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“Taddeus Miller. Staff sergeant. One of my guys,” Dunwiddie furnished.
“. . . to (a) not let him out of his sight, and (b) to call me and let me know where he really was.”
“You didn’t think he was going to the PX?”
“He was lying when he told me that. I could see that.”
“You could see that he was lying?”
“I could see that he was lying. I always know.”
“You always know?”
“Just about all the time, I know. You and General Gehlen are the only ones I can’t always tell.”
“Thank you very much,” Cronley said.
“I have to know why you think so,” El Jefe said.
“You don’t want to know. He knows,” Hessinger said. “It’s not a criticism, it’s a statement of fact.”
Which means he didn’t suspect a thing about Rachel until I fessed up.
Which makes me wonder how low I’ve fallen in his estimation?
Or Tiny’s?
How far is all the way down?
“Quickly changing the subject,” Dunwiddie said. “What are you going to do with your black market goodies, Captain, sir?”
“I’m tempted to burn them, give them to the Red Cross . . .”
“But you can’t, right, because of your mother?” Hessinger asked. “Your parents?”
Cronley gave him an icy look, but didn’t immediately reply. Finally he said, “I don’t have the time to just run off to Strasbourg to play the Good Samaritan, do I?”
“You might. You never know.”
“Freddy, you are aware that we’re waiting to hear from Seven-K?” Cronley asked.
“Of course I am. What I am suggesting is that I don’t think she’s going to say ‘Meet me at the Café Weitz tomorrow at noon.’ There will probably be four or five days between her message and the meeting. Perhaps there will be time then. Or perhaps our trip to Vienna can be tied in with your trip to Strasbourg.”
“Got it all figured out, have you, Freddy?” El Jefe said.
“Not all figured out. I learned about Jim’s family just now, when you did. But by the time we hear from Rahil, I will probably have a workable plan.”
“The thing I like about him is his immodesty,” El Jefe said.
“When one is a genius, one finds it hard to be modest,” Hessinger said solemnly.
“Jesus Christ, Freddy!” Cronley said, laughing.
“My own modesty compels me to admit that I didn’t make that up,” Hessinger said. “Fr
ank Lloyd Wright, the architect, said it to a Chicago Tribune reporter.”
[TWO]
