Van Dorn nodded. “From our contact in MI5.” He opened the file drawer of his desk and pulled out the deciphered message. He read, “‘In reply to your inquiry: Long-distance call from New York, routed through local exchange, Tongate, to Brompton Hall seven P.M. your time. Duration eight minutes. Call from Brompton Hall to New York at seven forty-three P.M. your time. Duration six minutes. Both calls, New York party at UN Plaza Hotel. Request further?’” Van Dorn looked up and said, “About fifteen minutes after the call was made from Brompton Hall, neighbors reported a fire.” He turned to Abrams. “I think I know what happened, but maybe you can try to reconstruct it. I’d feel better if I heard it from a cop.”
Abrams was not flattered at being asked to perform, but he said, “The person at the UN Plaza Hotel was James Allerton.” He saw Van Dorn nod. “Allerton would have liked to cover traces of those calls, but time was short and he was feeling a little nervous. So he took a chance no one would check. The time of his call to Brompton Hall corresponds to the time in New York when he could have first received the news about the diary and the Wingate letter. Probably from Thorpe, who got it from Katherine.” He kept his eyes fixed on Van Dorn.
Van Dorn said, “We’re not certain Allerton and Thorpe knew about each other. But the news did come to Allerton somehow as a result of Thorpe’s conversation with Katherine, and the timing is right. Go on.”
Abrams thought a moment, then said, “Allerton spoke for eight minutes to Lady Wingate or her nephew. He was probably trying to determine if his name was mentioned in the diary in any negative context.” Abrams paused, then went on, “This presupposes that Allerton believed the diary was real, though I’ve been told recently, it wasn’t.” He glanced at Katherine, then said to Van Dorn, “Allerton never knew he and Kimberly were on the same side of the fence — which is usually how these things work.”
Van Dorn nodded. “Allerton was badly frightened, which was the idea of the diary. Or, to use the other metaphor, the werewolf sensed danger, but unlike natural wolves he didn’t run from it, he ran at it.”
Abrams lit a cigarette and drew on it, then continued, “Allerton must have convinced Eleanor Wingate that he was working with Carbury, O’Brien, and Katherine, and that they were concerned about her safety, or something along those lines. Allerton was, of course, after the Photostat of the diary.”
Abrams watched the smoke rise from his cigarette. He was aware of the absolute stillness in the room. He was aware, too, that there was a startling contrast between the gentleman he had met at the OSS dinner and seen on television, and the man he was now describing; but that was the nature of the werewolf. Abrams said, “Allerton sent someone to Brompton Hall and so did O’Brien. The timing is close and it’s hard to say who got there first, but Eleanor Wingate let both of them in.” Abrams remembered a line from the letter and observed, “She must have been just as confused then as she had been in 1945, when two different men showed up at Brompton Hall on the identical mission of recovering Henry Kimberly’s papers.”
Van Dorn nodded again, “In any event, Allerton’s man murdered Eleanor Wingate, her nephew, and O’Brien’s man. He may have… interrogated them first and recovered the diary Photostat. Then he called Allerton and reported. Fifteen minutes after that call, the house went up in flames.” He looked at Abrams. “It’s reassuring that you’ve come to the same conclusions.” He added, “We couldn’t convict James Allerton on the evidence of the phone calls, but we can kill him.”
Abrams didn’t reply directly to the suggestion of homicide, but said, “And James Allerton is at this moment with the President at Camp David?”
Van Dorn laughed without humor. “I’m afraid so. As if we didn’t have enough to worry about.”
Ann said, “What do we have to worry about, George?”
“Lots of things. The third Talbot, for one thing. But I have no evidence that he’s even alive.” He looked at Ann.
She replied, “I think he is. But I’d rather not comment at this time. Before you tell me what else is on your mind, let me tell you that there has been no unusual radio traffic between Moscow and Washington, Manhattan, or Glen Cove. Very banal stuff going out on the air — administrative junk. Androv’s home leave has been approved, for instance. Low-level diplomatic codes, not much high-grade tricky stuff. I did a computer analysis, and it seems that whenever this phenomenon has occurred in the past — nearly every time between the Berlin blockade in 1948 and the present — it usually, but not always, means the bastards are up to something. We call it QBSHF: Quiet Before Shit Hits Fan.”
Van Dorn observed, “They haven’t been very quiet here.”
Ann continued, “Also, I caught a break tonight and shared a cab with the sexiest Russian I’ve ever laid eyes on.” She explained briefly, then added, “When I see an obviously high-level courier skulking around in a cab like that, his attaché case not handcuffed to him, trying to look unofficial, then I get a little suspicious. For two cents I would have mugged him.” She smiled. “But he looked tough. And not every courier is carrying the game plan for World War Three, is he?”
Van Dorn replied, “No, but I think this one was.”
“Well, had I known… but let’s hear it, then, George.”
“Right—” The phone rang and Van Dorn picked it up and listened. He gave his identification phrase, answered, and asked a few questions, then hung up shortly. He said, “Well, they wouldn’t give me much over an unsecured line, but they wanted me to know the alert status has been upgraded and the President has been informed.” He looked at the screen in front of the alcove. “They’ll telex encoded details later.” Van Dorn looked at Ann. “Well, are you in the mood for more bad news?”
“I thrive on it, George. Shoot.”
Abrams watched Ann Kimberly as Van Dorn gave her a background briefing. She asked a few questions and made a few succinct comments. Abrams saw she was quick, intelligent, and knowledgeable. She was also good-looking. Her coloring was like her sister’s, but her hair was shorter, and her body fuller. She was also, he knew, about three years older. Whereas Katherine radiated a sense of the outdoors, Ann looked as if she spent too much time in underground facilities, and what tan she had, he guessed, came from hickory-smoked bourbon.
As for personality, Ann Kimberly was somewhat more breezy and outgoing than her sister, and more prone to banter and profane observations. She had already told Van Dorn he’d gotten too heavy and that Kitty was looking for a lover, and suggested his parties were boring.
Also, she did not seem particularly worried as Van Dorn presented the news that America might come under attack at any moment; but Abrams could see she believed him.
He wondered how Ann Kimberly and Nicholas West ever got together and how they had stayed together. It struck him that Ann Kimberly and Peter Thorpe were more suited to each other than Thorpe and Katherine, at least on the surface.
Ann rattled the ice cubes in her glass and helped herself to the tray of hors d’oeuvres on the coffee table, as she carried on a fast dialogue with Van Dorn.
Van Dorn said, “Then the President can’t order a nuclear strike?”
“That’s right, George. The President would not have the ability to send out what’s called an Emergency Action Message, not after we’ve gotten an electronic lobotomy.” Ann stood and looked around the room, then said, “But I’ll give you all a piece of information classified Highest State Secret. The military foresaw this EMP problem and they’ve convinced the President that if any such complete blackout occurs, the lack of communications will be the signal to go. It’s called ALARM — Auto-Launch Response Mode. That’s even a quicker response than LAW — Launch on Warning.” She added, “The fucking military would have to speak English if they didn’t have their acronyms.” She took a deep breath and said, “To put it more poetically, the silent radios would, ironically, be the last call to arms.”