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Pitt stared at the bubbles rising from the glass for a moment. "A French name; I can't recall it. Why do you ask?"
"Have an aroma like a flower?"
"Lilac . . . no, honeysuckle. Yes, honeysuckle."
"Her suite was wiped clean. The Russians made it look like she'd never been there, but I could still smell her scent."
Pitt drained the champagne glass and poured another without speaking.
"We have to face the possibility they killed her," Giordino said matter-of-factly.
"Then why hide her clothes and luggage? They can't claim she fell overboard with all her belongings."
"The crew could have stored them below and are waiting for an opportune moment, like rough weather, to announce the tragic news.
Sorry, Dirk," Giordino anded, no apology in his voice.
"We've got to look at every angle, good or bad."
"Loren is alive and onboard this ship somewhere," Pitt said steadfastly. "And maybe Moran and Larimer too."
"You're taking a lot for granted."
"Loren is a smart girl. She didn't ask Sally Lindemann to locate Speaker of the House Moran unless she had a damn good reason.
Sally claims Moran and Senator Larimer have both
mysteriously dropped from sight. Now Loren is missing too. What impression do you get?"
"You make a good sales pitch, but what's behind it?"
Pitt shrugged negatively. "I flatly don't know. Only a crazy idea this might somehow mix with Bougainville Maritime and the loss of the Eagle."
Giordino was silent, thinking it over. "Yes," he said slowly, "a crazy idea, but one that makes a lot of circumstantial sense. Where do you want me to start?"
"Put on your Zelda getup and walk past every cabin on the ship.
If Loren or the others are held prisoner inside, there will be a security guard posted outside the door."
"And that's the giveaway," said Giordino. "Where will you be?"
Pitt lain out the diagram of the ship on his bunk. "Some of the crew are quartered in the stern. I'll scrounge there." He folded up the diagram and shoved it in the pocket of the coveralls. "We'd best get started. There isn't much time."
"At least we have until the day after tomorrow, when the Leonin Andreyev docks in Jamaica."
"No such luxury," said Pitt. "Study a nautical chart of the Caribbean and you'll see that about this time tomorrow afternoon we'll be cruising within sight of the Cuban coast."
Giordino nodded in understanding. "A golden opportunity to transfer Loren and others off the ship where they can't be touched."
"The nasty part is they may not stay on Cuban soil any longer than it takes to put them on a plane for Moscow."
Giordino considered that for a moment and then went over to his suitcase, removed the mangy wig and slipped it over his curly head.
Then he peered in a mirror and made a hideous face.
'Veil, Zelda," he said sourly, "let's go walk the decks and see who we can pick up."
THE President WENT ON NATIONAL TELEVISION that same evening to reveal his meeting and accord with President Antonov of the Soviet Union. In his twenty-three-minute andress, he briefly outlined his programs to aid the Communist countries. He also stated his intention to abolish the barriers and restrictions on purchases of American high technology by the Russians. Never once was Congress mentioned. He spoke of the Eastern bloc trade agreements as though they were already budgeted and set in motion.
