Wall of Secrets by D.F. Hart

Author:D.F. Hart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical FIction, Suspense, Nazi, Berlin, Murder
Publisher: 2 of Harts Publishing
Published: 2019-05-29T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

The person of interest in Snowbird’s fact finding mission was not only out of town when she came calling, he was out of the country; as a matter of fact, he was walking up the gangplank onto a British cruise liner bound for South America with papers that proclaimed him to be a Finn named Larsen.

Adolf had discovered to his dismay that the old pathway in Wismar was closed; the individual his father had guided him to was dead. But he was not wired to give up easily. He sat in a corner of the local pub, nursing a beer and racking his brain to come up with the next step that would get him further along on his quest. He happened to overhear the bartender greeting the huge, menacing looking man who had just entered as ‘Captain Larsen.’ And the light bulb illuminated in Adolf’s head.

He had edged himself out of the little booth, and with mug in hand approached the captain and asked permission to join him. Larsen acquiesced with a hard stare and a grunt, pointing to a chair. Adolf saw no point in wasting time. He sat down, ordered another round for the two of them, then leaned forward and quietly said, “I would like to leave with you when your ship sails. What would it cost me?” The captain gave him another hard and stony stare for a long while.

Just when Adolf thought he had made a huge mistake, Larsen’s face broke into a grin, and the man laughed loud and long. “Direct and to the point!” he said, clamping a massive hand on Adolf’s shoulder. “I like it!”

Two days later, Adolf found himself aboard the fishing vessel Sea Siren, heading for Amsterdam. It was his first time out on the water, and the seasickness was unbearable; at one point he was convinced that dying would be much simpler. He failed to see how anyone could survive such misery. For Larsen, a fourth-generation fisherman, this caused a great deal of amusement. It was not until day four that Adolf began to feel better, but by that time the massive Finn had already labeled him ‘maa-alueiden jalat’ – ‘land legs’.

The seventy-eight-foot boat had to travel almost due north past Skagen, located at the very tip of Denmark, before turning southward again into the North Sea to reach the Netherlands. When Amsterdam came into view Adolf had felt like cheering. He had also promised himself that any other sea voyages would be done on a much, much bigger boat. He shook hands with Larsen, and set foot on dry land with profound relief, some three weeks since the bar in Wismar.

A bath and a bed, he had thought to himself, and then let’s get moving again. He hefted his pack -which now also contained some money and the passport he had stolen from the captain- onto his shoulders and walked away to find a currency exchange.

***

In Manassas, the Amsels and Meyers had settled into a routine.

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