They got out of the taxi and saw the driver take off in hurry, even without counting the money they paid him. The FSB team was waiting for them on the sidewalk. The chief 'shadow' motioned for them to follow him into the building. He said something in Russian and Edna translated that they were to wait while he fetched the head of the bureau.
Mata looked around and thought that she had never seen so many grim-faced people in one place, except at a funeral. She didn't even see a hint of a smile on anyone's face and wondered if it was due to the building's history or that perhaps evil emanated from the stone-walls and pervaded the atmosphere. She shivered, and it suddenly occurred to her that they may not be let out of the building. She quietly said, "I feel like a fly invited to a party by a spider and being told that the main course will soon be served."
'The Fish' didn't smile, "I don't know how they manage to intimidate people so severely without saying a word. Perhaps the Israeli Security Agency should ask the FSB for architectural advice. It would help us interrogate terrorists without even touching them physically."
Edna commented, "These walls have heard so many people cry in agony, have seen so much blood spilled, have witnessed so many men and women turn against their own families. Thankfully, we don't have anything similar or even remotely close."
David stopped the small talk. "This building gives me the creeps, too. Let's focus on the case on hand, here comes our 'shadow' with someone who is obviously the boss." He pointed to a tall, thin woman.
She said in American accented English, "I am glad to meet you all, unofficially, of course. Dr. David Avivi, we have heard so much about you and your team and have long wanted to thank you for chasing the perpetrators who caused the plane crash near the village of Kurtsevo. We were trying to understand what you were after, here in St. Petersburg, and have assigned a few of our best men to protect you in case you got into trouble. I hope you enjoyed your dinner last night."
David said, "Touché, indeed we did. I guess you know why we are here." She shook her head, so he continued, "Perhaps we should go to a more private place. I was told that the walls here have eyes and ears."
She laughed, "They shut their eyes and close their ears on demand. But let's go to our VIP conference room." She added, "Please leave your cellphones and all other electronic media at the desk here." The Mossad agents reluctantly placed their phones in the box, suspecting that the contents' phone directory, e-mails, etc. would be downloaded by the FSB. 'The Fish' worried that the Russians would plant spyware in the phones, so said, "David, perhaps, I should stay here with the electronic equipment. You don't really need me in the conference room."
David understood what he was implying and readily agreed. The FSB colonel didn't understand the Hebrew exchange but figured what they were talking about when 'The Fish' stayed behind holding the box with the cellphones. She nodded — as one professional spy would appreciate another.
David, Mata and Edna followed the Russian colonel through the maze of corridors, and down two flights of stairs. Three burly FSB agents brought up in the rear, but only one of them entered the conference room, while the other two stood guard at the door. The FSB Station Chief introduced herself, formally, "I am Colonel Natasha Alexandrova, and head of the FSB office in St. Petersburg. In case you wonder about my English — I have spent five years at the Residentura office in Washington, DC. So, I think it's time to do away with the niceties and cut to the chase. Tell me what made you come to me, today, after being here for some time."
David gave a summary of the events in Bologna and the suspicion that NEMESIS was accountable for the acts of terror, although they had not accepted responsibility nor claimed credit. He then described the wild-goose chase in the area surrounding Coburg, and finally got to the cottage in Slovakia. Natasha listened patiently and commented, "So, you are quite convinced that these terrorists have managed to obtain an old nuke, that the Americans had 'forgotten' or 'misplaced' in Germany, three or four decades ago. Typical capitalist negligence and incompetence. What makes you think that it is here?"
David ignored her comment about the Americans' carelessness — in part he agreed with the colonel — and said, "This is where we are not sure about our conclusions. Based on the history of Le Docteur and NEMESIS, we strongly suspect that St. Petersburg is the target of a nuclear attack. Think about it — they have consistently claimed that communism was one of the dire enemies of Islam. If they can detonate an improvised nuclear device in this city, with fissile material that was made in the United States, as your nuclear forensics laboratory will easily find out, then the Russian Federation will surely respond in kind. Your leader, Mr. Putin, will assuredly make demands to the US for compensation, and probably also to take out New York or Washington, to even the score. The US will refuse, correctly saying that no US personnel were involved, but that would hardly placate Putin. From then on, it's anyone's guess what could happen…" He stopped talking, noting the grim face of the Russian FSB colonel.
"You have made not just one jump ahead of yourself, but several leaps. First, you must prove that the nuke is in St. Petersburg and that it will be detonated here. Everything else is innuendo — assumptions that the Russian Federation will react in the way you have speculated and that the US president, as unpredictable that he is, will respond aggressively, and so on… I cannot start a citywide manhunt based on your theory. I need specific evidence that the terrorists are here and that the nuke is here and that they intend to detonate it here."
She started to rise from the table, but David held his hand up, "Our colleague, Joe, has spotted something strange in the cruise ship port." He elucidated the story about the coffin, the hearse and the funeral parlor, and concluded, "As we are speaking, Joe is keeping an eye on the funeral parlor, watching if the coffin is removed by the driver and the old man. Perhaps you could bring in the people who operate the funeral parlor and question them."
The colonel nodded, "We can do this discreetly, without alerting the whole city and causing mass panic among the population." She issued a few orders in rapid Russian and the FSB agent rushed out of the room. The colonel added, "Let's have some tea while we wait for the manager of the funeral parlor to accept our invitation and kindly join us."
Joe was seated in a café, watching the entrance to funeral parlor's garage. He saw the driver carefully backing out of the garage. The signal from the tracking device he had placed on the hearse the previous evening was strong and stationary. For a moment, Joe didn't understand what he was seeing, but then he understood that the driver was using a different hearse — not the one that he had used the previous day. Joe quickly jumped up from the table, left some money on the table and rushed out to get a taxi to follow the hearse. However, as there was no taxi in the small alley, he rushed to one of the main streets but by the time he got a taxi the hearse was out of sight. He called David's cellphone and was surprised when 'The Fish' answered. He quickly reported that the driver and coffin had slipped away and that he had lost them. 'The Fish' asked if he had noted the license plate number of the new hearse and was relieved to hear that Joe had it.
'The Fish' tried to explain to the FSB officer manning the desk that he needed to urgently speak to David, but the officer said something that sounded quite rude. 'The Fish' indicated that he didn't understand, and the officer raised his voice and repeated what he had said previously. Like many other people who spoke to a foreigner, he thought that shouting would make his message understood. 'The Fish' made gestures that left no doubt that he was in a hurry to get to speak to his colleagues and finally the FSB officer gave in, picked up the phone and spoke to someone on the other side. After a couple of terse words, he handed the phone over to 'The Fish'. When David came on line, 'The Fish' told him about Joe's call.