"Either you don't give a damn or you already heard."
"I already heard," Clete said. "But... honest, Leibermann, thank you."
"I thought it very interesting. Just Ettinger. Not you and the paratrooper who blows things up. Just Ettinger. Was that because Ettinger's a Jew, do you think? Or do you have him doing something the Germans don't like, Jew or no Jew?"
"The latter," Clete said. "Or that's what I think."
"You want to tell me what?"
Clete shook his head, "no."
"Maybe I already know about what he's looking for," Leibermann said.
"I can't. I'm sorry."
"Maybe I could tell him something that would keep him alive," Leiber-mann said. "You were lucky, what happened to you. They got people down here who could give lessons to Buchalter."
"I met a couple," Clete said. "Not nice people."
"Tell him to be careful."
"I have."
"Your friend von Wachtstein flew Goltz to Montevideo yesterday, and flew him back today. You don't happen to know what that's all about?"
" 'My friend von Wachtstein'?"
Christ, I'm supposed to meet Peter tonight at The Fish. I'll be on my way to Santo Tome instead.
"He was a guest of honor at your father's requiem mass at your estancia."
"You must have friends all over," Clete said. "Von Wachtstein was there for good manners. He's running around with one of the Carzino-Cormano girls."
"So I heard. You ever think of trying to make friends with him?"
"He's a German officer, for Christ's sake."
"You see Boys' Town? Spencer Tracy said 'there's no such thing as a bad boy,' meaning Mickey Rooney. I figure maybe that all Germans aren't bad. As a matter of fact, I know a couple of good ones. Maybe von Wachtstein's one of the good ones. You ever hear the phrase 'turning an agent'?"
"No. But I can guess what it means."
"Think about it, Tex," Leibermann said. "And think about telling me why the Germans, the bad ones, they call them 'Nazis,' want Ettinger dead."
He walked to the door and pulled his umbrella free.
"Oh. I almost forgot. Mazeltov. That means congratulations, good luck."
"What for?"
"Isn't that a happy bridal party out there? Should be a hell of a wedding, with three priests."
He pushed the door open and walked out.
Clete washed his hands and then rejoined the happy bridal party.
Chapter Seventeen
XVII