Chapter 4: Suspicions
This problem was driving Hogan crazy. He paced in his room until he thought he would fall through the floor. He walked around camp until he thought he was going to walk a trench. All four suspects had done something to cause him to believe they might be a traitor. So far, the majority of the evidence seemed to be pointing to Christopher, but Hogan's gut disagreed with the evidence. He walked back into the barracks to see what other information he could gather before he made his final decision.
When Hogan entered the barracks, he saw Carter sitting at the table playing solitaire. "Have you seen Christopher?"
"As soon as he came back, he went back down into the tunnels and hasn't been up since," Carter answered with out looking up.
Hogan looked over his shoulder. "Black eight on your red nine," he pointed out.
Carter smiled and put the eight on the nine and uncovered an ace. "Thanks Colonel."
"Any time." Hogan went over to the stove to pour himself a cup of coffee and found the pot empty. He glanced at the bunk concealing the tunnel entrance and debated if he should go down there and talk to Christopher. It seemed like the weight of the world was on his shoulders trying to figure this out. He hadn't slept or ate well since this started and it was taking its toll on him. He could feel a headache coming on in protest to the stress he was under.
In spite of the headache, he forced his mind to think. Christopher has been spending a lot of time in the tunnels "meditating". Come on Rob, stop doubting yourself and figure this out. You have all the puzzle pieces, now put them together. You know who it is.
Hogan was tired from all the thinking and decided not to talk to Christopher right now. He went into his room and lay down on his bed. He clasped his hands behind his head as he analyzed everything more carefully. Before he accused someone of being a traitor, he wanted to be sure he had the right person. Even though the strongest evidence pointed to Christopher, Hogan still felt he wasn't the traitor.
Hogan thought back to when Christopher first came to camp and how scared he was. He assumed Klink was going to start torturing or harassing him like the commandant did at the last camp he was in. Hogan smiled as he remembered the look Christopher gave him when he started manipulating Klink.
Since Hogan remembered Christopher from his days at Dulag Luft, he felt compelled to take him under his wing and had him assigned to Barracks 2. After the typical checking out, Hogan showed him the operation. Newkirk and LeBeau were relieved to have another tailor to help with the uniforms.
Christopher looked around at the walls and equipment like a kid in a toy store. It seemed to be the best therapy for helping him adjust and not be afraid any more.
That's it! The idea hit Hogan like a train. Christopher was playing on my sympathy the entire time trying to gain my trust. It is the only thing that makes sense. No one else has been in the tunnels a lot except Kinch. Both men have the perfect opportunity to use the radio undetected to pass along their information, unless… it was passed to a guard. Now when you look at that angle, both Christopher and Wright have had that opportunity. Knox is the only suspect who hasn't been in the tunnels or seen with a guard.
Hogan walked over to the window and tried to think if he had seen Knox do anything else suspicious or abnormal besides hide whatever it is he was writing. Nothing came to Hogan's mind so he decided to move him to the bottom of the list. Now he had just three to worry about and he didn't believe any of the stories they were telling him.
Hogan decided his next move would be to find out why Christopher was spending so much time in the tunnel and what the information was that had been exchanged between Muller and Christopher. He knew there had to be a logical explanation, but he couldn't figure out what it was. Before Hogan could move away from the window he heard a knock at his door. "Come in."
Kinch walked in and stood beside Hogan. "Sir, can I speak with you a moment?"
Hogan motioned for Kinch to have a seat and sat down also. I guess Christopher will just have to wait. "What's up?"
"Sir, I got a letter from home about my uncle. He passed away recently and his wife died last year leaving three boys with no one to care for them. My parents have put in to be their legal guardians so they wouldn't get put in an orphanage. I heard the process is going slow and I was seeing if there was something I could do to help. It bothered me sneaking around and not telling you but I figured you were busy enough with your secret mission so that's why I didn't bother you with it. I decided to try and handle it on my own."
"You can always come to me. If there is anything I can do to help let me know." Hogan reassured.
After a moment of debating, Kinch asked, "Now that you mention it, Sir, I was wondering if you could put in a good word for my parents. They are good kids and…"
Hogan stood up and put his hand on Kinch's shoulder. "No problem, I will be glad to."
Hogan felt he had to tell Kinch what was going on, but London's orders were not to trust anyone. One thing he had learned, though, is a good leader knows who to trust and when to ask for help. He knew the way things were going; he was going to need someone to help him.
Hogan now had a hard choice to make. Did he believe in Kinch's innocence enough to tell him what was going on and risk a court martial, or to still try to solve this on his own? Hogan decided the man who had been there longer than him, one of the founding members of the escape committee, and the man he trusted with his life could not be the traitor. If asking Kinch for help to catch the traitor and save lives means a court martial, so be it.
"You know Kinch, when I came to you earlier to talk… I know in desperate situations people make compromises, especially during war. I know many times when we are in the enemy hands we choose to go along with what the enemy wants for the sake of our own survival. This stays between us. No one, and I mean no one, not even London, can know I told you about this. My mission is to find a traitor who is among us, and I was ordered to trust no one until I discovered who it was. I am only telling you this now because I have eliminated you as a suspect."
Kinch appeared shocked at the implication. "You thought I might be the traitor?"
"All I am saying is you fit the description London gave me. Heck for that matter I fit the description London gave me. For a while I had my doubts about myself." Hogan paused a moment to let the true meaning of what he said sink in.
Hogan didn't want to bring up the past any more than he had to. Some of the events from when he was in Koch's custody were still a little fuzzy and he wasn't sure what, if anything, was done to him or what he might have said.
The expression on Kinch's face told Hogan that he understood and Hogan continued explaining himself. "Then when you were trying to cover up talking on another frequency…"
Kinch gave a weak smile. "I guess I was acting suspicious. I am glad you decided to trust me with this information. You are taking a big risk with London, Sir.
Hogan waved his hand dismissively. "Let me worry about London. Besides, if I save one life by trusting you, whatever they do to me will be worth it."
"Just let me know what I can do to help, Sir," Kinch stated.
"Keep your eyes and ears open for anything suspicious," Hogan said, laying back down.
"Yes, Sir," Kinch answered and left.
Yes, it is a big risk. A risk I am tired of taking, but better me than them, right? With those thoughts, Hogan drifted off to sleep.
HH HH HH
What Hogan had said kept playing over in Kinch's mind. Since Hogan didn't share the complete list of suspects with him, he viewed everyone as a suspect. As Kinch lay on his bed watching the men in the room keep busy, he went over each person in his mind. He remembered a conversation he had with Christopher some time ago and figured it is something Hogan should know about.
Kinch went over to Hogan's door and knocked.
"Come in," came Hogan's voice from the other side of the door.
Kinch entered. "I remember some time ago overhearing a conversation between Christopher and Hochstetter when you were on the mission with Klink to steal the plane."
"Why wasn't I told about this when I got back?" Hogan yelled sitting up.
"Things got so busy when you got back I didn't have a chance to tell you. Sorry, Sir." Kinch defended himself.
"Why was Hochstetter talking to Christopher?" Hogan asked.
Hogan's displeasure with Kinch was evident in the way Hogan asked his question. Kinch decided the best thing to do was tell him the whole story now. "Christopher wasn't in formation on time and Schultz sent him to the cooler for a day. Hochstetter came looking for you in the cooler. I never did figure out why he went there first. I went in the tunnel and listened in through the drain. Hochstetter did a lot of yelling and screaming and he said something about Christopher cooperating like he did at Dulag Luft."
"Kinch, what all was the conversation about and what did Christopher say to you?" Hogan asked pacing the room.
Hogan's pacing told Kinch this information was an important puzzle piece. Kinch took a deep breath before he told Hogan the rest of the story. "Hochstetter talked about how Christopher had given them the location of an airfield and if he would cooperate again and give him evidence against you proving you are involved with the Underground, he would see about getting him out of here. After Hochstetter left with no evidence, I went into the cell to ask him about the airfield. He explained the airfield he gave them was used for crop dusters and not military planes. He said he had to tell them something, but didn't want to give any useful information." Hogan paced again with his hands on his head. "Sir, you can't assume it's him just because of that incident. Like you said, we all make compromises for the sake of survival."
Hogan stopped pacing and stared at Kinch. "Did you check out the airstrip to verify his story?"
Kinch shook his head. "No. I didn't think it was necessary. I didn't have any reason to doubt him. How many times have we given old or fake information to get them off our backs?"
"When you add it to the other information I have discovered it doesn't look good." Hogan put his hands on the top bunk and lowered his head.
For reasons like this, Kinch was glad he wasn't in command. He could see the dilemma on Hogan's face and felt sorry for him "What are you going to do?"
"What London wants me to do," Hogan answered in a quiet voice and left.
HH HH HH
Hogan entered the barracks later and noticed Knox was still writing. This puzzled Hogan and he walked over to him. When Knox saw Hogan walking his way he hurriedly hid the papers. "I see you are still busy writing."
Knox nodded his head. "Yes, Sir."
Hogan folded his arms and stood in a thoughtful manner "I was wondering what has been going on around here for you to be constantly writing?"
"Promise you won't laugh?" Knox asked.
Hogan nodded. "I promise."
He slowly took out the papers and showed them to Hogan. "If you must know, Sir, I am not writing a letter home. I am taking notes on everything around here. I hope to write a story based on the different happenings in this camp. I promise, Sir, to wait and publish it after everything has been declassified. I was going to call it 'Hogan's Heroes', if you don't mind, Sir," Knox said looking slightly embarrassed.
Hogan was angry Knox was writing such a story in the barracks. "Do you realize what would happen to us if one of the guards here or, heaven forbid, the Gestapo found it?"
"Sorry, Sir. I didn't think about that." Knox hung his head.
Hogan glanced through the different pages and realized Knox had real talent in writing, and knew everyone needed an outlet to maintain their sanity. "Your stuff here is pretty good though. I want these papers kept in the tunnels and all future writing on this subject will be done in the tunnels only. Understood?"
Knox nodded. "Yes, Sir."
Hogan handed the papers back to Knox. "Now get these below before someone sees them."
Knox quickly got up and headed for the tunnel entrance. "Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir."
Hogan stopped him before he went into the tunnels. "Knox, I want a copy of it when you get it finished."
Knox was so excited. Hogan noticed he started to act like Carter when he was talking about explosives. "Yes, Sir. No problem, Sir. You will get the first copy. Thank you, Sir."
Hogan went to his room and lay on his bed thinking about all the evidence he had one way or the other.
Kinch said he was on the radio trying to help his parents get custody of his nephews. Wright said they were fighting over a gambling debt. Knox is taking notes to write a story on this camp. Christopher says he is meditating. When you combine what LeBeau and Carter saw, plus what I saw and heard, plus what Kinch heard… it doesn't spell good news for Christopher. None of the other suspects have this kind of evidence against them. I guess I should go down in the tunnels and find out for myself what Christopher is doing.
Just as Hogan stepped into the common room, Schultz walked into the barracks. "Roll call! Everyone out. Raus!"
HH HH HH
All the men went out and stood in formation. Christopher cracked the door open and saw that Schultz was at the other end of the line counting. When he snuck out the door and into his place in line, Hogan gave him stern look letting him know he wasn't happy and he would talk to him later.
"Report!" Klink yelled, taking his place in front of the prisoners.
"All present and accounted for," Schultz announced proudly.
"Good. I have received a report that someone here may be planning an escape. I want to remind you I run the toughest POW camp in all of Germany. There never has been a successful escape from Stalag 13 and there will never be one. Anyone caught trying to escape will be severely punished by spending thirty days in solitary and the rest of the men in the barracks will be confined and all privileges suspended for thirty days. I am also doubling the guards outside of camp. Rest assured, anyone trying to escape will be caught and severely punished. Have I made myself clear? Dismissed."
Hogan just stared at Klink as the men went back to what they were doing. Back off, Klink. How do you expect me to follow orders from London and get a prisoner out of here without getting the entire barracks punished? I hope the guys forgive me, but London's orders trump your orders.
Before Christopher got too far away, Hogan stopped him. "Christopher, I need to talk to you in private."
"Yes, Sir," Christopher answered.
The two men walked into Hogan's office. Hogan shut the door. "You mind explaining why you were late for roll call? You are lucky Schultz was counting slow."
"I was meditating and lost track of the time, Sir," Christopher answered.
Hogan paced a little in thought. "It appears you have been doing a lot of meditating lately. I am all for people finding a way to cope with this place, but…"
"Colonel, you know that I am the acting camp Chaplin and people who come to me need to kept confidential. No, I am not doing all meditating, but that is all I can tell you. Please respect my position here and don't ask me to betray a trust."
Hogan knew Christopher was right by the defense he was using, so he had no way of getting any more information from him without it looking obvious. If Christopher was the traitor, Hogan didn't want to let on he suspected him of such. "I will talk to Klink about having a private area set up for you to consult with people. In the mean time, I want you to start using my office."
"Can't do that, Sir. These people come to me in secret because they are afraid of what the others might think. Some are even guards. Before you say anything, I am not meeting them in the tunnel. We are actually using the cooler when it is empty," Christopher answered with a shake of his head.
He has an answer for everything. Either he is really smart and has this all well rehearsed or it is the truth. "Very well. Next time, don't be late for roll call. If you are late again, I am going to put a stop to your counseling sessions. Have a made myself clear?"
Christopher nodded. "Yes, Sir."
Hogan saw the discouraged look on Christopher's face. "Look, I don't want to be this hard on you, but for some reason Klink is on a warpath and I don't need him interfering with my mission. The less attention he pays to me and the barracks the better."
"I understand, Sir. I won't let it happen again. Am I dismissed?" Christopher asked.
Hogan nodded his head. "Yea, just be more careful."
After Christopher left, Hogan sat on his bed to review Christopher's answers and body language. Even if what Christopher had said was the truth, the swap Hogan witnessed between Christopher and Muller still hadn't been explained. Hogan raised his eyes Lord, I can use some help here.