after she had spoken to Demiris, a German officer had rushed in to offer the profuse
apologies of his government. Noelle had been issued a special visa, and she had never
been stopped again.
The little detective looked forward to Noelle’s visits. He was charging her a fortune,
but his trained nose smelled even bigger money. He was very pleased with her new liaison
with Constantin Demiris. He had a feeling that in one way or another it was going to be of
great financial benefit to him. First he had to make sure that Demiris knew nothing of his
mistress’ interest in Larry Douglas, then he had to find out how much the information
would be worth to Demiris. Or to Noelle Page for him to keep quiet. He was on the verge
of an enormous coup, but he had to play his cards carefully. The information Barbet was
able to gather on Larry was surprisingly substantial, for Barbet could afford to pay his
sources well.
While Larry’s wife was reading a letter postmarked from an anonymous APO,
Christian Barbet was reporting to Noelle, “He’s flying with the Fourteenth Fighter Group,
Forty-eighth Fighter Squadron.”
Catherine’s letter read “…all I can tell you is that I’m somewhere in the Pacific,
baby…”
And Christian Barbet was telling Noelle, “They’re on Tarawa. Guam’s next.”
“…I really miss you, Cathy. Things are picking up here. I can’t give you any details,
but we finally have planes that are better than the Jap Zeros…”
“Your friend is flying P-Thirty-eights, P-Forties and P-Fifty-ones.”
“…I’m glad you’ve been keeping busy in Washington. Just stay true to me, baby.
Everything’s fine here. I’ll have a little news for you when I see you…”
“Your friend has been awarded the D.F.C. and has been promoted to Lieutenant-
Colonel.”
While Catherine thought about her husband and prayed for him to come home safely,
Noelle followed Larry’s every move and she too prayed for Larry’s safe return. The war
would be over soon and Larry Douglas would be coming home. To both of them.