Teddy was back within ten minutes. “Yes, they do have an archives setup. I spoke to the curator, a nice lady named Mary Kelly who was just closing up. Twelve airborne units operated out of there. I told her I’m taking time off from the history department at Columbia to do a book on airborne warfare in Vietnam.”
“That’s pretty clever, Teddy, but what in the hell are you looking for?”
“We know he told Dillon his war was the Yom Kippur War. Now that was nineteen seventy-three. He wasn’t in the Six-Day War, which was nineteen sixty-seven. Why not?”
“I take your point.” Cazalet nodded. “Because he was serving in Vietnam.”
“So I’ll check the list of officers serving with the regiment, and I’ll be looking for Jewish officers, naturally.”
“But Teddy, there were a lot of Jewish officers.”
“Sure, my old company commander for one.” Teddy was suddenly impatient and forgot himself. “For Christ’s sake, Jake, it’s better than doing nothing. I can take one of the jets from Andrews in the morning if you’ll authorize it. I’ll be there in no time.”
Jake Cazalet raised a hand defensively. “Okay, Teddy, go with my blessing.” He reached for the Codex phone. “I’ll let Ferguson know.”
Hannah Bernstein drifted up from darkness. The light was very bright from a small chandelier in the vaulted ceiling. The room was paneled in dark wood and seemed very old. The bed enormous. There was dark oak furniture, a large Persian carpet spread across a polished oak floor.
She got to her feet and stood up, swaying a little, then walked to the barred window and looked out. What she saw, although she didn’t realize the fact, was the same view that Marie de Brissac had from her room – the bay, the jetty with the speedboat beside it, the launch on the other side, a night sky bright with stars, moonlight dancing on the water.
The door opened and Aaron entered, followed by David Braun with a tray. “Ah, up and about, Chief Inspector. Coffee for you, nice and black. You’ll feel much better afterwards.”
“Like the last time?”
“I had no option, you know that.”
“Where am I?”
“Don’t be silly. Drink your coffee, then have a shower and you’ll feel much better. The bathroom is through there. This is David, by the way.”
Braun said in Hebrew to Aaron, “Chief Inspector? It’s astonishing.”
Hannah said in the same language, “Go on, get out of here, the both of you.”
He was right about one thing. The coffee helped. She drank two cups, then undressed, went into the bathroom and stood under a cold shower for a good five minutes. She toweled her short hair briskly, then finished it off with the wall-mounted hair dryer.
“All the comforts of home,” she said softly and went back into the bedroom and dressed.
She was standing by the window ten minutes later when the key sounded in the lock. She turned and Aaron opened the door and stood to one side. Judas followed him, a menacing figure in the black jump suit and hood.
He was smoking a cigar and his teeth gleamed in a smile. “So, the great Detective Chief Inspector Hannah Bernstein. What’s a nice Jewish girl doing in a job like yours, when she should be married with three kids?”
“Making chicken soup with noodles for her lord and master?” she asked.
“I like it!” he said in Hebrew. “Sorry about your pal Dillon, but when you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go. Mind you, from what I hear, the bastard has been on borrowed time for years.”
“He was worth ten of you,” she said.
He laughed. “Not anymore, he isn’t.” He turned to Aaron. “Bring her along. Time she met our special guest.”
Marie de Brissac was painting, seated in front of the easel, when the door opened and Aaron came in, followed by Hannah and Judas. Marie frowned and put her brush down.
“What’s going on?”
“I’ve brought you a friend, a companion, if you like.” He turned to Hannah. “Go on, tell her who you are.”
“My name is Hannah Bernstein.”
Judas cut in. “Hey, let’s get it right. Detective Chief Inspector Hannah Bernstein.” Marie looked bewildered. “She was with Dillon in Sicily when we picked him up. I let her go then, because I wanted her to be able to talk to her boss. Then I got to thinking about you up here all alone and upset because we knocked off Dillon, so Aaron and Moshe flew to London and brought her back just for you.” He turned to Hannah. “You didn’t mind a bit, did you?”
She said calmly, “Why the hell don’t you clear off and leave us alone?”
He laughed again. “Hey, I’m being really good to you. You can have dinner together.” He turned to Aaron. “See to it,” and he went out.
“How do I know you’re who you say you are?” Marie de Brissac asked.
“You mean who that bastard says I am?” Hannah said, then laughed ruefully. “You’ll just have to trust me, I suppose. I didn’t realize you painted. That’s rather good.”
She walked to the easel, paused at the table, picked up a piece of charcoal, and wrote on the first piece of cartridge paper: Dillon is alive. Marie read the message and looked at her in astonishment, and Hannah carried on: The room may be bugged. Go to the bathroom.
Marie did as she was told and Hannah followed, closing the door and flushing the toilet. “We saw your father – Dillon and I. Dillon knew they were going to kill him afterwards and managed to fool them into thinking he was dead. It doesn’t matter how.”
“Oh, my God!”
“Maybe your room isn’t bugged, but in any case, from now on when we mention Dillon, he’s dead.”
“Yes, I see that.”
“So, he’s on your case.”
“And yours?”
Hannah smiled. “He’s the best, Countess. Judas doesn’t know what he’s up against. Now back we go.” She flushed the toilet again and they returned to the bedroom. “So, you’ve no idea where we are?”
“I’m afraid not, and you, Chief Inspector?”
“I was kidnapped in London and flown here, wherever it is, in a private jet. We flew over the Mediterranean, I know that, but then they drugged my coffee.”
“They drugged me when they grabbed me in Corfu,” Marie said.
“I know, Dillon told me.” Hannah shook her head. “Poor Sean. To end up like that, shot in the back by some wretched hit man.”
The door opened and David Braun came in pushing a trolley. “Dinner, ladies.”
He started to lay the dining table and Marie said, “This is David, Chief Inspector, David Braun. He likes me, really, but on the other hand, he believes Judas to be a truly great man.”
“Then all I can say is he must be mentally deranged.” Hannah pushed David to the door. “Go on, get out of it. We can manage very well alone.”
Ferguson couldn’t sleep. He’d told Dillon and Blake about Teddy Grant’s intention of visiting Fort Lansing. He was sitting up in bed, reading, when the special mobile which Judas had given Dillon sounded. Ferguson let it ring for a while, then picked it up.
“Ferguson.”
“Hi, old buddy, just thought I’d let you know she arrived in one piece. She’s having dinner with the countess now. It’s countdown time, Brigadier. How long have we got? Three days. Dear me, Jake Cazalet must be going through hell.”
He started to laugh and Ferguson switched off the phone.
TWELVE
As the Gulfstream lifted off from Farley Field the following morning, Captain Vernon came on over the speaker.
“We’ll be able to land at Charles de Gaulle, but the weather isn’t good. Heavy rain and mist in Paris itself.”
He switched off and Blake made a cup of coffee, and tea for Dillon. “Imagine that bastard phoning Ferguson like that.”
“He likes sticking pins in people.”
“Well, I’d sure as hell like to stick pins in him. How are we going to play this, Sean?”