Chapter Five – Carter Goes In
Carter had been waiting about five minutes when Otto drove up to the agreed upon meeting place down the street from the Frankfurt Gestapo Headquarters. When the automobile stopped, Carter opened the passenger side door and got in.
"Everything is set," said Otto when the door had closed. "When Greta leaves Gestapo Headquarters, I will take her away to a safe house until she can be moved to London."
"The Gestapo will be pretty mad that she's gone," Carter commented. "Are you sure all your men will be safe?"
Otto smiled as he nodded. "Of course," he said. "This is a big city – there are a lot of places to hide. What about your friend in there? Do you think he'll pick up on what he's supposed to do?"
Carter nodded. "Sure he will," he replied. "We haven't had a chance to go over it, but he'll pick it up."
"Do you think he can pull off his part?" Otto asked.
"Newkirk? It'll be like taking candy from a baby for him," Carter said. "The only unknown is Marlene and her friends. I hope I wasn't wrong about her."
Otto laughed. "Judging from the way she was fawning over you all night, I think she'd swim the English Channel for you," he said.
"I just hope she can get enough of her friends to come along," Carter commented. "We need to have a small crowd for this to have a good chance of working."
Otto nodded up the street. "Is that a large enough crowd?" he asked.
Carter looked up the street and was amazed to see a group of at least a dozen young fräuleins heading towards them. "Wow," he said. "I'd say that's enough!" As the ladies drew near, he opened the door and stepped out of the car.
Marlene saw Carter emerge from the car and almost skipped the rest of the way until she was standing in front of him. "I got all the girls from my boarding house to come along, Colonel," she said brightly. "They were excited at the prospect of helping out. Is this what you wanted?"
Carter smiled at her. "This is exactly what I was hoping for, Marlene," he said. "You did a very good job. I may have to bring you along on more of my missions!"
Marlene smiled as her friends giggled. "We're ready any time you are, sir," she said, trying to act as serious and official as she could.
Carter almost laughed – and he noticed that Otto broke into a fit of coughs. "Very good," Carter said to her. "Have you filled them in on what they are supposed to do?"
Marlene nodded eagerly. "We wait out here with your friend for ten minutes after you go in," she said. "And then, we all go in and demand to see the officer in charge to complain about a strange man sneaking around our boarding house. You will be inside with that officer, and we are supposed to keep asking until they bring us into the room."
Carter nodded. "That's right," he said.
"What if they won't let us in?" she asked. "Should we force our way towards the office?"
Carter shook his head. "No. I don't you getting hurt," he said, then added quickly, "any of you ladies."
Marlene beamed at him. "Don't worry about us, sir," she said. "We know what will make those Gestapo do whatever we want!"
Carter looked at the group assembled in front of him. A dozen young fräuleins, looking as if they were barely out of their teens – he had no doubt that they could get past the guards at the front desk. "Now remember," he said to the girls. "The two we are trying to get out are my agents, working under cover. The Gestapo believes they are Underground agents, and they need to keep believing it. Understand?"
The girls excitedly voiced their understanding.
"Before I go in, I must confer with your leader," Carter said, motioning Marlene towards the automobile. This caused a few whistles and comments from the girls. "Come on, ladies," Carter protested. "Would you act like that if the Führer wanted to confer with Himmler?"
"We would if we knew that Himmler had a crush on him!" a voice from the crowd exclaimed.
Marlene whirled around towards the crowd. "Shush!" she exclaimed.
Carter could tell that her reaction was one of embarrassment rather than annoyance. He looked over at Otto, who made a show of whistling and staring at the sky as if he were ignoring the whole scene. Oh boy, he thought. I feel as though I am supervising a slumber party! He opened the car door and motioned for Marlene to get inside.
After they were both in, Carter closed the door and looked over at Marlene. The car was dark, but there was a dim light from a nearby streetlight that shone in through the windshield. Carter could tell that Marlene was flush with excitement. She's very pretty, he thought for the first time. I hope nothing happens to her during this rescue. He shook the thoughts from his mind and focused on the issue at hand.
"Now, let's make sure you have everything …" he started.
She interrupted him. "Everything is set," she said quickly. "I have picked the two girls who will be in the special position. I will be one, and my best friend Gretchen will be the other."
"You're going to do it?" he asked.
"Oh yes," she answered. "You said it might be more dangerous for the two girls, and I couldn't ask my friends to take a risk that I wasn't willing to take myself."
Carter was impressed with the girl. "Marlene, I wanted to thank you for helping me with this," he said. "I don't think we would have a chance of pulling this off without you."
"I told you before, anything for you, Colonel!" she said breathlessly, resting her hand on his knee.
Carter noticed she had a faraway look in her eyes. Oh brother, he thought. What have I got myself into? He cleared his throat before continuing. "I have to leave town right after this. I don't often make it to Frankfurt …" He left the sentence trailing.
She smiled and leaned closer to him. "When you do, you'd better come see me," she said. Their eyes met in the dim light and she surprised him by leaning forward and kissing him.
Carter was too surprised to react. He heard the jeers and whistles from her friends outside the car and realized that they had been looking in through the window.
When Marlene pulled away, she whispered, "And don't forget your handcuffs!" She gave his knee a squeeze, causing him to jump and hit his head on the car roof.
She laughed. "Shouldn't you be going in?" she asked.
"What?" he said rubbing the top of his head. "Oh yes, I should be going in now."
Carter got out of the car and adjusted his uniform. He looked around at the giggling girls and wondered again if this was really such a good idea. Oh well, he thought. It was the only one I could come up with. He noticed that Otto had come up next to him. "Give me ten minutes and then send the girls in," Carter said to him.
"Don't I get a kiss too?" Otto asked with a chuckle. "Colonel Casanova!"
Carter could feel himself starting to flush as he walked towards Gestapo Headquarters.
----- ----- -----
The sergeant at the desk looked startled when Carter appeared before him. "Sergeant," he yelled. "I am Colonel Carterhof from Berlin." Carter pulled out his identification and waved it in front of the man. "I am here to interrogate the traitor you are holding. Take me to your commander!"
The sergeant had stood and snapped to attention upon Carter's first word. "B-b-but sir," he stammered. "Colonel Wexler is not here right now. Major Dietz is on duty tonight."
"Then take me to him," Carter ordered.
The sergeant reached for the phone. Carter slapped the man's hand with his gloves. "Nein!" he shouted. "I said take me to him. Now!"
The sergeant gave a meek salute. "Jawohl, Colonel," he said. "Come this way."
Carter followed the man down the hall until they stopped in front of the Major's door. The sergeant reached out to knock, but Carter brushed by him. "Never mind that," he said arrogantly and opened the office door.
Major Dietz was startled when his office door opened. He rose from his desk in protest. "How dare you …" He stopped when he saw the markings on Carter's uniform and snapped to attention. "Colonel!" he said, saluting.
Carter waved away the salute, slapping his gloves against his hand. "Major, I am Colonel Carterhof from Berlin," he said. "I have been sent here to interrogate the traitor you are holding, a Frau Baumgarten. You will bring her here to your office at once!"
"B-b-but. Colonel," Dietz said.
"What is this?" Carter yelled. "First your sergeant and now you. Do you all have a stuttering problem? I said bring her here at ONCE!"
"Major, I was not informed …" Dietz started. "I mean, it is very unusual for Berlin to …"
"Of course you were not informed!" Carter yelled. "You are not important! But Berlin considers this matter very important, and I am sure they will not take kindly to any uncooperative Captain who impede my investigation!" Carter paused to let the intended demotion take effect. It was not lost on the Major.
"Of course, sir!" he said forcefully. "I will do everything I can to help your investigation."
Carter slammed his fist down on the Major's desk. "Then bring the prisoner here AT ONCE!" he screamed.
Major Dietz had been startled by the outburst and had fallen backwards into his chair. He scrambled to his feet, causing Carter to smirk.
"Oh, one more thing," Carter said calmly. "When I was here earlier in the day, there was a commotion in the building. I was told at the time that you were holding someone else you suspected of being in the Underground. You will bring him here as well."
Major Dietz nodded vigorously and reached for his phone. "Sergeant, bring Frau Baumgarten and Hans Rumpelmeyer to my office immediately!" he said into the receiver.
Carter almost laughed when he heard the name Newkirk had given them. It didn't surprise him though – it was Newkirk's favorite name to use. "Did you say Hans Rumpelmeyer?" he asked.
"Jawohl, Colonel," Dietz replied. "Do you know him?"
"I am familiar with him," Carter replied. "A very dangerous man who has been eluding me for a while. I would advise you to guard him very closely."
Major Dietz nodded. "He is being kept in solitary," he replied.
"Good," Carter said absently. "My superiors will be very glad to hear that. Maybe you aren't so incompetent after all."
Carter heard the door open and turned to see a defiant looking Newkirk stumble into the room, handcuffed to a large guard. Greta Baumgarten was handcuffed to the guard's other arm with a scared look on her face.
"So, Hans Rumpelmeyer," Carter said, slapping his gloves in his hand. "We meet again."