Apartment 4-C
1044 Calle Talcahuano
Buenos Aires, Argentina
2105 15 October 1945
“Do we have a tailor we can trust?” Mannhoffer asked.
He was sitting in an armchair by a window through which the Colón Opera House could be seen across a park.
“Excuse me?” Fassbinder asked.
“That was a simple question, Fassbinder. Do we have a tailor we can trust? Answer yes or no.”
“A tailor! I thought you said a tailor. Yes, sir. We do.”
“Get in your car and bring him here.”
“I don’t understand, Herr Mannhoffer.”
“Look at me, Fassbinder. I look like a Bible salesman. I need new clothing, and I need it now.”
“Sir, I can get on the telephone and ask—”
“We don’t know, do we, Fassbinder, whether or not General Martín’s agents are listening to calls made on that telephone? Go get him! And bear in mind I don’t like having to explain my orders.”
“Yes, sir. Immediately, Herr Mannhoffer.”
As soon as the door closed behind Fassbinder, Mannhoffer turned to Richter.
“He’s not one of Wernher von Braun’s rocket scientists, is he?”
“He’s a good man, Herr Mannhoffer. Reliable.”
“I sent him away because I need new clothing, and I need it now . . .”
“That will not be a problem, sir.”
“. . . and I didn’t want him here when we have our little chat.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Let’s start with money,” Mannhoffer said. “I am presuming we have sufficient
cash for all Operation Phoenix requirements?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And what, if anything, is left of the Confidential Special Fund assets?”
“You do know what happened to them?”
Mannhoffer nodded. “Señor Moreno of the Banco Suisse Creditanstalt told me that Brigadeführer von Deitzberg went to Montevideo, where he had Sturmbannführer von Tresmarck transfer all of the assets of the Confidential Special Fund to him. Is that your understanding?”
“Yes, sir. I heard he permitted von Tresmarck to retain approximately one million U.S. dollars, which was to finance von Tresmarck’s disappearance.”
“That was to get him out of Uruguay without his making a fuss. The second part of that scenario was to later run him down in Paraguay, eliminate him and his boyfriend, and reclaim that money. Obviously, that did not happen.”