Well, thought Brodie, Odin was ready to defect to the East, while half the population of East Germany was looking to defect to the West. And little did Odin know, in March of 1989, that East Germany would no longer exist in eight months.
The report continued, claiming that after accepting the agreement of East German residency and a pension, Odin then dropped out of contact for months without revealing the identity of the Stasi traitor. Then in July 1989 Odin reached out to change the terms of the agreement—not residency, but cash. Four million deutsche marks, which was a lot of West German money for the cash-strapped German Democratic Republic. But the Commies paid up, figuring that it was worth the risk of getting fleeced if they could bag another mole in their midst.
Their gamble paid off, to the detriment of Anna Albrecht’s father. Brodie read the final page of the report:
It was in this way that the Ministry was made aware of the traitor Manfred Albrecht, who worked as a Special Analyst in the RecordsDepartment. Upon his arrest, it was discovered that Albrecht abused his unique access across multiple divisions to steal and duplicate the most highly sensitive intelligence related to joint operational plans of the Main Directorate of Reconnaissance and the National People’s Army. Leadership determined that if this intelligence had fallen into the hands of the enemy, it would have brought disastrous consequences. Odin’s success in establishing contact with Albrecht, and his work to protect the contents of the stolen Ministry documents from his American compatriots, will ensure the continued security and success of the German Democratic Republic and her people.
As of the writing of this report, Manfred Albrecht has been found guilty of treason and awaits sentencing.
This concludes an accounting thus far of the activities of the double agent code-named Odin, who has proven himself a resourceful ally in the battle against imperialism, and toward the cause of a more just and equal world. The German Democratic Republic owes this American a debt of gratitude and will continue to benefit from his assistance until the inevitable reunification of Germany and the global triumph of socialism over the forces of fascism.
Brodie set the report down. He looked again at the date at the top of the front page. October 1989. He imagined a Stasi bureaucrat typing these words in a dingy office not too far from where they were sitting, mere weeks before the Wall—and his entire world—would crumble. Did the bureaucrat believe in the cause, or did he just need the paycheck? Did he love his country, or fear it? Did he believe in the inevitable triumph of world Communism, or did he understand he was living inside a house of cards that was about to fold in on itself? In that land of denial, duplicity, and doublethink, the answer was maybe all of the above.
As for Odin, he seemed to have experienced a crisis of faith along the way. If he had really believed in the ultimate triumph of East Germany—and Communism—it made sense why he might want to defect—with a family member, possibly his wife—to the other side of the Iron Curtain. It sounded absurd now, but history never looks so preordained while you’re living it.
And then something had happened that made Odin drop the idea of defecting and instead demand money. A lot of money. His change of heart occurred in July of 1989, when countries across Eastern Europe were roiled by protest and civil unrest that would see the collapse of every government in the Soviet Bloc before the year was done. Odin must have seen the writing on the wall. Of course, he didn’t care that he was sending Manfred Albrecht to his death at the hands of a doomed regime. He just wanted to get paid.
How do you ask a man to be the last to die for a mistake?
Manfred Albrecht had almost lived in a free country. Brodie thought he was beginning to understand Anna’s rage, and her and her mother’s obsession with finding Odin. He thought he understood now what was driving Harry Vance too. In fact, if he’d been in Vance’s shoes, he probably would have done the same thing. And possibly met the same fate.
On a related subject, considering that Stasi agents had been interrogated by Western intelligence after the dissolution of the GDR, and that surviving Stasi intelligence documents were turned over to the government of reunified Germany, it was remarkable that Odin’s identity had never been discovered, and it was also a major embarrassment for the American intelligence community. No wonder they’d tried to bury it.
Brodie related the end of the report to Taylor, along with his interpretation and analysis. She nodded, thought, and asked, “But what was the information that Albrecht was passing on to Odin?”
“This report mentions intelligence about a joint operation between the HVA and the National People’s Army. That’s the third mention of the East German military and their relationship with the Stasi’s foreign intelligence branch.” He asked, “Did you find anything relevant on the HVA’s activities?”
“Still looking.” She paused. “The big question still is, does this Odin business have anything to do with Harry Vance’s murder? Which leads to another question: Is it possible Odin is still alive?”
Brodie considered that. “If Odin was in his thirties or forties while working for the Stasi, he’d be in his late sixties or seventies now.”
“And if heisalive, would he be in a position to know that someone—Harry Vance—was trying to discover his identity?”
“I don’t know. There would need to be some vestigial Stasi intelligencenetwork that he was still tapped into. I don’t know if such a thing exists.”
“Maybe also a military or paramilitary network. Vance was killed by a skilled sniper.”
“Who was likely trained in a jihadist camp somewhere in Syria or Iraq.”
She looked at him. “And had a connection to Tariq Qasim.”
“Maybe.”
“Who subsequently had a connection to Odin.”
Brodie said, “We don’t know if Qasim was actually at Storkow. Maybe Vance was just hoping he was.”
“But why kill Vance?”
“Maybe… it was a case of paranoia and misinterpreting Harry’s interest in Qasim. Maybe Qasim was involved with these Syrians, and they were conspiring on a terrorist plot. When Vance, a counterterrorism agent, made contact with Qasim—a.k.a. al-Hamdani—Qasim figured the authorities were onto him. So, the Syrians kill the investigator, and then plan to kill his partner, Mark Jenkins. And maybe Qasim’s jihadi buddies also killed Qasim to eliminate any connection to the murder of American CID Agent Harry Vance. Harry was digging into some Cold War history and had the bad luck of reaching out to the wrong guy. Odin otherwise has nothing to do with his death.”
“You’re saying that Qasim, the guy who Vance was hoping might finger an American double agent from thirty years ago, just happened to be in the middle of an active terrorist plot? That’s a hell of a coincidence.”
“I agree. But in this screwed-up case, it’s the best scenario I can think of that fits the known facts.”
Taylor shook her head. “I don’t buy it. There’s something else going on here. We’re just not seeing it.”
“Better find it quick. Because right now General Hackett is sitting in his office at Quantico, trying to think of a reason not to pull his two best pain-in-the-ass agents off this high-profile case. And he’s not coming up with any.”
