I'm an Army officer, not Sherlock Holmes.
"Looks like we're going to need some more chairs, doesn't it?" Paul Sieno observed and went in search of them.
Max, who had been lying beside Kocian's chair, got to his feet, and, with his stub of a tail rotating like a helo rotor, walked quickly to Castillo, obviously delighted to see him.
Castillo squatted and rubbed Max's ears.
"Until he started to behave like that to Colonel Castillo," Kocian announced, "I thought Max to be an excellent judge of character."
The remark earned the chuckles and laughs Kocian expected it to.
"Eric," Castillo said, in Hungarian, "say hello, politely, to Oberst Munz."
Kocian replied, in German, "Since I don't speak a word of Spanish, how am I going to do that?"
Mr. Sieno smiled. She was obviously taken with the old man.
"Try German," Castillo said.
"Guten Abend, Herr Oberst," Kocian said.
"Guten Abend, Herr Kocian," Munz replied.
"You're a Hessian," Kocian said, still in German. It was an accusation.
"I'm an Argentine," Munz said, switching to English. "My parents were Hessian."
"Karl, why didn't you tell me the Herr Oberst speaks English?" Kocian demanded.
"You didn't ask," Castillo said, then, switching to English, went on: "Jack, this is Colonel Alfredo Munz. Kensington took a bullet out of his shoulder after the estancia operation."
Davenport nodded.
"Alfredo, Jack and I have been many places together…"
Castillo felt a tug on his trouser leg. He looked down to see that Max had it in his mouth. Max let loose, then sat and offered Castillo his paw.
"I think your friend is telling you that nature calls, Charley," Torine said, cheerfully.
"What?"
"Obviously, he's been waiting for you," Torine said. "He made it…uh…toothfully clear that he wasn't going walking with any of us."
"I would have been happy to take him, Karl," Kocian said. "But you made that impossible."
"What?"
"Had I known I was going to be held prisoner, Karlchen," Kocian said, "I would never have left Budapest."
"Forgive me for trying to keep you alive, Eric," Castillo replied some what unpleasantly, in German.
Max was now at the door, looking back at Castillo.
Castillo looked at Sandor Tor and asked, in Hungarian, "You have a leash?"
Tor reached into a well-worn leather briefcase by the side of his chair and took out a chain leash.
Why do I suspect that briefcase also holds an Uzi?
"Okay, Max," Castillo said as he took the leash, "I'm coming."
"You want some company, Colonel?" Davidson asked.
"I can handle walking a dog, Jack," Castillo snapped.
After an awkward moment's silence, Sieno offered: "When you leave the building, turn right, Colonel. There's a park a block away."
"Thanks, Paul," Castillo said. "And sorry I snapped at you, Jack. My ass is dragging." He heard what he had just said and added: "Pardon the language, Mr. Sieno. Same excuse."
"Don't be silly," she said. "And I've asked you to please call me Susanna."
"I'll be right back," Castillo said.
"Max willing, of course," Kocian said. Max dragged Castillo through the lobby and out onto the street and headed for the first tree, which was to the left, away from the park Sieno had spoken of.
"Your call, Max," Castillo muttered. "As if I have a choice."
It became quickly obvious that Max did indeed have a massive need to meet the urinary call of nature.
"Can we go to the park now?" Castillo asked, in Hungarian, when he had finally finished.
Max looked at Castillo, considered the question, then dragged Castillo farther away from the park.
The apartment building next to 1568 Arribenos was brightly lit. But beyond it, the street quickly became dark, as there were no brightly lit buildings and the streetlights were not functioning.
Max sniffed every tree, came to an intersection, dragged Castillo across it, then across Arribenos, where he began nasally inspecting the trees there. When he had stopped at the third tree, there was a click and the sidewalk was brilliantly illuminated by floodlights mounted on an old mansion.
They were turned on by motion sensors.
Well, why not? That's cheaper than burning floodlights all night.
Then he noticed the bronze sign mounted on the wall of the old building. It read EMBASSY OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CUBA.
"Oh, shit!"
I am not really conversant with the security practices of the Cuban diplomatic service but it seems reasonable to assume that if they have gone to the trouble of installing motion-activated floodlights so they can see who is loitering in front of their embassy, said motion sensors more than likely also activate one or more surveillance cameras.
He looked at Max, who apparently had taken Castillo's exclamation as a command and now was evacuating his bowels.
Max isn't going to go anywhere until he finishes!
Our likenesses are now recorded and filed under Item 405 on the Suspicious Activity Log of the embassy security officer.
Congratulations, Inspector Clouseau, you've just done it again!
Aw, fuck it!
Lieutenant Colonel C. G. Castillo, USA, turned to face the Cuban embassy, put his right hand on his abdomen, bowed deeply, and said, "Up yours, Fidel!" [TWO] "Have a nice long walk, did you?" Eric Kocian asked as Castillo and Max came back into the Sieno living room.
Max trotted over to Kocian, gave him his paw, allowed his head to be patted, then lay down by the footstool.
"The Cubans now have a floodlighted recording of Max making an enormous deposit on their sidewalk while I cheered him on."
"What?" Kocian asked.
"That's why, Colonel," Sieno said, masterfully keeping a straight face, "I suggested you go to the park."
"Max had other ideas," Castillo said, then asked, "Can they make me?"
Sieno thought it over before replying.
"Anybody follow you here?"
"I don't think so. I came back by…" He stopped. "From the embassy, I went down the hill, turned left, and came back that way. I didn't see anybody following me."
"Then I don't see how. Let's hope they think you were a wine-filled Argentine."
"Yeah," Castillo said. "Let's hope."
He looked around the room.
"Anything happen while we were talking our walk?"
"Ambassador Silvio called," Torine said. "He said to tell you that Ambassador McGrory called him to tell him that Artigas has been transferred to Buenos Aires. Who's Artigas?"
"An FBI agent-one of those in Montevideo looking for laundered money. He's clever. He pretty much figured out what happened at Lorimer's estancia, so I figured the best way to make sure he kept his mouth shut was to have him assigned to OOA."
Torine nodded.
"We haven't heard from Alex Darby?" Castillo asked. "Or anyone else?"
"Alex Darby three or four times," Sieno said. "The last bulletin was half an hour ago. He expected then to finally have the owner, the escribiano, and the lawyer all in one place in the next few minutes."
"Explain that, please," Castillo said.
"One of the interesting requirements of Argentine law is that when you sign a contract-like a lease on a house in Mayerling-all parties have to be present at a meeting at which the escribiano, who is sort of a super notary public, reads the whole thing, line by line, aloud. The lawyer's function is to explain any questions about the contract."
"They do about the same thing in Mexico, Gringo," Fernando Lopez said.
"Mr. Darby said that Kensington has the radio set up, and it shouldn't take more than an hour or so to finish signing the lease-presuming all parties did, in fact, show up-and wants you to call him and tell him whether you want to move in out there tonight."
"Are there sheets and blankets, etcetera?" Castillo asked. "Food?"
"I don't know about the sheets and blankets," Sieno said. "But I don't think there will be food. And the Argentines have another interesting custom. When they move out of someplace, they take the lightbulbs with them."