Bochum, Tuesday, 19 October 1943
Giskes and Protze had continued their investigation into the case of George Gottlob, deceased spy. Their canvass of the district in which the deceased had lived had turned up few leads, and those led to the local NSDAP cell. At the suggestion of Protze several plain-clothes officers of the Bochum police had been detailed to keep an eye on its activities, but at the moment it did not seem to be a promising line of investigation.
Aided by a team of specialists sent from Berlin the two counter-intelligence officers had sifted all the intelligence-bearing documents and it was found that they fell into three broad categories. One comprised trivial, almost anecdotal, information that any curious citizen might have seen had they poked their nose into matters – railway cars laden with tanks on their way to some ordnance depot or garrison; troops passing through a town on their way to maneuvers; sightings of so many airplanes at an airport. The second was more serious – the identification of firms that produced, or could produce, materials and components for defence material – including rough estimates of production capacity and linkages to sources up and down the supply chain. Seemingly minor, this sort of information was invaluable to the saboteur or to the intelligence officers making up targeting lists for bombers. Most grave was the detailed technical information which all came from a single source, the Krupp firm in Essen.
“I have a theory,” Protze pronounced. “Gottlob would not have had direct access to the department – or departments – at Krupp’s from which these materials come. He obtained them from someone who does.”
“That involves dealing with Herr Krupp,” Giskes replied. “Not someone to be trifled with.”
“No,” Protze replied, “and neither of us will make the first overture on that point.” He nodded knowingly, and continued. “The second type of information seems to be linked to Gottlob’s business. It is the sort of information that a commercial salesman would encounter during his work, or might cull from the trade press. The third is almost casual observation thrown into the mix for sake of completeness.”
“Yes,” Giskes concurred, “but to whom was it being passed? We have checked the records of the man’s finances and with the exception of the cash we found at his second flat, nothing appears amiss. His employment record is good, almost too good. Other than his connection with the National Socialists, nothing is out of the ordinary; and they would be the last to betray secrets to a foreign power.”
“All true,” Protze noted. “Of course, the proper spy does nothing out of the ordinary. This man seems to have worked unnoticed for several months, if not years. Were it not for a traffic accident, we would still be unaware of him.”
Berliner Abendpost, Wednesday, 20 October 1943
Minister of Transport Gottfried Treviranus provided the Reichstag with his latest progress report on the completion of the National Motorways system. During the past six months much progress has been made: the sections between Regensburg and Augsburg; Baden-Baden and Freiburg; Rostock and Wittstock; Breslau and Gorlitz; and Dresden and Plauen have been complete. Progress has been made in many other areas, and work is continuing. It is expected that the Reichstag will vote credits to carry on the work projected for eastern and southern Germany, where deputies have clamored for additional roads.
Essen, Thursday, 21 October 1943
The distinguished-looking gentleman was quietly ushered into the private office of Gustav Krupp von Bohlen-und-Halbach without ceremony; though dressed in a civilian suit his bearing proclaimed him to be an officer in mufti. A senior assistant opened the door to Krupp’s office and simply said, “Herr Canaris,”
Gustav Krupp stood. “Welcome to Essen,” he replied. The distinguished-looking gentleman nodded. “That will be all,” Krupp told his assistant, and waited for the underling to close the door behind him as he left.
“Thank you for seeing me Herr Krupp,” Canaris remarked in a quiet tone.
“It is nothing Herr Admiral,” Krupp conceded. “Though I am mystified as to why the Chief of the Abwehr would seek my counsel.”
“A serious problem has been uncovered; one impacting the security of the state; and it can be traced to your metallurgical laboratories here.” Canaris was nothing if not blunt. “I require your assistance in finding the source of information that has been flowing to an as-yet-unknown foreign power.”
The blood drained from Krupp’s face as he took in Canaris’ news – an espionage leak within the Krupp concern? It was unthinkable, and yet if Canaris was here there was no question that it must be true. “What do you wish to be done?”
Canaris went on to explain that his people would need unhindered access to Krupp’s files to locate who might have been able to steal the secrets found in the papers of the deceased Gottlob. They would need to keep anyone associated with such information in the dark regarding the investigation; moreover, they would need absolute secrecy.
Faced with the prospect of loosing his largest customer Krupp acceded to the Abwehr chief’s requests immediately.