The Apocalypse Watch Read Online Free PDF

shot to her left, gripping her husband’s arm.
    “They’re back,” said Latham, “growing in numbers and influence beyond anything anyone wants to believe or talk about.”
    “Say there’s even a granule of truth in what you say,” pressed Bressard. “What has it to do with the Quai d’Orsay? You said ‘for both our sakes.’ How, my friend?”
    “You’ll get a full briefing tomorrow at our embassy. I insisted on that two hours ago, and Washington agreed. Until then I can tell you only—and it’s all I really know—that the money trail through Switzerland to Austria and the growing Nazi movement is secretly funneled from people here in France. Who, we don’t know, but it’s immense, millions upon millions of dollars. To fanatics who are rebuilding the party—Hitler’s party in exile—but still in Germany, hidden in Germany.”
    “Which, if you’re correct, means there’s another organization here, is that what you’re saying?” asked Bressard.
    “Jodelle’s
traitor
,” whispered an astonished Jean-Pierre Villier, leaning forward in the chair. “The French general!”
    “Or what he created,” said Latham.
    “For God’s sake, what are you two
talking
about?” exclaimed the actor’s wife. “A newly discovered father,the Résistance, Nazis, millions of dollars to fanatics in the mountains! It all sounds crazy—
fou
!”
    “Why don’t you start at the beginning, Drew Latham,” said the actor softly. “Perhaps I might fill in with things I knew nothing about before tonight.”

2
    “A ccording to the records in our possession,” began Latham, “in June of 1946 a repatriated member of the French Résistance, alternately using the names of Jean Froisant and Pierre Jodelle, appeared repeatedly at our embassy in various simple disguises and always at night. He claimed he was being silenced by the Paris courts regarding his knowledge of the treasonous activities of a leader of the Resistance. The traitor supposedly was a French general under privileged house arrest accorded by the German High Command to your general officers who remained in France. The judgment of the OSI investigators was negative, the determination being that Froisant/Jodelle was mentally unbalanced, as were hundreds, if not thousands, who had been psychologically crippled in the concentration camps.”
    “The OSI is the Office of Special Investigations,” explained Bressard, seeing the bewildered expressions on the faces of both Villiers. “It’s the American department created to pursue war criminals.”
    “I’m sorry, I thought you knew,” said Latham. “It operated extensively here in France in conjunction with your authorities.”
    “Of course,” acknowledged Giselle. “It was the formal name; I’m told we had others. Collaborationist hunters, pig seekers, so many names.”
    “Please continue,” said Jean-Pierre, frowning, disturbed. “Jodelle was dismissed as a madman—just like
that
?”
    “It wasn’t arbitrary, if that’s what you mean. He was interrogated at length, including three separate depositionstaken independently of one another to check for inconsistencies. It’s standard procedure—”
    “Then you have the information,” interrupted the actor. “Who was this general?”
    “We don’t know—”
    “You don’t
know
?” cried Bressard. “
Mon Dieu
, you didn’t
lose
the material, did you?”
    “No, we didn’t lose it, Henri, it was stolen.”
    “But you said ‘according to the records’!” Giselle broke in.
    “I said ‘according to the records in our
possession
,’ ” corrected Latham. “You can index a name in a particular time frame, and the index will summarize without specifics the substantiated case histories where procedures were followed and final determinations were made. Materials such as interrogations and depositions are in separate classified files to protect the privacy of the individuals from hostile inquiries.…
Those
were the files that were removed.