Chapter 12---Hogan's Trial Begins
Hogan was starting to drift off when the sound of a door opening awoke him. He couldn't even remember what day it was. Looking around he saw Ilse walking down the stairs. Reaching the bottom, she paused and looked at Hogan. Then, she slowly approached and faced him. He looked up at her. Slowly, she removed the duct tape from his mouth.
"I've missed you, Ilse," Hogan said softly. "I would much more prefer looking at your beautiful face than your husband or those others."
Ilse said nothing, but continued looking at Hogan. Suddenly, she placed one hand on each side of Hogan's face and, leaning over, pressed her lips against his and kissed him passionately. Then, just as suddenly, she stood up and looked at him again.
"I tried to stay away from you," she said. "You don't know how hard I tried."
"Then why did you come if you tried staying away?"
"I, I could feel you calling to me even though you were gagged." She turned her back and took a few steps away as if struggling with something.
"Ilse, what's wrong?" asked Hogan, surprised that he was actually concerned. "Talk to me."
She kept her back to him. "I have a duty to my country," she said. "And that duty requires me to sentence to death any person considered a threat to the Fatherland such as yourself, Colonel Hogan. But, I don't know if I can go through with sentencing you to death."
For a brief moment, Hogan was hopeful he may have an ally, but not completely sure if she was an ally he could trust yet. "Why?" he asked.
Ilse turned and faced Hogan. "Because, I think I'm falling in love with you. I can't explain it. But I started having these feelings ever since I first saw your photograph. If only I had met you before I married Hans."
"But yet you married him. You must have loved him. At least enough to have married him."
"I did. I do. I'm not sure anymore." She sighed wearily. "Until I saw your picture, Colonel Hogan, and then met you in person, I thought Hans was the only man for me. But now...." she didn't finish. Her eyes suddenly caught a movement on the stairs. She gasped. Hogan's head turned in the direction of the stairs.
"My, isn't this cozy!" Hans Bormann declared from where he had been standing, watching and listening. His icy glare went from his wife, to Hogan, and back to his wife. "I thought this was where you were." Reaching inside his jacket, he produced a pistol and pointed it at Hogan.
"You love him so much, my dear, the two of you can be together for eternity in hell for all I care." He cocked his weapon and aimed it at Hogan's head. Hogan caught his breath and prepared to die.
"Hans!" Ilse cried. "No! Don't! We can talk about this!"
They were the last words she would utter. For at the last second Bormann turned his weapon on his wife and fired. Both he and Hogan watched as Ilse slumped to the floor, dead from a bullet to the head. Then, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, Bormann turned to Hogan and slowly approached him.
Hogan was stunned. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. "How could you do that to your own wife? How?"
Bormann didn't reply. He just kept staring at Hogan with an icy glare. Then, with his gun hand shaking, he aimed his weapon at Hogan's head, a single tear ran down his cheek.
"I should just save everybody time Colonel Hogan and finish you right now! But that would be too easy, and I want you to suffer first. And not just because you're an enemy of the Fatherland, but because you're responsible for my wife's death as well."
"What happened, Hans!" someone yelled. Looking around, Bormann noticed Decker, Klauss and Belgium all running down the stairs. The men paused when they saw Ilse's body on the floor. They then noticed Bormann with his pistol aimed at the prisoner. Klauss slowly approached his friend.
"Hans," he gently gripped his friend's shoulders. "What happened? Talk to me, my friend."
"He did it!" Borman motioned with his gun at Hogan. "He tried turning Ilse into a traitor like him! He forced me to have to kill her!"
Klauss glared at Hogan with loathing. "You are evil, Colonel Hogan! Pure evil!"
Hogan looked at Ilse's body and then at Hans and Klauss. "You can't blame me for your friend killing her," he said. "I didn't do anything except talk with her. What she said were her thoughts. I didn't make her say those things. She only said what she felt. And for that your friend killed her."
With the cry of a wounded animal, Bormann dropped his weapon, broke free from Klauss, and pounced on Hogan, knocking the chair over as they both landed on the floor. Bormann wrapped his hands around Hogan's throat and began applying as much pressure as he could, while Klauss and Decker tried desperately to pull him away. Hogan found himself unable to breath. He had always imagined his death might come as a result of his secret activities, but not this. After several moments they were able to pull him off of Hogan who lay on the floor, barely concious, coughing as he struggled to get air into his lungs again. He turned his eyes toward Bormannn, but said nothing while still trying to breath normally.
As Decker and Klauss pulled Bormann further away, Belgium helped stand Hogan's chair upright. He too, glared at the Colonel. Then, he looked at Bormann who by now had calmed down some, and motioned they could release him which they did. Klauss patted Bormann on the back gently and then went to find something with which to cover Ilse's body.
Bormann looked at Belgium. "Prepare for the trial to begin within the hour!" he muttered through clenched teeth glaring at Hogan.
"But what about Fritz?" Belgium asked. "He should be included when Hogan's trial begins. All of us are always present when a trial is held. Those are the rules."
Bormann glared at him. "And as both Ilse and I were the founders of this unit, we decided the rules! And since Ilse is no longer with us, I decided Colonel Hogan's trial takes place within the hour! Now see to it!" Bormann spun around and with a final glance at his wife's now covered body still on the floor, marched up the stairs and slammed the door behind him, leaving Belgium, Decker and Klauss alone with Hogan. Klauss stared at the Colonel. "Germany will be much better off without your kind, Colonel Hogan," he muttered before heading to the stairs and walking up.
Decker and Belgium looked at each other. They had never seen Bormann so out of control before and so ready to go against the rules he and his late wife had established when the Death Unit was formed. They both knew the number one rule was that under no circumstances, was anybody allowed to violate or divert from the rules of the laws that had been created. And now, Bormann was about to do just that. Both men turned their attention to Hogan. "Colonel Hogan...." began Decker slowly. "Hans is out of control right now. We have no way of stopping him. It would be too dangerous for either of us to even try."
"You could stop him if you really wanted to, y'know," Hogan's voice was sounding a bit raspy. There were already bruises forming on his throat from where Bormann's fingers had been. "You could release me."
Belgium sadly shook his head. "Don't ask us to free you, Colonel. According to our laws, if one of us did that, that person's life must be forfeited. It is written."
Hogan shook his head before looking at both men again. "He's crazy, you know that. He's going to kill me and you're just gonna sit by and let him do it. A man who just killed his own wife because he couldn't handle what he heard her say? What type of person does that? Tell me!"
"You don't understand, Colonel...." began Decker.
"No I suppose I don't," Hogan replied bitterly. "I don't understand how you both can just stand by and let muder take place, and in your own minds attempt to justify it by calling it removing an ememy of the Fatherland. What happens if you make a mistake and kill an innocent person? Did you ever stop to think about that? Of course it's too late then to rectify the situation after someone's dead, isn't it? And I am innocent! I have nothing to do with any of the things I'm being accused of!"
"We are sorry, Colonel," Belgium said softly as he rummanged through the draw of a nearby table and, removing a roll of duct tape, tore off a strip and put it over Hogan's mouth. He then tossed the duct tape roll on the table and both he and Decker disappeared up the stairs to prepare for the trial.
Hogan watched them leave. Sighing, he leaned his head backwards and looked up at the ceiling. He knew at this point he would need a miracle.
Jackman, Kinch and Newkirk, quietly made their way from barracks two to the guest quarters. Checking his watch, Jackman noticed it was going on seven-thirty. Newkirk peeked in the closed window and saw Frtiz Schultz seated alone at a table,a bottle of liquor and a glass in front of him.
"He's alone, sir," Newkirk whispered without turning. "You ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Jackman replied. He looked at Newkirk and Kinch. "Kinch, you stay out here and keep watch. Newkirk, come with me."
Quietly, the two men mounted the stairs to the guest quarters. Jackman knocked on the door. They heard someone approach from inside and the door being unlocked. The minute the door slightly opened, Jackman and Newkirk forced their way inside. Newkirk closed the door behind them and locked it. He stood in front of the door to watch with his back against it.
Schultz swallowed hard as he looked at the faux Hogan. "How did you get back to camp?" he asked nervously. "How did you get away?"
Jackman approached Schultz, a smirk on his face. "How is none of your business, Fritz," he said. "Fact is I did. What I want you to know is that I'm going to make sure everyone knows what you are and who you work with. And I mean everyone.Very soon everybody will know you're involved with the Death Unit. In fact, I think I'll start with your cousin. I'm sure he'll be fascinated."
"You wouldn't dare! You're bluffing!" Fritz stammered.
Jackman stepped closer. "Do I look like I'm bluffing? After what you and your friend, Wilhelm Klauss, did to me? No, Fritz, I'm not bluffing. I intend to tell everyone."
"But, but, then you'll have to explain how you were captured outside the power plant. You'd never do that! You'd give yourself away."
The faux Hogan gave Fritz one of his patented smirks. "Oh I'll think of something creative. Ask my friend over there in front of the door. He'll tell you."
"He's right, y'know," Newkirk replied, folding his arms. "Colonel Hogan never says anything he doesn't mean. But then, mate, you should know that since you and your mates figure you know so much about the Gov'nor."
"You can't tell my cousin! He'll never understand! He'll know I've been lying to him all these years about no longer associating with the wrong kind of people."
The faux Hogan hooked his thumbs in his side jacket pockets. "That's not my problem. My problem is you. And I'm gonna take care of my problem right now. You enjoyed seeing me in a cage, so I'm gonna put you in a cage. A one-way ticket to London and tried as a war criminal. If you're lucky, you might escape the hangman's noose." Jackman reached inside his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a pistol. Then, he grabbed Fritz's arm. "Let's go," he said.
Hans Bormann banged his gavel on top of the table at which he sat at its head. On his right sat Malcolm Decker, on his left Horace Belgium. In what was deemed the prosecutor's chair sat Wilhelm Klauss. Bormann was wearing a black robe. He looked at Hogan with a smirk.
"You don't need a defense attorney, Colonel. You see, with our trial, all we do is specify the charges against you for the record, and then decide the sentence that will be imposed and when it'll be carried out. You have nothing to say at all."
Hogan's eyes narrowed as he stared at Bormann. Then, his eyes shifted from Decker to Belgium who avoided his eyes. Looking at Klauss, he saw the German smirking at him with a look that made Hogan's blood run cold. He knew he had lost the one possible ally he might have had when Ilse died. But he wondered if either Decker or Belgium would stand up against Bormann of whom Hogan felt both men were afraid.
Bormann looked at Klauss. "You will read the charges aginst the accused, one Colonel Robert E. Hogan, USAAF for the record." He switched on the tape recorder.
Klauss stood with a paper in his hands. He slowly read off the charges against Hogan. "Colonel Hogan, you stand accused of treason against the Fatherland with your acts of sabotage, espionage and aiding Allied fliers avoid capture from or aid in the escape from the Third Reich. You are also charged with aiding the underground in these acts previously mentioned.
Hogan struggled against his restraints hoping to break loose even thought he knew it to be hopeless. If anything, he knew Decker and Belgium were watching him fight to the end. He would not go quietly. Hogan continued struggling.
Klauss eyed Hogan for a brief moment before continuing reading the charges. "You are also charged in the death of one Ilse Bormann, a German national. That completes the charges." he sat down.
Bormann looked from Decker to Belgium. "Anything to add, gentlemen?" he asked.
Decker motioned with his hand that he had nothing to say. Belgium appeared he was going to open his mouth and say something, but one look at Bormann and he shut it. Bormann glared at Hogan who returned his glare.
"And the accused has nothing to say," Bormann noted, standing up."You must excuse us now, Colonel Hogan," he said, smiling. "But now the four of us must retire upstairs and discuss the charges and reach a verdict. But don't worry. We will try not to keep you waiting too long." He turned off the tape recorder and banged his gavel on the table.
When Fritz struggled against the grip Jackman had on his arm, he pressed his weapon against Fritz's neck. "Now don't give me any trouble and I won't have to use this." He pratically had to drag the struggling Fritz toward the door.
"Wait!" Fritz yelled. "What do you want from me?!"
"Let me think," the faux Hogan said half to himself. "What is it I want. Well, how about for starters, you tell us who your partners are in the little Death Unit of yours and where it is exactly. I'm afraid I didn't have time to discover the address where I was being held. And I'm sure the proper people will want to know where they can pick up your friends."
"You mean the underground?" asked Fritz.
Jackman looked him in the face with a lopsided grin. "Did I say anything about the underground? No, I was thinking more in line of the Gestapo.I'm sure they'd be fascinated to know about your activities. Especially one Major Hochstetter. You see, he's been after me for years trying to prove I'm a saboteur and a member of the underground without success. He's never had any proof because there is none. I haven't done anything. Now, I know Hochstetter doesn't give a damn what happens to me, but I don't think he'd like it very much knowing someone else deprived him of his prize prisoner and the possible promotion that would result from it." Jackman knew enough about the Gestapo to know they really wouldn't give a damn about enemies of Germany being killed by the Death Unit, but he was betting on Fritz not knowing it.
"All right, I'll tell you. Don't kill me! And no Gestapo. Please!"
Releasing his hold on Fritz's arm, Jackman and Newkirk watched as the man collasped in a nearby chair, his head in his hands. Still holding his weapon, the faux Hogan approached the table and poured some of the liquor into the glass. He handed the glass to Fritz who accepted it with shaky hands, and gulped it down, spilling more than he swallowed. He looked up into the eyes of the man holding the gun.
"What are you going to do with me?" he asked.
"I hear England's nice this time of year. A little foggy perhaps," Newkirk muttered innocently.
Frtiz shook his head. "It was a mistake getting involved with Klauss and this group he belonged to."
"The Death Unit?" Jackman asked. Fritz nodded slowly.
"He said we would be uncovering those who were a danger to the Fatherland and turn them over to the Gestapo for them to be punished. I thought by helping the Gestapo I was really helping Germany by ridding her of as many enemies as possible, and that I was performing a service to my country."
"How did I fit into this?" asked the faux Hogan. "I never did anything except be a prisoner of war. Now since when is being a POW considered a crime?"
Fritz lookd up. "We got our information from a Major Frolichmann of the Abwehr. We had one of his operatives as a prisoner. He had been mistaken for a spy against the Fatherland. Frolichmann approached Klauss one day and told him he had Papa Bear as a prisoner and wanted to work out a trade. His operative for you, Colonel Hogan. Your reputation preceded you, so Klauss knew who you were. After some negotiations, Bormann agreed to the trade. But then, the day of the trade, we heard Frolichmann had been killed and you had been freed. Bormann and Klauss were incensed."
"So you and your friends cooked up this elaborate scheme to get me. Just how did you get the radio frequency anyway?"
"I don't know about that. That was Klauss's doing."
"Who else is in this little group of yours?"
Fritz sighed. "It was me, Wilhelm Klauss, Hans Bormann and his wife Ilse, Horace Belgium and Malcolm Decker. Belgium and Decker were the ones who were waiting for you at the power plant that night. We tapped in on your message from London giving you the surveillance job. So, Decker and Belgium waited in their car for you and your men to show up, and then they created a disturbance causing you to think it was a Kraut patrol hoping you would be the one to investigate the noise. That was when they grabbed you."
"Just out of curiosity, mate," Newkirk inquired. "What about the deaths of Bessler and a Doctor Erlichmann? Were your friends responsible for them as well?"
Fritz nodded slowly. "Klauss took care of both men. He also blames you, Colonel Hogan, for the death of his twin brother two years ago when you and your men blew up a 'munitions train. When he heard from Frolichmann that he could have Papa Bear, he became enraged when he found out you had been rescued and that it was Doctor Erlichmann who stopped the trade by killing Frolichmann. Klauss was determined to have you."
"Just where was I held?" asked Jackman. "I didn't recognize the area or anything. Then again, I didn't have the time to check."
"You were brought to the home of Hans Bormann through a secret entrance they have in their home at 2324 Hammelburg Road. Probably kept in the basement which they had converted into a private room for their use when conducting Death Unit business and holding the trials of the accused." He looked from Jackman to Newkirk and back to Jackman.
"These trials...." Jackman began. "What happens at them?"
Fritz shrugged. "I've never witnessed one. But from what I've been told, Bormann presides as judge, with Decker and Belgium as assistant judges. Klauss is the prosecutor. Bormann's wife Ilse is the recording secretary who takes the minutes of the trial for the record."
"And what do you do in this mock trial?" asked Jackman.
"Me? It is my job to keep watch over the prisoner in case he or she tries anything. It's really silly when you think of it because the prisoners are shackled to a chair and gagged so how could they escape?"
"You mentioned Klauss is the prosecutor. Now I know this is a silly question to ask, but isn't there a sort of defense attorney for the accused?"
Fritz shook his head. "No," he replied. "There is no defense and the prisoner is not permitted to speak during the trial. Afterwards, Bormann and the others go upstairs to weigh the evidence and render a verdict which has always been death."
"Bloody charming," Newkirk was heard mumbling in disgust. "Sounds like a ruddy kangaroo court, if you ask me."
Jackman moved to the telephone on a nearby table, picked up the receiver and dialed. The switchboard in the tunnels buzzed. Carter put on the headset and plugged in. "Guten Abend," he said in his best German. "Oh, hi Noel. I thought I better speak German just in case you were a German calling because you know...."
"Just be quiet, Carter and listen. Contact the underground and tell them to go to 2324 Hammelburg Road. There might be at least five people there holding the Colonel prisoner. And then contact Wilson and have him go with them. And have them hurry!" He hung up the phone and turned towards Fritz who looked at him, puzzled.
"Where the Colonel is being held? But... but....you are Colonel Hogan. Aren't you?"
"What do you think, Fritz?" Jackman asked. "Look closely at me."
Fritz's eyes narrowed as he studied the face of the man standing before him. Suddenly, he gasped. "You're not Colonel Hogan! But...but... you look exactly like him! Who are you?"
"He's from out-of-town," Newkirk cracked.
"What are you going to do with me?"
"Well," said the faux Hogan. "The first thing you're going to do is tell your cousin the truth."
Fritz jumped up, pleading. "Please, whoever you are. I can't do that! It'll destroy Hans."
Jackman shoved Fritz back into the chair. "He's gone out of his way to impress you and you thank him by lying to him and working with this Death Unit? He obviously loves you. No, you either tell him or I will. Which will it be?"
Fritz hung his head. "I think you'd better do it," he replied softly.