Castillo started to push the SPEAKERPHONE button again to shut it off but changed his mind.
"One moment, please," the embassy operator said.
"State Department."
"This line is secure?"
"Yes, sir."
"My name is C. G. Castillo. Can you patch me through to the secretary, please?"
"No, sir. The secretary is out of the country, and the secure voice link is down."
"Okay. Put me through to the White House switchboard, please." "White House."
"C. G. Castillo on a secure line for the secretary of state, please."
"Her voice link is down, Mr. Castillo. We have a secure teletypewriter link. You'll have to dictate what-"
"Before we try that, put me through to Secretary Hall's office in the Nebraska Complex, please."
"Secretary Hall's office or your office, Mr. Castillo?"
"Okay, my office."
There was the sound of the phone ringing twice.
"Mr. Castillo's line. Mr. Miller speaking."
"What are you doing there at four o'clock in the morning?"
"I had them move a cot in. It's a long ride back and forth to your apartment in the back of a Yukon. I was starting to feel like a dummy in a disaster exercise. Where are you?"
"Budapest."
"Montvale wants to talk to you. So does the boss. And we have a mysterious message from your pal Natalie. The encrypted voice link on her plane is down, and so is the one in the embassy in Singapore. Heads are going to roll about that."
"Read me the message. Maybe I won't have to talk to Montvale."
"Okay. You going to write this down, or do you just want to hear it?"
"Just read it."
"Okay. 'Top Secret-Presidential. From SecState to SecHomeSec. Start Please convey following personal to C.G. by most expeditious means. Charley, believe me, I didn't know Yung was working for me until an hour ago. I have spoken with Ambassador Silvio in Buenos Aires and Ambassador McGrory in Montevideo and told both to tell Yung he is to put himself and whatever intelligence he has developed at your disposal. That's all I felt safe in doing as there is something wrong with the secure voice link on both the plane and in the embassy, believe it or not. Let me know what else I can do. Best personal regards. Natalie. End Personal message from SecState.'"
"Got it, Dick."
"Who the hell is Yung?"
"He's an FBI agent in Montevideo."
"And he's working for Cohen? What's that all about?"
"I don't know. And I guess I won't find out until we get to Buenos Aires."
"When are you going there?"
"Just as soon as we have lunch."
"Will that little airplane make it across the South Atlantic?"
"God, I hope so. Dick, wait until we're out of here- say, nine your time-and then tell Secretary Hall I called and have Secretary Cohen's message. I don't want to wake him or Ambassador Montvale at four in the morning. And send one to Secretary Cohen, quote Got it. Many thanks. Charley, end quote. And send one to Ambassador Silvio saying we're on our way and will be there however long it takes to get there. We should be wheels-up out of here in no more than two or three hours."
"The Gray Fox radio link is up and running in Buenos Aires. Should I use that?"
"Absolutely."
"Anything else, Charley?"
"Get your filthy rotten smelly cast off my desk."
"Go fuck yourself. I say that with all possible respect. Watch your back, buddy."
"I will. Break it down, please."
"After eavesdropping on your conversation, Mr. Castillo," the ambassador said, "I don't really know much more about what you're doing than I did before, except I now have no question about your right to use my secure voice link."
"Thank you very much for the use of it, sir."
"It should go without saying that I really hope you can find whoever murdered Jack Masterson. Is there anything I can do, anything at all?"
"I can't think of anything, sir," Castillo said. "Except one thing. Who was the American officer whose statue is across the street?"
The ambassador chuckled. "You saw that, did you?" he asked, rhetorically. "Brigadier General Harry Hill Bandholtz was sent here in 1919 to be the American on the Inter-Allied Control Commission which was supervising the disengagement of Romanian troops from Hungary.
"The Romanians thought disengagement meant they could help themselves to the Transylvanian treasures in the National Museum. General Bandholtz didn't think that was right. So, on October 5, 1919, he showed up at the museum, alone, and armed only with his riding crop, ran the Romanians off like Christ chasing the money-lenders out of the temple. He must have been one hell of a man."
"Obviously."
"And when they asked him why, he said something to the effect that he was only obeying his orders as he understood them as an officer and a gentleman. You don't hear that phrase much anymore, do you, 'an officer and a gentleman'?"
"Mr. Ambassador," Torine said, "oddly enough, I heard it earlier today."
"Said seriously, or mockingly?"
"Very seriously, sir," Torine said. "Spoken by an officer and a gentleman."
"The Hungarians loved Bandholtz and had the statue cast," the ambassador went on. "They set it up in 1936. The Hungarian fascists and the Nazis didn't bother it, but when the Russians were here, right after the war- before they let us reopen the embassy-they took it down and away 'for repair.' We heard about it, of course, from the Swiss, who were supposed to be guarding the embassy property. We were actually in the process of having another made when we learned that the Hungarians had stolen it from the scrap yard, and were concealing it so it could be put back up when the Russians left. The Russians left, and General Bandholtz is back on his pedestal."
"Mr. Ambassador, that's a great story, and I'm really glad I asked. But now, sir, with our profound thanks, we won't take any more of your time," Castillo said.
"Where are you going now, to the airport?"
"First to the Karpatia, sir, then to the Gellert to check out, and then to the airport."
"I'll get you one of our cars," the ambassador said, and reached for a telephone. "Then I can tell myself I at least did something to help." [THREE] Karpatia Ferenciek tere, 7-8 Budapest, Hungary 1215 28 July 2005 Otto Goerner and Eric Kocian were already mostly through what looked like liter-sized glasses of beer when Castillo and the others came into the restaurant. And the moment they sat down, a plump waiter with a luxuriant mustache showed up with a tray full of the enormous beer glasses.
"None for those two, thank you just the same," Castillo said in Hungarian, pointing to Torine and Fernando. "They're driving."
Goerner and Kocian chuckled.
"Are you going to tell us what you just said about us?" Fernando challenged.
"No booze, you're flying," Castillo said.
"And what about you?"
"I'll be doing the flight planning. I can do that with a little beer in my system."
"I'll do the flight planning, thank you just the same, Major," Torine said, and slid Castillo's beer away from him, picked it up, took a healthy swallow, sighed appreciatively, and added, "As an officer and a gentleman, I'm sure you're aware that Rank Hath Its Privileges."
"Well, in that case, I guess there's nothing for me to do but eat," Castillo said. "What do you recommend, Herr Kocian?"
Kocian reached into his pocket and handed Castillo a business-sized envelope. It was stuffed with paper.
"I would only give this to a friend," he said. "You may therefore call me Eric."
"Thank you very much, Eric," Castillo said, putting the envelope in his inside jacket pocket. "Seymour, you can put the pliers back in the tool kit. Dentistry is apparently not going to be necessary."
"Ach Gott, Karl!" Goerner said.
"You're aware, I'm sure, Karl, that the Hungarians taught the Machiavellians all they knew about poisoning people?" Kocian asked.
"And with that in mind, Eric, what do you recommend? Gulyas lightly laced with arsenic?"
"Wiener schnitzel," Kocian said. "The Karpatia serves the best Wiener schnitzel in the world."