The Dominafuhrer - MISS SPITEFUL'S WAR

Episode 19 - Against The Clock

July 1944

When we entered, Miss Spiteful had her pursed lips angry look on her face and was drumming her fingers on her desk. She looked at us both in our costumes and snapped. “Well?”

“Everything’s fine.” Miss Solitaire said as we sat down. “He’s with the stenographer now and then he’s off to the Doctor.

“Doctor?” Miss Spiteful raised an eyebrow. “Is he damaged?”

“He lost a nipple and he’ll smell toast for a while when he goes to the WC.” Miss Solitaire joked. “But what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at home having your every whim pandered to."

“So I was, but I was called in to deal with an important prisoner to find that he isn’t even here.” She glared at the telephone as if daring it to ring. “The local Polizie picked up a transvestite on the streets in one of the suburbs last night who refused to identify himself or say where he had been or where he was going. When they opened his suitcase they found the uniform of a Generalleutnant in the Army and panicked. They called the Kripo who identified him as Bernhard Von Rittenberger, who was dismissed from his command on the Eastern Front in January of ‘fourty two by the Fuhrer. He’s supposed to be in retirement since then. The Kripo called the Gestapo and I was told to come in and interrogate him but he hasn’t arrived. The Kripo told me that they were ordered by SS Intelligence to send him to Army Headquarters on the Bendlerstrasse instead, but I cannot find out who issued that order. Canaris might be gone but he’s still pulling the strings.”

Admiral Wilhelm Canaris was a naval officer who had helped build up Germany’s Intelligence Services before the war as head of the Office of Foreign Affairs and Counter Intelligence, better known as the Abwehr or Military Intelligence. He had been continually at odds with, not only Heinrich Himmler and the Agencies of the SS, but also with the heads of the three Armed Services. Finally, the Fuhrer had had enough of his intrigues and had forced the Admiral’s retirement earlier this year. The Abwehr had been absorbed into SS Intelligence under Ernst Kaltenbrunner but the two sides did not work well together. Not only did the quality of intelligence decline and the High Command’s trust in it, but Canaris was suspected of still commanding the loyalties of his former subordinates.

“Everyone in authority is out of the city or uncontactable,” Miss Spiteful fumed. “Himmler’s at his Headquarters in East Prussia and Kaltenbrunner, Muller, Schellenberg, Pohl and Ohlendorf are all out of touch. I know I’m a woman and I’m supposed to be paranoid but I just have a bad feeling about this.”

Miss Spiteful knew a lot of the top Nazis personally and, I suspect, professionally as well and usually had no trouble getting through to one of them when she wanted something done. It was very unusual to see her so worried.

“Anyway,” she continued. “Freidrich is loading up a Kubelwagen with some equipment and I have spoken to the Feldgendarmerie at the Bendlerstrasse. They are letting me use their Gymnasium for the interrogation. It’s in the basement and near their cells. If I take Freidrich and Ingrid with me, can you and Heinz clear up here?”

Miss Solitaire knew Miss Spiteful better than me and she too looked worried at seeing our leader so concerned but agreed promptly. For my part, the thought of going to Army Headquarters meant that I might have the chance to see my lover.

“Ingrid! I’m speaking to you!” Miss Spiteful snapped.

I jumped and lit a cigarette to cover my nerves. In her current mood, Miss Spiteful was quite likely to take it out on me with a good thrashing.

She opened the file on her desk and passed me a photograph. It was of a middle aged army officer with a long neck, thin face and nose, deep dark eyes and dark hair, greying at the sides. It meant nothing to me and I shook my head in response to her unspoken question.

“Then how about this one?” She said, passing me another photograph. I sat up in surprise when I looked at it. This one was of a person in a high necked dress and a grey wig, slightly awry on top of the head.

“Mein Gott!” I exclaimed. “It’s Josephine!”

“You know him then?” Miss Spiteful asked. “That one was taken this morning.”

“Ja.” I nodded. “She came two or three times to the club where I was arrested. She would talk to the young and pretty ones and find one willing to go back to her hotel. They would have a meal, some dressing up and caning, have sex and both depart in the morning. It didn’t interest me but I know that she paid well. I did speak to her but she was careful never to reveal anything about herself. I don’t think that anyone realised that Josephine was an Army officer, let alone a General.”

Miss Spiteful slammed the file cover shut. “And neither did the Gestapo! There’s not a word about it in this file. This is just another piece in the puzzle. Why is it so important to stop this man being interrogated for just wearing a dress?” Her fingers drummed the desktop again. “Ingrid, I have made a list of the items that that you need to pack. I’ll need you to do it quickly. We’ve wasted half the day already.”

I looked at my wristwatch. It was twelve noon.



To continue this story, click General Josephine



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