“On June twelfth, nineteen thirty-six, I made positive identification. I
amended the file a year and a half later on January second, nineteen
thirty-eight.”
J* 21
“Jesus Christ.”
“Yes. . . . Jesus Christ”
“And you never told her?”
“No.”
“Dad, why not?”
“I could give you twenty or thirty impressive reasons,” said Canfield as he
continued looking down at Gramercy Park. “But three have always stuck out
in my mind. First-he’d done enough to her; he was her own personal hell.
Second–once your grandmother died, no one else alive could identify him.
And the third reason-your mother took my word … that I’d killed him.”
“Youllf
The major turned from the window. “Yes. Me. . . . believed I had. . . .
Enough so that I forced twenty-two witnesses to sign affidavits that he was
dead. I bought a corrupt court outside of Zurich to issue the certificate
of death. All very legal…. That June morning in thirty-six when I found
out the truth we were at the bay house and I was on the patio having
coffee. You and your mother were hosing down a catboat and calling for me
to put it in the water. You kept splashing her with the hose, and she
laughed and shrieked and ran around the boat with you following her. She
was so happyl … I didn’t tell her. I’m not proud of myself, but there it
is.”
The young man sat down in the chair next to the table. He started to speak
several times, but each time the words fell short of making sense.
Canfield spoke quietly. “Are you sure you want to belong to me?”
The boy looked up from the chair. “You must have loved her a lot.”
“I still do.”
“Then I … still want to belong to you.”
The shaded understatement of the young man’s voice nearly caused Canfield
to break. But he had promised himself he would not do that no matter what
happened. 17here was too much left to go through.
“I thank you for that.” He turned back to the window. The street lights had
been turned on–every other one as if to remind people that it could happen
here, but probably wouldn’t so they could relax.
‘Dadrt
“Yes?”
22
“Why did you go back and change the file?”
There was a long silence before Canfield answered. “I had to. . . . That
sounds funny now-‘I had to.’ It took me eighteen months to make that
decision. When I finally did make it, it took less ‘than five minutes to
convince myself.” He stopped for a moment wondering if it was necessary to
tell the boy. There was no point in not telling him. “On New Year’s Day in
nineteen thirty-eight your mother bought me a new Packard Roadster. Twelve
cylinders. A beautiful automobile. I took it for a spin on the Southampton
road. , . . I’m not sure what happened -1 think the steering wheel locked.
I don’t know, but there was an accident. The car rolled over twice before
I was thrown clear. It was a wreck, but I was okay. Except for a little
blood, I was fine. But it occurred to me that I might have been killed.”
“I remember that. You phoned from somebody’s house and Mom and I drove over
and picked youup. You were a mess.
“That’s right. That was when I made up my mind to go down to Washington and
amend the file.”
“I don’t understand.”
Canfield sat on the window seat “If anything did. happen to me, Scarlett .
. -. Kroeger could have played out a horror story and would have if it
served him. knet was vulnerable because she didn’t know anything. So some-
where the truth had to be told. . . . But told in such a way that would
leave neither government any alternative but to have Kroeger eliminated .
. , immediately. Speaking for this country, Kroeger made fools out of a lot
of prominent men. Some of those distinguished gentlemen are at the policy
level today. Others are manufacturing planes and tanks and ships. By
identifying Kroeger as Scarlett, we move into a whole new set of questions.
Questions our government won’t want asked now. Or perhaps ever.”
He slowly unbuttoned his tweed overcoat but he did not want to take it off.
“The Scarlatti lawyers have a letter which is to be delivered upon my death
or disappearance to the most influential cabinet member of whatever
administration is in Washington at the time. Scarlatti lawyers are good at
that sort of thing. I knew the war was coming. Everyone
23
did. Remember, it was nineteen thirty-eight.The
letter directs that person to the Me and the truth.”
Canfield took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling.
“As you711 see, I outlined a specific course of action if we were at war
and a vadation if we weren7t. Only in the last extremity was your mother to
be told.”
“Why should anyone pay attention to you after what YOU did?”
Andrew Scarlett was quick. Canfield likid that.
“There are times when countries … even countries in a state of war have
the same objectives. Lines of communication are always open for such
purposes . . . Heinrich Kroeger is a case in point He represents too great
an embarrassment to either side…. The file makes that clear.,$
“That seems cynical.”
,sit is. . . . I directed -that within fortyeight hours after my death, the
Third Reich’s High Command be reached and told that a few of our top
personnel in Military Intelligence have long suspected Heinrich Kroeger to
be an American citizen.”
Andrew Scariett leaned forward on the edge of the chair. Canfield went on
without apparently noticing the boy’s growing concern-
“Since. Kroeger consistently makes underground cOntacta with a number of
Americans~ these suspicions are believed to be confirmed. However, as a
result of . . .” Canfield paused to recall the exact wording. “. – – ‘the
death of one Matthew Canfield, a former associate of the man known now as
Heinrich Kroeger . . .’ our government has in its possession … documents
which state unequivocably that Heinrich Kroeger is . . . criminally insane,
We want no part of him. Either as a former citizen or as a defector.”
The young man rose from the chair, staring at his stepfather. “Is this
trueT’
it would have been sufficient, which is more to the point. The combination
is enough to guarantee a swift execution. A traitor as well as an insane
man.”
“Thafs not what I asked.”
“Ali the information’s in the file.”
“I’d like to know now. Is it true? Is -hewas he in
sane? Or is it a trickT’
Canfield got up from the window seat. His reply was
– 24
barely above a whisper. “This is why I wanted to wait. You want a simple
answer, and there isn’t any.”
“I want to know if my … father was insane.”
“If you mean do we really have documented proof from medical authorities
that he was unbalanced? . . . No, we do not. On the other hand, there were
ten men left in Zurich, powerful men–six are still living-who had every
reason in the world to want Kroeger, as they knew him, considered a
lunatic. . . . it was their only way out. And being who they were, they
made sure that was the case. The Heinrich Kroeger referred to in the
original file is verified by all ten to be a maniac. A schizophrenic
madman. It was a collective effort that left no room for doubt. They had no
choice…. But if you ask me . . . Kroeger was the sanest man imaginable.
And the cruelest. You’ll read that, too.”
“Why,don’t you call him by his right name?”
Suddenly, as if the strain had become more than he could bear, Canfield
swiftly turned.
Andrew watched the angered, flushtd, middle-aged man across the room. He
had always loved him for he was a man to be loved. Positive, sure, capable,
fun andwhat was the word his stepfather had used?-vulnerable.
“You weren’t just protecting Mother, were you? You were protecting me. You
did what you did to protect me, too…. If he ever came back, I’d be a
freak for the rest Of MY life.”
Canfield slowly turned and faced his stepson. “Not just you. There’d be a
lot of freaks. I counted on that.”
“But not the same for them.” Young Scarlett walked back to the briefcase.
“I grant you. Not the same.” He followed the boy and stood behind him. “I’d
have given anything not to have told you, I think you know that. I had no
choice. By making you part of the final conditions, Kroeger-left me no
choice but to tell you the truth. I couldn’t fake thaL … He believes that
once you know the truth you’ll be terrified, and I’ll do anything short of