Quinn was a stocky, pale-skinned Irishman, also in his thirties.
Delojo offered his hand first to Martha and then to the Old Man. When the Old Man shook Delojo's hand and then Quinn's, he made it clear with the ges-ture that while he was willing to be civil, his patience was being strained.
"You were saying, Graham?" he challenged.
"You understand, I'm sure, Mrs. Howell, Mr. Howell, that we are dealing here with highly classified material affecting national security-"
"Get to the point, Colonel," Martha interrupted. "I sit on the National Oil Production Board. I have a TOP SECRET security clearance."
"Yes, I know, Mrs. Howell," Graham said. "But you are not cleared for OSS information. May I continue?"
"Go ahead," she said.
"I want both you and Mr. Howell to understand that severe penalties, in-cluding the death penalty, are provided for the unauthorized disclosure of ma-terial classified by the OSS as TOP SECRET. Do you both understand that?"
"I'll take that as a recitation of some bureaucratic drivel you feel compelled to make," the Old Man said, "rather than a threat. If I thought you were threat-ening me-or my daughter-in-law-I would have to do something about it."
"Grandfather..." Clete said.
"It's all right, Clete," Graham said. "Actually, Mr. Howell, in this case I was referring to Director Donovan and myself when I said 'we.'"
Colonel William J. Donovan, a Wall Street lawyer, and winner of the Medal of Honor in World War I, had been named Director of the OSS by his longtime friend, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
"I'm tempted to call Bill Donovan right now and tell him you're down here threatening me," the Old Man said.
"Go ahead," Graham said. "I'm sure you have his number-"
"Damned right I do," the Old Man interrupted.
"And equally sure that he would tell you what I have just told you."
He pointed to the telephone.
The Old Man looked at him.
"Get on with what you have to say," he said. "I reserve the right to call Donovan at my convenience."
"Of course," Graham said.
Clete could see in Delojo's and Quinn's eyes-their faces remained impas-sive-their surprise at encountering people who were not awed either by the Director of the OSS or by his Deputy.
"OK. Let's start at the beginning," Graham said. "When Clete went to Ar-gentina the first time, his cover was that he had recently been medically dis-charged from the Marine Corps, and that his purpose in visiting Argentina was to see that the petroleum products shipped by Howell Petroleum down there were not diverted to the Axis."
"And I went along with including-what's his name? Pelosi-Pelosi and Ettinger in that little charade," the Old Man said. "Let's not forget that."
Graham stared at him for a moment, looked as if he was going to reply, and then changed his mind.
"The idea of sending Clete back to Argentina as the Naval Attach‚ came af-ter the Reine de la Mer incident," Graham said. "There were two justifications for that-"
"The Reine de la Mer is the name of the ship Clete was responsible for sinking?" Martha interrupted.
"I'm disappointed, but not surprised, Major Frade, that you saw fit to dis-cuss this with Mrs. Howell," Graham said, looking into Clete's eyes.
"Colonel," Clete said, coldly angry, "I don't regard either my aunt or my grandfather as threats to national security."
"Neither do I," Graham said. "But that's not the point, is it? They did not have, do not have, the right to know."
"When do we get to the point?" the Old Man snapped.