Black Ops (Presidential Agent 5)

"Where are you?" Castillo asked quickly, his tone now one of growing concern.

The others in the kitchen picked up on that and Castillo's body language, and had expressions that asked, What?

"In the office," Gorner said.

"I'll call you right back," Castillo said. "I can't talk from this phone."

He put the handset in its cradle before Gorner could reply. He saw that Edgar Delchamps was looking at him. He nodded just enough to signal Delchamps to follow him, then left the kitchen to go to his office.

The anteroom was barely large enough to hold a small desk and a skeletal office chair, but the door to it could be closed and was thick enough to be mostly soundproof. Castillo picked up the telephone. It could be made secure when necessary, and came with earphone sets on long cords so that others could listen to the conversation. It also had a built-in digital recorder so that conversations could be replayed for any number of reasons.

He pushed the RECORD button, then dialed a long number from memory.

"Gorner."

"Karl. Who is Gunther Fiedler?"

"Friedler," Gorner corrected him. "He was a staff reporter."

Castillo knew enough of the operations of the Tages Zeitung newspapers to know that a staff reporter was analogous to a reporter for the Associated Press or other wire service in that the reporter's stories were fed to all of the Tages Zeitung newspapers, rather than to any individual paper.

"I don't think I knew him," Castillo said.

"Probably not," Gorner said on the edge of sarcasm. "Billy did. Billy gave him his first job on the Weiner Tages Zeitung years ago. Billy was godfather to Peter, Gunther's oldest son."

"Great news on Christmas Day. Who killed him and why?"

"He was working on a story about German involvement in that oil-for-food obscenity. Does that give a hint, Mr. Intelligence Officer?"

Castillo's face tightened.

"Otto, I'm about to tell you to call back when you have your emotions under control."

"I want to tell Billy before somebody else does."

"But you can't do that, can you, unless I put him on the phone?"

There was a ten-second silence--which seemed much longer--before Gorner replied, "I suppose I am a little upset. Gunther was my friend, too. I put him on that story, and I just now came from his house. On Christmas Day, as you say."

Castillo realized it was as much of an apology as he was going to get.

"Okay. Do they have any idea who killed him?"

"The police tried to tell me it was a fairy lovers' quarrel. My God!"

"What was that about his body being mutilated?"

"I couldn't count the stab wounds in his body."

Delchamps, holding one can of an earphone set to his ear, touched Castillo's shoulder, and when Castillo looked at him, handed him a slip of paper on which he had quickly written, That's all?

Castillo nodded and said into the phone, "You said 'mutilated'?"

"They cut out his eye. That's what I mean by mutilated."

Delchamps nodded as if he expected that answer.

"I don't think you should tell Billy that," Castillo said. "And in your frame of mind, I really don't think you should talk to him at all."