Hank walked down the hallway until he came to the fire exit. He opened it and checked to see that it was not the kind that locked automatically behind you when it closed. He really didn’t feel like walking down fourteen flights. No, thirteen flights he saw, when the number on the door below proved to be twelve. Superstition rules the world. He listened carefully before he pushed open the door on the eleventh floor; he was not being followed. When he knocked on 1125, Uzi Drezner opened the door for him, then locked it quickly behind him when he entered.
“Here are the tapes,” Hank said.
“Wonderful. Any problems?”
“Not in the taping. Plenty of conversation here. But our neighbors were suspicious of us at first and looked us over closely. We haven’t talked to them since.”
“That’s fine. I want you to meet Mr. Ginzberg.”
A short, gray-haired man rose from the couch and shook his hand. “My pleasure,” he said in slightly accented English. His eyes were on the bag, not on Hank, as he spoke.
“Mr, Ginzberg was a professor of German,” Uzi said. “But that was before his stay in Buchenwald. He works with us now. Knows every dialect and regional accent in German and can even place the speaker’s home town within a couple of miles.” They watched Ginzberg leave the room.
“Would you like a drink?” Uzi asked. Hank looked at his watch.
“I suppose so. Sun’s over the yardarm. Bourbon on the rocks, please.”
Uzi poured out the drinks — an orange juice for himself, Hank noticed. “Shalom,” Uzi said. “Make yourself comfortable and tell me what has happened since I saw you last.”
“To me, nothing. Anything of value will be on those tapes. It is you who should have some news.”
“We have some. We know more of the people who are involved in the affair, we know what they are planning, and we know the sum involved. A small fortune in diamonds…. “
“Well, you know a good deal more*than I do!”
“We do. But we don’t know just when and where the final transaction will take place.”
“My curiosity about that can wait. But I want to know the rest now.”
“Of course.” Uzi took a large sip of the orange juice. “It appears that the Paraguayan underground has an agent very close to the top in the government, or someone with access to their meeting rooms. Whoever it is made a recording of a meeting between General Stroessner and a certain Admiral Marquez who is the present leader of the governing junta in Uruguay. This government, if you don’t know, is just about as loathsome as the other. They also have something else in common — they provide safe refuge for escaped Nazis. Other than this they have little else in common nor have they been at all interested in working together in the past. But they are doing so now because they are involved in a very large arms deal. The diamonds will be turned over as payment for the arms which will be landed in Uruguay, after which some percentage of the weapons will be trans-shipped to Paraguay. We know this much and no more. We don’t know where the arms ship is now, or even its name. Nor do we know where and when the meeting will take place to pay for the arms.”
“But you have suspicions?”
“We certainly have. The QE2 must be involved somehow. The diamonds may be aboard right now, with those thugs in the cabins next to you. Did you ever hear the word Diamant used when you listened to the tapes?”
“Never. Though I could have missed it.”
“Not to worry. Mr. Ginzberg will find it if it is there.”
“Do you know where the diamonds are coming from?”
“No. But this must be the Nazi involvement. Certainly these tinpot fascists don’t have gems in amounts like that. But we need more information, since the source in Paraguay seems to have dried up for the time being. Here are the names we are interested in. Memorize the list and burn it before you leave this room. These two, the Czech and the woman, appear to represent the arms people. The others are on the military staffs of both governments involved.”
Hank took the paper and studied it, thinking aloud at the same time. “The two suites next to mine, we know the people in there are connected with this affair. But are there any more of them aboard the ship?”
“A good question — and one that is keeping us up nights. A certain amount of breaking and entering has been done and we now have the complete passenger list of the ship. But it tells us little or nothing. Just names. Any number of them could be fakes. It also only tells us who booked and paid for the cabins — not how many might be aboard or still coming aboard. Also, the ship is surprisingly full for so expensive a cruise. We had trouble obtaining cabins for some of our people, but that has been taken care of. They are boarding here in Hawaii.”
“There’s a relief to know. How do I contact them?”
“You don’t. They’ll be in touch with you. This must all be done with a very low profile. Particularly since our Paraguayan associates have taken on some partners. The Tupamaros.”
“I’ve heard of them. The urban guerillas, terrorists, in Uruguay. But I thought they had been wiped out?”
“Most were. But there are enough in exile to cause trouble. We are still cooperating, but our role is getting smaller and smaller. The resistance movements want the diamonds, and the arms if possible. Or at least to stop them from reaching the two countries. They have promised to throw any Nazis our way, glad to get rid of them, but little else.”
“If only we knew more…. “
“We do,” Ginzberg said from the doorway. He came into the room, a wad of notes clutched in his hand.
“Those tapes are wonderful, Mr. Greenstein, excellently done. I will prepare a complete transcript later of all the valuable material. But I wanted to share a little discovery with you right now.”
They leaned forward, tensely, as Ginzberg smiled grimly and shook the notes in their direction.
“Something very big is going to happen in Acapulco. That is where the action will begin. Also, it appears that Wielgus will be joining the party there, and he personally will be bringing the diamonds with him.”
“Aboard this ship?” Uzi asked.
“That I don’t know, they were not clear. But they were clear about one thing. The diamonds are Nazi loot, their mutual savings account you might call it. So a number of them will be involved in this exercise in order to keep an eye on their fortune. This is big, very big. It could be the key to the entire underground Nazi organization and all of their finances.”
Ginzberg smiled benignly at the wide-eyed expressions on their faces, shock that turned to glee. He accepted the offer of a small glass of whisky and Uzi poured it for him.
“Let us hope,” Uzi said. “Let us pray that we get it right. This could be the big one that we have been working for all these years.”
They raised their glasses and drank.
13
The city of Acapulco baked in the tropical sun, burning down out of the Pacific blue of the sky. However, out to sea, heavy dark clouds banked up higher and higher, hung with gray sheets of rain that trailed down to the ocean below. Their threatening blackness was lit occasionally by bolts of lightning, but they were still too far away from the sound of thunder to be heard on land. The occupants of the two cars drawn up on the shore road, Costera Aleman, looked at the approaching storm with uncertain speculation. For the guards baking in the Volkswagen, the rain might bring a welcome relief from the stifling heat. They had all of the windows in the car rolled down but there was no escape. However, in the Mercedes the engine and air conditioning were running, so it was cool and comfortable.