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“Let me guess what he said when you told him this, Bernardo: ‘Go fuck yourselves, and tell the boys at the Circulo Militar to do the same.’”
“Actually, he said, ‘Don’t hold your breath.’”
“And when you reported this to General Farrell, his Irish temper flared, and he said, ‘Arrest the sonofabitch!’”
“What President Farrell said, very calmly, was that we could not afford to have the officer corps split in two as it would be if there were an attempt—successful or not—on Juan Domingo’s life. Therefore, the obvious thing to do was protect him until the problem of the unhappy officers could be resolved—”
“And did he say how he was going to do that?” Frade interrupted.
Martín ignored the question.
“And since el Coronel Perón would almost certainly not accept any such protection willingly, that left no choice but to arrest him.”
“And you did? I mean, Farrell gave you that dirty job?”
“El Coronel was arrested by General Ramos and myself,” Martín said.
“Where? At the Edificio Libertador? Or did you—I hope—go to his apartment and pull him out of the loving arms of his tootsie?”
“To spare him the embarrassment of being taken from the Edificio Libertador in arrest, we waited until we knew he was in his office in the Labor Ministry.”
“And took him where?”
“I’m not at liberty to tell you that,” Martín said.
“Why are you telling me any of it?”
“At the orders of President Farrell. General Farrell also directed me to tell you that this is none of your affair.”
“What’s that all about?”
“I think he is concerned that you might try to free el Coronel.”
“There’s not a chance in hell of that, and you know it. And he should.”
Father Welner said, “President Farrell is aware that Juan Domingo is not only your godfather—”
“Ah, so that’s your role in this,” Frade said. “I was wondering where you came in.”
“—but was your father’s lifelong best friend,” the priest concluded.
“General Farrell didn’t say this,” Martín said, “but I think he’s concerned that if you tried to free el Coronel Perón, it might trigger an eruption between those who think his personal life is no one’s business.”
“That would be those who want to shoot him?”
Martín nodded.
“You can tell General Farrell that I don’t care if he keeps my Tío Juan locked up from now on. Incidentally, where did you lock him up?”
“I told you I don’t think that’s any of your concern, Cletus,” Martín said.
“Well, I guess I’ll just have to turn to my ER,” Frade said. “Curiosity overwhelms me.”
“To your what?” Father Welner asked.
“Bernardo has his BIS, Your Holy Eminence, and I have my ER. It stands for Enrico Rodríguez.”
“I don’t understand,” the priest said.
