So Cochrane maintained his guard. He breathed easier when Mauer led them to a shaded area beneath a single tree at the center of a clearing. Mauer was no fool. No one could hear them in this place. Probably no one other than Mauer's dog could even find them. And no one could approach without being seen.
For whatever purpose, Mauer carried his deer rifle. A man could never be too careful, even if venison was long out of season.
They seated themselves under the tree and Cochrane positioned himself in the shade. 'Well, then,' Cochrane finally said. 'School's out. Start at the top. Structure. How much do you know?'
'A lot.'
'I'm waiting.'
'Yes,' said Mauer, 'I see that you are.'
And then it all poured out, first in a trickle and then in a flood. Mauer had been in the Section Z of the Abwehr, usually called Abteilung Z. Z was the central administrative department. It held the files and coordinated the work of the four other units.
'Anything not in our files doesn't exist,' Mauer said boastfully. 'We coordinate the work of the other four sections. Colonel Hans Oster is the head of the division. I'm his assistant. There's nothing that doesn't pass right in front of me. But I'm jumping ahead.'
'What about the other four divisions,' Cochrane asked. 'Let's start there.'
Mauer obliged, growing more loquacious as the sun rose in the sky.
'The Abwehr is divided into five sections, or Abteilungs. Abteilung One deals with straight intelligence abroad. It is headed by General Pieckenbrock, a close friend of Admiral Canaris himself,” he said. 'Abteilung Two is perhaps the most important- and most powerful-section. It deals with sabotage within Germany and abroad. The titular commander is Colonel von Freytag-Loringhoven. But the genuine power within the section is Brigadefuhrer Walter Schellenberg. Schellenberg is a Nazi and a close personal friend of Hitler. Of all five sections, Abteilung Two is the tightest run, the most secure.'
Mauer's eyes narrowed. For a moment he watched a small flock of meadowlarks that swooped noisily across the clearing and then disappeared across the treetops.
Cochrane offered nothing, preferring to let Mauer talk.
'Abteilung Three is counterintelligence, run capably by Colonel Hans Bentivegni. There has been little real counterintelligence to date. There has been harassment of certain Jews and foreign diplomats through A3,' Mauer declared, 'but little substantive work. However, the bureau is well prepared and ready. They receive reports from the SS and the Gestapo. They are empowered to act and won't hesitate.'
Particularly in cases like mine, Cochrane thought to himself. 'Please continue,' he urged Mauer.
'Abteilung Four is open intelligence. Exactly as you'd expect. Reports from missions abroad and military attaches. Newspapers and radio reports. Remarkably effective bureau, considering their product is laid cleanly at their feet.'
'And Abteilung Five is yourself,' Cochrane volunteered. 'Section Z. Central administration, coordination of the other four.'
Mauer nodded. 'The hub upon which the wheel revolves,' said Mauer, reaching for his cigarettes. 'Not a bad vantage point, I'd say.'
'What about Gestapo and SS?' Cochrane asked. 'Abteilung Two, under Schellenberg?'
'Not exactly,' Mauer answered. 'Gestapo and SS are products of the party. As such, they have remained completely independent of the Abwehr. It's no small difficulty for the non-party members within the intelligence community. Gestapo and SS report solely to Himmler and Goebbels. Abteilung Two has a certain lateral relationship with them, receiving and sending reports. But the truth is that the entire Abwehr attempts to stay clear of them. Nazis, you know. Strong, stupid, and mean-and excellent at following orders.'
Cochrane nodded. Then for the next two hours he barely spoke. The entire framework, spirit, and structure of the Abwehr gradually unfolded before him, name by name, place by place, operation by operation.
Mauer opened a bottle of white wine that he had kept chilled in a canvas sack. He brought forth two cheeses, a loaf of bread and some fruit. The men lunched, Mauer talking and Cochrane trying to memorize. Certain visions stuck:
'Canaris remains the rallying point in the government for all those dissatisfied with Hitler. Hitler needs Canaris to administer the Abwehr. No one else is capable. But the generals are loyal to Hitler and would just as soon have Canaris shot…
'Counterintelligence is in its infancy, compared particularly to the British, who have its tradition. Hitler relies on terror at home and military might abroad in place of diplomacy. With enough armament, he feels he renders espionage useless…'
Here Mauer and Cochrane exchanged a smile of irony.
'Ribbentrop, the Foreign Minister, and Canaris despise each other. They rarely miss an opportunity to undercut each other's bureau…
'Abteilung Four insists that the Luftwaffe could destroy the British Navy within five weeks, should Chamberlain blunder the English into a war. General Pieckenbrock at A-1 has suggested that three thousand barges be ready for a Wehrmacht invasion through Sussex. A flotilla of a hundred fifty ships would also be necessary, but these are already commissioned and sailing. I've seen the reports from naval intelligence myself. There is a good chance that Britain could be knocked out of the war quickly, which would effectively end hostilities in western Europe. Then full attention could be given to the Soviet Union…'
One by one, Cochrane picked grapes from a bunch that lay beside the two men. He felt the moisture on the palm of his hands. He wondered idly how he would ever be able to return such a volume of information to Washington. Would he have to send a written dispatch through a diplomatic courier, say through Geneva or Madrid? Or would he have to bear the torch in his own hand?
'It is Hitler's feeling that America has no real strategic interest in Europe,' Mauer related. 'The real enemy is Bolshevism, an enemy common to England and America as well as the Reich. But the Fuehrer understands that Roosevelt is surrounded by advisors who promote pro-English and pro-Jewish positions. So it is conceivable that a European war could again become a world war. Accordingly, Abteilung One has embarked on intelligencegathering procedures within the United States and England. I know for a certainty that hundreds of agents have been sent out or contracted. Not all of them German, I might add.'
'Have they been successful?' Cochrane inquired.
'So far, volume has outweighed quality,' Mauer responded. 'But really, when one considers espionage, one only hopes that one or two men will be totally successful. One man in the proper place can defeat an army or instigate the collapse of a government. Take yourself, for example.'
'I've done neither,' Cochrane said.
'But not for lack of trying,' Mauer answered without a smile. 'Considering the quality of work which you will now be returning to Washington, I would say that you are the most dangerous man in Germany.'
'Second most dangerous. After Hitler,' said Cochrane.
'Ah, yes. Of course. After Hitler,' Mauer repeated. For several seconds, a wall of silence passed between them. A hundred meters away, toward the edge of the woods, a stag stepped from the forest, wandered a few steps toward them, and froze as Mauer put his hand to Cochrane's elbow and motioned. The two men stared at the animal. Then it turned abruptly and, like many other images that day, was gone.
Mauer continued to talk:
'When general warfare begins in Europe, the Mediterranean will be closed by the Wehrmacht at both ends. Spain will collaborate. Greece and Yugoslavia will be quickly conquered by a Panzer sweep through Bulgaria.'
And: 'Reichsmarshall Goering, Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe, personally told me of a new super-long- ranged bomber being developed in Stuttgart. The aircraft will by mid-1942 be capable of bombing New York from Greenland.'
Late in the day, Mauer turned to cases closer at hand. His immediate work within Abteilung Z. The work of his friends. Then he drifted. He mentioned career government servants from his university days that had mysteriously lost their jobs. He spoke of others who had disappeared completely, whether to Switzerland or to a labor camp being a matter of speculation.
Then, walking back to the manor toward evening, Mauer was still able to confront Cochrane with the unexpected.
