[ONE]
Room 305
Dr. Cosme Argerich Military Hospital
Calle Luis Maria Campos
Buenos Aires
1745 20 December 1942
Wearing a somewhat soiled, loose-fitting white cotton uniform of the type issued by the Argerich Military Hospital to its maintenance personnel, Second Lieutenant Anthony J. Pelosi, CE, USAR, moved slowly down the third-floor corridor of the hospital. He was holding a large coil of black electric wire, and following a man moving a floor polisher in a slow sweeping motion from side to side.
The man with the floor polisher stopped in front of Room 305 and put a key to the locked door. The door was opened by a large man; he was holding a shotgun in one hand. The muzzle was eighteen inches from Tony's belly. The man motioned for him to enter.
First Lieutenant Cletus H. Frade, USMCR, wearing a light-blue hospital gown, was seated at a small table. Tony could see a pot of coffee on it and the remnants of sandwiches and pastry.
"Jesus, what's that purple shit all over you, Lieutenant?"
"Some kind of antiseptic," Clete said, walking to Tony and shaking his hand. "How did you get past the clowns?"
"I'm holding the cord for the guy with the floor polisher," Tony said. "He said we have ten minutes, and the less time I'm in here, the better."
"That'll be enough. Tony, this is Suboficial MayorSergeant MajorRodriguez. Enrico, el Teniente Pelosi."
"A sus ?rdenes, mi Teniente."
Tony shook Enrico's hand.
"What the hell happened at your house? When I went by there, the place was surrounded by cops; I couldn't even get near. And when I tried to telephone, I got some guy on the line who was obviously a cop, and he wouldn't tell me shit."
"The Germans sent a couple of guys to kill me; the local mafiosi."
"No shit?"
"They killed Se?ora Pellano," Clete said.
"And then you killed them? With your grandfather's six-shooter? Tony asked in a combination of admiration and incredulity.
"I thought you didn't know what happened."
Pelosi hoisted the hem of his white jacket and came out with a copy of the Buenos Aires Herald.
"You're on the front page," he said, handing it to him. "I suppose most of the story is bullshit."
ROBBERY ATTEMPT IN BELGRANO
LEAVES HOUSEKEEPER AND
TWO CRIMINALS DEAD
By C. Edward Whaley
Herald Staff Writer
Buenos Aires 20 DecAn attempted robbery of the residence at 4730 Avenida Libertador just after midnight this morning left the housekeeper, Se?ora Marianna Pellano, 52, and two as yet unidentified criminals dead, according to Colonel Ricardo Savia-Gonzalez, Chief of the Polic?a Federal.
"These criminals," Colonel Savia-Gonzalez told the Herald, "apparently in the belief the residence was not occupied, broke into the house from the rear. Surprised by Se?ora Pellano, they cruelly took her life, then proceeded upstairs.
"There they encountered Se?or Cletus Frade, son of el Coronel Jorge Guillermo Frade, and attempted to murder him with a pistol it has been determined was stolen from the Argentine Navy.
"Se?or Frade, luckily, was in the process of cleaning an historic military firearm, a Colt revolver once carried by his grandfather, El Coronel Guillermo Alejandro Frade, who carried it while commanding the Husares de Pueyrred?n. Although wounded, he courageously managed to load the revolver and with it dispatched both criminals, killing both instantly.
"He then summoned the police, who upon arrival, dispatched Se?or Frade to a hospital for treatment of his wounds, and began an investigation into the identity of the criminals." The Herald has been unable to obtain any details concerning Mr. Frade's condition, but a police official who did not wish to be identified said that the scene of the shooting was bathed with blood, that "many shots were exchanged," and that Mr. Frade was "extremely lucky to have survived the encounter." The same official said that Mr. Frade, who has been living in the United States, recently returned to Argentina as General Manager of Howell Petroleum, Venezuela, and has been living in the residence temporarily.
"These were obviously brutal, hardened criminals," this official stated. "And it was only God's mercy and Se?or Frade's great personal courage that saved his life. Clearly, if he had been unarmed, he would have suffered the same tragic fate as Se?ora Pellano."
Everything is bullshit, except that they murdered Se?ora Pellano."
"The guy that came to get me said they cut her throat, practically cut her head off," Tony interrupted.
Clete saw Enrico's face darken.
"Se?ora Pellano was Sergeant Major Rodriguez's sister, Tony," Clete said evenly.
"Jesus! Sorry, Sergeant," Tony said. "I didn't know."
Enrico nodded: It doesn't matter. No offense.
"So who were these guys? I didn't think they were burglars.
Real mafiosi? Italians?"
Clete nodded. "I don't know if they were Italians. But local gangsters. They were sent to kill me. Almost certainly by the Germans. So they knew about me. And if they know about me, they probably know about you. And maybe about David, too."
Tony accepted that without much surprise.
"How do you think they found out?"
"My father was here. He let it out that the BIS know we work for the OSS. There must be somebody in the BIS talking to the Germans."
"And you just got lucky when they came after you?"
"I was warned they were coming. And just in time." That got Tony's attention.
"By who?"
"Tony, I just can't tell you that."
"Why not?"
"I just can't."
Tony considered that a moment, and drew his own conclusion, which obviously pleased him.
"We've got somebody in with the Germans?"
"I didn't say that."
Tony shrugged, signifying Clete didn't have to put it in words, that's what it had to be. "So what happens now?"
"I don't know," Clete said. "My father's going to have me expelled from Argentina. And the destroyer will be here in a couple of days. I'm going to have to leave . .. unless, of course, I can get to use the destroyer's radios and get in touch with Colonel Graham. The best I can hope for is that my father can't have me expelled before the destroyer gets here."
"So what happens to Ettinger and me? What do you want us to do?"
"Nothing. I brought you in here to tell you what happened at the Guest House. And to tell you to watch out for yourselves. But nothing's changed about the orders I gave you. Just sit tight."
"If you say so, Lieutenant," Tony said, not liking it at all.
"Consider it an order, Lieutenant," Clete said, and then had another thought. And speaking of orders: I told you to stay away from me. So what were you doing at the Guest House?"
Tony looked very embarrassed. "It was a personal matter, forget it."
"I don't want to forget it, Tony. I want to know what was so important you went to the Guest House after I told you to stay away."
Tony looked even more uncomfortable. He looked at Enrico. "Does he speak English?"
"No."
"I got a girl in trouble," Tony blurted.
Jesus Christ, is he serious?