Windmills of the Gods

He lifted her arm. “I’m going to give you an injection of BAL.

It’s an antidote for arsenic. I’m going to alternate it with penicillamine. Mary?” She was asleep.

The following morning Louis gave Mar)i another injection, and another one in the evening. The effects of the drugs were miraculous. The symptoms began to disappear. The following day Mary felt drained and weak, as though she had gone through a long illness, but all the pain and discomfort were gone.

“This is twice you’ve saved my life.”

Louis looked at her soberly. “I think we’d better find out who’s trying to take it.”

“How do we do that?”

“I’ve been checking around at the various embassies. None of them carries arsenic. I have not beenable to find out about the American embassy. So what I want you to do is go to the embassy pharmacy. Tell them you need a pesticide. Say that you’re having trouble with insects in your garden. Ask for Antrol. That’s loaded with arsenic.”

Mary looked at him, puzzled. “What’s the point?”

“My hunch is that the arsenic had to be flown into Bucharest. If it is anywhere, it will be in the embassy pharmacy. Anyone who checks out a poison must sign for it. When you sign for the Antrol, see what names are on the sheet.”

MARY walked down the long corridor to the embassy pharmacy, where the nurse was working behind the cage. “Good morning, Madam Ambassador. Are you feeling better?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Can I get you something?”

Mary took a nervous breath. “My-my gardener tells me he’s having trouble with insects in the garden. I wondered whether you might have something to help, like Antrol?”

.” Why, yes. As a matter of fact, we do.” The nurse reached toward a back shelf and picked up a can with a poison label on it.

“You’ll have to sign for it, if you don’t mind. It has arsenic in it.”

Mary was staring at the form placed in front of her. There was only one name on it. Mike Slade.

Chapter Ten

WHEN Mary tried to telephone Louis Desforges to tell him what she had learned, his line was busy. He was on the phone with Mike Slade. Dr. Desforges’s first instinct had been to report the murder attempt except that he could not believe Slade was re sponsible. And so Louis had decided to telephone Slade himself “I have just left your ambassador,” Louis Desforges said. “She is going to live.”

“Well, that’s good news, DOCtor. Why shouldn’t she?”

Louis’s tone was cautious. “Someone has been poisoning her.”

“What are you talking about?” Mike demanded.

“I think perhaps you know what I’m talking about.”

“Hold it! Are you saying that you think I’m responsible? You and I had better have a private talk someplace where we can’t be overheard. Can you meet me tonight?”

“At what time?” asked Louis.

“I’m tied up until nine o’clock. Why don’t you meet me a few minutes after, at Bineasa Forest. I’ll meet you at the fountain and explain everything then.”

Louis hesitated. “Very well. I will see you there.” He hung up and thought, Mike Slade cannot possibly be behind this.

When Mary tried to telephone Louis again, he had left. No one knew where to reach him.

MARY and the children were having dinner at the residence.

“You look a lot better,” Beth said. “We were worried.”

“I feel fine,” Mary assured her. And it was the truth. Thank God for Louis l She could hear Mike Slade. Here’s your coffee. I brewed it myself. Slowly killing her. She shuddered.

“Are you cold?” Tim asked.

“No, darling.” Mary was thinking, I -must not involve the children in my ‘nightmares. Besides, there is only one person who can help me. Stanton Rogers. But what proof do I have? That Mike Slade made coffee for me every morning?

Beth was talking to her. “So can we watch a movie tonight?”

Mary had not planned on running a movie, but she had spent so little time with the children lately that she decided to give them a treat. “Yes.”

“Thank you, Madam Ambassador,” Tim shouted. “Can we see American Graffiti again?”

American Graffiti. And suddenly Mary knew what proof she might show Stanton Rogers.

At midnight she asked Carmen to call a taxi.

“Don’t you want Florian to drive you?” Carmen asked.

“No.” This had to be done secretly.

“GooD evening, Madam Ambassador,” said the marine guard when Mary emerged from the taxi. “Can I help you?”

“No, thank you. I’m going to my office for a few minutes.”

The marine walked her to the entrance and opened the door for her. He watched her walk up the stairs to her office.

Mary turned the lights on and looked at the wall where the red scrawl had been washed away. She walked over to the connecting door that led to Mike Slade’s office and entered. The room was in darkness. She turned on the lights.

There were no papers on his desk. The drawers were empty, except for brochures and timetables, innocent things that would be of no use to a snooping cleaning woman. Mary’s eyes scrutinized the office. It had to be here somewhere.

She opened the drawers again and started examining their contents slowly and carefully. When she came to a bottom drawer, she felt something hard at the back, behind a mass of papers. She .pulled it out and held it in her hand, staring at it.

It was - a can of red spray paint.

AT A few minutes after nine p.m. Dr. Louis Desforges was waiting in Bineasa Forest, near the fountain. He wondered if he had done the wrong thing by not reporting Mike Slade. No, he thought. First I must hear what he has to say. If I made a false accusation, it would destroy him.