Yung didn't reply.
"Okay, that explains a lot. You didn't tell McGrory what you're really doing, so he thinks you're just one more legal attache working for him. Right?"
"I've got the ambassador, Charley," Santini said.
"That was quick," Castillo said as he reached for the telephone.
"The miracle of modern communications," Santini said.
"Good morning, Mr. Ambassador. I'm on a cellular, so we're going to have to be careful what we're saying. I'm in Montevideo-actually, Carrasco-with Special Agent Yung. What I hope you'll be willing to do is relay the message from our friend Natalie to Yung. When the other fellow did that, it got a little garbled, and he's annoyed that I'm walking on his grass without his permission."
Ambassador Silvio replied briefly.
"Thank you, sir. I hope to see you shortly," Castillo said, and handed Yung the telephone.
"Special Agent Yung, Mr. Ambassador," Yung said.
He had the cellular to his ear for thirty seconds, and then he said, "Yes, sir, that's perfectly clear. That's not exactly the way I received the message here."
Ambassador Silvio said something else.
"Yes, sir," Yung said. "I understand, sir. Thank you very much, sir. Do you want to speak with Mr. Castillo again, sir?"
The ambassador apparently did not wish to again speak with Castillo. Yung ended the call and handed the cellular to Santini.
Yung smiled wryly at Castillo.
"After the ambassador relayed Secretary Cohen's message," he added, "he said, 'For purposes of clarification, Mr. Castillo has permission from the highest possible authority not only to walk on anybody's grass he wants but to sow it with salt if that's what he chooses to do.'"
Castillo chuckled and smiled and said, "Okay. You satisfied?"
Yung nodded.
"So what are you actually doing here? I know it's not looking for money launderers."
"You don't know?"
"No, I don't. But you're going to tell me, right?"
Yung nodded. "Actually, it has something to do with money laundering. But not to develop a case against money launderers."
"I don't think I follow you."
"How much do you know about the UN oil-for-food business?"
"A hell of a lot more now than I did a week ago," Castillo said. "What about it?"
"An astonishing number of people all over Europe and the Middle East-for that matter, all over the world- made a lot of money from that operation. Primarily Frenchmen-some very highly placed Frenchmen-and Germans. And Russians. It's an incredible amount of money, and like the Nazis in World War Two, they decided that South America, primarily the Southern Cone, is the place to hide it.
"The director of the bureau of intelligence and research started to build dossiers on these people even before the Second Desert War. Using his own people, I mean. And it got out. There's a lot of one-worlders, UN lovers, in the State Department. They think that leaking things is their patriotic duty. So he, quote, called off, end quote, the investigation. And then he went to the director of the FBI-they were both FBI agents as young men-and explained the situation and asked for help. And here I am."
"I heard you were a hotshot," Castillo said.
"Who told you that?"
"The same guy who told me whatever you were doing here it wasn't looking for money launderers."
"Howard Kennedy," Yung said.