“As you wish, of course,” the Baron said. “What should I call you?”
“If it would not be presumptuous, my Christian name is Helmut.
And let me emphasize this is by no means an official interview.” sordx=s spxss “What, may I ask, is on your mind, Herr von Heurten-Mitnitz?” The moment he laid eyes on the Baron, von Heurten-Mitnitz decided that arrogance lay at the core of von Fulmar’s personality (he was, in other words, a scarecrow in fine clothes). The only way to handle such arrogance was to “wear” greater arrogance. If he tried to fence delicately, von Fulmar would perceive it as weakness, He had to knock him off balance straight of And there was one good way to do that, “I wondered if by chance you have been in touch with your son,” von Heurten-Mitnitz asked.
The Baron’s face tightened. “I have not,” he said firmly.
“I was referring, Herr Baron, to your eldest son,” von Heurten-Mitnitz said, as if he wanted to be absolutely sure they were talking about the same person.
“I presumed you were,” the Baron said.
“He’s been a bit of a problem for you, hasn’t he?” von Heurten-Mitnitz said, making it more of a challenge than an expression of sympathy.
“Until just now, Herr von Heurten-Mitnitz,” the Baron said, “I was under the impression that his case had been considered at the highest levels, and that it had been decided I could not fairly be held accountable for my son’s actions.” Von Fulmar was challenging von Heurten-Mitnitz’s right to ask questions. But the Baron’s bluster was hollow. A well-connected Party member can get away with reminding a Foreign Ministry functionary that he has access to the “highest levels, ” but that is as far as he would dare challenge a Brigadefuhrer SS-SD.
“The subject, regrettably, has come up again,” von Heurten-Mitnitz said coldly. He gave that a moment to sink in, then added, more kindly, “And I have been asked to look into it. Confidentially and uno ficially, as I said.” “God, now what has he done?” the Baron asked.
“I presume you know the basic facts?” The bluster was more than a little diminished.
“I think it would be best if you repeated them to me in your own words, ” von Heurten-Mitnitz said. “If you wouldn’t mind?”
“You didn’t respond when I asked what he’s done now,” the Baron said.
“That’s not really germane,” von Heurten-Mitnitz said.
“My father sent me to America,” he said, “to study electrical engineering at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles.”
“Why do you think he did that?” von Heurten-Mitnitz asked.
“In my day, a son went to school where his father sent him. I was first at Marburg for four years. And then my father sent me to Los Angeles.
He felt that would be best for me, and I did not question it.”
“I was sent to Harvard, actually,” von Heurten-Mitnitz said with compassion in his voice. “I found it quite difficult to adjust to.” The Baron responded to that with a nod, then went on.
“And while I was there, I made a genuine ass of myself,” the Baron said.
“I became infatuated with a young woman.”
“That would be Mary Elizabeth Chernick’?” von Heurten-Mitnitz asked.
“She had adopted the stage name Monica Sinclair, “‘ the Baron said.
“She wished to become an actress.”
“This is the same Monica Sinclair we used to see in American films? Forgive me, Baron, but wasn’t she a bit young for you?”
“My former wife is six months younger than I am, ” the Baron said icily.
“I see. And may I ask why you married her?”
“I was a damned fool,” the Baron said. “We had… been together… and she was in the family way.” “I see,” von Heurten-Mitnitz said.
“And you did the gentlemanly thing.”
“I never had the intention of staying married to her,” the Baron said. “Obviously, it would have been impossible to bring her to Germany.”
“Obviously,” von Heurten-Mitnitz agreed.
“Under American law, a child born to a woman within ten months of her divorce is presumed to be the legal offspring of her former husband.
When my former wife was six months pregnant–You follow the arithmetic?