Fetch the Devil: The Sierra Diablo Murders and Nazi Espionage in America

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34 ChrisFoxtooksomepleasureinseeingthebusinessmanwhohadsorudely ignoredhispastrequestssquirmundertheheatofthenewlineofquestioning about the blackmail. More than that, he was angered by the continued lack of cooperation from both Frome and the Berkeley police. He fired off a letter to Chief Greening, threatening to shut the department out of his investigation. “I have your confidential letter of May 28, giving the result of Inspector Thompson’svisitwithWestonG.Frome.Itwouldbewellformetopredict the balance of the letter and all future letters as they are related to Mr. Frome, so that as far as we are concerned he does not exist.”201 The Texas sheriff ’s response clearly displayed his ire over what he considered Frome’s outrageous lack of cooperation. His anger extended to the Berkeley police department’s mollycoddling of the man. Fox was, with the sharp tone of his complaint against Pop Frome, putting the Berkeley officers on notice that he was going to proceed with his investigation without Frome or them. His letter continued, His [Frome’s] statement that he had never been blackmailed by a woman named Jane Levy or her husband and pimp is a deliberate lie. So you can see that, if the man would state an untruth about things of that kind, there is no reason for us worrying about him further. We are no longer interested in having him tell us anything. Mr. Frome states that if we have any specific information regarding persons who are alleged to have blackmailed him he would be glad to answer it. Since he denied knowing Bob or Jane there is no reason for us to worry about it any longer. If this gentleman would not only realize that practically all the inconvenience he has been subject to has been a result of his own actions, I think he would take a different slant on this thing. When you stop to think there has not been one single officer connected with the investigation of this case who has ever had one word from Mr. spies on the border 197 Weston G. Frome, either directly or indirectly, it makes us wonder just how interested he might be [in seeing the murders solved]. As to the newspaper articles, it might be well for Mr. Frome to go back through his own memory and check to see just how many of those articles that were unpleasant to him have been the direct result of his own conversations with newspaper people and other individuals, because of his unnatural and peculiar actions. YesFromedidduckoutonme.Thatisalright,andIamsurewewillboth be able to survive our mutual disappointment in not meeting. I think it is no longer necessary for Inspector Thompson to continue to work any confidential information. I notice that you feel Mr. Frome is sincere in his statement, and I am very sorry that I am unable to concur, as our information has been substantiated.202 Fox concluded in his response to the Berkeley police chief that he felt Frome was “covering his own tracks or saving his own hide.” Pressure was being applied on the El Paso County sheriff by officials in Austin, but this time it came from politicians and not his fellow officers in the Texas Rangers. Someone in the Bay Area or somewhere else in California had mentioned the aggressive inquiry into Frome’s private life to a higher-up at the state capital. Word came down to the sheriff that he should let up on the California executive. FoxsentanevenangriertelextoGreeningonMay31,inwhichthesheriff once again vowed to end further inquiries in the Bay Area. I have come to the conclusion that it would be best for all concerned for me to discontinue any further investigation or request for information in Berkeley. We may have asked questions that were embarrassing from the standpointthatitmadeitdifficultforyoutoobtaintheinformationwithout sticking your neck out. It was just because Mr. Frome has assumed the most difficult attitude for you in Berkeley.203 While the riled-up sheriff may have promised not to go through the Berkeley police department in the future, he made no such promise about continuing his general investigation in California. Soon he was calling 198 fetch the devil on fellow lawmen in the California Bureau of Investigation, as well as continuing his inquiries through the investigators in the car-theft bureau. Two could play the pressure game, and the West Texas sheriff was not intimidated by the bigwigs in Austin and California. As it happened, in less than a week, the Berkeley police department was forced to eat crow. Weston...