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Dulles shook his head. “Not much farther than that door”—he pointed— “and that’s pretty exhausting for him.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Not many people do,” Dulles said. “Anyway, it was a small dinner. Just the President, Graham, Donovan, Putzi Hanfstaengl, and me.”
“Am I supposed to know who Putzi Haf . . . whatever you said . . . is?”
“I’d be surprised if you did. Putzi Hanfstaengl—Ernst is his name; we just call him ‘Putzi’—is a German. He was at Columbia with Roosevelt and Donovan. Got pretty close to Hitler. He was smart enough to get out just in time— before they were going to see he had a fatal accident. As an enemy alien in the U.S., he’s under arrest, of course. The Army has posted guards on him in his quote cell end quote at the Washington, which just happens to be down the corridor from the President’s apartment. Staff Sergeant Ernst Hanfstaengl—same name as his father, you might note—is in charge of that guard detail. So far Putzi hasn’t tried to escape.”
“This all sounds . . . fantastic!”
“And I have barely begun, Major Frade. You sure you wouldn’t like me to refresh your drink?”
“I think that would be a
very bad idea, Mr. Dulles.”
“Please call me ‘Allen.’ And if I may, I’d like to call you ‘Cletus.’ ”
“I could no more call you Allen, sir, than I could call Colonel Graham by his first name.”
“Give it a shot. It may not be as difficult as you might think. But may I call you ‘Cletus’?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Thank you. Well, the reason Putzi was there was because we were talking about the war against Germany—”
“Who the hell are you?” Frade blurted.
“I do, in Bern, Switzerland, what you are doing in Buenos Aires. I keep an eye on the Germans and try to make trouble for them. I’m the OSS station chief in Switzerland.”
That’s it! Graham told me about a Dulles!
So this could all be true, of course.
But it could also be some sort of trap.
Have I admitted Galahad is von Wachtstein?
Cletus, ol’ pal, you’re way in over your depth here.
“The regional commander?”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re the OSS regional commander?”
“I suppose you could phrase it that way. But I concentrate on the German and Italian high commands. The sabotage and espionage, that sort of thing, is run by David Bruce out of London.”
I’ve got a badge. All my people have badges.
How come you don’t?
What have I got to lose by asking?
“I don’t suppose you have your credentials handy, do you, Mr. Dulles?”
“Excuse me?”
