Tiny’s curiosity was visible on his face, but he said nothing.
“We recently picked up a woman, a Category Four. You know what that means?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’d like a look at her dossier. Can you get it for me?”
“Right now, sir?”
“Before we go back to the Kloster.”
“If you and First Sergeant Dunwiddie are going out, sir, I could have it waiting for you in your room by the time you come back.”
“That’ll do fine. Her name is Frau Elsa von Wachtstein. Should I spell that for you?”
“That’s enough, sir.”
“Good man, Hessinger,” Jimmy said.
—
In the elevator, Tiny said, “Because I am now a CIC agent and a simulated gentleman, I won’t ask you what that was all about.”
“Good, because it’s none of your fucking business.”
—
Two hours later, their mission to find companionship having been successful, Tiny pointed to a sign in the lobby of the hotel reading OFFICERS’ CLASS VI SALES.
Class VI was the Army euphemism for distilled spirits.
“One way for you to show me your gratitude for finding that energetic redhead for you would be for you to go in there and buy us a bottle of Rémy Martin.”
/>
“To drink while I now wait for my dick to turn black and fall off?”
“To drink while we consider our philosophical discussion of the differences between whores and courtesans.”
“What the hell—why not?”
—
There was a well-stuffed manila envelope on the desk in Cronley’s room. It bore a red mark across it, on which the word SECRET was printed.
There was a handwritten note on it: I hope this is the right one. Sgt Hessinger.
“Let me wash a couple of glasses,” Tiny said. “There’s some on that table.”
Cronley sat down at the desk and ripped open the envelope flap.
The envelope contained several folders. In the second were four photographs of Elsa. Three showed her with a man who was obviously the late Oberstleutnant Graf von Wachtstein. The fourth showed her in a skimpy bathing suit on the bank of a narrow river.
God, she’s beautiful!
Tiny set a brandy snifter on the desk.
“Is that the lady causing you to wallow in remorse because of your recent infidelity?”