"Youre such a beautiful woman, its difficult to think of you ... lets say, isolated."

Helden raised herself and looked at him. She smiled, and with her right hand pushed her hair back, holding it at the base of her neck. "I was very stern-looking, my darling. Hair straight, wrapped in a bun, large glasses and dresses always a size too large. You wouldnt have looked at me twice.... Dont you believe me?"

"I wasnt thinking about that."

"What then?"

"You just called me 'my darling. "

She held his eyes. "Yes, I did, didnt I? It seemed quite natural. Do you mind?"

He reached for her, his answer his touch.

She sat back on the chaise, her slip serving as a negligee; she sipped the brandy. Noel was on the floor beside her, leaning against the small couch, his shorts and open shirt taking the place of a bathrobe. They held hands and watched the lights of the boats shimmering on the water.

He turned his head and looked at her. "Feeling better?"

"Much better, my darling. Youre a very gentle man. I havent known many in my life."

"Spare me."

"Oh, I dont mean that. For your information, Im known among Herr Obersts ranks as Frulein Eiszapfen."

"Whats that?"

" 'Icicle. 'Mademoiselle Icicle. At work, theyre convinced Im a lesbian."

"Send them to me."

"Id rather not."

"Ill tell them youre a faggot in drag who uses whips and bicycle chains. Theyll run at the sight of you."

"Thats very sweet." She kissed him. "Youre warm and gentle and you laugh easily. Im terribly fond of you, Noel Holcroft, and Im not sure thats such a good thing."

"Why?"

"Because well say good-bye and Ill think of you."

Noel reached up and held the hand that still touched his face; he was suddenly alarmed. "We just said hello. Why good-bye?"

"You have things to do. I have things to do."

"We both have Zurich."

"You have Zurich. I have my life in Paris."

"Theyre not mutually exclusive."

"You dont know that, my darling. You dont know anything about me. Where I live, how I live."

"I know about a little girl who had a room to herself and saw The Wizard of Oz dozens of times."

"Think kindly of her. She will of you. Always."

Holcroft took her hand from his face. "What the hell are you trying to say? Thanks for a lovely evening, now good-bye?"

"No, my darling. Not like that. Not now."

"Then what are you saying?"

"Im not sure. Perhaps Im just thinking out loud.... We have days, weeks, if you wish them."

"I wish them."

"But promise me youll never try to find where I live, never try to reach me. Ill find you."

"Youre married!"

Helden laughed. "No."

"Then, living with someone."

"Yes, but not in the way you think."

Noel watched her closely. "What am I supposed to say to that?"

"Say that youll promise."

"Let me understand you. Outside of where you work, theres no place I can reach you. I cant know where you live, or how to get in touch with you?"

"Ill leave a number of a friend. In an emergency shell reach me."

"I thought I was a friend."

"You are. But in a different way. Please, dont be angry. Its for your own protection."

Holcroft remembered three nights ago. In the midst of her own anxieties, Helden had been worried about him, worried that he had been sent by the wrong people. "You said in the car that Zurich was the solution to so much. Is it the answer for you? Could Zurich change the way you live?"

She hesitated. "Its possible. Theres so much to do...."

"And so little time," completed Holcroft. He touched her cheek, forcing her to look at him. "But before the moneys released, theres the bank in Geneva and specific conditions that have to be met."

"I understand. Youve explained them, and Im sure Johann knows about them."

"Im not so sure. Hes laid himself open to a lot of speculation that could knock him out of the box."

"Knock him where?"

"Disqualify him. Frighten the men in Geneva; make them close the vaults. Well get to him in a minute. I want to talk about Beaumont. I think I know what he is, but I need your help to confirm it."

"How can I help?"

"When Beaumont was in Rio, did he have any connection with Maurice Graff?"

"I have no idea."

"Can we find out? Are there people in Rio who would know?"

"Not that I know."

"God damn it, weve got to learn. Learn everything we can about him."

Helden frowned. "That will be difficult."

"Why?"

"Three years ago, when Gretchen said she was going to marry Beaumont, I was shocked; I told you that. I was working at the time for a small research firm off Leicester Square-you know, one of those dreadful places that you send five pounds to and they get you all the information you want on a subject. Or a person. Theyre superficial, but they do know how to use sources." Helden paused.

"You checked on Beaumont?" asked Noel.

"I tried to. I didnt know what I was looking for, but I tried. I went back to his university records, got all the available information about his naval career. Everything was filled with approvals and recommendations, awards and advancements. Why, I cant tell you-except that there seemed to me to be an inconsistency. I went farther back to find out what I could about his family in Scotland."

"What was the inconsistency?"

"Well, according to the naval records, his parents were quite ordinary. I got the impression they were rather poor. Owners of a greengrocery or a florist shop in a town called Dunheath, south of Aberdeen, on the North Sea. Yet, when he was at university-Cambridge, by the way-he was a regular student."

"Regular?... What should he have been?"

"On scholarship, I would think. There was need, and he was qualified, yet there were no applications for a scholarship. It seemed odd."

"So you went back to the family in Scotland. What did you learn?"

"Thats the point. Next to nothing. It was as if they had disappeared. There was no address, no way to reach them. I sent off several inquiries to the town clerk and the postal service-obvious places people never think of. The Beaumonts were apparently an English family who simply arrived in Scotland one day shortly after the war, stayed for a few years, then left the country."

"Could they have died?"

"Not according to the records. The navy always keeps them up to date in case of injury or loss of life. They were still listed as living in Dunheath, but they had left. The postal service had no information at all."

It was Holcrofts turn to frown. "That sounds crazy."

"Theres something more." Helden pushed herself up against the curve of the chaise. "At Gretchens wedding, there was an officer from Beaumonts ship. His second-in-command, I think. The man was a year or two younger than Beaumont, and obviously his subordinate, but there was a give-and-take between them that went beyond friendship, beyond that of officer to officer."

"What do you mean, 'give-and-take?"

"It was as if they were always thinking exactly alike. One would start a sentence, the other might finish it. One would turn in a particular direction, the other would comment on what the first was looking at. Do you know what I mean? Havent you seen people like that? Men like that?"

"Sure. Brothers who are close, or lovers. And often military men whove served a long time together. What did you do?"

"I checked on that man. I used the same sources, sent out the same inquiries, as I had with Beaumont. What came back was extraordinary. They were alike; only the names were different. Their academic and military records were almost identical, superior in every way. They both came from obscure towns, their parents undistinguished and certainly not well off. Yet each had gone to a major university without financial aid. And each had become an officer without any prior indication that he was seeking a military career."

"What about the family of Beaumonts friend? Were you able to locate them?"

"No. They were listed as living in a mining town in Wales, but they werent. They hadnt been there in years, and no one had any information about them."

What Helden had learned was consistent with Noels theory that Anthony Beaumont was an ODESSA agent. What was important now was to take Beaumont-and any "associates"-out of the picture. They could not be allowed to interfere further with Geneva. Perhaps he and Helden were wrong: Perhaps they should reach Payton-Jones and let Beaumont become his problem. But there were side issues to consider, among which was the danger of British Intelligences reopening the Peter Baldwin file, going back to Code Wolfsschanze.

"What youve told me fits in with what Ive been thinking," Noel said. "Lets go back to your brother. I have an idea what happened in Rio. Will you talk about it now?"

Heldens eyes widened. "I dont know what you mean."

"Your brother learned something in Rio, didnt he? He found out about Graff and the Brazilian ODESSA. That was why he was hounded, why he had to get out. It wasnt your mother, or your brothers business dealings, or anything like that. It was Graff and the ODESSA."

Helden slowly let out her breath. "I never heard that, believe me."

"Then what was it? Tell me, Helden."

Her eyes pleaded with him. "Please, Noel. I owe you so much; dont make me pay like this. What happened to Johann in Rio has nothing to do with you. Or with Geneva."

"You dont know that. I dont know that. I just know that you have to tell me. I have to be prepared. Theres so much I dont understand." He gripped her hand. "Listen to me. This afternoon I broke into a blind mans room. I smashed the door in; the sound was awful-sudden and loud. He was an old man and, of course, he couldnt see me. He couldnt see the fear in my own eyes. His hands shook and he whispered a prayer in French....

"For a moment I wanted to go to that man and hold his hands and tell him I knew how he felt. You see, he didnt see the fear in my eyes. Im frightened, Helden. Im not the sort of person who crashes into peoples rooms, and shoots guns, and gets shot at. I cant turn back, but Im scared. So youve got to help me."

"I want to; you know that."

"Then tell me what happened in Rio. What happened to your brother?"

"Its simply not important," she said.

"Everythings important." Noel stood up and crossed to the chair where he had thrown his jacket. He showed Helden the torn lining. "Look at this. Someone in that crowd this afternoon tried to put a knife in me. I dont know about you, but thats never happened to me before; its just not something I know anything about. It petrifies me ... and it makes me goddamned angry. And five days ago in New York, the man I grew up with-the only man I ever called my father-walked out on a sidewalk and was killed by an 'out-of-control car that aimed for him and crushed him against a building! His death was a warning. For me! So dont talk to me about the Rache, or the ODESSA, or the men of Wolfsschanze. Im beginning to learn all about those sick sons of bitches, and I want every last one of them put away! With the money in Zurich, we can do that. Without it, no onell listen to us. Its an economic fact of life. You dont dismiss people who have seven hundred and eighty million dollars. You listen to people like that." Holcroft let the jacket fall to the floor. "The only way well get to Zurich is to satisfy the bank in Geneva, and the only way to reach Geneva is to use our heads. Theres no one really on our side; theres just us. The Von Tiebolts, the Kesslers ... and one Clausen. Now, what happened in Rio?"

Helden looked down at the torn jacket, then back at Noel.

"Johann killed someone."

"Who?"

"I dont know-I really dont. But it was someone important."

23.