<br><br> <center>*You have bodies stashed in tunnels of your own.  Outlier occurrences. Anomalies. Events looked back upon in disbelief, wondering how they came to pass, and if they can fit the story you're prepared to own.*
― Michael Rutger</center>

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<br><br> I needed to know more about the Nazi connection, so Gail and I drove out to Waterdown, the tiny Victorian village on the outskirts of Toronto where Nat worked.

The library was closed and our friend was already sitting outside on a park bench waiting. He had been leafing through a thick file folder which I took as a good omen that he dug up a lot of information pertaining to the investigation.

Regardless, I had learned from past experience to feed Nat first and ask questions later and that's what I intended to do.

<br><br>He was happy to see us and eager to know our plans going forward. I was even more eager to learn what he turned up  but I knew his information would require a detailed discussion,  so I just updated him on my meetings with Abe and  Esther and wisely avoided mentioning my encounter with Cindy, especially since Gail was present.

I know, I was being devious withholding some facts but making Gail feel threatened or jealous at this point would have just complicated things further. 

Well, that was the excuse I told myself.

<br><br>After Nat devoured his sirloin, roast potatoes and seasonal vegetables he was ready for dessert.  So, in between courses,  I took advantage of the down time to encourage him to share what he had uncovered in his research.

"What Abe told you about solving a cold case from the Thirties is true, but what he left out is even more intriguing. The weapon he recovered was buried under a public announcer's shack that was the same one that was there during the race riot in 1933. I wonder if there was any link between that crime and the Aryan brotherhood that occupied Esther's house back then?"

"That is intriguing," I exclaimed, "because Esther told me the riot was started by Nazi sympathizers from the house who unfurled a swastika at the game and began harassing the Jewish ball players."

Nat smiled. "That would definitely be a lead that Abe would want to pursue, although I don't know how much good it would do seeing that the perpetrators are all most likely dead."

<br><br>"You never know how these loose ends tie in," I reminded him, "and besides, the disappearances continued until the 1970's."

"So, you're figuring it was racially motivated killings carried out by this group?"

"I think so, but I'm not sure why, or how it ended, or if it ever did. For all I know, it could still be going on undetected." 

"That's a chilling prospect," Gail said, shivering at the thought.

<br><br>Nat continued.  "It's interesting though, what you just said about the disappearances possibly continuing. I didn't reveal this on the weekend, but the ground scans turned up another anomaly."

"There's another skeleton?"

Nat shook his head. "No, it's something else. Greg said there's something buried that's not showing up directly on the magnetometry but he could see the ground has been disturbed. He told me at the time but I didn't want to share this because of the police presence and frankly,  I wanted us to examine it first before alerting them."

"Good work, Nat. We'll check it out first and then if it's evidence of a crime we'll involve the police at that point."

<br><br>"By the way, there's another angle to this whole business that I'm working on—it involves Paul Hellyer, the former Defence Minister and his dealings with a shadowy group. I'm not sure who they are or why these clandestine meetings took place except to say they took place in the house and it was all very hush hush."

Gail interposed a question. "So, is that where Hannah Becker comes in?"

"Nat shrugged. "She apparently has ties with the Canadian government but it's hard to say at this point what their interest is in this group."

<br><br>I shook my head slowly trying to clear my thoughts. It was all so surreal. What in the world would the Canadian government be doing holding secret talks with an Aryan brotherhood?

Nat could see my concern and tried to reassure me.

 “It may not be anything to do with Nazi sympathizers—we don’t even know if the purported Nazi briefing document Esther found was legitimate, but I have former colleagues who worked with rare manuscripts and document authentication—let’s wait to see what they say.”

Nat was right—it was foolish to leap to conclusions, but the more we investigated the house, the murkier and and darker things became. I was almost afraid to turn over another stone for fear of finding skeletal remains below.



<br><br> <center>To be continued…</center>

<br><center>© 2020, John J Geddes. All rights reserved</center>

<br><center>[Photo]( https://images.app.goo.gl/P96PrGBhPWRwkjHC6    )</center>

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