Chapter 4
Carter, Newkirk, and LeBeau were gathered in the radio room around Kinch who was seated at the radio. They all knew this was one call Kinch was not looking forward to making. Kinch put the headset on his head.
"Papa Bear to Goldilocks. Papa Bear to Goldilocks. Come in Goldilocks."
There was no response on the other end.
"Papa Bear to Goldilocks. Papa Bear to Goldilocks. Come in Goldilocks," Kinch repeated.
"This is Goldilocks, Papa Bear. How can we assist you?" the British voice responded.
"We request to speak with General Butler, Goldilocks."
"Is that necessary, Papa Bear?"
"It's urgent, Goldilocks."
"Hold one moment, Papa Bear." There were a few minutes of silence.
"What are you gonna tell him, Kinch?" asked Carter.
"I'm gonna tell him exactly what happened, Andrew," Kinch replied coolly. "General Butler can draw his own conclusions."
"General Butler here, Papa Bear. I understand it was urgent that you speak with me?"
"Yes, sir," Kinch licked his suddenly dry lips. "General, we regret to inform you that Colonel Hogan was killed."
There was a brief silence. "Hogan's dead? How? What happened?" Even though he couldn't see the General, Kinch imagined the stunned shock that was on his face. He went on to explain what happened including Crittendon's part in Hogan's death. He also explained the tension and feelings of the men in the camp to Crittendon's presence at Stalag 13 as well. When he was done, he waited as another few minutes of silence resulted.
"Where is Colonel Crittendon now?" asked Butler. Had Kinch actually heard an edge to the General's voice?
"I believe he's in the barracks, sir," Kinch replied. He had an idea as to what was coming.
"Have someone go and get him. I want to hear his story as well. I'll wait."
"Right away, sir." Kinch looked at Carter. "Andrew, go see if Crittendon's in the barracks. If he is, tell him London wants to speak with him right away."
"Right, Kinch," Carter replied quietly. He hurried away.
"It'll be a few minutes, General," Kinch reported.
"That's all right, Papa Bear. While I wait, tell me something if you can."
"Yes, sir?"
"How does Colonel Hogan's unit feel about working with Colonel Crittendon?"
"Well, sir, and believe me when I say this is very difficult as I am one of Colonel Hogan's team. But, I must honestly say the entire team feels the same way. And unless ordered to do so, sir, we don't want to work under or with someone who was responsible, to us anyway, for Colonel Hogan's death."
"I understand, Papa Bear," Butler replied. "But that issue will be addressed later."
Just then, everybody looked up when footsteps were heard. A few moments later, Carter, followed by Crittendon, appeared. Removing his headset, Kinch handed it to the Colonel while he and the others all quietly left the room, and gathered in an adjoining tunnel where they couldn't hear, but would still be within shouting distance after Crittendon was finished speaking with the General.
"What do you suppose Butler's saying to Crittendon?" asked Newkirk, lighting a cigarette.
"I don't know and I don't care," LeBeau said with a hint of anger. "I just hope he's recalled back to England. He should face charges for what he did to Colonel Hogan."
"Carter, did Crittendon say anything when you told him London wanted to speak with him?" asked Kinch.
Carter shrugged. "Nothing really. He was in Colonel Hogan's quarters just sitting at the Colonel's desk, staring out the open window." The young Sergeant suddenly got a thoughtful look on his face. "Y'know, I actually think he's sorry for what happened to Colonel Hogan."
LeBeau and Newkirk both jumped on Carter at the same time, catching him off-guard. The young Sergeant took a startled step back. Kinch quickly came to his defense.
"Just hold it a minute," Kinch remarked holding up both hands, stopping them. "Now Carter's entitled to his opinion. There's no need to jump all over him for what he thinks."
"Perhaps not," LeBeau replied. "But I, for one, don't want to hear Crittendon is sorry."
"Me neither," Newkirk agreed. "And frankly, I wouldn't believe it for one. Crittendon's a bumbling, empty-headed excuse for an officer, and he murdered the Gov'nor with his incompetence. So don't stand there and tell me he's sorry."
"Ahem," a voice said, causing the men to turn. Crittendon stood in the entrance, giving no indication he had heard Newkirk's last sentence. "General Butler wishes to speak with you chaps." He then turned and disappeared. The four men headed back to the radio room.
Sitting down, Kinch put on and adjusted the headset. "Papa Bear here, General. Go ahead," he said.
"I've spoken to Colonel Crittendon, Papa Bear, and he doesn't deny anything you've told me. In fact, he agrees with everything you said. I told him he is as of this moment relieved of duty pending an investigation to see if what happened meets the requirement for a court-martial. Of course as he is a British subject, any investigation will fall under British military law. Sergeant Kinchloe?"
"I'm here, General," Kinch replied.
"Right now you are in command of the unit as Hogan always told me you were his second-in-command."
"Yes, sir."
"Of course that decision will remain in effect pending an investigation on our part and a decision is made on Colonel Crittendon's situation. Also, he is under arrest on your end but don't let the Germans know. You are also to suspend all operation with the exception of rescuing downed flyers and getting them out of Germany until a decision is made as to whether or not the operation should continue at all. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir. General, does Colonel Crittendon know?"
"I explained to him everything I've just explained to you. I'm sorry it has to be this way. Colonel Hogan was a good man and a fine officer. He'll be sorely missed."
"No argument there, General. Is there anything else we need to know?"
"That's everything for now, Papa Bear. We'll let you know when a decision has been reached. Goldilocks over and out."
"Papa Bear out." Kinch removed the headset and, tossing it on the table, looked at the others. "Well?" he asked them as a whole.
"What do we do about Crittendon with Klink?" asked Carter.
"Carter's right," Newkirk said. "I don't want that bloody bastard as Senior POW officer, Kinch. He doesn't deserve that title after what he's done. In fact, he shouldn't even remain in the Gov'nor's quarters if you ask me."
"I agree," LeBeau chimed in. "We must do something to get him removed from that position, mon ami. You would make a better acting Senior POW."
"Besides," Newkirk agreed. "Klink's gonna have a bloody riot on his hands once word gets around camp. And you know what'll happen then, mate."
"There'll be bloodshed," Kinch sighed.
"Bloody right there'll be bloodshed. And people are gonna die as a result. We can't let that happen, Kinch. Colonel Hogan's death is bad enough; but we can't let others die as a result of it. The Colonel wouldn't want that."
"You're all right," Kinch concurred. "The Colonel wouldn't want that." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I have an idea how to get Crittendon out of the way for awhile, anyway. But first, we have to find a way for Klink to find out about the Berlin Express blowing up."
"Hey, Kinch!" somebody shouted from above.
The men all walked towards the ladder and looked up to see Olsen looking down at them.
"What is it, Olsen?" Kinch asked.
"Schultz is summoning us for a special roll call," Olsen told him.
"Something tells me Klink may have just found out about the Berlin Express," Kinch remarked as he climbed up the ladder followed by the others. Once everybody was back in the barracks, Kinch hastily slapped the hidden mechanism. As the lower bunk dropped over the tunnel entrance, everybody hurried outside and fell into formation. Not to the surprise of Hogan's unit, Klink was already outside waiting, a pained look on his face.
Schultz quickly counted all the prisoners ending with Colonel Crittendon standing in Hogan's former place beside Newkirk. The rotund prison guard turned and saluted his Kommandant. "Herr Kommandant, all prisoners present and accounted for."
"Thank you, Schultz," Klink responded quietly, giving a lazy salute in return. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Klink took a deep breath and began to address the prisoners.
"Prisoners, I called this special roll call to bring you some news that will be very unpleasant to hear. I just received a telephone call from General Burkhalter, and found out that the Berlin Express was blown up in an apparent act of sabotage by the underground. Now, I know you are all aware that Colonel Hogan was on-board the Berlin Express while en-route to Stalag 15. I regret to inform you that as far as I know there were no survivors."
There was stunned silence from the prisoners as well as Schultz. The guard knew he would miss the American officer and his sense of humor. Also, Schultz couldn't even begin to count how many times the American had come to his rescue or that of the Kommandant. And while Colonel Crittendon seemed to be an okay fellow, he wasn't Colonel Hogan.
Klink wondered to himself what would happen now that Hogan was dead. He knew Hogan had helped him out of trouble more times than he could remember. He spoke again.
"I just want to tell you all that you have permission to hold a memorial service for Colonel Hogan. All I ask is that you let myself or Sergeant Schultz know when you'd like to have it. That's all. Sergeant Schultz, you may dismiss your men." He saluted, turned abruptly, and walked away before Schultz could return the salute.
"Jawohl, Herr Kommandant," the guard replied saluting the open air. He turned towards the prisoners, still stunned at the news. "All prisoners diss-missed!"
"The minute the men dispersed, Kinch approached Schultz. He gently grabbed the obese guard's arm. Carter, Newkirk, and LeBeau surrounded them.
"Schultz, you okay?" asked Kinch, concerned.
"I just can't believe it," Schultz replied. "I never thought…."
"Neither did we, Schultzie," said LeBeau sadly.
Schultz looked at the four men. "I'm sorry about Colonel Hogan. He was a good man. I already missed him when he was transferred to Stalag 15. But after hearing this, I will miss him even more." He wiped something from his eye.
"So will we, Schultz," Kinch replied with a grim smile. "So will we." They watched as the obese guard slowly and sadly walked away.
"Why didn't you speak with Klink about getting rid of Crittendon?" LeBeau asked Kinch.
"We have to wait until morning," Kinch told him.
"Why?" asked Carter, confused.
"Think about it. Klink just told us about the Colonel being killed when the Berlin Express blew up. How would it appear if we brought up the situation with Crittendon right after we find out about the Colonel. It would look like we knew about the sabotage before he told us. By talking to him tomorrow morning, it'll appear that the men's reactions resulted from having been informed of the Colonel's death and problems developed overnight. This way it takes any suspicion off of us."