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Sue Lee was waiting outside the flight operation’s building; they were delayed waiting for another passenger to join them on the trip to Hawaii; they said it would only be a few more minutes. She sat back on the hard bench, thinking about her report sent to Army intelligence. His belongings indicated he was born in Japan. She mentioned her suspicion that she believed he had connections with the Yakuza because of the tattoo removal.
She yawned. “It’s their problem now,” she murmured.
An Army sedan pulled up. A corporal jumped out to open the door for a civilian. He walked towards her after his driver had loaded his bags on the plane. He was a tall, slender young man with beautiful brown eyes and black hair that matched his olive complexion. She guessed his age to be in his early twenties. His attire was a summer sports coat, white shirt with an open neck collar, tan slacks, with expensive shoes. When the wind shifted, she also noticed that he was carrying a gun in a shoulder holster concealed by his sports coat.
“Captain Ono, my name is Alex Mueller from CIC. As of this morning, you are temporarily under the Army Counter Intelligence Command. He stopped talking when the corporal approached, handing her a sealed envelope, saluting before he left. Alex continued. We are to proceed immediately to America than to England. I will brief you on the plane.” He said with what she thought was a slight Austrian accent.
She looked more closely at him, realizing she had met him before. “But where?”
After takeoff, he waited as she read the new orders along with the summary of the assignment. Sue Lee set aside the folder, nodding to let him know she finished. She had a ton of questions, but first, she wanted to hear his explanation.
“Let’s start with why you for this assignment? You speak German and French fluently. You resemble Celine. She, too, had Oriental features.” Alex said as he opened the folder, pulling out a picture. ‘Well, you almost resemble her. We need to tone down your natural beauty somewhat.” He smiled with perfect white teeth as he handed her the photo along with the dossier.
Sue Lee glanced at the picture, then carefully read the file. She looked up at him after reading the report. “I’m assuming since Celine is dead, I will take her place; you need the information she found,” she waved no to the offer of a cigarette?
“True, but it’s not information we are smuggling out. It is a man,” He paused to light his cigarette, waiting for her questions. When nothing was asked, he shrugged before continuing. “Your job is working on the inside with the current Vichy government, in personal records. It is a new position recently ordered by the SS who is controlling the military command in France. The Gestapo is seeking records of citizens within the arrondissements of Paris.” He drew on his cigarette. “All Jews; the Vichy government is scrambling to set up the office but is delayed moving in until next Thursday; it seems they had a fire, which we arranged. They do not know of Celine’s car accident. They only know from the Vichy mayor in Nice that she is delayed in southern France by a train crash caused by allied bombing. You will take her place when the records office reopens. That gives us a week to prepare.” He said as he set the photo down, she handed it back to him.
“What about the Mayor? Did he know Celine well,” she asked, trying to get comfortable in her seat?
“They are to be lovers. The Mayor thinks. The Mayor had fantasies of meeting her in Paris to escape from his nagging wife. That won’t be possible. He is in the hospital, appendix removal, later he will have complications.” He said with a smirk.
When he smirked, she remembered where she had seen him. At that time, she assumed he was another doctor.
“He was the man who came into the bar with Dr. Williams when I first arrived, flirting with Bonnie. But now he was without a mustache, better looking without it.” She kept the thought to herself while he continued talking.
“It is imperative you learn as much as I can teach you about this assignment. Let me give you some background. Celine was a librarian. We infiltrated her into the records office in Nice. That’s where she found the files of an eccentric scientist we have been searching for, Ariel Schumacher. She had altered his records so the Germans would think he is just another Jew. Unfortunately, he moved to Paris, now that is a problem. On July 16 or 17, we are not exactly sure of the date, but the Gestapo, with the Vichy French police’s help, plans to round up all the Jews in Paris. They are shipping them to Auschwitz to the gas chambers,” he said, putting out his cigarette.
“You don’t know where he is in Paris; that’s why Celine was needed in records to find him before the roundup. You’re gambling that no one knows Celine, is that right?” she asked, looking into his eyes for a reaction.
He stared back at her for a moment, then replied. “Yes, you are right. This entire operation is a gamble, but we need this man. He’s an authority on heavy water experiments.”
“If I find him and you can’t get him out, or he refuses to go. You are ordered to kill him?”
“Yes,” he murmured.
Sue Lee now guessed that Alex was one of the Ritchie Boy consisting of German Austria Jews trained at the Military Intelligence Center at Camp Ritchie in Maryland.
Ritchie’s boys specialized in methods of counter-intelligence, psychological warfare, and killing.
With an understanding of the German mentality, they infiltrated enemy territory, blending into the background. Their contribution to the war effort was legendary.
“Why didn’t CIC handle the interrogation for the Japanese pilot? They are far more qualified than me.” She asked, pointing out the fact that she had recognized him from their last meeting. She was assuming the interest that HQ had in the pilot started long before she arrived.
“I happened to be nearby; they sent me in. The problem is, I don’t speak Japanese. It turned out to be a lucky break to have both of us in the same place,” he said with another perfect smile.
Sue Lee doubted if coincidence had anything to do with it. She was sure she had been manipulated and investigated long before this first meeting.
She remembered the meeting in Captain James’s office back at the Presidio Army Base in San Francisco after being involved in the killing of two German spies. There was a man who sat in the back of the room while the Captain, along with two other officers from Army intelligence, asked questions about her involvement.
The man in the back of the room was silent during the debriefing and left before any introduction. She had always wondered about him. He was a big man, not in uniform. With no characteristic features, she thought of him as the ghost in the room.
Sue Lee knew special counter-intelligence agents on operational assignments within the United States were usually dressed in professional business attire. When deployed to combat, they dressed in the Army Combat Uniform with an Army civilian insignia, worn on the collar.
She also knew agents were usually drawn from the current ranks, but how she got involved in this assignment with counter-intelligence was another mystery. She had no time to solve.
* * *
AFTER AN EXHAUSTING week of travel, including endless briefings, they were leaving London for France. They waited in a building before boarding a Royal Navy submarine. Alex reached into his bag, pulling out a cloth wrapping.
“Sorry, we have been so busy I haven’t had time to give this to you, he said, unwrapping the white cloth. I assumed after reading your dossier you would be familiar with this.” He said, handing her what looked like a belt.
Sue Lee recognized it immediately as a kusari-fundo, a concealed weapon in the shape of a chain belt used for self-defense by a samurai. However, this one was new and modified to resemble a stylish women’s belt.
The second item inside the cloth wrapping was a chain necklace, with a medallion hanging from it. Alex reached over and pushed on the medallion, when released it, unfastened the chain, and became two handles.
“A garrote, we obviously cannot issue standard weapons, so hopefully, these will help.”
Sue Lee removed her raincoat, securing the belt around her waist. Alex carefully put the garrote necklace around her neck, fastening the two medallions together with a click. He avoided her eyes as he did so, stepping back shyly, looking down at his feet, “Bonne Chance, Sue Lee.”
“Good luck to you too, Alex,” she said, wondering if he was really that shy; just as the door opened, a sailor told them they were ready to embark.