After she had hung up her clothes in the hotel room closet, picked at a room-service dinner, she wandered into the bathroom and looked at her refection in the mirror. She began to cry. My hair still looks like hell and so do I, she thought. Throwing the brush across the room, she took off her clothes, put on fresh blue silk pajamas, climbed into bed, and unplugged the telephone. The hotel bed was much more comfortable than the one in the safe house. It was a bed she had never slept in with David — it almost gave her a sense of starting over. But, in her heart she knew the new bed emphasized her loneliness and solitude. It was just a more comfortable place to grieve. She planned to stay there as long as it took.
She refused to answer Simon’s insistent knocking or to respond to the notes he slid under the hotel room door. Several days later, still wearing the same blue pajamas she arose and sat on the side of the bed and looked around the large, plainly furnished, hotel room. Everything was still as it was on the day she had walked into the room except for the messy bed and the room service dishes stacked on the coffee table and spilling over on the floor. She got up and tried a bowel of soup room service had left outside her door sometime that day. It was cold, and after a couple of spoonfuls turned on the television still sipping the tepid soup. Watching for a while, she got disgusted with the stupidity of the program and shut it off. She got up, drank a glass of water, then it was back to bed.
She continued this routine for another day. Finally she got the energy to pick up the phone and call Levi. When he answered, he immediately shouted, “Where the hell have you been? Are you finally OK? What do you want? Are you ready to go back to work?” Holding the receiver away from her ear, she listened to his tirade. When he slowed down and was somewhat calmer, she asked him for a transfer but not back to Tel Aviv. She was adamant. She needed a change.
“You want what? Why don’t you just come back to Israel and spend some time at your brother’s kibbutz? It’s near Hebron, isn’t it? Simon is quite concerned about you. He tells me that you have barely come out of that hotel room in almost a week. I am concerned also, Miriam. This isn’t like you!”
“I can’t do that right now, Levi. It’s too close to David, and I don’t want to be that near him anymore. I hope you understand. I am much better now. I have had time to think things out and really would like another assignment. I think that would be the best way to help keep me out of this funk. I’ll see if I can help Simon some here, and perhaps we can sort out some of this Munich situation until you can come up with something else. Now where else can you use me, please?”
Levi reluctantly said that only station that had an opening soon would be Rome. Miriam knew it was the regional headquarters for southern Europe and led by a katsa she had met once during her training, a most competent and experienced officer.
“Do you want it?
“Want it? How soon can I leave?
“It won’t be open for about three weeks, and that perhaps will give you and Simon time to sort out the Munich situation. However, listen carefully! It is a two-year position as Communications Director in the Rome Bureau. The position is critical, and the length of commitment a must, so you’d better be sure if you accept the assignment. He added that he wanted her to remain in Munich and help Simon until it was time to leave for Rome. She accepted his condition, thanked him, and hung up the phone. relieved at the possibility of work again, she fell asleep. The reality of her new decision was so hazy; she could not concentrate on it just now.
A month later Hans called Emily again. She told him the bank had checked out Mr. Stratton’s background and evidently, he was not connected to any organization in Hong Kong that he said he represented for the auction. They swore that they never heard of him. The bank was continuing a complete background check on him and they learned that he was a widower and a former art history professor. He had no living relatives. The emerald would be auctioned off again in about six months because their auction schedule was already settled until then.
When Levi called, Servette filled him in on the death of Tam and the whereabouts of the emerald. Levi pondered the news and told Servette that Bruno had never said a word to either he, David or Miriam about an emerald — he now considered that strange. Levi asked Servette why had Bruno been holding out.
“I had believed him to be pursuing “The Dagger” case quite aggressively at the time, Levi, but now I, too, am beginning to wonder. Let’s keep a lid on this and I’ll have Max and Josef do some snooping on our own for a while.”
“Sounds right to me. Keep in touch.”
As Levi hung up, David hobbled into his office on crutches.
“Hey, you shouldn’t be out of bed yet.”
“If I stay in bed any longer, I’ll mold. I need to keep busy and I think that will help me heal more than vegetating at home. Give me something to do!”
“David, I don’t think that’s a good idea, but since you’re here, what are your thoughts about Chief Beinschmidt?”
David told him about his experience with the Chief’s secretary. He didn’t trust the Chief, David opined. Levi agreed, saying there appeared to be more to Bruno than either of them knew.
“There doesn’t seem to be any urgency with him in tracking down “The Dagger,” even though it seems certain to me that he is the one who killed Marvin and Herzog. Do you think the Chief knew that they worked for us?”
“I don’t see how he could. They had been sayanians in Munich working for a private security company for several years before they were hired as police. Their papers and background documents we prepared for them were flawless, and they were two of our best. We were very lucky that they were able to penetrate the Munich Police Department.”
“It seems to me that our Chief is only telling us what he wants to tell us, and I wonder why.”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask Piet?”
“I guess I should. I don’t know anyone else to ask.”
David changed the subject asking Levi if he could come back to work.
“No! You know what the doctor said.”
“I’m getting so bored being laid up. Isn’t there something I can do, Levi?”
“Well, if you think you’re up to it, you can read and summarize a lot of information I need processed on the general political situation in Europe. It just came in from the Rome Bureau and I don’t have the time to get into it right now. It’s all filed in that large file over there on that corner table and I haven’t got the time read the whole damn stack. Condense it down to a few pages for me and that will be very helpful. Take it down to that vacant office a couple of doors down the hall and don’t bother me until it’s finished. Now get out of here and leave me alone. I’ll have someone take the file down for you, gimpy. However, for heavens sake take it easy! Then later on, if you feel up to it, you can do some work down in ‘The Hole’ with Malcolm. Sitting at a computer shouldn’t be so hard for you. After that we’ll see.”
“How thrilling,” Grumbled David, as he limped out of Levi’s office. “But, you’re majesty; I’ll get right on your Italian file. Thanks, I think, Levi.”
“Have any more communiqués come from Miriam?” Levi asked.
“Levi, No. I haven’t heard from her, and I don’t want to. We are not partners any more and we certainly can never work together again, remember that!”
Levi waved David out of his office and under his breath said, “I can’t figure you two out. What happened in Munich between you?”
David glared at Levi, and icily left the office without saying a word.
They had been his pride and joy, the best team he ever had, and he hated to see them split up like this. Maybe time will heal and change things.