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Author:\376\377\000s\000s\000i\000n\000e\000w
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

M

'Now, who's no helpT

'Sorry.... Tell me, Bobby, who exactly knew I was flying in? How was it handled?'

'First question: three people. I did, of course; I'm on the dials.

Granville, obviously. And Jean Cameron; the old man asked her to follow up on an apartment ... but you know that. Question two: very confidentially.

Remember, your orders came through at night. From Washington. Jean was playing chess with Granville in his quarters when I brought him the eggs.

'The whaff interrupted David.

'The scrambler; it's marked. Washington had your sheet radioed in on a scrambler code. That means only myself or my head man can handle it, deliver it to the ambassador.'

1O.K. Then whaff

'Nothing. I mean nothing you don't know about.'

Page 127

The Rhineman Exchange

'Tell me anyway.'

Ballard exhaled a long, condescending breath. 'Well, the three of us were alone; what the hell, I'd read the scramble and the instructions were clear about the apartment. So Granville figured - apparently - that Jean was the logical one to scout one up. He told her you were coming in; to do what she could on such short notice.' Ballard looked about the room and over at the patio doors. 'She didn't do badly, either.'

'Then that's it; they've got a network fanned out over the city; nothing unusual. They keep tabs on unoccupied places: apartments, rooming houses; hotels are the easiest.'

'I'm not sure I follow you,' said Ballard, trying to.

'We can all be smart as whips, Bobby, but we can't change a couple of basics: we have to have a place to sleep and take a bath.'

'Oh, I follow that, but you can't apply it here. Starting tomorrow you're no secret; until then you are. D.C. said you were coming down on your own; we had no idea precisely when or how.... Jean didn't get this apartment for you. Not in your name.'

'OhT David was far more concerned than his expression indicated. The two extranjeros had to have been on the roof before he arrived. Or, at least, within minutes after he did so. 'How did she lease it then? Whose name did she use? I didn't want a cover; we didn't ask for one.'

'Jesus, I thought I talked fast. Sunday is Sunday, Monday is 231

Monday. Sunday we don't know you; Monday we do. That's what Washington spelled out. They wanted no advance notice of your arrival and, incidentally, if you decided to stay out of sight, we were to adhere to your wishes. I'm sure Granville will ask you what you want to do in the morning.... How did Jean lease the place? Knowing her, she probably implied the ambassador had a girl on the side, or something. The portehos are very simpdtico with that sort of thing; the Paris of South America and all that.

... One thing I do know, she wouldn't have used your name. Or any obvious cover. She'd use her own first.'

'Oh, boy,' said Spaulding wearily, removing the ice pack and feeling the back of his head. He looked at his fingers. Smudges of blood were apparent.

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