the truth often escapes being known.
― Heraclitus
Abe and I were sitting eating wings and drinking drafts, redrawing the boundaries of the known universe.
There were a dozen dead bodies, victims of the Aryan Brotherhood, but monstrous as this was, we exposed more than just hate crimes―we uncovered a secret agreement between the Inuit and a sect called The Black Sun.
This Memorandum of Understanding ceded lands to this sect above the 60th parallel acknowledging this group as Original Peoples of Equal Status, possessing the same rights as the Inuit themselves!
And the whole negotiation was carried out secretly under the auspices of the Canadian government.
Unbelievable!
I had supposed Abe saw his role in the matter as finished, having solved the cold cases and all that remained was for him to tie up some loose ends and arrest the surviving members of the Aryan Brotherhood―but I was wrong. Abe was just as intrigued as I was and wanted to shed further light on this mysterious group and its connection with Hans Bauer and the Brotherhood.
I listened patiently to Abe's plans but felt I had to be frank with him. "If the information is classified in the highest circles as Cosmic Top Secret, how the hell do you intend to penetrate that secrecy?"
"I have a mole," Abe said, flashing his crinkly-eyed smile.
"You mean you have someone on the inside in the government that's willing to talk?"
"That's right, Pal, but the only condition is that he remains anonymous and any information he conveys remains confidential."
I shook my head in disbelief.
I had watched a few You Tube interviews with Paul Hellyer, the former Minister of Defence, and although he made many startling claims he refused to disclose anything that would violate his oath of secrecy―and the man was in his 90's and the events took place 60 years ago.
So, if Paul Hellyer was reluctant to break state's secrets, what hope did Abe have of persuading someone of lower status to risk being put on trial and sent to jail?
He seemed to read my mind.
"This 'mole' I was referring to is not a stranger―he's related to me―he's family. We Jews stick together and he knows whatever he tells me will stay with me. I'm telling you this because I trust you, Pal. Whatever I confide to you has to stay with you. You can tell Cindy, of course, because she knows what I know, and I suppose you can tell Nat on the same basis. But all I'm saying is that if it gets beyond this circle there'll be hell to pay. So we're really talking about you, Nat and me―and as old Ben Franklin used to say, three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead. Get my meaning?"
"I do," I nodded sombrely.
"Good," he smiled, "because I like you Guy and don't want to have to kill you."
I laughed, albeit a bit nervously, because I wasn't at all reassured he wouldn't snuff me if I had loose lips.
Abe glanced at his watch and frowned.
"Damn, I don't have much time but I want to tell you something that scared the hell right out of me. My 'friend' confided something really important to me about this Black Sun tribe. He said to me one day, 'Abe, they're not like us―they're wholly other.' I asked what he meant by that and he said they look like Europeans, could pass for Nordics, but they ran DNA tests on their blood and get this―Europeans have the highest proportion of archaic DNA―about 1-4% Neanderthal traits. These people have a percentage in excess of 10%....maybe more."
"What the hell does that mean? Are you saying they interbred with Neanderthals?"
He got up and threw a few twenties on the table to cover the bill. "Just saying they've been around a long time and were here long before the Inuit. Make of that what you want."
All the way back to the university I sat in silence pondering what Abe told me. It made no sense. This sect hardly fit the profile for the 'pure' race the Aryan Brotherhood were seeking and how the hell could they possess advanced technology and superior minds if they were interbreeding with cavemen?
Was I missing something?