orders, you don’t give them.’
‘I’m sorry; I think you’re misreading me.’ David was tempted to answer
Kendall’s anger in kind, but he decided not to.
248
‘I misread, bullshitl You told Swanson you were in some trouble in New
York. That’s your problem, not ours.’
‘You can’t be sure of that.’
‘Oh yes I can! You tried to sell that to Swanson and he bought it. You
could have involved us V
‘Now just a minute.’ Spaulding felt he could object legitimately – within
the boundaries he had mentally staked off for Kendall. ‘I told Swanson that
in my opinion the “trouble” in New York might have been related to Buenos
Aires. I didn’t say it was, I said it might have been.’
‘That’s not possible!’
‘How the hell can you be so sureT
‘Because I am.’ Kendall was not only agitated, thought David, he was
impatient. ‘This is a business proposition. The deal’s been made. There’s
no one trying to stop it. Stop us.’
‘Hostilities don’t cease because a deal’s been made. if the German command
got wind of it they’d blow up Buenos Aires to stop it.’
‘Yeah … well, that’s not possible.’
‘You know that?’
‘We know it…. So don’t go confusing that stupid bastard, Swanson. I’ll
level with you. This is strictly a money-line negotiation. We could have
completed it without any help from Washington, but they insisted – Swanson
insisted – that they have a man here. O.K., you’re him. You can be helpful;
you can get the papers out and you speak the languages. But that’s all
you’ve got to do. Don’t call attention to yourself. We don’t want anyone
upset.’
Grudgingly, David began to understand the subtle clarity of Brigadier
General Swanson’s manipulation. Swanson had maneuvered him into a clean
position. The killing of Erich Rhinemann -whether he did it himself or
whether he bought the assassin – would be totally unexpected. Swanson
wasn’t by any means the ‘stupid bastard’ Kendall thought he was. Or that
David had considered.
Swanson was nervous. A neophyte. But he was pretty damned good.
‘All right. My apologies,’said Spaulding, indicating a sincerity he didn’t
feel. perhaps the New York thing was exaggerated. I made enemies in
Portugal, I can’t deny that…. I got out under cover, you know.’
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‘rbere’s no way the people in New York could know I left the city.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘As sure as you are that no one’s trying to stop your negotiations.’
‘Yeah…. O.K. Well, everything’s set. I got a schedule.’
‘You’ve seen Rhinemann?’
‘Yesterday. All day.’
‘What about Lyons?’ asked David.
‘Swanson’s packing him off at the end of the week. With his nursemaids.
Rhinemann figures the designs will be arriving Sunday or Monday.’
‘In steps or all togetherT
‘Probably two sets of prints. He’s not sure. It doesn’t make any
difference; they’ll be here in full by Tuesday. He guaranteed.’
‘Then we’ve moved up. You estimated three weeks.’ David felt a pain in his
stomach. He knew it wasn’t related to Walter Kendall or Eugene Lyons or
designs for high-altitude gyroscopes. It was Jean Cameron and the simple
fact that he’d have only one week with her.
It disturbed him greatly and he speculated – briefly – on the meaning of
this disturbance.
And then he knew he could not allow himself the indulgence; the two
entities had to remain separate, the worlds separate.
‘Rhinernann’s got good control,’ said Kendall, more than a hint of respect
showing in his voice. ‘I’m impressed with his methods. Very precise.’
‘If you think that, you don’t need me.’ David was buying a few seconds to
steer their conversation to another area. His statement was rhetorical.
‘We don’t, that’s what I said. But there’s a lot of money involved and
since the War Department – one way or another -is picking up a large share
of the tab, Swanson wants his accounts covered. I don’t sweat him on that.
It’s business.’
Spaulding recognized his moment. ‘Then let’s get to the codes. I haven’t
wasted the three days down here. I’ve struck up a friendship of sorts with
the embassy cryp.’
‘The what?’
‘The head cryptographer. He’ll send out the codes to Washington; the
payment authorization.’
250
,oh. . . . Yeah, that.’ Kendall was squeezing a cigarette, prepared to
insert it in his mouth. He was only half-concerned with codes and
cryptographers, thought David. They were the wrap-up, the necessary details
relegated to others. Or was it an act? wondered Spaulding.
He’d know in a moment or two.
‘As you pointed out, it’s a great deal of money. So weve decided to use a
scrambler with code switches every twelve hours. We’ll prepare the cryp
schedule tonight and send it out by patrol courier to Washington tomorrow.
The master plate will allow for fifteen hours…. Naturally, the prime word
will be “Tortugas’.
Spaulding watched the disheveled accountant.
There was no reaction whatsoever.
OX…. Yeah, O.K.’ Kendall sat down in an easy chair. His mind seemed
somewhere else.
‘That meets with your approval, doesn’t iff
‘Sure. Why not? Play any games you like. All I give a shit about is that
Geneva radios the confirmation and you fly out of here.9
‘Yes, but I thought the reference had to include the … code factor.’
‘What the hell are you talking about?’
“‘Tortugas.” Hasn’t it got to be “Tortugas”?’
‘V*”Y? What’s “Tortugas”?’
The man wasn’t acting. David was sure of that. ‘Perhaps I misunderstood. I
thought “Tortugas” was part of the authorization code.’
‘Christl You and Swanson! All of you. Military geniusesl Jesusl If it
doesn’t sound like Dan Dunn, Secret Agent, it’s not the real McCoy, huh?
… Look. When Lyons tells you everything’s in order, just say so. Then
drive out to the airport … it’s a small field called Mendarro … and
Rhinemann’s men will tell you when you can leave. O.K.? You got thaff
‘Yes, I’ve got it,’ said Spaulding. But he wasn’t sure.
Outside, David walked aimlessly down the Buenos Aires streets. He reached
the huge park of the Plaza San Martin, with its fountains, its rows of
white gravel paths, its-calm disorder.
He sat down on a slatted bench and tried to define the elusive pieces of
the increasingly complex puzzle.
251
I
Walter Kendall hadn’t lied, ‘Tortugas’ meant nothing to him.
Yet a man in an elevator in New York City had risked his life to learn
about ‘Tortugas.’
Ira Barden in Fairfax had told him there was only a single word opposite
his name in the DW transfer in Ed Pace’s vaults: ‘Tortugas.’
There was an obvious answer, perhaps. Ed Pace’s death prohibited any real
knowledge, but the probability was genuine.
Berlin had gotten word of the PeenemUnde negotiation – too late to prevent
the theft of the designs – and was now committed to stopping the sale. Not
only stopping it, but if possible tracing the involvement of everyone
concerned. Trapping the entire Rhinemann network.
If this was the explanation – and what other plausible one existed? –
Pace’s code name, ‘Tortugas,’ had been leaked to Berlin by Fairfax
infiltration. That there was a serious breach of security at Fairfax was
clear; Pace’s murder was proof.
His own role could be easily assessed by Berlin, thought David. The man in
Lisbon suddenly transferred to Buenos Aires. The expert whose skill was
proven in hundreds of espionage transactions, whose own network was the
most ruthlessly efficient in southern Europe, did not walk out of his own
creation unless his expertise was considered vital someplace else. He’d
long ago accepted the fact that Berlin more than suspected him. In a way it
was his protection; he’d by no means won every roll of the dice. If the
enemy killed him, someone else would take his place. The enemy would have
to start all over again. He was a known commodity … accept an existing
devil.
Spaulding considered carefully, minutely, what he might do were he the
enemy. What steps would he take at this ‘specific juncture?
Barring panic or error, the enemy would not kill him. Not now. Because he
could not by himself inhibit the delivery of the designs. He could,
however, lead his counterparts to the moment and plate of delivery.
What is the location of Tortugas!?
The desperate … hysterical man in the Montgomery elevator had screamed
the question, preferring to die rather than reveal those whose orders he
followed. The Nazis reveled in such fanaticism. And so did others, for
other reasons.
He – Spaulding – would therefore be placed under dusserste
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Oberwachung – foolproof surveillance, three- to four-man teams, twenty-four
hours a day. That would account for the recruitment of the extraterritorial
personnel on the Berlin payroll. Agents who operated outside the borders of
Germany, had operated -for profit – for years. Ther languages and dialects
would vary; deep-cover operatives who could move with impunity in neutral
capitals because they had no Gestapo or Gehlen or Nachrichtendienst
histories.
The Balkans and the Middle East countries had such personnel for hire. They