact.

  “Ludwig and I have looked at this carefully. I have asked the SS to pull Ley’s banking records. If he becomes aware of someone snooping, I want him looking in the wrong places.”

  “Good idea,” Rainer said. “Has the SS been cooperative?”

  “So far,” Gerhard replied. “I think that Himmler doesn’t like Ley, and the people in the SS offices know it. Erich introduced me to Massimo Vendas, who promised to get what he could for us.”

  “What did that cost us?” Rainer asked.

  “We bought him a meal,” Gerhard said. “If he delivers for us, we may have put something nice in his Christmas stocking.”

  Rainer snorted. “If he is in the SS, he is probably an atheist.”

  “I was speaking figuratively, of course.”

  “Of course,” Rainer agreed.

  “Will you need me to cover anything in the Parteileiter’s absence?” Wicklein asked.

  “Not at this time. You are doing what we need. I still want you to run the Party organization in Brown House, but I want things to settle down a bit before I mention it to Herr Schloss.”

  “He seems very busy.”

  “He is very busy,” Rainer said. “Unfortunately, he is the only one who can act on many of his ideas. But he has come up with the most amazing ideas.”

  “And I’m sure you have plenty to do as well,” Gerhard said. “Feel free to dump more on my desk.”

  “No need to worry about that,” Rainer smiled. “Thanks for coming in.”

  Wicklein returned to his desk. His projects were mostly waiting for more information. Hopefully, the SS would deliver something useful in his investigation of Robert Ley of the Kdf organization. Pankow continued his audits of Party membership rolls in the major German cities. When Schloss and Rainer traveled to Munich to arrest Marcel Daumer, it was as if the ice was broken. Another half-dozen party leaders in cities nationwide had been detained and awaiting trial.

  Gerhard looked forward to telling Katrin about Rainer’s promise to consider him for the Munich office. She would be delighted to return to her hometown. Wicklein looked forward to being closer to both sets of parents. And he was sure they would enjoy having easy access to the grandchildren. As he thought about it, he decided he would ask Rainer for a long weekend, so they could visit Katrin’s parents and his.

  He decided to walk around the building and see what people were doing. He would strike up conversations with the employees and listen to their concerns. He was well known as Schloss’s and Rainer’s footman, and the people tended to work harder if they thought he was just around the corner. Rainer was a fount of American business practices, and he called this Management by Walking Around. He encouraged Gerhard to do this every week.

  Gerhard used his perambulations to gauge the attitude of the party rank and file. He reported this back to Rainer, who probably reported it to Schloss. Some of the changes Schloss implemented in the office indicated he listened to the employee concerns.

  § § §

  October 17, 1941, 5 PM

  Nazi Party Headquarters

  Berlin, Germany

  Gerhard Wicklein had developed the habit of remaining at his desk until well after five in the afternoon. Rainer and the Parteileiter often did not return to the office after the afternoon meetings until late in the day. And at that time of day, Rainer was tired and would often tell Wicklein more than he would otherwise.

  By staying late, Gerhard was also allowed the opportunity to wander around the building without having to greet the employees. Rainer had delegated the management of the building to Wicklein, and Wicklein believed in inspecting everything. Due to several tense encounters with Rainer’s Enforcer, the janitorial staff cleaned the toilets twice daily and inspected them more often.

  Wicklein had a distaste for filthy water closets, as did Rainer, and he suspected Schloss. When the three of them worked at Brown House, Gerhard remembered Schloss giving the building staff a fearful tongue-lashing because the toilets were unfit for human use. So, now it was a decided improvement to visit a water closet that was not only clean but also smelled fresh.

  More recently, Gerhard was on a crusade against dirty corners. While the staff kept the floors sparkling, they rarely bothered to spend time making the corners of the rooms look good. Wicklein was convinced the janitorial staff hated him, but he didn’t care. He aimed to make the Nazi Party Headquarters the standard by which all government buildings were measured. Rainer had commented that the headquarters looked better than the Reich Chancellery.

  It was close to six when Gerhard returned to his office. Rainer’s door was open, so he sauntered in.

  “Grüß, Gerhard,” Rainer waved him into a chair.

  “May I assume the Chancellery did not blow up this afternoon?”

  “The meeting was certainly explosive,” Rainer said. “The Parteileiter presented his plan to move the Jews to Palestine. The discussion was heated.”

  “I’ll just bet it was. Did anyone agree with Herr Schloss?” Gerhard asked.

  “Interestingly, Himmler was the only hold-out to the plan.”

  “But Himmler is probably the most powerful council member,” Wicklein said.

  “That maybe is true,” Rainer conceded. “But even Goebbels decided the idea held merit.”

  “Is it approved, then?”

  “Herr Schloss is implementing the plan.”

  “Which means you are implementing it,” Wicklein commented.

  “I will have to pull you in on this one, Gerhard. Can Ludwig manage the audits as well as the Ley investigation?”

  “If he must. I think his biggest problem is a lack of self-confidence. He is certainly competent enough.”

  “Very well, is he still here?”

  “I think he left a little while ago,” Wicklein said.

  “Okay. You can tell him in the morning. I want you to immediately start on this project. Will you be in the office tomorrow?”

  “I will be here in the morning.”

  Rainer nodded. “Fine. You and I will commandeer one of the meeting rooms and start mapping out how this must work. We need to get this thing moving quickly so that its momentum will be hard to stop.”

  “Do you think Himmler will try to stop it?” Wicklein asked.

  “Wouldn’t you? Actually, I worry more about Heydrich. The man is a zealot. We must be very careful around him.”

  “I understand. I have observed him. I think he is dangerous.”

  “Rainer!” they heard Schloss yell.

  “I’ll see you in the morning, Gerhard,” Rainer said as he stood.

  Rainer walked into the Parteileiter’s office as he returned to his desk. Schloss was shouting, although Wicklein could not determine what he said. He didn’t envy Rainer.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  October 19, 1941, 7 AM

  Nazi Party Headquarters

  Berlin, Germany

  “What are you doing in here on a Sunday morning?” Karl Rainer demanded.

  “Katlin and the boys are asleep. I didn’t have anything else to do. I thought I could spend a couple of hours at my desk and clear some things off.”

  “I don’t know, Gerhard. You might be developing a bad habit.”

  “You’re here,” Wicklein said.

  “Exactly. I have my own bad habits to contend with.”

  “You look tired this morning, Karl,” Gerhard said.

  “I am tired. I haven’t been to bed,” Rainer replied. “But that goes with the job sometimes.”

  The two men sipped their coffee. Wicklein looked past Rainer at the windows and the morning sun sleeting between the buildings of downtown Berlin. It would be another pretty day.

  “You should have called me in to help. You can’t carry all this by yourself.”

  “I know I tell you a lot about what is happening in the party and the government, probably more than I should. This project is much more tightly compartmentalized, though.”

  “I understand. Sometimes, I get full of myself and think that the Reich won’t survive without my help.”

  Rainer took another sip and set his cup down. Several stain rings on the blotter indicated where he had been careless with his coffee. Wicklein observed and concluded that while Rainer liked to keep things neat, he didn’t have a fetish about it.

  “This particular project is critical but also dangerous. I have debated about bringing you into it. If it fails, the participants will likely all die. But you are known as being close to me, so you would be in danger anyway.”

  “Life in the Reich is always dangerous,” Wicklein commented.

  “True. Very true.” Rainer drummed his fingers on his desk. “Okay, have I explained to you the dangers of volunteering?”

  “Oh, maybe a dozen times,” Wicklein chuckled. “Or is it two dozen?”

  Rainer leaned forward and folded his hands on the desktop. “I am serious, Gerhard. Pay attention!”

  “Of course, Herr Rainer.” Wicklein was suddenly sober.

  “The contest between the Parteileiter and the Reichsprotektor has heated up. I have come to understand it as the War of the Two Heinrichs. One of the two men will leave the field of battle victorious and alive. I am working to ensure that it is Herr Heinrich Schloss. I have recruited a team that is not large enough for the task but is still small enough to avoid detection. You must tell me right now, Gerard, are you in or out?”

  “I am in, Herr Rainer,” Wicklein immediately replied.

  “I must caution you on being too quick to agree. You will be putting your life on the line –probably that of your family. Not just Katlin and the boys, but also her parents and yours. Do you understand?”

  “Karl,” WIcklein stated, “I think I recognized that the day I left the Brownshirts and joined you in the Party offices. Understand, mein Herr, I am with you on this. I would much rather live in a Germany with Herr Schloss than Herr Himmler.”

  Rainer wiped his hands on his trousers and blinked several times. “Very well. I have not convinced myself that bringing you into this is wise, but I badly need the help.”

  “Karl!” Wicklein almost shouted. “I am with you on this. Now, what is it you want me to do?”

  “When the day comes that Herr Schloss deals with Himmler, your task will be to ensure that no threats will remain in this building. We have some hard-line Nazis here who do not look favorably on the Parteileiter. You must identify them and be prepared to neutralize them. Pick no more than three or four people to assist you. Do not give them any details until absolutely necessary.”

  “Can I have Erich?” Wicklein asked.

  “No.”

  Wicklein looked up in surprise.

  Rainer managed a sour grin. “I need Erich to help get control of the SS.”

  “I understand,” Wicklein immediately replied. “That is your most critical task, is it not?”

  Rainer nodded. “Yes. That will present the most risk.”

  “People are going to die.”

  “Without question,” Rainer snorted. “I trust you understand that you will do whatever is necessary to ensure success. It may be distasteful, but you must be ruthless. In some cases, it will be a matter of kill or be killed.”

  “When will this happen?”

  “I don’t know. It might happen tomorrow, or it may be six months from now. Herr Schloss is attempting to keep things under control. But, the final confrontation will happen suddenly. Remember how it happened with Bormann. You must pay attention at all times, Gerhard. There won’t be a lot of warning. You will receive a phone call with a one-word code: Golgotha. When you receive that call, you will act.”

  “I understand. Do you want me to report to you when I get the team built?”

  “No,” Rainer said. “If, for some reason, you feel you cannot complete the mission, please inform me. Otherwise, I shall assume you are ready and in position. Otherwise, say nothing to me about it. There is always a danger of being overheard.”

  “Very well. I will complete the mission.”

  “I know you will. And now we both have things to do.”

  Wicklein felt like he was sleepwalking when he returned to his office. He sat down at his desk and stared at the wall, trying to consider what he and Rainer agreed to do. But one thing was clear, he needed to move quickly. The War of the Two Heinrichs was rapidly building to a climax, and there was probably less time than Rainer expected.

  The biggest surprise was that Gerhard found himself frightened. Although he had experienced several tough situations while working as a courier, he had never panicked. He wasn’t panicking now, but he felt beads of sweat pop up on his forehead. He concluded he had never had time to be afraid in his previous adventures. Now he contemplated the future and felt a grinding terror.

  Finally, he took a deep breath and walked to the office door. Yes, Pankow was at his desk.

  “Ludwig.”

  The other man looked up. Gerhard motioned him into his office.

  “In the office on Sunday, Ludwig?” Gerhard asked.

  “There was nothing else to do. We seem to have plenty of work here.”

  “You may regret coming in this morning,” Gerhard said.

  “How may I help you, Herr Wicklein?”

  Now Wicklein realized that he had not considered how to approach Pankow about the conspiracy, which is what this was. And he had to first discover where the other man’s loyalty lay. He thought he knew, but this was not something to leave to chance.

  “You know about the tension between the Parteileiter and the Reichsprotektor?” Wicklein said.

  “Yes, mein Herr. There have been conversations about it in the office. Everyone knows the dangers associated with Himmler and the SS. But they also remember how Herr Schloss dealt with Bormann.”

  “I suppose the question is how far you would carry your loyalty to Herr Schloss?” Wicklein asked.

  “The Gestapo arrested a girl I knew because she was a member of the Confessing Church. Nobody knows what happened to her. Things like that are shameful and ought not to happen in a civilized country. I think you can say I will follow Herr Schloss anywhere.”

  “Even at a risk to your life?”

  “Anywhere, Herr Wicklein.”

  “Very well,” Gerhard said. “If it comes down to a contest between the Parteileiter and the Reichsprotektor, I will need your help securing the Party offices. Herr Schloss and Herr Rainer will have their hands full in dealing with the SS and Wehrmacht. They will depend upon us to ensure the security of the Party.”

 

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