"It belonged to Dr. Ott. I found it in her apartment early yesterday afternoon."
The older man frowned. "In her apartment? Are you some kind of thief?"
"No, sir. I'm more of a specialist for hostage situations. Let's just say the United States government pays me to solve problems like this one." Sean's demeanor never changed. He wanted his host to understand that he was strong and would not bend until he had finished what he was sent to do.
"Ah. Like a detective," Steiner simplified it.
"Sort of. But with a much broader set of skills."
"I see." Steiner stopped turning the pages when he reached one of the last ones, one that contained the image of the bell-shaped object. "Mein Gott," he whispered. "Die Glocke."
Sean leaned forward in his seat and placed his hands on the desk's surface. "You've seen this drawing before?"
"Yes," the man nodded. He swallowed as he read each line of text. "I have seen this same image before, but I didn't know about all of this. This journal proves that the Nazis were trying to figure out a way to manipulate space-time and create their wonder weapon."
"Right. I get that," Sean said, leaning toward another point with the conversation. "But I need to know if there is anything else you might know that can help me find these people or maybe the bell itself." He stared at the man, unbending with his gaze. "An innocent woman's life depends on it."
The gravity of the situation wasn't lost on Steiner. Still, something was keeping him from being completely honest with Sean. When he spoke, it was with grave seriousness. "What I tell you now, you must never tell another person. It was a secret between my father and me. My mother might have known about it, but I doubt that. When it came to his time with the Nazis, my father was extremely secretive. He only told me about it because he felt like the information should be exposed someday. I put most of what I know in my books. They sold some copies and made a little extra money to keep this place going." He motioned to the aged office around them. "People do love a good mystery, especially when it comes to Nazis. But there were some details I left out. On purpose, of course."
"What details?" Sean tilted his body forward as if about to hear a huge secret.
"I'll let you see for yourself."
10
Steiner stood up and motioned for Sean to follow. He led the way through a narrow, wood-paneled hallway to a smaller office in the back. A few stacks of paperwork sat atop a desk that was the twin of the one in the front. A few black-and-white pictures of a man and woman hung from the walls. Other than that, the room was sparsely decorated.
A picture of the man in the other images dangled from the wall directly behind the desk, the only thing that adorned the fake wood paneling in that section of the office. Steiner maneuvered behind the desk and grasped the picture frame on both sides. He lifted it carefully, unhooking the wire in the back from the nail on the wall and set the picture on the floor, leaning it against a gray filing cabinet. In the space where the picture had been was the front of a small black safe with a combination lock. It rested in a hole cut into the wall, a modification done either by the tenant or on request by the builder.
Sean raised an eyebrow, intrigued by what the older man could possibly be trying to hide.
His host spun the combination dial back and forth, doing it more slowly as he neared the final number. Sean averted his gaze to respect the man's privacy. The last thing he wanted to do was give the impression that he was some kind of thief. When Steiner finally stopped twisting the knob, the locking mechanism clicked, and he pulled down on the small metal latch. The safe door swung open, revealing a small stack of envelopes, a wad of cash wrapped in a rubber band, and a leather notebook that looked eerily similar to the one Sean had retrieved from Dr. Ott's apartment.
Steiner pushed the pile of money and envelopes to the back of the safe and retrieved the notebook. He turned around and sat at the desk, motioning Sean to take a seat in the lone chair on the other side. Sean did as requested, and pulled the chair close so he could see what the man was about to show him.
"My father left this to me when he died. He warned that there were things inside it that could be potentially dangerous, and that I should keep it safe."
Sean didn't think that keeping something so valuable in a cheaply made safe and in a fairly obvious hiding spot was exactly what the man's father meant, but he didn't want to offend his host.
Steiner went on. "I never really thought much about some of the details in this book. I used some of the information to entertain a few readers with wild conspiracy theories, but I didn't expect many people to believe them, even though I think there is a great deal of credibility to the things I gleaned from this journal.
"Father's original plan was to deliver this to the Allies, but in his fear of being persecuted for war crimes, he decided to lay low instead and keep the book hidden."
"Not a bad move on his part. The Allies went a little crazy when it came to hunting down old Nazis."
"Indeed." A twinge of regret filled his face. "No matter what amends they might have made." The moment passed, and Steiner got back to business. He turned the pages of the book to a page that featured a similar drawing to the one in Dr. Ott's book. He spun the journal around to give Sean a better view. He tapped the page. "See, almost the same image."
It was almost a photocopy match. There was no mistaking the bell's unique shape, its attachments, the doorframe on one side, and the way it was hovering in the air amid the circle of columns.
Steiner flipped a few more pages and pointed to the first paragraph of the handwritten notes. Unlike the book Sean had in his possession, this one lacked the high mathematical equations. "Can you read this?" he asked.
The script was written in German, which wasn't an issue, but the handwriting was fluid, almost like cursive, so it made understanding it a little more difficult. Still, Sean could manage.
He nodded and started reading through the passage. The translation to English happened automatically in his head.
Herr Ott told me that they are close to a breakthrough with the bell. If this happens, innocent people all over the world could be in grave danger. Herr Ott has done his best to sabotage progress, but now, it seems, they will achieve success. The only thing that seems to be on our side is time. The Allies push closer to the capital every day, which is why the high command has decided to relocate the bell, along with several of their officers, to somewhere in South America. According to the orders I saw, the voyage will be made on U-boat 1500. I was not aware that the German army had created that many submarines, but it appears some things have been kept secret from both the public, and those who would serve Hitler. The colonel in charge of the evacuation mission is Gilbert Shpurning. He is a hard man and pays close attention to detail. Any mission to try to steal the bell from their possession would be suicide. I was not chosen for escort detail.
I overheard another soldier say that we would be executing the scientists before the train leaves with the bell. While some of the researchers are just as evil as the Nazis themselves, Herr Ott has proven to be a good man and wants nothing to do with their plot. I am going to attempt to smuggle him out of the facility tonight. He can take safe harbor with family he has in Switzerland, should he be able to make the rest of the journey. It will be difficult for him, but all I can do is get him out of here alive.
I write all of this should anyone ever decide to expose the Nazis' evil schemes that took place here in Poland.