Luciano’s Luck

‘Herr Field Marshal – General.’ Koenig saluted, turned and went out.

Franz Meyer stood in the hall, pretending to read the noticeboard as he waited for Koenig.

His dislike for the Major had been immediate and it went beyond any personal jealousy of Koenig’s military distinction. The truth was far deeper. Koenig was a gentleman, son of a Major General of the Luftwaffe. Meyer, on the other hand, was the third son of a Hamburg shoemaker who had served the last two years of the First World War in the trenches, who had starved like thousands of others in Germany during the twenties, thanks to the British and the French and the Jews until the Führer had come along, a man of the people, giving hope to the people. And Meyer had served him since those first days, one of the earliest party members in Hamburg. The Führer himself had pinned the Blood Order on him. The Koenigs of the world, who thought themselves so far above him, had a lesson to learn.

He turned as Koenig approached. ‘Ah, there you are, Major. I would very much appreciate an opportunity to discuss my duties at the earliest possible moment. This Carter affair, for example.’

‘Gestapo business, not mine,’ Koenig said, pulling on his gloves. ‘I merely provided ground support.’

Meyer said, ‘A valuable field officer murdered, Carter allowed to get clean away, yet you took no hostages in Bellona. Exacted no reprisals.’

‘I’m a soldier, not a butcher,’ Koenig said. ‘If the distinction doesn’t appeal to you, take it up with the Field Marshal.’

‘There are perhaps others I could take it up with,’ Meyer replied calmly. ‘Reichsführer Himmler might well be interested in an officer of SS who expresses such sentiments.’

‘Then you must discuss it with him,’ Koenig said, ‘as I’m sure you will,’ and he went out of the entrance, down the steps and crossed to where Brandt waited for him behind the wheel of a kubelwagen.

Koenig smoked a cigarette as they drove down towards Palermo. Finally, he said, ‘Pull over, Rudi. I must walk for a while.’

Brandt turned in at the entrance of the Pellegrino cemetery and Koenig got out and walked through the gates between even lines of Cyprus trees.

He stood looking up at a white marble tomb with a life-size statue of Santa Rosalia of Pellegrino on top. Brandt moved in behind him.

Koenig said, ‘The most vulgar thing I’ve ever seen in my life.’

Brandt asked, ‘What happened back there?’

‘Oh, nothing much. They’ve hung a Major called Meyer from Himmler’s personal staff on my back, that’s all. The Field Marshal was very sorry, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.’

He reached into his pocket for matches and the envelope Kesselring had given him fell out. Brandt picked it up as Koenig lit a cigarette.

‘Major,’ he said, holding the envelope out.

‘Kesselring’s parting gift,’ Koenig told him. ‘Open it and let’s see what it was he didn’t have the courage to tell me personally.’

He turned, looking out towards the sea, aware of Brandt ripping open the envelope and then the sergeant major’s incredulous explosion of delight. Koenig swung round and Brandt held out the letter, smiling.

‘It’s your promotion, Lieutenant-Colonel.’

Koenig stared at him for a long moment, then snatched the letter from him. The formality of the language meant nothing to him. The important thing was that Brandt was right. Kesselring had promoted him. When he looked at the envelope, he saw now that it was addressed to Obersturmbannführer Max Koenig. What was it Kesselring had said? I have done the best I can for you in the circumstances.

He clapped Brandt on the shoulder. ‘A celebration, Rudi, is very definitely in order.’ As they started to walk back towards the kubelwagen he laughed. ‘My God, but I’d like to see Meyer’s face when he hears about this.’

4

It was four weeks later when the jeep carrying Harry Carter deposited him at the ornate entrance of the villa at dar el Ouad. He went up the steps slowly, taking his time and passed into the cool darkness.

Cusak looked up from his desk and got to his feet instantly. ‘Major Carter. Good to see you, sir.’

‘I believe I’m expected.’

‘That’s right, sir. I’ll tell General Eisenhower you’re here.’

He moved away and Carter went out on the terrace. Was it only six weeks since he’d stood here? He had that pain in his chest again and in spite of the fact, or because of it, he took the old silver case from his breast pocket, selected a cigarette and lit it, inhaling with great deliberation.

There was a quick step behind him and as he turned, Cusak said, ‘The General will see you now, Major.’

Standing in front of the desk, Carter was filled with a strange sense of déja vu. Eisenhower, looking up at him, frowned. ‘You don’t look too good, Major.’

‘I’ll be all right, sir. I was just wondering whether it was then or now.’

Eisenhower smiled. ‘Oh, yes, you’ve been here before, I can assure you. I get days like that myself. Sit down.’ He pulled a file forward and opened it. ‘I read your report with considerable interest.’

Carter pulled forward a chair. ‘Thank you, sir.’ He hesitated. ‘Is the Sicilian invasion on, General?’

Eisenhower looked up and said calmly, ‘During the next few weeks the British under General Montgomery will invade at the Eastern end of the island, while General Patton and the Seventh Army will land in the South and strike for Palermo. Are you surprised?’

‘Not really, sir, although there’s been a strong opinion in Sicily for months now, which I might say the Germans seem to hold also, that Sardinia would be the target.’

‘Which is exactly what we want them to think. But let’s get back to the original question I put to you when you were last here. According to your report, you seem certain that Washington is hoping for too much with the Mafia connection.’

‘I’m afraid so, General.’

There was a brief silence, while Eisenhower stared down at the file. ‘All right, what’s your solution?’

‘Well, there is a man, General, named Luca. Don Antonio Luca. He’s what’s known in Sicily as Capo di Tutti Capi. Boss of all the bosses. The fascists imprisoned him in 1940. Sent him to prison on the mainland – Naples. He escaped later that year and returned to Sicily where he’s been in hiding ever since. He’s the one man they’ll all listen to. I don’t wish to blaspheme, but in Sicily he could pull a larger audience than the Pope.’

‘Then find him,’ Eisenhower said.

‘He doesn’t want to be found, sir.’

‘Could you find him?’

‘I’ve tried. Total silence so far. I’ve got a better chance than most people, though. He doesn’t care for Americans. It seems he had a young brother called Cesare, who was a rum-runner on the Great Lakes during Prohibition. One night in 1929 Cesare was ambushed by a rival gang outside Chicago and personally shot three men dead. He died himself in the electric chair the following year.’

Eisenhower stood up. He paced up and down a couple of times, then turned to the map and stood looking up at it ‘Still, one thing’s (or sure. If George Patton and his boys have to fight their way through those mountains to Palermo, they’ll die by the thousands.’

He repeated the phrase in a whisper as if to himself. Carter knew that in his mind’s eye, Eisenhower was seeing again the American dead on the battlefield of Kasserine, that terrible débâcle in which untried boys had found themselves faced with the cream of the Afrika Corps.

Carter cleared his throat. ‘With respect, General, I do have a suggestion.’

Eisenhower turned, suddenly alert. ‘And what might that be?’

‘After all is said and done, Luciano still seems to me the key figure in the whole affair. His influence with the Sicilian Mafia is unquestioned. He might provide the right link with Luca. Enough to make Luca come out of hiding and declare himself for us. If he does that, General, then we have Mafia on our side one hundred and ten percent.’

Eisenhower stood there for a long moment, staring at him, then nodded slowly. ‘Damn me, Major, but I have a sneaking suspicion you might be right.’

‘Then you’ll put Intelligence in Washington on to it right away, sir?’ Carter said. ‘They could approach Luciano again during the next couple of days.’