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“Naturally, I’ll take up my position again as soon as I’ve located Seyss and returned him to custody.”
    “Will you?” Jackson smirked from the corner of his mouth. “Kind of you to let me know. Tell me, do you have the vaguest idea when that might be?”
    “No, sir.” Judge had forgotten that a Supreme Court justice could be sarcastic, too.
    “And any notion where Seyss has gone?”
    Again Judge said no. Storey had given him the details of the escape earlier. Seyss had killed two men, including the camp commander, then traipsed out the front gates in full view of the camp guards—two sentries on the ground, two in the towers, each manning a .30-caliber machine gun. Twelve hours later, no information had been received about his whereabouts.
    “I phoned the military police unit up in Garmisch earlier this morning,” Judge volunteered. “The preliminary investigation is just being finished up. Counterintelligence is being brought in and so is CID, but Third Army HQ hasn’t assigned the case yet. The officer of the day stated they’re looking for someone properly qualified.”
    Jackson took the news skeptically, shifting his gaze to Storey. “That so, Bob? From what I understand, Janks is the first officer to be killed by a German since the surrender. You’d think George Patton would have had a dozen men assigned to the case by now. Third Army, that’s his command, isn’t it?”
    “Manpower’s tight,” said Storey, shoulders bunched in apology. “We’re losing a ton of GIs every day. Half are shipping out for home, half to R and R depots on their way to Japan. On top of that, CIC is getting set to run an important operation in ten days’ time. A real big deal called Tallyho. Funny, the names they come up with.”
    But Jackson wasn’t smiling. He darted his eyes between Storey and Judge, as if trying to guess what kind of scheme the two of them were working. “Tallyho?”
    “It’s a zonal effort,” continued Storey, “a big shindig cooked up to pull in the Nazis who’ve eluded our nets to date. Most are SS men slated for automatic arrest who never got around to turning themselves in. All in all seventy thousand troops in four army groups are scheduled to take part. Like I said, it’s a big deal.”
    Judge was impressed by the depth of Storey’s knowledge. The chief of the Document Control Division was privy to more information than he’d imagined.
    “And Goering?” asked Jackson, returning his crocodile eyes to Judge. “Who’s to handle him in the interim?”
    For once Judge had an answer prepared. “Begging your pardon, sir, but the trials won’t start for a few months. If I’m gone for a week, I’ll still have plenty of time to conduct a thorough interrogation of the prisoner.”
    “And what exactly makes you think you’d be of assistance, Major?”
    Judge cleared his throat, encouraged by the opportunity to plead his case. “I spent ten years as a police officer before coming to the bar, first as a blue jacket, then as a detective. My last four years were with Homicide.”
    “In Germany?” Jackson cut in, raising his head. He was smiling.
    “No, sir,” Judge answered, matching the friendly expression. “In New York. Brooklyn, actually.”
    “Ah, no doubt that explains why you’re familiar with the geography of southern Germany. Know your way around Bavaria, do you? Have you ever been to Garmisch, Major? Or to Germany, at all, for that matter?”
    Jackson wasn’t just sarcastic, he was mean. “No, sir. This would be my first trip. However, my German is fluent. I’m familiar with German customs.”
    “I know all about your Teutonic heritage, Judge. However, the quaint tales your mother told you as a child have little application to the tracking down and capture of an accused war criminal. Seyss is an experienced combat officer, and I see from his file, a native of this particular region.” Jackson sighed deeply and Judge could feel the meeting coming to a rapid and