"A bit far off the track for a ship steaming from San Francisco to New Zealand, wouldn't you say?"
"Way off the track," Pitt agreed.
"As far as two thousand miles?"
"And then some." Pitt took a swallow of coffee and made a face.
It was strong enough to use as brick mortar. He looked up.
"Before we continue it's going to cost you."
Casio gave him a reappraising eye. "Somehow you never struck me as the type who'd extend a greasy palm."
"I'd like to have the names of the banks in Europe that passed the stolen money."
"Any particular reason?" Casio asked, not bothering to conceal his puzzlement.
"None I can tell you about."
"You're not very cooperative."
Pitt started to reply, but the phone on an end table rang loudly.
"Hello."
"Dirk, this is Yae
ger. You still awake."
"Thank you for calling. How is Sally? Is she out of intensive care yet?"
"Can't talk, huh?"
"Not too well."
"But you can listen."
"No problem."
"Bad news. I'm not getting anywhere. I'd stand a better chance of throwing a deck of cards in the air and catching a straight flush."
"Maybe I can knock down the odds. Hold on a minute." Pitt turned to Casio. "About that list of banks."
Casio slowly rose, poured himself another shot of jack Daniel's and stood with his back to Pitt.
"A trade-off, Mr. Pitt. The bank list for what you know about the San Marino."
"I don't give a damn if it's stenciled on the inside of the President's jockey shorts. Either we deal or I pack up and hike."
"How do you know I won't lie?"
"my list could be phony."
st each other," said Pitt with a loose grin.
"The hell we will," grunted Casio. "But neither of us has any choice."
He took a sheet of paper from the folder and handed it to Pitt, who in turn read off the names over the phone to Yaeger.