“Walters. Janice Walters. That is an Anglicised version of my name. I was going to waste an hour looking in shop windows and then I was going to find a place to have lunch. Perhaps you can tell me where I can best waste my hour?”
He bowed and said, “I am delighted to know you, Miss Walters. My name is Ehrlich. Karl Ehrlich.” He glanced at his watch. “It is now eleven. If you will permit me, I will be happy to take you to a very pleasant place for lunch. We can go there now, if you wish, and talk about this fabulous city we are visiting over sherry or cocktails.”
She peered at him with a burlesque of suspicion. “You are reputable, Herr Ehrlich?”
He solemnly raised his right hand. “I am a pillar of any community I happen to be in, Miss Walters.”
He assisted her into the taxi and directed the driver to take them to a small French restaurant on East Sixty-fourth. There was an awkward silence for a few moments after the cab started up and then he began to talk very charmingly about his first visit to New York City back in 1927 when he knew no English. He soon had her laughing. He used his powerful well-kept hands along with his conversation, using deft gestures to illustrate the little stories he told.
Fifteen minutes after they had entered the restaurant and sat down at a discreet little table in a comer of the lounge, they were evident friends. She noticed that there was no one close enough to them to overhear. He had stopped talking for a moment and was looking at her with obvious approval, his eyes glowing.
She looked into his eyes and said, “Herr Ehrlich, I have come many thousand miles to see you. It is understood that you have certain merchandise for sale.”
The glow went out of his eyes, but his lips kept the same easy smile. The brown eyes became as dull and expressionless as stones. He said slowly, “I must be growing fat and unwary. You have been clever.”
“I understand that your syndicate will not deal with those who are not clever.”
“That is quite right. Did you lie to me about your being Ceylonese?”
“No.”
“What is your right name?”
“Must you know that?”
“Do not lie this time. I must know it and it will be necessary for me to cheek back and see that you are what you claim to be.”
“My name is Latmini Perez.” She smiled, thinking to make him less cautious. “My friends call me Sitara at times. It means ‘star’ in Hindustani.”
For a moment the glow came back into his eyes. “Star? That is nice. The name ‘Stella’ means star. May I call you that?”
“I’ll have a hard time keeping track of my names. Latmini, Sitara, Stella, Janice.”
He became suddenly cautious. “You have not handled this type of mission before?”
“Never.”
“Why do you do it at this time?”
“I could lie to you, Karl Ehrlich, and tell you of some inner yen for adventure. I will not lie. I am doing this because harm will come to ones I love if I do not do it.”
“In the end, my dear, that is the best way. It was proven during the days of the Third Reich. The most loyal servants are those who have everything to lose, including their lives.”
“You do not have to check back to Ceylon. A man in New York can vouch for me, I am sure.”
“Who is he?”
“I must trust you, Herr Ehrlich. But there is something I must check. Suppose I merely tell you that the initials of this man are R. D. and that he has a red face.” “Roger Darron is a fool, Stella. I have refused to deal with him further. I have told myself that I will deal with no one again where he is concerned.”
She felt a quick rush of alarm. Her voice hoarsened as she said, “But you will not apply that rule to me?”
He looked at her for long moments, licked his heavy lips and said, “You will be the last one.”
“Thank you,” she breathed.
He danced around, lowered his tone and said, “I will make another exception. I will be careless and foolish. In return for this concession I make you, I will expect that you will make similar con-sessions when the opportunity presents itself.”
She smiled. “We are without witnesses, of course. And you will probably say nothing specific. So the concessions are something I will have to think about.”
He laughed, almost silently. “Stella, my dear, you have wasted years in not taking up this sort of thing earlier. After this is over, maybe there will be a place in our organization where—”
“After this is over,” she said firmly.
“Of course. One thing at a time. You must understand that at the present time the demands on our syndicate are rather heavy. Our shipments have gone out regularly to Palestine, India, China, Burma, the Dutch possessions. But our stocks are now slim. Tell me, will the merchandise we supply be used by trained people?”
“No. It will be used by people who have not been permitted to handle such things for generations.”
“Open or guerilla warfare?”
“First guerilla warfare. Sabotage.”
“How many men do you hope to have engaged in this enterprize?”
“It is said that there should be about five thousand — to begin with. They will capture other merchandise as the fighting goes on.”
“When should shipment be made?”
“As soon as possible. The merchandise is to be crated as truck parts and consigned to a name in Colombo. I will give you his name after arrangements are made.”
“Deals of this sort are cash in advance.”
“We cannot give you cash.”
“Then there will be no deal.”
“Wait! We can give you something that is as good as cash. Possibly better. We can deliver it to any spot you designate.”
Ehrlich shrugged. “We will need more data than what you have given me. Can you set a value on this something you talk about?”
“Half a million dollars. Minimum valuation.”
He smiled. “Do not say that figure with such awe, Stella. We deal in many millions. Once shipment costs are taken out, you leave us ninety dollars with which to equip each of the five thousand you speak of. That is very little. For what you say, we can equip three thousand with our merchandise. And, of course, give you a supply of materials for the sabotage phase. Three thousand rifles of an obsolete type. Forty sub-machine guns. Thirty rounds for each rifle. One thousand rounds for each automatic weapon. Five hundred pounds of plastic explosive with caps and fuses. Three hundred grenades. Nothing more.”
“They were very anxious for pistols.”
“They are in demand. They cost more than the riffles. Rifles would be as good for your purposes, particularly if your people aren’t trained. This is not an offer, however. This is what you might get, provided you could pay cash in advance.”
“My instructions are to ask you this: Will you transmit the order to your people and have the items crated, but not stenciled? Then I will take, to any place you say, this item I speak of and you can see its value.”
Karl Ehrlich was silent for long seconds. He rubbed his massive chin and said, “I like you, Stella. I will agree to that — even though the others will be cross with me.”
“What guarantee of performance can I get from you, Mr. Ehrlich?”
“Call me Karl. You can get no guarantee. I can only tell you this. Any failure on our part to fulfill on a promise makes it more difficult in the future to get the prices we ask.”
“That is a very small crumb of comfort,” she said. “I told you that persons I care for will be hurt, if anything goes wrong, Karl.”
He touched her hand with surprising gentleness. “Nothing will go wrong, Stella. Nothing at all.”
“Where must I make delivery of this item I have spoken of?” Latmini asked him.
“I will tell you that after I find out more about you.”