“Any questions?”
“Mr. Blecher,” I said, “your timing in arresting Guttmacher and the Iranians was perfect, almost too perfect. Was it a coincidence?”
“No. We received a phone call. Ask Mr. Henderson here, he'll tell you.”
I looked at Eric. So he was the one who sent the police after hearing the direction my meeting with the Iranians was taking. Would it be the one good deed that would open the gates of heaven to him? St. Peter would probably tell him that one isn't enough. Eric turned his head to me, smiling.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Mr. Blecher,” said Ron, “did you ever recover the missing document that incriminates Perez?”
“No. I don't even know if it ever existed. It could have been a ploy by DeLouise; we'll never know. He took that secret to his grave.”
I had another question that had been tormenting me for a while. “Mr. Blecher, there is one open question. If Guttmacher arranged DeLouise's murder, why did he let me continue with my impersonation as DeLouise's partner and let me in on the Iranian documents?”
“Because he couldn't read you. On the one hand he was sure that the ‘partner’ story you told him was a bluff, but he didn't know who you worked for. Guttmacher told me that at the beginning he suspected you were hired by the Iranians to look over his shoulder, so he didn't mind you getting the information. In fact, he used your appearance to show the Iranians that he tried to undo the damage created by DeLouise's disappearance. Then he was sure you were a CIA agent, then a Mossad agent. He hired a local detective who discovered that your hotel reservation was made by the American Consulate for Dan Gordon. On the other hand you introduced yourself as Peter Wooten. Guttmacher was certain that both names were fake. From Guttmacher's perspective, as long as the Iranian operation remained unfinished, he couldn't touch you. When Guttmacher got a whiff of DeLouise's fortune he began looking for ways to get rid of the Iranians, but he didn't know how. Therefore, his plan was to blame you for any failure, hoping they'd direct their wrath at you, leaving him unscathed. He also thought of exposing you as a CIA agent so that the Iranians would take care of you and include you in one of their special early retirement programs.”
I didn't smile.
“He finally told them that he suspected you of killing DeLouise. So to an extent it was convenient for him to have you around.”
“So what stopped him?”
“The fear that you were working for the Iranians after all. But as far as Guttmacher was concerned, you were living on borrowed time. Once he had complete control over DeLouise's money, you were next on his purge list.”
“And why was that?”
“Because obviously you had some connection to DeLouise, and because you knew about the documents that he was keeping for Ariel. Anyone who was connected to DeLouise compromised Guttmacher's plan to take over the DeLouise money and therefore had to be eliminated.
I wasn't elated by the news that I had appeared on someone's hit list. Guttmacher was so devious, I was sure that even his shadow was crooked.
Blecher looked around and said, “If there are no further questions, then we're done. Thank you very much for your help.” Blecher and his aide shook hands with us and left.
Benny, still on the sidelines, then asked me a key question. “Did you solve your problem?” he asked.
“Which one do you mean?” I asked.
“Where is the DeLouise money?”
“I don't know yet,” I answered, suspecting Benny might be ahead of me.
“So, it won't be long,” he added, only fueling my suspicion.
“One problem I did solve,” I said.
“Which one?”
“How my good friend led me in the direction intended all along by the Mossad. I was blind, maybe because I believed him.”
Benny's expression got serious, and he gave me that amused quizzical look. “What did I do?”
“Manipulation,” I said, not knowing if I was mad at him or not. “From the first minute I called you, you knew that DeLouise had been murdered. You also knew that he was connected to the Iranian military-purchasing frenzy, and yet you told me nothing. Of course, I have no problem with the fact that you forgot to mention that DeLouise was working for the Mossad again. I suspect a sweetheart deal: information on the Iranian transactions in return for a safe haven anywhere on the globe, if he failed to reach an agreement with the U.S. government for a safe return to the U.S. without being prosecuted. I guess the shelter would be anywhere but the U.S. or Israel.”
“Why did I have to tell you? You were chasing DeLouise's fortune. That was on your mind, and I helped you out. Not that I confirm your theory, but how did you figure it out?”
“It was clear that both DeLouise and Ariel were working for you. Ariel only recently, probably when she escaped from her captors in Munich into the Israeli Consulate. But I believe DeLouise was enlisted as a one-time unremunerated recruit when he started his contact with the Iranians. My suspicion was confirmed when I realized that Ariel gave me the original Iranian file her father had left her. I concluded that you already had a complete copy and that you allowed Ariel to give me the file, to achieve two goals: to lead me away from the suspicion that Ariel worked for you, and to make the delivery of the Iranian file through me to the CIA look authentic, without any sign of collusion between DeLouise and the Mossad. Obviously Israel could do without the scandal the U.S. could make if it were discovered that Israel was helping an absconding suspected felon.”
Benny gave me another of those cat-that-ate-the-canary looks. “You were interested in DeLouise's money, Dan, and we had other interests, so what's so bad about a few maneuvers that could help an old friend in a way that helped you and the U.S. as well?”
“You could have told me.”
“I couldn't; that would have put you in a mess,” countered Benny pointedly. “I don't forget that you work for the U.S. Department of Justice, and if I had revealed our interests you would have had to report it to your superiors. That would have made things far more complicated.”
I had to admit that Benny's sophistication was impressive. I'd asked for routine help, and that enabled him to help me walk in the right direction. At the same time, he put himself in the loop and kept his options open; he could participate in break-ins to steal documents essential for Israel's security but also be covered under the American umbrella if the operation went sour. And the biggest achievement of all: recruit an old operative who could maneuver the Iranians and report on their activities. So many birds and only one stone.
“OK, you got what you wanted,” I said, “while I'm stuck with an endless pile of paper. And while I sort things out, DeLouise's money could vanish.”
“Patience,” Benny assured me. “I'm sure the solution is not too far off.”
“Benny, you mentioned earlier that DeLouise had told you that he knew that my office was looking not just for his money but for him as well. Did he tell you how he'd found out?”
“Yes. Early in the game, his California lawyer heard from the clerk's office of the Federal District Court that the U.S. intended to serve DeLouise in Switzerland with the summons and complaint in the civil proceedings. The lawyer was a veteran of the Civil Division of the Justice Department and was familiar with its policy to locate debtors of significant amounts even if they are overseas.”
So there was no security leak in my office after all.
As we got up to leave, I looked at Ariel. I wanted to talk to her but I felt a cold wind blowing from her direction. She left the briefing room and walked into the corridor. I joined her uninvited.
“So Blecher says that you were the one who exposed me to Guttmacher,” Ariel accused. Her voice was icy.
“How did I do that?” I asked, hurt and disappointed that she would choose those as her first words since parting from me weeks before. I didn't know how to bridge the rift between us. From the tone of her voice, it sounded as if Ariel was also going to blame me for a whole list of man-mad
e or natural disasters.
“When you told Guttmacher that you knew that he was holding the envelope my father gave him for me. Since he knew that my father was dead, he presumed that I was the only person who could tell you that, and that showed him we were working together. Since he suspected you, I was contaminated as well.”
“That's not quite right, Ariel,” I said apologetically. “There is a simple explanation. It was my only way of convincing him that I was in the loop; I hoped that, by demonstrating that I had read your father's letter, Guttmacher would be convinced that I was in fact your father's partner in the deal with the Iranians. Obviously I didn't know he was the villain. I'm sorry I caused you trouble.” I didn't add that given Blecher's account, Guttmacher planned to kill Ariel regardless. There was no point in kindling more friction between us.
Ariel looked amused. She was toying with me. But when she saw my grim face she added, “Don't worry, I don't blame you. You didn't know. You see, when my father was killed, Guttmacher was sure he was home free with the money. He didn't realize that my father was too smart to trust him. My dad wrote me that he was suspicious of Guttmacher and therefore prepared new documents for me that replaced all the stuff Guttmacher was holding. But Guttmacher didn't know that my father was bypassing him and leaving new instructions for me. The letter you saw telling me to contact Guttmacher was written before my father started to suspect him.”
“Your dad was a clever man,” I put in. “He left a back door open.”
Ariel nodded. “So from the moment you gave that detail to Guttmacher, to gain his trust, I became dangerous for him. He realized that I knew that he'd kept the money. He was convinced that I was the final roadblock between him and more than many millions of dollars, so he had to have me put out of the way.”
I decided not to argue with her. There was no point in reminding Ariel of her own contribution to Guttmacher's decision to eliminate her.
“I'm surprised you even agree to speak to me, if that's really your opinion of me,” I said, trying to think how difficult it would be to erase all the dreams I had about Ariel. There seemed to be no chance for any of them to materialize.
“I was angry at you. I trusted you, and I was disappointed to realize that you betrayed my trust, until I saw the whole picture.”
“I don't think I've ever betrayed your trust,” I protested. “I may have kept some facts from you, but please understand, I was doing my job. You were the daughter of my target. You were the clue to the resolution of the mystery.”
“It was difficult to understand,” said Ariel, “because I thought you were working for the Mossad. But then when I found out that you weren't, at least not any longer, I started my own little investigation to find out who you were really working for.”
I was too surprised to say anything.
“When the Mossad agents took my mother from the pension, she asked them about you and discovered you weren't one of them.”
“So how did you find out who I was working for?”
“Rather easily, actually. Benny told me.”
“The collaborator,” I said, realizing that not only had Benny manipulated me throughout to achieve the Mossad's goals in the DeLouise-Iranian matter, he had also meddled in my private life.
“No,” she said, “not at all. He really loves you. He's the one who cooled me down. He helped me understand exactly what was happening.”
My tongue was dry. I'd blown it, at least with Ariel. The success we'd had with the Iranian files didn't mean much when I realized that Ariel was now out of reach.
“There is something else,” she said quietly, sensing my feelings.
I looked directly at her, suddenly at a loss for words. I felt bitter and defeated.
“What? You forgot to tell me the name of the plague I've just contaminated the world with?”
“There's no need to be sarcastic,” said Ariel. “I just want you to know that I wasn't completely truthful with you either. So now we're even, aren't we?”
“But did I step into a new trap?” I asked, “What else did I miss?”
“Moscow. I mean, when I went to Moscow, I had a mission.”
“I know that,” I said, “you've already told me. You wanted to expose the suppliers of nuclear materials to the Iranians.”
“That's the part I told you,” she confirmed, “but there was something else.” She hesitated.
She got my attention. She saw a question mark blinking in my eyes. “Go on, tell me.”
“The Moscow idea was not mine.”
I saw where she was heading. “It was Benny's ploy,” I said matter of factly.
Now it was Ariel's turn to be surprised. “How did you find out? I don't believe he told you.”
“No, he hasn't. I suspected you were working for someone in Moscow; your story just didn't make sense to me. So I called Benny from Moscow and asked him if you worked for him.”
“And what did he say?”
“He denied it,” I said. “I can't always tell when Benny is not telling the truth, but I know when he's outright lying.”
Ariel narrowed her eyes again. “You couldn't have figured it out by yourself? Or did you?”
I had to decide quickly whether to look smart or be truthful. I chose the latter.
“Remember when you were attacked and I ran to your room to pack your things?”
Ariel nodded.
“Well, I took a quick look and found your phone book.”
“And?”
“There was a small piece of paper in it with just a five-digit number. I recognized the number; it's the code you need to punch in after you've dialed a Belgian telephone number. Once the correct code is recognized, the call is automatically transferred to Benny's private line at his office in Tel Aviv.”
Ariel was stunned. “So you did figure it out after all!”
“Yes, it was really simple. He'd given me the code for the month. The only logical conclusion was that your contact with Benny had to have been very recent. But since you denied knowing who he was, you were lying to me on that, too.”
Ariel lowered her eyes.
“So you've been working for him all along?”
“No, just for the trip to Moscow. When I ran from the kidnappers in Munich to the Israeli Consulate and told them how angry I was about my father's murderers, Benny's guys suggested that I get even.”
“How?”
“They wanted me to go to Moscow to get some more samples of materials from my father's contacts.”
“Why? What was the purpose?” I asked, although I already knew the answer.
“I don't know, they just wanted me to meet with them, get another sample, give them some money, and tell them that we'd like to do more business in the future.”
“I guess you met them before I came to Moscow, because you were under my radar as soon I arrived. Besides, who's ‘we’?” I asked.
“Me and my dad,” she said,
“But he's dead,” I responded. “I saw him dead.”
“The Russians didn't know that.”
“Aha,” I said, “so Benny pulled off another brilliant one, keeping the flame burning for future reference.”
Ariel's eyes shone. “Flame?”
“Yes, by sending you to follow up on your father's initial contacts while they were still hot, the Mossad was letting the Russians think that the Iranians were genuinely interested in their merchandise. Now the Mossad could infiltrate their rogue operation, manipulate it, maybe get to the bottom and the top at the same time. So now are we even in the truth department?” I asked.
“Well, not exactly. My father had left his will with Mr. Bart to be delivered to me.” This got my attention yet again.
“You never mentioned it when we talked in Moscow. You mean there was a third envelope?”
“Yes,” she said. “I didn't know about it until I read my father's letter again, the one you retrieved from the safe-deposit box. Do you remember the last sentence in that letter?”
“Not exactly. What did it say?”
“I was to tell Mr. Bart the nickname my father called me when I was just five years old, and that Mr. Bart would laugh.”
“Yes,” I remembered now, “I didn't understand what it all meant.”
“I couldn't either,” said Ariel, “but when I reread it, I decided to see Mr. Bart again. I had the chance ten days ago when Blecher asked me to return from Israel as a potential witness. Otherwise, I'd have gone on my own.”
“Did he laugh?” I asked, realizing, of course, that there was a code in the instruction.
“No. He didn't laugh, but he gave me the third big envelope. The nickname was a code word my father gave him to release the envelope only to me. My father paid him nicely for the service.”
“What was your nickname?”
“Ponchick,” she said, smiling in embarrassment. “As you know, the word means ‘jelly donut.’”
I laughed too. “And what was in the third envelope?”
“The final truth, the resolution, and the rewards,” she said enigmatically. “My father wrote me in the accompanying letter that his second wife and her son, who is my half-brother, had been taken care of financially through a maze of family trusts he had established while they were still living in California. Therefore, he wrote, his entire estate should be mine. To guarantee that only I would get the money, he prepared notarized assignment instruments, surviving his death, which transferred title of all his assets to my name. He even wrote checks made out to me on all his cash accounts.”
“Good for you,” I said, fearing that now I'd find myself fighting Ariel over the money her father left her. What else could go wrong? “Are you a rich woman now?” I asked bitterly, seeing where the conversation was going.
“What would you like me to be?” she asked teasingly.
I didn't like this conversation, and I wasn't about to continue with it.
“Look, Ariel,” I said. “Please, you're tormenting me. I admit I made mistakes. I apologized once, I'm apologizing again, but please don't rub my nose in them. Since you are your father's sole heir, I guess you understand that the U.S. government has a civil judgment against your father that can be satisfied from his estate. You're up for a long battle with them over that.”
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