FIVE

The next day Piper, Leo, and Cole sat in the living room. Piper had several papers with her that they were looking over.

"According to his biography," she said, "Simms was born in San Diego. He's supposedly 32 years old, unmarried, and has lived in San Francisco for the past seventeen years. No one had even heard of him until the last election for city council. He just kind of appeared on the political scene and won by one of the largest landslides in San Francisco history."

"Well, that's not really suspicious," said Cole. "Things like that have happened before. It could just be that he decided to run for city council and the people liked what he was promising if he got elected."

"Maybe," said Piper. "But according to the latest polls, Simms is ahead of his nearest opponent by at least 12 points. It looks like he's going to have another landslide victory."

"You sound like you find that suspicious," said Leo.

"Well, considering that his record shows he hasn't really done much since he got into office, it does sound kind of suspicious," said Piper. "How could he be so popular if he doesn't do anything?"

"Many elections are more like popularity contests," said Cole. "Maybe the people just like him better than they like his opponent."

"I guess that's possible," said Piper. "But it still seems suspicious to me."

"Where's Phoebe?" Cole asked. "I thought you two were going to check on Simms together."

"We did," said Piper. "When we got the information on him she went to check him out. If he was born in San Diego there should be some record of it. And she also thought she might be able to find out something about him that wasn't in his official biography."

"That's a good idea," said Cole. "The more we know about him the more idea we'll have if he's who he really claims to be."

"What about Prue?" Leo asked. "What's she doing?"

"She's checking old photographs," said Piper. "She had the idea that if Simms is Sperrle there might be other pictures of him somewhere. Sperrle was a political figure in Germany and Simms is a political figure here in San Francisco. She thought that maybe he had been a political figure in other places. If she can find other pictures of him that would help do identify him as something other than a normal human."

"That is a possibility," said Cole. "Being a city councilman can often be the springboard for higher political ambitions. Many Senators and Representatives actually started out in local politics and worked their way up. If this is Simms' goal he may have actually started somewhere else. He'd want to learn how the American political system worked so he could use it to his advantage. And if he's as old as he appears then he might be immortal. Giving him all the time in the world to learn what he needs."

"Hey everyone," said Phoebe, coming in the front door. "I think I found something."

"What?" Piper asked. "Does it have to do with his biography?"

"You might say that," said Phoebe, lying some papers on the coffee table. "According to his biography, he attended UCLA. He supposedly majored in Political Science and graduated with a strong B GPA."

"Okay, that's not so odd," said Leo.

"Except," said Phoebe, "that all I can find is his diploma. There doesn't seem to be any transcripts for his years at UCLA. He also claims to have spent 3 years in the army. Except that the first year he was supposedly in the military he was also attending his last year at UCLA."

"Maybe he was in ROTC," Cole suggested. "The Reserve Officers' Training Corps are for college students. Normally after college the ROTC students are commissioned in the military."

"Except that after his training in the military," continued Phoebe, "he was supposedly assigned to a post in Germany. Which means he couldn't have attended UCLA even in the ROTC program. He spent nearly 3 years in Germany and then was discharged and returned to the United States."

"No one ever checks someone's schooling that close," said Leo. "If he had what appeared to be a legitimate diploma most people would have accepted it on face value. Unless there was some kind of scandal there would never be any reason to check on it."

"And if Simms is Sperrle, he'd be sure to steer clear of any scandal that might result in someone questioning his credentials," said Cole. "And if he had the help of a demon he could possibly do it. Especially if any opponents that questioned him should die suddenly."

"You think he's capable of that?" Phoebe asked.

"Sperrle was capable of anything," said Cole. "He relished setting up the concentration camps. He even took on some of the specific requirements himself instead of leaving them to subordinates like a lot of the Nazis did. I think he even tested the first gas chamber himself to be sure that they worked the way he had planned them."

"I think we've pretty much established that Simms isn't who he claims to be," said Piper. "And with the spirit appearing here at the manor I think it's also pretty clear that Simms is actually Sperrle. The question now is what do we do about it?"

"We have to find out what demon he's working with," said Leo. "Assuming he's not a demon himself."

"Well," said Cole, "unless he's a shape shifter, I don't think he is. Sperrle was definitely human. More cruel and sadistic than most but human nonetheless."

"What about the demons who possessed the Nazis during World War II?" Phoebe asked. "Could it be one of those?"

"I don't think so," said Cole. "Like I said, when it was over the Source vanquished them. The Brotherhood of the Thorn was tasked with capturing them and bringing them in. I wasn't involved in that but it was my understanding that they caught all of them. The Source made a public example of them to show what happened to demons that defied him."

"Okay, so if it wasn't one of them, who was it?" Leo asked.

"That's hard to say," said Cole. "It's hard to imagine any demon doing that after the Source vanquished the others. Still, I guess it's possible there was some adventurous demon willing to take the chance."

"I'm home," said Prue, coming into the manor. "I've some interesting information on our Mr. Simms."

"We've learned a few things ourselves," said Piper. "We've found out that Simms is really Sperrle. What did you find out?"

"Apparently Sperrle was never executed," said Prue. "Oh, he was tried and convicted. And he was ordered to be hanged in November of 1968. But just before he was to be executed there was a fire in the prison where he was being held. From all appearances the authorities determined that he died in that fire, saving them the necessity of an execution."

"From all appearances?" Piper questioned.

"Yeah," said Prue, pulling out a photograph. "This was taken just after the fire. It shows some of the guards sifting through the debris looking for the remains of any inmates that were trapped in the fire."

"Okay," said Phoebe, looking at the picture. "It looks like just what you said it was. Prison guards searching through debris."

"Except," said Prue, pointing at an indistinct figure in the background of the photo, "look at that. I took the photo and enlarged and enhanced that area. And what do you think I found?"

She handed them another photograph. It was obviously the enlargement of the background she had mentioned. Only in this photo the figure was much more clear and distinct.

"It's Sperrle," said Phoebe. "You mean he just dressed in a guards uniform and walked out of the prison?"

"Apparently," said Prue. "Most of the guards also died in the fire. Those guards were brought in from another prison to search through the rubble. My guess is that Sperrle just got a uniform and mingled in with the other guards. Everyone would have thought he was from somewhere else. No one would have suspected him of impersonating a guard. Especially if they thought he had died in the fire."

"Oh, that's ingenious," said Cole. "The authorities would have been combing the countryside looking for any prisoners who had escaped the fire. By staying in the prison he would have been in the one place no one would have thought to look for him."

"And when they went home for the day," said Leo, "he could just simply disappear. Since no one knew who he really was they probably wouldn't even have missed him."

"Okay," said Piper, "now we know that Simms and Sperrle are really the same person. Like Cole said, the next thing we need to figure out is what demon he's working with. The question is the best way to do that."

"We have to get in to see him," said Prue. "But that might be difficult. He's a councilman and I doubt we can just walk in and see him. But there has to be a way to get close to him."

"I have an idea," said Phoebe. "We could go down to city hall and wait for him to come out. Then I could approach him and claim I work for the school paper. I'll say I'd like to do an interview with him."

"How does that help?" Cole asked. "He obviously won't have the time or inclination to do an interview there on the street."

"No," said Phoebe, "but I should be able to get him to shake hands. If we do I might get a premonition."

"That's a long shot," said Leo. "You're premonitions don't usually work on command like that."

"It's the best thing we have," said Phoebe. "Unless someone has a better idea."

No one spoke. Obviously no one had any ideas how to get close to Sperrle besides Phoebe. Finally they all decided it was probably their best option so they prepared to go meet the former Nazi.