Ben-Gadz looked at her. "You are the mother?"

"Yes."

"I didnt expect you."

"I didnt expect to be here. Id be dead if it werent for this girl."

"Then you have a further obligation, in addition to your overwhelming one."

"I asked you a question. On whose authority do you make decisions for me? No one does."

"Ive been in contact with Neuchtel. Theres work to be done tonight."

"Theres only one thing I must do. Thats reach my son."

"Later," said Yakov Ben-Gadz. "Theres something else first. A list must be found. We think it is in the Htel dAccord."

"Its vital," interrupted Helden, her hand on Althenes arm.

"As vital as reaching your son," continued Yakov, staring at the Holcroft woman. "And I need a decoy."

42.

Von Tiebolt spoke into the telephone, Kesslers note in his free hand. On the other end of the line was the first deputy of canton Geneve. "I tell you, the address is wrong! Its an old deserted building, no telephone wires going through it. Id say the Nachrichtendienst rather successfully invaded your state telephone service. Now, find me the right one!"

The blond man listened for several moments and then exploded. "You idiot, I cant call the number! The clerk swore hed give it to no one but Holcroft. No matter what I might say, shed be alarmed. Now, find me that address! I dont care if you have to wake up the president of the Federal Council to do it. I expect you to call me back within the hour." He slammed down the phone and looked again at Kesslers note.

Erich had gone to meet Holcroft. Undoubtedly they were at the Excelsior by now, registered under the name of Fresca. He could phone to make sure, but calling might lead to complications. The American had to be pushed to the edge of sanity. His friend from London murdered, his mother nowhere to be found; it was even possible hed heard of Heldens death in Neuchtel. Holcroft would be close to breaking; he might demand a meeting.

Johann was not prepared to agree to one yet. It was shortly past three oclock in the morning, and the mother had not been located. He had to find her, kill her. There were six hours to go before the conference at the bank. At any moment-from out of a crowd, from a taxi in traffic, on a staircase or in a corner-she might confront her son and scream the warning: Betrayal! Stop! Abandon Geneva!

That could not happen! Her voice had to be stilled, the programming of her son carried out. Quite simply, she had to die tonight, all risks eliminated with her death. And then another death would follow quickly, quietly. The son of Heinrich Clausen would have fulfilled his function.

But first, his mother. Before daybreak. What was infuriating was that she was out there. At the end of a telephone line whose accurate address was buried in some bureaucrats file!

The blond man sat down and took a long, double-edged knife from a scabbard sewn into his coat. Hed have to wash it. The red-bearded pilot had soiled it.

Noel opened his suitcase on the luggage rack and looked at the rumpled mass of clothes inside. Then his eyes scanned the white walls with the flock paper and the French doors and the small, overly ornate chandelier in the ceiling. Hotel rooms were all beginning to look alike; he remembered the seedy exception in Berlin with a certain fondness. That he even remembered it under the circumstances was a little startling. He had settled into his unsettling new world with his faculties intact. He was not sure whether that was good or bad, only that it was so.

Erich was on the phone, trying to reach Von Tiebolt at the dAccord. Where the hell was Johann? It was three-thirty in the morning. Kessler hung up and turned to Noel. "He left a message saying we werent to be alarmed. Hes with the first deputy. Theyre doing everything they can to find your mother."

"No call from her, then?"

"No."

"It doesnt make sense. Is the desk clerk still there?"

"Yes. You paid him two weeks wages. The least he could do is to stay through the night." Kesslers expression grew pensive. "You know, its quite possible shes simply delayed. Missed connections, a fog-bound airport, difficulties with immigration somewhere."

"Anythings possible, but it still doesnt make sense. I know her; shed get word to me."

"Perhaps shes being detained."

"I thought about that; its the best thing that could happen. Shes traveling under a false passport. Lets hope shes arrested and thrown into a cell for a couple of days. No call from Helden, either?"

"No calls at all," replied the German, his eyes suddenly riveted on Noel.

Holcroft stretched, shaving kit in hand. "Its the waiting without knowing that drives me crazy." He gestured at the bathroom door. "Im going to wash up."

"Good idea. Then why dont you rest for a while? You must be exhausted. We have less than five hours to go, and I do believe Johanns a very capable man."

"Im banking on it," said Noel.

He took off his shirt and ran the hot water at full force, generating steam. The vapor rose, clouding the mirror and fogging the area above the sink. He put his face into the moist heat, supporting himself on the edge of the basin, and stayed there until sweat poured down his forehead. The practice was one he had learned from Sam Buonoventura several years ago. It was no substitute for a steam bath, but it helped.

Sam? Sam! For Christs sake, why hadnt he thought of him? If his mother had changed her plans, or something had happened, it was entirely possible shed call Sam. Especially if there was no one at the dAccord named Noel Holcroft.

He looked at his watch; it was three-thirty-five, Geneva time, ten-thirty-five, Caribbean. If Sam had something to tell him, hed stay by the telephone.

Noel turned off the faucet. He could hear Kesslers voice from the bedroom, but there was no one else there. Whom was he talking to, and why was he keeping his voice so low?

Holcroft turned to the door and opened it less than an inch. Kessler was across the room, his back to the bathroom door, speaking into the telephone. Noel heard the words and stepped out.

"I tell you, thats our answer. Shes traveling with a false passport. Check immigration records for-"

"Erich!"

Yakov Ben-Gadz closed the first-aid kit, stood up beside the bed, and surveyed his handiwork. Heldens wound was inflamed, but there was no infection. He had replaced the soiled bandage with a clean one.

"There," he said, "that will do for a while. The swelling will go down in an hour or so, but you must stay off your feet. Keep the leg elevated."

"Dont tell me youre a doctor," said Helden.

"One doesnt have to be a doctor to treat bullet wounds. You just have to get used to them." The Israeli crossed to the door. "Stay here. I want to talk to Mrs. Holcroft."

"No!"

Ben-Gadz stopped. "What did you say?"

"Dont send her out alone. Shes beside herself with guilt and frightened for her son. She cant think clearly; she wont have a chance. Dont do it."

"And if I do, youll stop me?"

"Theres a better way. You want my brother. Use me."

"I want the Sonnenkinder list first. Weve got three days to kill Von Tiebolt."

"Three days?"

"Banks are closed tomorrow and Sunday. Monday would be the earliest they could meet with the Grande Banques directors. The list comes first. I agree with Litvak; it is the priority."

"If its so important, hes surely got it with him."

"I doubt it. Men like your brother dont take chances like that. An accident, a robbery in the streets ... someone like me. No, he wouldnt carry that list around. Nor would he put it in a hotel vault. Its in his room. In a better vault. I want to get in that room, get him out of there for a while."

"Then all the more reason to use me!" said Helden. "He thinks Im dead. He didnt see me at the seaplane base; he was looking for her, not me. The shock will stun him; hell be confused. Hell go anywhere I say to find me. All I have to do is say the word 'Nachrichtendienst. Im sure of it."

"And Im counting on it," replied Yakov. "But for tomorrow. Not tonight. Youre not the one he wants tonight. Holcrofts mother is."

"Ill tell him shes with me! Its perfect!"

"Hed never believe you. You, who went to Neuchtel to meet Werner Gerhardt? Who escaped? Youre synonymous with a trap."

"Then at least let me go with her," pleaded Helden. "Set up a meeting and Ill stay out of sight. Give her some protection. I have a gun."

Ben-Gadz thought a moment before answering. "I know what youre offering, and I admire you for it. But I cant risk the two of you. You see, I need her tonight, and Ill need you tomorrow. Shell draw him away tonight; youll draw him out tomorrow. It has to be that way."

"You can accomplish both tonight!" pressed Helden. "Get your list. Ill kill him. I swear it!"

"I believe you, but youre missing a point. I give your brother more credit than you do. No matter how we plan, hell control the meeting with Mrs. Holcroft tonight. He has the numbers, the methods. We dont."

Helden stared at the Israeli. "Youre not only using her; youre sacrificing her."

"Ill use each of us, sacrifice each of us, to do what has to be done. If you interfere, Ill kill you." Yakov walked to the bedroom door and let himself out.

Althene was sitting at a desk at the far end of the room, its small lamp the only source of light. She wore a deep-red bathrobe that shed found in a closet, and it fit her loosely. The drenched clothes she and Helden had worn were draped over radiators, drying out. She was writing on a sheet of stationery. At the sound of Yakovs footsteps, she turned.

"I borrowed some paper from your desk," she said.

"Its not my paper, not my desk," answered the Israeli. "Are you writing a letter?"

"Yes. To my son."

"Why? With any luck well reach him. Youll talk."

Althene leaned back in the chair, her gaze steady on Ben-Gadz. "I think we both know that theres little chance Ill see him again."

"Do we?"

"Of course. Theres no point in my deceiving myself ... or in your trying to deceive me. Von Tiebolt has to meet with me. When he does, he wont let me go. Not alive. Why would he?"

"Well take precautions as best we can."

"Ill take a gun, thank you. Ive no intention of standing there, telling him to fire away."

"It would be better if you were sitting."

They smiled at each other. "Were both practical, arent we? Survivors."

Yakov shrugged. "Its easier that way."

"Tell me. This list you want so badly. The Sonnenkinder. It must be enormous. Volumes. Names of people and families everywhere."

"Thats not the list were after; thats the master list. I doubt well ever see it. The list we can find-weve got to find-is the practical one. The names of the leaders wholl receive the funds, wholl distribute them in strategic areas. That list has to be where Von Tiebolt can get it readily."

"And with it, youll have the identity of Wolfsschanzes leaders."

"Everywhere."

"Why are you so sure its at the dAccord?"

"Its the only place it could be. Von Tiebolt trusts no one. He lets others deal in fragments; he controls the whole. He wouldnt leave the list in a vault; nor would he carry it on him. It will be in his hotel room, the room itself filled with traps. And he would leave it only under the direst of circumstances."

"We agree Im that circumstance."

"Yes. He fears you as he fears no one else, for no one else could convince your son to walk away from Geneva. They need him; they always have. The laws must be observed for the funds to be released. There was never any other way."

"Theres irony in that. The law is used to perpetrate the greatest illegality imaginable."

"It is not a new device, Mrs. Holcroft."

"What about my son? Will you kill him?"

"I dont want to."

"Id like something more concrete."

"Therell be no reason to, if he comes with us. If he can be convinced of the truth and not think hes being tricked, theres good reason to keep him alive. Wolfsschanze wont end with the collapse of the funds. The Sonnenkinder are out there. Theyll be crippled, but not exposed. Or destroyed. Well need every voice that can be raised against them. Your son will have a vital story to tell. Together well reach the right people."

"How will you convince him ... if I dont come back from my meeting with Von Tiebolt?"

The Israeli saw the hint of a smile on Althenes lips and understood her pause. His assumption had been clear: She would not come back.

"As the contact in Neuchtel and I see it, we have today and tomorrow; the moves at La Grande Banque will no doubt begin Monday. Theyll keep him isolated, out of reach. Its my job to break that isolation, get him away."

"And when you do, what will you say?"

"Ill tell him the truth, explain everything we learned at Har Shaalav. Helden can be extremely helpful-if shes alive, frankly. And then theres the list. If I find it, Ill show it to him."

"Show him this letter," interrupted Althene, turning back to the paper on the desk.