"And when the Russians came, he worked for them. And us.
"The reason we're interested is he might still be on the Reds' payroll. Even though the Czechs have him on their wanted list."
"How'd you get all that?" Cash wondered aloud. "I mean, I couldn't even find out where he came from. And I knew him personally for twenty years."
"We have our ways," Malone replied. "Easy. Just playing my role there. Some we got on our own, some from the British, some from German records, some from the Czechs back when they wanted us to hand him over. Sometimes we were lucky. Like finding the man who knew him and Hitler in the old days, and getting hold of the diary of the priest who taught him when he was a kid. We've had a lot of years, and some good computers, to work on it, too."
"And money," Cash added softly.
"True," Malone replied.
"But why come looking for him now?" Cash asked.
"It's not the crime. We're not interested in that per se. It's the timing. There's something going on in Czechoslovakia. The Dubcek wing and the Chinese are up to something. We think it might involve us. So we're watching all our suspicious Czech immigrants."
"Who'd have thought it?" Cash mused. "Old Doc Smiley. Hard to believe."
"Not if you read his file. He was a bad dude. A lifetaker. Left a lot of bones behind him. The one thing we can't figure is why. But motivations of agents are always hard to pin down."
"Been a model citizen here. Till now. Then he suddenly torches his house, with the basement filled with bodies and a million bucks worth of fancy hardware nobody can figure out."
"Hardware?"
"Yeah. Looks like it was mostly medical stuff."
"Strange. Excuse me a minute." Malone rummaged through his briefcase, blocking Cash's view with his body. But Norm caught glimpses of piles of hastily typed papers. "Ah. I though so."
"What? "Hank asked.
"Just wanted to check one of the German reports. One of the houses in that town they destroyed had a basement full of hardware. They couldn't figure it out, so they just blew it up and bulldozed it with the rest."
"Smiley was up to the same thing then?"
"No. He lived in Prague before he ran to England. The house belonged to the local electrician."
"Let me guess," said Cash, smitten by inspiration. "It was a man named Fian Groloch."
"Ah, Norm…" Railsback started.
Malone looked bewildered. "How did you…?"
"How's that for a connection, Hank? The old witch has been hiding out from somebody."
"The guy was born twenty-some years after she left. You got to be shitting me. I don't buy it." But he spoke without conviction.
"Can somebody explain?" Malone pleaded.
Everyone chattered at him.
Once he had let it sink in, Malone mused, "My boss will really want to lay hands on the man now. But he'll probably give us the slip. He's good at changing identities. And he's had a long time to get ready."
"Pop," said Hank, "get over to the old lady's place. See if you can speed things up."
Cash said, "I know where he went."
"Where?"
"Same place as Miss Groloch. Her brother's place. He followed her. To get them both at the same time."
"Don't start that shit again!"
"Don't you start. I'm up to here…"
Beth gripped his arm. Cash forced himself to calm down. "Who's the resident Groloch expert? Maybe I haven't done so good, but you have to admit I know more than anybody else. And I was the only one who realized it was important back when you wanted to push it off on somebody else."
"He's got a point, Henry," Old Man Railsback said from the door.
"At the top of his head."
"Where do you think he went?" Malone asked. "I didn't catch your name, by the way. Nor yours,” he told Beth. He turned, but was too late to catch Old Man Railsback.
"Norman Cash. A sergeant in this chicken outfit. That's Beth Tavares. She's a detective too, only she mostly gets shafted into being a secretary."
"Norm's got the fastest mouth and gun west of the Mississippi," Hank snapped.
"You're the jerk who makes me lug a piece…"
The strain had begun to tell.
"Norm, please!" Beth gripped his arms again, wearing an expression so pained and pathetic that he could not help but desist.
He glanced at his watch. Still a half hour before he could collect Teri. He wasn't sure he could handle Railsback that long.
"Sorry, Norm," Hank told him. "You're right. It's as much my fault as yours. I should have listened when I talked, especially… just bear with me, okay? Going to be a job getting out of this one."
Cash was flabbergasted. A Railsback apology? They were as common as hen's teeth.
Beth poked him.
He gabbled something. Enough to satisfy Hank and Beth. He turned to Malone. "I think Smiley went after a woman I've been investigating-a Fiala Groloch. The daughter of the man who lived in that house in Czechoslovakia. She has a brother in upstate New York. She doesn't know we know that. That's where they'll both end up. In my opinion."
Railsback opened a Styrofoam cup of coffee that had cooled to lukewarm, began pacing. "What did you want from us, Mr. Malone?"
"I think I have most of it. At least an idea of why he's moving. I'd like copies of the pertinent reports, and a chance to talk to a few people. Also, a look at what's left of the man's house. And I'll want that New York address if you have it."
Cash felt a stubborn streak coming on. "That's my baby. I'm going up there personally." He expected smoke to roll from Hank's ears.
Railsback spent a few seconds staring out the window. Reasonably, he asked, "You think you'd be any safer going after her there?"
Norm hadn't considered the risks. "Tran's going with me," he blustered.
"That's good. I hear he can take care of himself. But maybe you need reminding. She took out four of Egan's thugs."