`Things are different now,' Lewis said.
`They sure are.'
They went outside into the bright hot morning sun and climbed into the car. Lewis started the engine. `Where to?'
`Miss Lembeck's new apartment. The one Wright just rented.'
`Okay,' Lewis said.
When they arrived at the apartment building, they saw Wright's limousine parked in front. Behind the wheel George was reading a newspaper.
`Are we fully set up across the street?' Graves said.
`We should be,' Lewis said.
Graves nodded. `Wait here. I'll go see what they've found.'
The day before, they had set up a surveillance unit in the apartment building facing Wright's. Graves rode to the nineteenth floor, got out, and walked to Room 1905. He knocked once.
`Who is it?'
`Graves.'
The door was opened for him. He entered the room. It was small and bare except for equipment clustered around the windows. There were two sets of binoculars on tripods and three sets of cameras; four chairs; a directional microphone, also on a tripod; recording equipment; film canisters; heaped ashtrays. And a television set.
On the TV Walter Cronkite was saying, `- are trying to get a vote from the Alabama delegation, which is apparently still in caucus.' In the background a booming, echoing mechanical voice was saying, `Alabama
Alabama… Alabama…'
Graves ignored the TV. `What've you got?' he asked.
One of the three men in the room stepped away from the binoculars. `Have a look,' he said.
Graves looked.
From this vantage point he could see directly into one window of Wright's apartment on the nineteenth floor of the opposite building. There were no drapes on the window, which made it easy to see in. The room was bare except for four peculiar wooden structures standing in the centre of the floor.
`They had drapes on that window too,' the man said, `but they took them off half an hour ago.'
`From all the windows?'
`No. Just this one.'
Graves frowned. Why? Did they know they were being observed? Did they want to make it easier? Because that was what they had done. He could see Wright striding around the room, directing two other people. Wright was working in shirtsleeves.
`The window's open,' Graves said. `It must be hot as hell in there.'
`That's right,' the man said. `The window has been open ever since Wright showed up. An hour ago.'
`What're those wooden things on the floor?'
`Sawhorses,' the man said. `We figure they had paperhangers in there. Paperhangers use sawhorses. But there's something funny going on.'
`How do you mean?'
`Well, look at the sawhorses closely. They have indentations cut in them.'
Graves looked. He could see a broadly curved, U-shaped cut in each sawhorse.
'Why?'
`Beats me. They just cut them a while back.'
`You mean, specially?'
`That's right. They've been doing a lot of unusual things in there. Every so often Wright sticks his hand out the window, and he's got this whirling thing, like a kid's whirling top… He sticks his hand out there for a minute, then pulls it back.'
Graves looked away from the window. `Describe it exactly.'
`It has four arms,' the man said, `and at the end of each is a cup, to catch the wind. Sort of a weathervane. But there isn't much wind today.'
`Anemometer,' Graves said.
`A what?'
`It measures wind velocity.' Why should Wright want to know the wind velocity outside the window of his girl friend's apartment?,
`Why does he care about that?' the man said.
Graves shook his head and turned back to the window, examining the sawhorses through the binoculars. Each sawhorse with its single indentation in the crossbar.
Four sawhorses.
Two tanks. Of course! The crossbars would have indentations so that the tank wouldn't roll off. `You seen any tanks in there?'
`Nothing like that,' the man said. `All we've seen is a lot of mechanical equipment.'
`What kind of mechanical equipment?' Graves peered through the binoculars. He didn't see any equipment at all.
`It looks like pumps and stuff,' the man said. `It was right in the middle of the floor.' He glanced through the binoculars, then shook his head. `They must have moved it to another room. They had some electronic equipment, too.'
`What kind?'
`Looked like a hi-fi, maybe.'
Graves thought of several nasty remarks, but said nothing. A hi-fi, for Christ's sake.
`That guy in there must be pretty weird,' the man said.
Graves turned on him. `He is not weird. He is a brilliant and a dedicated man. He is engaged in a complicated plot and he is daring -' He broke off. The man was staring. `He's not weird,' Graves finished, and returned to the binoculars.
As he watched, John Wright stepped to the window and extended his hand. He held an anemometer; the cups spun lazily. After a moment Wright withdrew the instrument and returned to directing the other men in the room.
Graves turned away from the window and made some calls.
`Department of Defence.'
`Public Information, please.'
`Just a minute, please.' There was a clicking.
`Public Information, Miss,Conover speaking.'
`I'd like to talk to Lieutenant Morrison, please.'
`One minute, please.' More clicking.
`Lieutenant Morrison's office.'
`John Graves calling for Lieutenant Morrison.'
`Just a minute, I'll see if he's in.' Still more clicking. 'Morrison here. What is it?' As usual, Morrison sounded harried.
`Pete, this is John Graves at State. I'm in San Diego, and I need some information.'
`Shoot.'
`Pete, I need to know what a code word represents. The code word is Binary 75 slash 76.'
Morrison coughed in surprise. `Where'd you hear that?'
`Pete, just tell me what it means.'
`Jesus, this is an open line.'
`I know it's an open line. Tell me what it means.'
`Where are you calling from?'
`San Diego.'
`Jesus, you must be out of your mind.'
`I need the information, Pete. And I need it now.'
`Look,' Morrison said, `if you don't mind me saying so, this is pretty irregular. You've just popped a -' He broke off again. `Honestly,' he said, in his most honest, public-information officer's voice, `I'd have to obtain clearances and confirmation of need-to-know from your department, and then I'd have to pass it on to the Army, and then -'
`Okay, fine. Do it.'
`You have to supply the clearances.'
`I haven't got time.'
`You're asking me on an open line to define a hot new weapons system and break its code and you haven't got '
`Look,' Graves said. `If I call Phelps, can he call you and requisition this information?'
'Verbal requisition?' Morrison seemed shocked. `This is pretty heavy stuff for a verbal. You sure you don't want specifications on the ABM sites while you're at it, and maybe Polaris submarine coordinates? Any other minor details?'
Graves suppressed his anger. Morrison was such a bureaucratic ass. `I need the information,' he repeated. `I need it now.'
`Sounds like this may be a matter for Defence to look into,' Morrison said. `We'd be curious to know how you got that coding in the first place. Why don't you forward us a complete report along with a requisition AB-212; that's the green form. I may be able to release the data to you in a day or so, and -'
Graves hung up.
`This is Graves.'
`I know who it is,' Phelps said. `What do you have to say for yourself?'
'Binary 75 slash 76,' Graves said. `It's a coding - I need to know what it means.'