CHAPTER SEVEN
Central de Policia de Cordóba, Av. Colón 1254, Cordóba Capital [Police Headquarters, Provincial Capital, Cordóba], the same day
Anna Maria proved to have a minor treasure trove of information, which had been gained through pillow talk. Inspector Henckel listened to her for nearly an hour, then decided to move her incognito to the central police headquarters in the city for her own protection and to ensure that her information could be preserved for eventual prosecution of the case. During and even after the revolving door regimes of Juan Peron, evidence of wrongdoing and even people possessing such knowledge that touched the regime—even tangentially—seemed to have a vexing habit of disappearing. Henckel was determined that he was not going to let that happen in this case. That is why Anna Maria entered the law enforcement edifice under an assumed name.
Once settled in and fed properly, Henckel and de Corsos continued to grill Anna Maria. De Jesus and Henckel’s men remained at the crime scene area in Lomas de los Carolinos to try and find witnesses.
“Can you give us some names of people in the Cosa Nostra or the ‘ndràngheta, Anna Maria?” Henckel asked her.
In the relative safety and comfort of the fortresslike police headquarters—and after a few glasses of Barbera from the grape fields of Mendoza province, the inferior domestic red wine which was a crude mixture of an assortment of wines and wine grapes made with little pride or product control—Anna Maria began to relax. Henckel would not drink the stuff; it was no wonder that Argentina was a net importer of wines in these early 1960s so far as he was concerned.
Anna Maria asked for a pen and paper and began writing as fast as she could. Occasionally she would stop for a moment and think, then resume until she had filled ten pages with names, addresses, telephone numbers, and company names. When she looked up—indicating that she was finished—Henckel asked her a question.
“Who did Carlos have trouble with?”
Anna Maria responded by putting a check mark by about fifteen names.
“And which of those do you think employs killers to get their way?”
Anna Maria said, “I’m not sure. But maybe these.”
She underlined five of the names.
De Corsos waited until there was a pause in the interrogatory before inserting a question of his own.
“Tell us what you can about his life before he came here. Any known Nazi connection?” How about the ODESSA?”
“He didn’t talk much about that, you understand; but I caught a few things over the past couple of years. He once told me that he was a chemist for a while, and he worked for IG Farben in a secret plant that made weapons.”
“Chemical weapons?”
“Yes.”
“Remember any names of the chemicals? Think hard, Anna Maria. It’s important.”
“Once, he talked about a man he was afraid of, maybe someone he came to Argentina from Germany with. I think the man might have been in charge of making a very bad gas, in fact, two kinds of gas.”
“Can you remember the names of the gasses? Even if you could give us a name that sounds like the chemical?”
“Oh, just a second—I remember the man’s name. It was August Neubert—something like that. I don’t know for sure, but he might have come here. He and Carlos were helped by the ODESSA in 1946. They were in the French section of West Germany, I think. It’s also possible that they parted ways before they came here, but one thing I do remember is that this August Neubert was perfectly willing to kill anyone who might be able to identify him or who knew where he ended up. Carlos was truly afraid of him. He had plastic surgery to hide what he looked like and changed his name of course. Once when he was very drunk and was speaking German, I called him Carlos—and he got angry and told me never to call him that again. He was Hörst Dietsel, and it was a name he was proud of. When he sobered up, he told me to forget that name because it would be the death of him if anyone ever found out.”
“Is that anyone you are familiar with, de Corsos?” Inspector Henckel asked.
Detective de Corsos shook his head. Henckel shrugged.
“Can you remember the names of the gasses, Anna Maria? You have done very well so far. Give it a hard try.”
He gave her time to think.
“I am almost sure that Carlos told me that the weapons were called tabun and sarin gas. One of those was called GB or GD, I think. A very tiny spray in the air could kill a man in minutes. A tiny tiny drop in a glass of wine would kill a man in half an hour—maybe less—depending on the man’s size.”
She had a small involuntary shudder.
“Never heard of them,” Henckel said, “You?” he asked, looking at de Corsos.
“Above my pay grade, apparently.”
“Look into it, Detective. Maybe knowing about that or about this man Neubert got him killed. Or maybe the Israelis found out about him. I’ll get you the clearance.”
Córdoba, Argentina Recipes
Córdoba Dove Empanadas—6–8 Servings
Ingredients
-Dove meat—2.5 lbs deboned and skinned dove breasts
-Vegetables—2 large peeled carrots, 1 large red pepper, 1 medium yellow onion, ¼ tsp ground ginger
-Spices—Black and red pepper, sea salt (or garlic salt), and paprika to taste
-Premade round pastry discs or use filo dough.
Preparation
-Cut vegetables and meat into small cubes.
-Sauté vegetables with extra virgin olive oil.
-Remove and set aside vegetables then sauté meat until tender.
-Mix all ingredients and season mix to taste
-Fill the premade pastry rounds and bake for 15 minutes at 350° or until golden brown.
Argentine Chimichurri olive oil and spice rub for steak
Ingredients
-Spices and herbs—¼ cp oregano (fresh is best, but dried (4 tsps) is a decent substitute), 4 garlic cloves, 2 cps firmly packed fresh Italian parsley leaves, ½ tsp red pepper flakes, ½ tsp kosher or sea salt, ½ tsp freshly and finely ground black pepper, ½ tsp red pepper, ¼ cp red wine vinegar, 1 cp extra virgin olive oil
Preparation
Note: It is best to make the chimichurri a day in advance and refrigerate to bring out flavors.
-Peel and smash garlic cloves
-Place parsley, garlic, oregano, vinegar, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper (all to taste) in the bowl of a bladed food processor. Process until finely chopped, stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed, about 1 minute total.
-Keep motor running, and add oil in a steady stream. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and pulse a few times to combine. Transfer sauce to an airtight container and refrigerate at least 2 hours—better up to a full day. Before serving, stir and season as needed. The chimichurri will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Serve on the side for 1–2 inch thick, 1 lb Argentine steak (which should be cooked “jugoso”—medium rare) and apply the chimichurri to taste.