Klinger, posing as a wounded soldier with a head wound, was wheeled from the empty room in a stretcher with Hawkeye behind him as his doctor. Two orderlies and a nurse followed them as a cover, helping them to navigate the maze to get them into a room where they could talk quietly. However, when they reached the empty patient room and gently loaded Klinger onto the bed and hooked up a simple IV, their company dispersed and the two were left alone, closing the door behind them.
"According to all of the information we've received, somebody seems to be hiring Winifred Curtis for something dangerous," Klinger started from his bed (hating the IV in his arm), aware of the silence between him and Hawkeye for the first few minutes they were alone.
"Huh? No, you're right, Klinger." Hawkeye rubbed his tired, red eyes as he sat in the chair opposite of Klinger, helping him sit up. "I think sunset might be a little late for our bedtime. I might head back to the hotel with you after we're cleared to leave here."
"But Sherlock, I thought that we had to find something more about Nurse Curtis?" Klinger inquired, aware that Hawkeye the detective was slowly getting tired.
"We are, but that plane ride and being chased by MP's is killing me. I need a dry martini."
"I don't think we'll get one anywhere near here, Captain. The bars are down the street the other way, where the geishas are dancing. And we don't have time to be heading there."
"And how would a man dressing as a woman know that?" A light German accent filled their now opened doorway, frightening both Hawkeye and Klinger as they turned and saw a man with flowers in his hands, coming in and closing the door behind him. A click of the doorknob and they knew that it was locked as well.
"Who are you?" Hawkeye asked in a demanding tone.
"I should ask you the same thing," the German man replied. "I was told to come to you by Gale. She told me the truth finally after telling me for so many days now to leave the hospital. Then, she told me to go to you and to bring these flowers. I have information you seek apparently."
"Say, weren't you Nurse Curtis' friend there?" Klinger asked him, putting the puzzle pieces together.
The man beamed. "I was Winnie's husband, Claus Schultz."
Klinger and Hawkeye exchanged glances. "Husband?" They both mouthed to each other in shock.
"What? Does the Army not know that we're married yet?" Claus laughed, but there was a weary sadness in his eyes that the two noticed. "We married just after the last war, when we were both here in Tokyo. At the time, I was traveling after finding out that I had lost my family and she was assigned by our superior to be aide for General MacArthur."
"What superior?" Hawkeye's eyes narrowed in suspicion as Claus came over and dropped the flowers in a vase and came over to sit in the chair on Klinger's other side. "Who's in charge of you?"
"Well, it was General Hannibal," Claus replied. "He's in charge of intelligence in this sector. Now, he's just as German as I am, but has hidden it better. Ever since immigrating to the United States about fifty years ago, he has changed his name and hidden his roots. He's also a secret Nazi, just as I pretended to be for Winifred."
"Winifred Curtis was a Nazi," Hawkeye stated plainly, as if to verify what her sister suspected all along.
"Yes, she was." Claus wiped a stray tear from his face. "I met her when she first came to Nazi Germany, as it was then. She went and joined the Nazi Party secretly, but also had assignments there, as General Hannibal wanted her to infiltrate the highest forms of government in Germany and serve them as an agent. Sadly though, her two years there weren't enough to achieve that. So, General Hannibal gave her yet another assignment, one that would help weakened the US war effort."
The suspense was almost killing Klinger (the soreness in his arm showing on his face), who asked, "What was it? Being with General MacArthur?"
"Yes and no," Claus revealed. "Winifred was supposed to assassinate General MacArthur, who was the key in the Pacific victories."
Klinger whistled, but Hawkeye was still distrustful of this Claus Schultz. "How do we know that this is all true?" he asked Claus, not knowing whether or not he should trust Margaret's fate into this man's hands. "Why are you telling us all of this freely, like we owe you something?"
"You know that she was a spy, right?" Claus asked him.
Hawkeye had no choice but to nod.
"And you know that she was a horrid person, capable of doing anything?"
"We knew that," Klinger inputted sarcastically.
"However, what proof do you have that this is all true?" Hawkeye inquired. "How do we know that you're another agent, like Winifred Curtis, and that you're here to help us?"
"Because I know Major Margaret Houlihan was purposely set up and I don't like seeing an innocent woman put into a prison," Claus revealed gravely. "It was all part of a plan, set up by the Ploud son, who is also working with General Hannibal. It was set up to bring about her downfall. I have all the paperwork to prove it. It can be sent to you later."
Hawkeye relaxed his tense muscles, seeing some sort of proof and more evidence coming this way. However, it did not spare his mind any curiosity. "And what's your part in Winifred's death?" he asked Claus, unaware that he had no part in it at all. "Or what did you and her do together, before she left for Korea?"
Claus looked at Hawkeye with more tears in his blue eyes. "I loved that woman, Sir. She was a part of me for over ten years and for her to be dead is unbelievable."
Hawkeye finally extended his hand to introduce himself, finally feeling some pity for the man who had lost the woman that he had loved. "I'm Hawkeye Pierce, and this is my trusty stead, Corporal Klinger."
Claus shook Hawkeye's hand, but was not allowing him to believe that he had a part in his wife's death. "I don't understand why she's dead and the blame put on Margaret Houlihan so quickly like that, Hawkeye Pierce. But I do know that the Ploid son wanted to discredit her for the longest time. Since her father and my wife's father tried putting the elder Ploid on trial for treason years ago, he's been bent on destroying the family."
"Could it be that General Hannibal had Winifred Curtis killed himself and put the blame on Major Houlihan?" Klinger suggested.
"It is possible, but not likely," Claus reasoned rationally. "Winifred was one of his brightest students, a rising agent for those who wanted Nazi Germany to rise again. Although General Hannibal was with the Ploid son, I'm sure that his hands were dipped in minimal blood."
"Where do you fit into this?" Hawkeye then asked him, aware that the man was crying over a woman everyone hated. "How did you two end up being miserable?"
"I was working for the United States CIA to find out who was an agent and who wasn't," Claus revealed to him. "I found out about Winifred in 1939, after my family had been captured by the Nazis, and knew right then and there that she was one of them. She was a Nazi who wanted to bring Germany's greatness to the world and spread it. However, I loved her. It was my only fault. I knew that she was crude and unusual. I knew that she would bring me ruin. But I could not help it. I thought that I could change her."
"And you married her?" Klinger still could not believe the concept.
"She accepted my proposal after the war ended seven years ago," Claus replied. "She and I were separated for most of our marriage because we both traveled, but her being here made my life easier. I was assigned here by the CIA to watch her, but having dates with her was much more interesting." He paused and then snickered before continuing. "Anyhow, Winifred persuaded me to join her group years before we married and I accepted. This was how I watched her most of the time, being the double agent for the CIA and for those Nazis. I learned the secrets of the organization and how they would proceed to rule the world with the Nazi philosophy behind them."
"Kinda puts the Communist Reds to shame," Hawkeye said, laughing. "Now, we need to know General Hannibal's business with Margaret's family."
Claus was about to answer, but there was a knock on the door and somebody trying to kick it in. "Open up!"
Claus motioned that Hawkeye go to the window and hide outside of it against the brick hospital walls while Klinger lay back down and hide his hairy body (getting his face wrapped in bandages to help hide it) and pretend to be a wounded soldier. There seemed to be no time to argue. Lives were at stakes already and both Klinger and Hawkeye knew it.
When the two obeyed within seconds and all was as it should be, Claus called out, "Who is there?"
"I'm acting on orders of Major Floyd, head of the investigation on the murder of Nurse Winifred Curtis," said the intruder, who was obviously an MP.
And he might be the one who's been following us, Klinger thought. Are we going to be arrested too?
"And what might that be?" Claus played stupid, in order to buy more time. "I am just visiting my brother here, who has been wounded in Korea."
"We need to investigate, Sir," was the reply. "We have reports of fugitives here and we need to find them. They've been traced to this very room."
Hawkeye, hearing this exchanged outside of the window (and holding onto the ledge for dear life), knew two irrefutable facts. The MP's were closing in on them and that they were already cornered.