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"And you're offering to look the other way while I steal one."
"There are so many, one won't be missed."
"I'm grateful," Pitt said sincerely.
Haider looked at him. "I asked a friend in our intelligence service to run a file on you while you were busy in the tunnel. I think a Messerschmitt two-six-two will make a nice addition to your collection and complement your Ford trimotor."
"Your friend was very thorough."
"As a collector of fine mechanical relics, I think you will give it the proper respect."
"It will be restored to original condition," Pitt promised.
Haider lit a cigarette and leaned casually against a jet pod as he exhaled blue smoke. "I suggest you see about renting a flatbed truck. By tonight the bunker entrance will have been widened enough to tow a plane to the surface. I'm certain Lieutenant Reinhardt and his surviving team will be happy to assist you in removing your latest acquisition."
Before a stunned and thankful Pitt could say another word, Haider had turned and walked away.
Another eight hours passed before the massive pump suctioned off most of the water and the air in the gallery of wartime loot was safe to breathe. Haider stood on a chair with a bullhorn, briefing his staff of art experts and historians and a gathering of German government officials and politicians who wanted to be in on the discovery. An army of TV and newspaper correspondents was building in Clausen's now ravaged lettuce field, demanding to enter the bunker. But Haider was under orders from his superior in Bonn. No entry by the news media until the hoard was surveyed.
Beginning at the steel door, the gallery stretched a good half a kilometer. The racks and bins were filled to the far wall and rose four meters high. Despite the water in the tunnel, the entry door had been sealed tightly and the concrete construction was of top quality, so no moisture had penetrated inside.
Even the more delicate objects had survived in excellent condition.
The Germans immediately began setting up a photo and conservation laboratory, a workshop, and a records area. After the briefing, Haider moved into the art chamber and directed the activities from a prefabricated office hurriedly assembled and furnished complete with telephones and fax machine.
Unconsciously almost, Pitt shook his head and walked through the now dry tunnel with Mancuso, marveling that so much had been accomplished in less than twenty-four hours.
"Where's Al?" asked Mancuso.
"Off scrounging a truck."
Mancuso stared at him with an arched eyebrow. "Not thinking of absconding with a load of masterpieces, are we? If so, I don't recommend it. The Krauts will shoot you down before you've cleared the farm."
"Not when you have friends in high places." Pitt smiled.
"I don't even want to know about it. Whatever your evil scheme, do it after I leave."
They passed through the entry door into the gallery and stepped into Haider's closet office that was set off to one side. Haider waved them in and motioned to a pair of camp stools as he conversed in German over one of four telephones. He hung up as they sat down.
"I fully realize you have permission from Chancellor Lange to search for whatever it is you're after, but before you begin digging through the bins and crates, I'd like to know what it is."
"We're only interested in art objects removed from the Japanese embassy in Berlin," Pitt answered.
"You think they're here?"
"There was no time to transport them to Japan," Mancuso explained. "The Russians were encircling the city. The ambassador locked up the building and barely escaped with his staff into Switzerland.
Historical records show the antique art that decorated the interior of the embassy was entrusted to the Nazis for safekeeping, and they hid it under an airfield."
"And you think it may be included with the cache discovered here."
"We do, yes."
"Can I ask why the American government is so interested in lost works of Japanese art?"
"I'm sorry," Pitt said honestly. "We can't give out that information. But I can assure you our search poses no problems for the German government."
"I'm thinking of the Japanese. They'll demand their property be returned."
