“Indeed,” Koenig concurred. “Hummels wasn’t one of the highest ranking of Hitler’s officers, but he was often involved with planning and strategy.”
“You seem to know a lot about this guy for a professor of philosophy and art.” She did little to try to hide the cynicism in her voice.
He cocked his head to the side and shrugged. “Hummels was one of the names I considered looking into during my research. It made sense that he could have taken the painting, but the trail went cold and I moved on to the next suspect. Now that I see this, however, it makes sense that Hummels would want his name to be stricken from the records. If Hitler or any of his trusted advisors discovered that Hummels was buying up classical artwork, they would either have taken it from him to put with the Führer's collection, or they would have destroyed it.”
“Neither of those was acceptable to Hummels.”
“I would guess not. He was a precise and strict commander, but when it came to art, he had a soft spot. Now that I see his name on this, I realize that the answer was staring me in the face all along.” He forced out a laugh. “And you figured it out in less than an hour.”
Adriana blew it off. “I’ve seen more difficult ciphers than this one, professor. It wasn’t that complicated for the trained eye. Plus, I hang around people who are good at this sort of thing. You’d be surprised how quickly you pick things up just from who you spend time with.”
“I suppose you are right.” He stopped for a moment and stared at the ground. When he looked up, his eyes were full of questions. “What do we do now?”
Adriana slid her phone back into her jeans pocket and looked around the cemetery. It was serene, peaceful. The way it should be, as if Mother Nature herself was keeping things reverent for the dead.
“We have to find Hummels’s relatives. They’re the only link to finding the painting or the next clue to it. Either way, if he has any heirs, they are who we have to get to next.”
Koenig thought for a few seconds. “I suppose we could search for any relatives he left behind. Should we go back to the hotel and use one of the computers?”
Adriana shook her head. “No,” she smirked. “I have something faster.”
9
“Hey, Addy, how's it going?” Alex sounded like he’d just had six cups of coffee. Knowing the hours he and Tara kept while working in the labs at the IAA, that might not have been too far from the truth. “Is it okay if I call you Addy?”
“I’d prefer you not.”
“Okay, sure. Making a note to not call you that.” Alex sounded apologetic and awkward. “So what can I do for you?”
Adriana held the phone to her ear as she spun around, her eyes scanning the area. Old habits die hard. “We need information on a former Nazi officer by the name of Emil Hummels. He’s probably dead by now, but I’m trying to find out if he has any relatives, next of kin, descendants, that sort of thing. And I need it fast.”
“Obviously, you called the right place,” Alex said with a chuckle at his own joke. When she didn’t respond, he went on. “Anyway, I was just taking a little break, so I think I can do that for you. Just give me a few seconds to get back to my desk, and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Talking to that girl again?” Tara’s voice in the background was loud enough to come through the earpiece.
“No,” Alex answered. “It’s Adriana. She’s asking for information about some Nazi officer or something.”
“Oh, tell her I said hello. Nazi officer? She looking for another painting?”
“Hello, Tara,” Adriana said with a smile she would give a child.
“She says hello.” Alex passed along the message then asked, “Are you looking for another painting?”
“So it would seem. You can put her on speaker if you like.”
“Nah, she’s working on some new thing for the boss. He’s recently taken an interest in some Japanese thing, a sword I believe. A researcher in Tokyo sent us copies of some old documents to take a look at. That sort of thing is right up Tara’s alley. She’s been the only one on it since I’ve been taking care of other stuff.”
“Thanks for the detailed explanation. You at your desk yet?”
“Oh, sorry. Yes. Just got back. Let’s see.”
She could hear his fingers flying across the keyboard as he worked. The computers at the International Archaeology Agency were some of the fastest on the planet, running on hyper-quantum processors that could only be found in a few other places. Thanks to Tommy’s connections and financial capabilities, getting a few for IAA had been little trouble.
“I’m running the search now. You said Emil Hummels?”
“Yes, that is correct. Cross-reference it with Nazi, officer, family, relatives, that sort of thing.”
“Way ahead of you.” He tried not to sound condescending, but he was good at what he did. Very good.
“I apologize. You know what you’re doing. That’s why I called you.”
“Thank you. And you are right. I am good. So good that I have some answers for you.”
“Hit me.”
He paused for a moment. She figured he was looking over the monitor’s contents one more time. “Looks like this guy was pretty slick. Art collector, which explains why you’re looking for him.” He made a few clicks with his tongue against his teeth and then continued. “Here we go. He had two sons and a daughter. One of the boys and the daughter died. The younger son is still alive, though.”
“You got a name and address?”
“Working on it.” After a few more seconds, he said, “Got it. At the end of the war, looks like Hummels retreated to Innsbruck in Austria. Pretty place. You ever been there?”
“Alex.”
“Sorry. Anyway, his son Friedrich is still living there. Has a chateau on one of the mountains. It appears that Friedrich has been a heavy contributor to the arts in Innsbruck, does a lot of other philanthropic work as well.”
“That must be our guy then.”
“I’d say so. Doesn’t appear to be a bad person given the fact that he had a Nazi for a father. He donated several hundred thousand to a children’s hospital in Austria and has been noted in a bunch of local magazines and newspapers as being some kind of saintly person.”
Adriana raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like he’s making up for something.”
“His father’s sins, perhaps?”
“Maybe. Usually, those former Nazi officers changed their names, moved as far away as possible, went into hiding. My friend here says he wasn’t a top-level guy under Hitler.”
“So he figured he wouldn’t be a target?”
“Possibly. Or maybe he just didn’t care. Either way, you’ve given us a good lead. Thanks, Alex. Good work.”
“Happy to help. I’ll send you Friedrich’s address. Although getting an appointment with him might prove difficult. From the looks of this dossier, he stays pretty busy. And most of the time, he’s surrounded by a high-end security detail.”
Adriana smiled wryly. “I can be persuasive.”
“You’ll have to be. He’s not an easy man to get to. Is there anything else?”
“No. I knew you two would be able to get me quick answers. I appreciate it.”
“Two? Tara didn’t—”
Adriana ended the call and slid the phone back into her pocket before he could finish his sentence. She pictured him fuming in the lab at her sudden hangup. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be so irritated that he would put off sending Hummels’s address.
“Who was that?” Koenig asked as he stood up from the bench.
“Some friends; very useful friends.”
“What kind of friends? What did they say?”
She started walking back toward the entrance to the cemetery with the professor in tow close behind.