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“Mr. Cronley, there is a story going around that you shot at Colonel Schumann on one occasion, specifically when he was seeking entrance to your Kloster Grünau compound. Is there any truth to it?”

“No. I didn’t shoot at him. However, one of my men acting on my orders put a .50 caliber round—one round—in his engine block. This was after he announced his intention to gain entrance to Kloster Grünau after I told him he couldn’t come in.”

“Why wouldn’t you let him in?”

“Because he had no right to go in.”

“You denied the USFET CIC inspector general, who, one would presume, has all the necessary security clearances, entrance to your compound?”

“He was not authorized to enter Kloster Grünau. On the other hand, I had the authority to keep unauthorized people out of the Compound by whatever means necessary, including the use of lethal force. What does this have to do with Colonel Mattingly going missing?”

Preston ignored the question, instead asking, “Were you aware of this incident, General Greene?”

“Colonel Schumann reported it to me,” Greene said. “And I told him that he was not authorized to inspect—or even visit—any DCI installation.”

“What has this got to do with Colonel Mattingly?” Cronley asked again.

“All right,” Preston said, “I’ll tell you. When I heard that Colonel Mattingly had gone missing, I saw what I thought was a pattern.”

“What kind of a pattern?”

“First, you—how do I say this?—vigorously deny Colonel Schumann access to the Kloster Grünau compound. Shortly thereafter, Colonel Schumann and his wife die in an ‘accident.’ Next, Major Derwin goes to the other, the ‘Gehlen,’ compound, and shortly thereafter, Major Derwin falls ‘accidentally’ under a freight train. And now this.”

“This being what?” Cronley said.

“Colonel Mattingly visits the Gehlen compound, apparently without your permission, taking with him Major Davis, which apparently was against some sort of agreement he had made with you. And we know he told you what he had done, because Major Davis was with you in the bar of the Vier Jahreszeiten hotel when he told you.”

“And now Mattingly’s gone missing?” Wallace asked.

“Colonel Mattingly is missing,” Preston said.

“That’s a crock of shit,” Wallace exploded. “No apologies for the language. You’re as much as accusing Cronley of being responsible for Mattingly having gone missing.”

“I’ve made no such accusation, even though I have learned there was bad blood between the two of them. What I am suggesting is possible is that Mr. Cronley has not been keeping as close an eye as he should on a former Nazi major general who is quite capable of murder.”

“So then you’re suggesting Gehlen is responsible for the Schumann water heater and the freight train that Derwin fell under?” Wallace asked.

“I think it behooves us, Major, under the circumstances, to consider all possibilities,” Preston said.

“There are those, Major Wallace,” General Seidel said, “as I am sure you know, w

ho wonder if Mr. Cronley has the experience to cope adequately with the responsibilities he has been given.”

“And I’m aware that Colonel Mattingly felt that way,” Wallace agreed. “On the other hand, I don’t think any of us are willing to question the judgment of the man—I’m referring to our commander in chief, President Truman—who gave him his present responsibilities, are we?”

Seidel didn’t reply for a moment, and then he said, “I have a suggestion that would probably answer all these questions to everyone’s satisfaction.”

“Which is?” Schwarzkopf asked.

“That we ask Mr. Preston and his people to help us with the disappearance of Colonel Mattingly.”

“I got the impression, General, that you’d already done that,” Schwarzkopf said.

“With the permission of Mr. Cronley,” Seidel went on, “for Mr. Preston’s expert FBI investigators to have a look at both the Gehlen compound and the monastery.”

“No,” Cronley said. “I’m not going to agree to that. For that to happen, I would have to have the okay of Admiral Souers.”

“May I ask why, Captain . . . excuse me . . . Mr. Cronley?” Seidel said.