“I was thinking the Russians. You made an ass of Serov, getting Mattingly back. Made an ass of him in front of his bosses. He might think taking you out would restore his reputation. I don’t believe his story that he’s in Nuremberg to sit on the Russian judges.”
“I think it’s Odessa.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m getting close to von Dietelburg. Or think I am. That’s what I was doing in Strasbourg.”
“The guy you think is running Odessa? Wallace sent you to Strasbourg to look for him?”
“No. He didn’t know anything about me looking for von Dietelburg. Or going to Strasbourg.”
“Jesus Christ, Jimmy. You’re as bad as Cletus Frade! A fucking three-star loose cannon. And you didn’t get to grab von Dietelburg in Strasbourg? Or even get any idea where to look for him, right?”
“I find out tomorrow, before half past two, whether or not I’m going to be told where to look for him.”
“Reliable source?”
“If
he tells me anything at all, I think it’ll be reliable.”
“Turn him over to that Frog, the one who runs DST. What’s his name?”
“Commandant Fortin.”
“I hear he’s really a colonel. And also that he could take a rock from the Kremlin wall and have it singing ‘La Marseillaise’ in fifteen minutes. I know you know him, so the question, Loose Cannon, is how well? Is he in that legion of people you’ve royally pissed off, or will he do us a favor?”
“He’ll do us a favor. Actually—”
“Mr. Schultz, it’s Vint.”
“What the hell do they want?” Schultz snapped.
“Fulda has a Colonel Wallace on the line, sir. He insists on speaking to you immediately. He says it’s urgent.”
“Does he know who I’m talking to?”
“No, sir.”
“Make sure he doesn’t find out. Hold One, Vint Hill.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Jimmy, give your source to Fortin. Tell him I said to do whatever it takes to make your source give us von Dietelburg. I really want to close down Odessa and the way to do that is nail this sonofabitch. Say, ‘Yes, sir.’”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll get back to you, Jimmy. Vint Hill, put Colonel Wallace through.”
“Fulda, Vint Hill. I have Mr. Schultz on a secure line for Colonel Wallace.”
Cronley’s line went dead.
[FIVE]
When he came out of the bedroom closet in which Florence Miller had installed the SIGABA system, he found her sitting on her bed.
She got quickly to her feet.