Simple Genius (25 page)

“YOU SEEM TO BE the resident expert on Camp Peary around here,” Horatio said. He was seated across from South Freeman in the latter’s office.

“Yeah, but these days nobody wants to listen,” South said bitterly. “Let the CIA do whatever the hell it wants to. I just keep my head down now before it gets blown off.”

“Well, most Americans want to be safe by any means possible.”

“Yeah?
Don’t get me going on that logic; it won’t be pretty.”

Horatio went over briefly what Sean had filled him in on when he and Michelle had visited South Freeman. “Now he wants to know what other history there is about the place that might not be widely known.”

“That fellow’s interested in Monk Turing’s death, right?” Horatio nodded. “Well, I am too. And if anything I tell you helps break that case, I want an exclusive. And I mean
exclusive.
Put my weekly rag back on the map, man, I’m telling you.”

“I’m not sure I can speak for Sean on that.”

Freeman immediately scowled. “Then you can get the hell out of here. I don’t hand out favors for nothing; goes against all my principles.”

Horatio hesitated only for an instant. “Okay, I’m making an executive decision. We break the case using something you gave us, you get the story first. I can put it in writing if you want.”

“Writing doesn’t mean shit with slick lawyers hovering around.” South held out his hand for Horatio to shake. “I like to look a man in the eye and press the flesh on it. You screw me later I’ll come and kick your ass.”

“What a sweet-talker you are.”

South said, “So what are you really interested in?”

“Well, why don’t you go through it chronologically? I know some about the CIA and Camp Peary, but what about before that? I understand the Navy trained Seabees there for World War II but was there anything else going on?”

“Oh, yeah, a lot going on.
Like I told your buddies, there were two towns over there, Magruder and Bigler’s Mill. Magruder was named after, what else? A Confederate general; seems to have been a trend down this way.” He snorted. “My parents obviously had different reasoning when they named me
South
.”

“South
Freeman,
” Horatio said. “Clever.”

“Yeah.
Anyway, Bigler’s Mill was built on the site of a Civil War hospital. So the stage was all set when the Navy came knocking on the door.”

“I wonder why the military picked that
area?
”

“You mean aside from it being occupied by colored folks who didn’t have any voice? Well, you got a lot of cheap land, water nearby––we are talking the Navy after all, and the C&O Railway ran a spur track down from Williamsburg and made Magruder’s Station.”

“Why was that?
For bringing sailors and supplies down?”

“Yep.
Most folks don’t realize that back then the railroad was how most troops got around in this country. But there was another reason for the spur.”

“What was that?”

“When the Navy operated the place it also held a military stockade.”

“Stockade?
You mean a prison for American soldiers who’d committed crimes?”

“Nope.
It was for
German
prisoners of war.”

“Germans?”

“They were sailors mostly. They came from subs and ships that were sunk off the East Coast. Crazy man Hitler thought these fellows had been killed of course. That’s why all the secrecy. The government didn’t want anybody to know those Germans were being held there.”

Horatio said, “Why? What was the big deal?”

South pointed at him and grinned. “Now that’s the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question, ain’t it?”

“You’ve obviously thought about it. What’s your take?”

“Well, there’s an obvious one. If we were getting those boys to talk, spill secrets or capturing them with Enigma codebooks the German navy was using, then Hitler and his cronies would move heaven and earth to kill them. And make no bones about it, there were a lot of German spies and assassins over here then. At the very least it seemed that the tide in the Atlantic war turned about the time those POWs showed up at Camp Peary, so I’m betting our boys got them to talk about the Enigma code.”

“What happened to the prisoners after the war ended?”

“I figure some of them went back to Germany. I mean after the war what was the point in holding them? But I don’t think all of them went back to Germany. What was back there except dust, rubble and chaos? And people thought they were dead anyway. So I think some of them just stayed in America.”

As Horatio digested this information South continued his narrative. The war ended, the Navy left and the land was turned into a state forestry and game reserve. Then the Navy came back in 1951, shut it down and it had remained closed to the public ever since.

“The CIA took the place over in June of 1961 even though it was still officially listed as a military base.
Pretty ironic when you think about it.
That date.”

Horatio jerked to attention. Sean had informed him about Monk Turing’s reference to “irony” as he and Len Rivest floated past Camp Peary while fishing.

“Ironic?
How’s that?”

“That was two months after the CIA fiasco at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. At the time the Navy said it was officially opening a new facility in place of what they called a Seamaster base. And they transferred some of their training, like demolitions and unconventional weaponry, to another facility. But that was all bullshit. I’m sure June of 1961 is when Camp Peary became the CIA’s main spy school. They were embarrassed after the Bay of Pigs screw-up and they should have been. Guess they needed a place to really train their people to do the job right. Yep, right after Bay of Pigs. But that’s not the only irony.”

“What else?”

“I told you the town was named after a Confederate general? Well General ‘Prince John’ Magruder was one of the true masters of deception during the war. Now the town that bore his name is home to people who make their living lying.”

“I see your point. That
is
ironic,” Horatio agreed. Although he couldn’t see how it tied into what Monk had said to Rivest that day.
“Anything else?”

South Freeman glanced around even though they were all alone. “Started to tell this to your friends, but then decided not to.
But what the hell.
There’s a part of Camp Peary most folks have no idea about. Maybe even some people who work there.”

“So how do you know?”

“Those folks have to eat and have their places cleaned, right? Well, I know lots of cooks and cleaners. Same old shit, a lot of ’em have my skin color, how about that?”

“Okay, go on,” Horatio encouraged him.

“Well, the camp has a black area component. And I’m not talking about folks who look like me. That’s where the secret side of U.S. diplomacy takes place.”

“Secret diplomacy?”

“Yeah.
Goes on all the time.
Leaders of other countries, agents, rebels, dictators, even
terrorists
who happen to be on our side at least for now, are flown in on some of those planes you see landing at two A.M. They don’t have to pass through customs or nothing. No one even knows they were ever here. And the meetings officially never happened. Before we invaded Iraq a bunch of Kurdish leaders were flown to the Farm to hold meetings about ways to topple old Saddam from the inside.”

An impressed Horatio exclaimed, “South, how do you know all this?”

Freeman looked offended. “Hey, I’m a damn journalist, man.”

Horatio sat back looking troubled.

Freeman grinned wickedly. “Scary shit.”

“Scary shit,” Horatio agreed.

WHEN SEAN AND MICHELLE MET later he said, “I didn’t get a chance to search for a secret room earlier, you want to give it another shot together?”

A few minutes later they were in the main hall of the mansion. Waiting for it to clear out, they started making their rounds. They had cleared about a dozen rooms and had just finished with the library, when a voice startled them as they came out.

“You’re not doing it the right way.”

They turned and stared at Viggie, who was wearing a very superior look while perched on an ornate couch sitting against one wall in the main hall.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in class?” Michelle asked.

“I’m sick.”

“You don’t look sick.”

“I already finished all the work, including my homework. And I saw you snooping around.”

“We’re not snooping around,” Sean objected.

“You’re looking for that secret room you asked me about, but you’re not doing it right.”

“Okay, how would you do it?” Sean shot back.

In response Viggie held up several sheets of paper covered with numbers and equations. “I’ve already worked it out. Right after you asked me about it I spent a bunch of time measuring every exterior and interior dimension of the house and compared it with the actual physical configuration.”

“You did?” Sean said, stunned. “You’re only eleven.”

Viggie ignored this. “And I came up with a very interesting discovery.”

“What was it?” Michelle said.

“There’s a twelve-by-twelve-foot square unaccounted for.” She showed them the paperwork, which was too complicated for either Michelle or Sean to follow.

“Okay, little Miss Einstein,” Sean said. “Where is it?”

“Third floor, west corridor, next to the last bedroom on the right.”

Sean thought about this. “That’s right next to the bedroom
I
was staying in.”

Viggie put her hands on her hips and gave him a penetrating look. “Gee, you think you would have noticed then,
Mister
Einstein.”

Sean headed up the stairs. Michelle and Viggie quickly followed.

A minute later they were standing on the third floor staring at what appeared to be a blank wall.

“Keep an eye out,” Sean said, giving the hallway a searching look. He began probing the wall with his fingers, trying to find a gap in the wood or a hidden latch like at the other mansion. Ten minutes later he gave up. “I can’t find anything, want to give it a try?” he asked Michelle.

After another ten minutes she said, “Nothing.”

“Viggie, are you sure this was the spot?” Sean asked.

“Absolutely,” she said tersely.

“Well, then either it’s just wasted space and there’s no secret room or there’s another way to open the door.”

“Sean, you said this is next to your old bedroom?” Michelle said. “Let’s try from in there.”

“Right!”
He led them into the bedroom and started tapping on the wall. “Sounds hollow,” he said. He probed the wall for a lever of some kind but found nothing. They went to the room on the other side of the blank space, but the door was dead-bolted.

“Okay, what now? You can’t exactly cut a hole in the wall without anyone noticing,” Michelle said. “And so what if it’s a secret room. It’s probably empty like the one in that old house.”

“Michelle, we talked about this. If Rivest was right and there are spies here, they could be using that room for some reason.”

“Spies!”
Viggie exclaimed.

“Keep that to
yourself
,” Sean warned.

“And what would spies be using this room for?” Michelle asked.

“If I knew that I wouldn’t be trying to get in there,” Sean snapped.

“Well, it doesn’t look like we’re going to be able to do that right now.” She turned to Viggie. “Thanks for your help. There’s no way Sean and I could have figured this out.”

Viggie beamed at her.

HORATIO THANKED FREEMAN and headed back to the B&B. When he got there Horatio checked messages at his office. There were quite a few, but only one really excited him. He quickly called her back.

“Hello?”

“Mrs. Rose? Hazel Rose?”

“Hold on, she’s in the next bed.”

Horatio waited a few moments as the sounds of the phone being passed over reached him. Then a deep, southern voice came on the line.

“Hello? Who’s calling?”

“Mrs. Rose. It’s Horatio Barnes. I just got your message.”

“Oh, yes, Mr. Barnes. I wanted to thank you for what you did. They’re transferring me to that facility you talked about. I really can’t believe it. They actually have a library with real books in it instead of just magazines.”

Horatio’s enthusiasm waned. He thought she’d remembered something about Michelle’s childhood.
“Right.
Absolutely.
I’m glad it worked out for you. I know you’ll be much happier there. Thank you for calling.”

“Now just hold your horses. That’s not the only reason I called.”

Horatio immediately tensed. “It isn’t?”

“I remembered something else. I don’t know if it’ll help you, but I thought I should pass it on.”

“Right now, Mrs. Rose, I’ll take anything I can get.”

Hazel Rose’s voice sank to a whisper, probably so her roommate couldn’t hear. “Remember I said that Frank Maxwell went to college at night to get a master’s degree so he could get onto a bigger police force?”

“I remember. With Michelle’s brothers grown and gone by then, I’m sure it was pretty lonely for her.”

“Well, I don’t think Michelle was the
only
lonely one in that house.”

“What do you mean?”

“You didn’t hear this from me.”

“I swear. Now please tell me.”

There was a long sigh and then she said, “Around about the time we were talking about, at least once a week I used to see a car parked down the road a bit from the Maxwell place.”

“A car?”

“I didn’t think much of it to tell the truth. And it was never there in the morning when my husband went off to work. I’d know because I’d be up to make his breakfast.”

“You ever find out whose car it was?”

“No. But I did see the car at another place once. It was parked outside a Dairy Queen.”

“Did you see who was driving it?”

“Yep.
A good-looking man.
He was in uniform.”

“What kind of uniform?”

“Army.”

“Was there a military base nearby?”

“No, but there was a recruitment station in town.”

“So you think he worked there?”

“Maybe.
I never followed it up. It really wasn’t my business.”

“But why do you think the car had something to do with the Maxwells’ house?”

“Back then it was the only house down that way other than mine. And the only other homes on the street were occupied by women whose husbands were home at night.”

“And Frank Maxwell wasn’t?”

“That’s right. And the nights he
was
home, that car wasn’t there.”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“And you just thought of this?” he said skeptically.

“I thought of it while you were here. But why rake up muck? What good will it
do
?”

“What made you change your mind then?”

“The more I thought about it, the more I believe the truth, whatever it is, might help Michelle. She was just a little girl. Whatever might have happened back then it wasn’t her fault.”

“And what do you think happened, Mrs. Rose?”

“Mr.
Barnes, that
I just won’t say. It’s up to you now. I hope this helps. Did you tell Michelle I said hello?”

“I did and she remembered you very well.”

Hazel Rose’s voice cracked slightly. “I wish nothing but the best for that girl.”

Horatio thanked her, hung up and slumped back in his chair. This put a whole new spin on everything that the psychologist didn’t like at all.