Ecuperating - Chapter 14

Jayne called Carl McNabb the next day.

“McNabb Investigations! How may we help you?” Shirley was as bright as ever.

“Hi Shirl!” Jayne said “Is the man in?”

“Hey Jayne! Winning any money in sin city?” Shirley asked her.

“Just holding my own. Barely!”

“Did you get the document from England?”

“Yup! Interesting to say the least. Let me talk to Carl.”

“OK. He’s in his office now.”

Carl came on the line.

“Hi there, Jayne. I guess you got the material from England all right.”

“I sure did!” Jayne said with enthusiasm.

“Did you read any of it?”

“Nope. None of my business. If you wanted me to see it, you would have told me, I’m sure.”

“Well, I’m going to tell you now. And I need more help with this.”

Jayne told him about the arrangement with Hans Gruber, captain of the German submarine whose crew Eric had saved from sure death. She told him of the transportation of passengers those years of WWII.

“And he and Hans Gruber got pretty damn rich from the process,” she claimed.

“It looks like Tanner himself realized about 60 million. God knows what it’s worth now. Assuming they just put it away and let it grow it could be in the billions by now. If they are as smart as I think they are, it’s even more than that. And they laid plans to found a club in the Seney area for their families and members of the club. Again, assuming they did just that, what do you think the name of it might be?” she said facetiously.

“Lodge 16!” Carl finished for her. “That’s the connection! That’s why those two clowns came to see me last month when I inquired about the lodge. Somehow they have a connection with the government. Or..Perhaps those two weren’t FBI at all! I think it may be time to do a little more digging. What do you think, Jayne?”

“I think you’re exactly right! I know a few of the law enforcement people up there and I’ll do some of my own digging. I know the police chief in Newberry, so leave that one for me. You go ahead and do the rest. I’ll leave the State Police for you too. I don’t know too many of them, and those I do know are jealous of their power, I have found. And God forbid a woman making the inquiry,” Carl could feel her rolling her eyes at that one. Jayne’s next call went out to Chief Fred Marino, the police chief in Newberry, Michigan.

“Marino!” he bellowed in answer to the first ring.

“Jesus Christ, Fred! Are you trying to take my ear off?” Jayne asked crossly.

“Janey! Baby! How the hell are ya?” Fred asked. She could almost feel the smile.

“Great, Fred! Having fun here, of course. Hey.remember I asked for help in finding that fingerprint last fall?”

“Yup! I was wondering how you were doing with that book.”

“I’m still researching it, Fred. And that’s why I’m calling you. Do you know anyone named Eric Tanner up there?”

Jayne asked.

Fred hesitated for a moment, thinking.

“Not that I can recall. It sounds a bit familiar, but I can’t really pinpoint it. Why?”

“It’s a name that just came up in my investigation. How about a place near Seney called Lodge 16?” A longer silence.

“What do you want with that place?” Fred asked warily.

“You know something, don’t you?” Jayne pounced.

“Maybe. Maybe not. What’s the pitch?” Fred wasn’t smiling now.

“Tell me about it. Everything you know. It’s just part of the book, for God’s sake!”

She could sense more hesitation from Fred as he collected his thoughts.

“OK,” He said.

“But forget where you heard it. This is COMPLETELY off the record. Got it? You don’t tell ANYONE where this came from!”

“Why not?”

“Never mind the ‘why not’ shit! Just don’t do it!” Jayne could almost feel Fred sweating. What the hell could scare him like that, she thought.

“OK. You have my word.”

“Actually, there’s no proof of anything I say here. It’s all hearsay. I’ll pass on to you what I have heard, and what I have surmised on my own.”

Fred began his story: “From what I have been able to gather, somewhere

toward the end of 1944 a group of men bought 5000 or 6000 acres of the Seney Swamp about 2 miles east of the town itself. I think this is why the name of Eric Tanner sounded familiar. He was part of that group.

Maybe even the main man.”

Somewhere in the middle of that swamp, maybe on one of the many moraines in it, they built a lodge. It was all done by the summer of 1945 anyway. They put a road into it from M-77, about 10 miles north of the town of Seney. You can’t get there by that road. It has at least six gates on it. Most are manned by men with guns. At least that’s the word. I’m not sure if that’s true now. I know it was true 30 years ago because I tried to get in there once. I was stopped cold. And I mean cold! Those guys looked meaner than hell.

“Anyway, the scoop was that several men were recruited into the membership of that lodge. Those men were all heroes of WWII. Now, I mean heroes! Medal of Honor types. Every summer, they and their families went to the lodge and held maneuvers there. At times we could hear explosions off in that direction. That’s the reason I went there that day. I didn’t go back.