“No, I’m quite certain some people in Washington want to kill me.”
“If anyone did want you dead, they’re probably all here. Starting with Mr. Stanley, but not for the reasons you think.”
“Karl, your warped sense of humor is not appreciated at this time. Plus, I’m pissed off at you.”
“You’ll thank me for this someday. I see you’ve lost some weight. Did you not eat well?”
“Look, Colonel, I want to be out of here by tomorrow night, latest. I got the short-timer shakes, and the single-digit fidget. Biet?”
“Oh, I remember that feeling too well. Do you think I should go down to Cu Chi and Xuan Loc?”
“Why not? You’re here. Also, I want Susan out with me.”
“That’s not my problem.”
“It is now.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” He asked me, “Is this Colonel Mang the cause of your problems?”
“Well, there are many causes to my problems, but he’s the most obvious, and the most honest about it.”
Karl ignored the innuendo, and asked me, “Where is this man now?”
“About a ten-minute drive from here. Susan and I spent an unpleasant hour with him at Gestapo Headquarters earlier this evening.”
“But if he released you, Paul, then you shouldn’t be too concerned.”
“It’s a very long story, and we shouldn’t leave those people in there alone too long.”
“Why not?”
“Karl. Look at me. Look closely. How stupid do I look?”
He played the game and studied my face. He said, “You look fairly intelligent. Perhaps too intelligent.”
“Why did you send me on this assignment?”
“Because you are the best man I have.”
“This is true. But not the best man for the job.”
“Probably not. But they tried to take this case away from me, and I needed to impress them with my best agent.”
“Who are they?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“What’s in this for you?”
He anticipated the question and replied, “Only the satisfaction of having done a difficult job well.”
“Am I invited to your promotion party?”
“Of course.”
I looked at him a long time and said, “Colonel, do you understand that the next president of the United States may be a thief and a murderer?”
“An alleged thief and murderer.”
“While you and I were getting our asses shot off, this guy is sitting in his office at MACV Headquarters in the Citadel at Quang Tri, wheeling and dealing on the black market, and getting stoned. Then when the shit hits the fan and American soldiers and marines are dying all around him, he finds the fucking time to commit murder and robbery. You’ve read the original of that letter. Doesn’t this bother you?”
He thought a moment and said to me, “I assume Ms. Weber translated this story from Tran Van Vinh.”
“Answer my question.”
He answered, “What’s past is past. We can’t change what happened to us there… here. We did our duty, some did not. We should not hold on to the anger, as you seem to do—”
“You’re damned right I’m angry.” I thought about my advice to Colonel Mang to let go of the anger, but I often don’t take my own good advice. I said to Karl, “You asked me at the Wall if I was angry at the men who didn’t serve, and I told you I was not. I told you I was angry at those who served dishonorably. Do you remember that?”
“I do. That was my first indication that I might be making a mistake by sending you on this assignment.”
“You should have known ten years before that.”
He nodded. “Perhaps I did. I have some ambivalence myself about this.”
“You shouldn’t have any ambivalence, Karl.”
He didn’t reply to that and said, “Your anger shouldn’t affect your judgment. We don’t know, nor will we ever prove, that Edward Blake is guilty of anything.”
“That’s for a jury to decide.”
“No, it’s not. Look at this problem as an opportunity. An opportunity for me, and for you, to belatedly profit from the war.”
“I can’t believe I’m hearing that from you. Colonel Karl Law and Order Hellmann. You’d indict your own mother if you caught her shoplifting in the PX.”
“My mother is not going to be the next president of the United States, and she’s not surrounded by powerful and ruthless people.”
I stared at him.
He said, “You can’t judge a man’s life by a moment in time. If you or I were judged that way, we’d have a lot to answer for. The fact is, Paul, Edward Blake has led what appears to be an exemplary life since the war, and he is what the country needs and wants at this moment in time. What possible difference could it make to you if he became the next president?”
I turned toward the office door, but Karl grabbed my arm. He said, “Don’t make my life difficult, and don’t make your own life more difficult than it already is. We have both escaped many bullets, Paul, and are about to earn well-deserved promotions and comfortable retirements. Our military funerals with full honors will come soon enough. There’s no reason to accelerate that date.”
I pulled my arm away from him and went into the office.
Susan was sitting in a club chair, John Eagan and Bill were on a leather couch, and Marc Goodman had moved the desk chair around to the group. I stood with my butt on the Ambassador’s desk. Karl entered and took the big leather chair he’d claimed earlier.
The room was half lit with two green-shaded lamps, and outside the windows I could hear the sounds of chairs being folded on the lawn.
Colonel Goodman said to me, “It’s been decided that I lead the discussion.”
I didn’t say anything.
Goodman said to me, “While you were outside, Susan gave us a briefing of your travels from Saigon to Nha Trang, to Hue, and then to Dien Bien Phu, and your problems with the police and the soldiers, and your run-ins with this Colonel Mang. We’re up to Ban Hin.” He looked at me and Susan and said, “I commend you both on an outstanding job.”
I didn’t respond.
He said to me, “If it’s all right with Colonel Hellmann, Paul, perhaps you’d like to tell us what happened in Ban Hin.”
Colonel Hellmann said, “Paul is free to speak. But I should tell you at this time that Mr. Brenner has some serious questions about the purpose of this mission and this meeting.”
Everyone looked at me, and I made brief eye contact with Susan. This is what is called a defining moment. My personal life has always been a shambles, and my professional life has been marked by brilliant triumphs that I’ve always managed to eclipse later through some stupid stubbornness, or a run-in with authority. I didn’t see why this case should be any different from any other, so I said, “As Bill probably told you, I’m on thin ice, and all I have to hold on to is the Vice President’s nuts.”
There was some throat-clearing and a little squirming around in the seats. Susan had her hand over her face, and I couldn’t tell if she was upset or smiling.
I said, “Let me make it clear that Susan Weber did her job in regard to the mission, Tran Van Vinh, and me. I was totally in the dark about the subject of my investigation until the very end when I discovered among Mr. Vinh’s war souvenirs a MACV company roster that listed Lieutenant William Hines and Captain Edward Blake. At that time, I indicated to Susan that I understood what this was about, and that I also understood the necessity of keeping the information secret and limited. She made an evaluation, based on my representation, that I was going to be a team player, though that’s not what I—”
Susan interrupted, “Paul, your memory is not good. You went totally bonkers when you discovered that Edward Blake was a suspect in a murder case. You wanted to blow the whistle, and I told you you’d be nuts to do that. We argued, and you won. I agree with you. We need to uphold the law. It’s really that simple.”