0915 10 April 1943
It was necessary for Antonio to really shake Clete to wake him, and even after a shower and several cups of coffee with his breakfast, he still felt groggy and exhausted.
As he had announced he would, Capitan Lauffer appeared at eight-thirty.
En route to Our Lady of Pilar, Clete told him about Enrico climbing out of a hospital bed onto a horse to escort his father from the Edificio Libertador to the Basilica, and also about meeting el Coronel Per¢n.
"He and your father were great friends," Lauffer said.
"So he said."
"He just came back from Germany."
"Excuse me? What did you say?"
"He just came back from Germany. He was on the Lufthansa flight yester-day."
"What was he doing in Germany?" Clete asked.
Lauffer shrugged. "I'm afraid I don't know."
Well, that explains that "difficult-impossible-to believe " bullshit he gave me last night, doesn't it?
"Is Per¢n involved in this Grupo de Oficiales Unidos business?"
"Se¤or Frade..."
"Do you think you could bring yourself to call me 'Clete'?"
"I would like that. My Christian name is Roberto."
He offered Clete his hand.
"Clete," Lauffer said, "one of the difficulties we have in Argentina with norteamericanos is that you have a tendency to ask questions that shouldn't be asked, and are impolitic to answer."
"In other words, he is," Clete said. "Is that why he came back? Because the G.O.U. is about to move?"
Lauffer looked at him, smiled, and shook his head.
"I don't know anything about the G.O.U."
"You are being deaf, dumb, and blind, right?" Clete challenged with a smile.
"But if I were a betting man. and I knew that one man was involved with the G.O.U., I would wager his best friend was."
"OK. That's good enough. Thank you for your nonanswer. And since you don't know anything about the G.O.U., I suppose you can't tell me if it's loaded with Nazi sympathizers?"
"I wonder if you are asking that question personally or professionally."
"Professionally?"
"There is a rumor going around that you are really an agent of the OSS."
"Of the what?"
"You never heard of the OSS, of course?"
"Not a word."