Don't Let Me Down: A Novel by Kate Stollenwerck

Author:Kate Stollenwerck [Stollenwerck, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Iceblink Books
Published: 2024-10-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

I turn the page, my nerves churning like a violent storm at sea.

CLASSIFIED

ART LOOTING INVESTIGATIVE UNIT

STRATEGIC SERVICES UNIT

7 Rue de Presbourg

Paris

December 3, 1945

Subject: Project Orion

Fuller, Lentz, Stanton, and Weber are en route to Berlin.

I lock eyes with Mr. Long. “Project Orion?”

“Do you know who Orion is?” he asks.

I shake my head.

“In Greek Mythology, he’s a hunter,” says Dr. Alexander.

My mouth dries. I re-read the top of the page—Art Looting Investigative Unit. “These guys were hunting stolen art.”

“Wow,” says Julian.

Mr. Long puffs out a ring of grey smoke. “Hailey, your great-grandfather seemed to have his hands in everything. As a career diplomat, you know what that tells me?”

I study the paper and then look at Mr. Long. “That he moved around a lot. He was a soldier who went to Paris after the war, worked on the Nuremberg Trials and then somehow ended up in the ALIU working for the US government to hunt art pilfered by the Nazis.”

He taps his fingers on the folder. “Those are the facts. But it tells me something more.” He pauses, stopping to ash his cigarette. “This document tells me that he was a valued asset.”

“To who?” asks Blake.

“Now you’re asking the right question,” he says.

“Let’s back up one step, please,” says Dr. Alexander. “Make that five steps. Let’s start with the most pressing piece of information revealed in this document. What is this OSS division, the Art Looting Investigative Unit?”

Mr. Long inhales a deep drag. “It’s no longer the OSS, it’s the Strategic Services Unit under the War Department. The OSS shut down in the fall of 1945 right after the war ended. By 1947, the newly minted CIA was up and running. This is a bridge group.”

I look over at Blake and his eyes widen. Yep, we’re definitely in over our heads.

“The ALIU was a special intelligence unit that dealt with stolen art, helped the Monument Men recover looted cultural property. The ALIU focused on bringing to justice those attempting to dispose of stolen art. They had a high-priority target list of approximately twenty bad actors, mostly the German art dealers and auction houses who had somehow avoided prosecution. The ALIU knew these men and women were part of the Nazi operation and illegally selling large quantities of stolen art for the Third Reich during and after the war.”

“And Jack was working to help catch these criminals?” asks Blake.

“After reading this document, I’d have to say yes,” says Mr. Long.

I press the palms of my hands to my eyes, and I’m grateful to hear Dr. Alexander’s voice taking over in his professor-y way. “Let’s lay out some facts about Jack,” he says. “He enlisted in 1942 and was assigned to the 42nd Infantry Division of the United States Army. He fought at the Battle of the Bulge. He marched across Europe, a first-hand witness to the devastation of war. He then helped liberate the Dachau Concentration Camp, and this is where he met Ilse. Somehow, they stayed connected and later married.”

As Dr. Alexander speaks, I take out my pen and sketch a timeline of Jack’s activities.

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