“How did you get that?” asked Eric with surprise.
I told them about the UV powder and the UV lightbulb.
“You son of a gun,” said Benny, “you remembered that trick? I think you and I were on the same team that rehearsed it ages ago.”
“You're right,” I said, “I remembered. I also used the powder to dust my hotel room. I had visitors today while I was away.”
“The Iranians?” asked Tom.
“Possibly. They told me in the meeting with Guttmacher that they'd be watching me.”
“Is your room clean?” asked Lovejoy.
“Yes, I sanitized everything. There's nothing in my luggage other than clothing. Everything else is in the hotel's central vault or at the consulate. They didn't remove anything, and all my stuff checked benign. But they may have planted some devices in my room or my luggage: audio, video, the works. I also noticed someone scrutinizing my car outside my hotel.”
“OK,” said Eric, “we all stay away from Dan. He's contaminated. He cannot be seen with any of us until further notice. Dan will continue living in the hotel, but communication with him is limited to calls from pay phones to our special secured line.”
“I'm excluded from the quarantine,” said Benny. “I'm a foreigner, nothing links me to Israel or to our meeting today, and I'm leaving tomorrow through another European country.”
“Avoiding me may not be necessary,” I said. “I have other plans. I traced Ariel's footprints and they lead to Moscow. I'm going there.”
“What do you mean?” asked Eric. “She got away?”
“I don't know yet,” I added, and told them about the airline reservations under Ariel's name.
“So you don't know if she actually made the flight?” asked Jeff, opening his mouth for the first time.
“No, I don't,” I conceded. “And furthermore, I don't even know if the person traveling is in fact Ariel Peled. I simply haven't had the opportunity to work on it; I've only just learned this information. I was planning to call the Cosmos Hotel in Moscow to see if she checked in.”
Eric went to the telephone, dialed a number, exchanged a few terse sentences, and hung up. “The office will do it for us.”
“Since I have become a security burden, you won't mind my Moscow plans. I think you'll survive without me for two or three days.”
“We'll talk about it later,” said Eric, reassuming his control over the meeting.
“So what are your conclusions? Is the bank job doable?” asked Benny.
Eric thought for a minute. “We transcribed the recording transmitted from the pen Dan left on Guttmacher's desk. The metal clicking suggests a vault. I'm fairly convinced that Dan is right. The file could be in the vault. I also suspect that Guttmacher may have plans that he has neglected to reveal to his Iranian clients.”
We waited for Eric to continue. Only Tom and Jeff sat back. It seemed as if they already knew what Eric was about to say.
“Guttmacher is somehow connected to the Latinos. We don't know how. We don't know if he's in bed with them or in competition with them. There were some angry exchanges on the phone between Guttmacher and someone. They spoke English, but Guttmacher paused twice to shout at his secretary to look up a word in the dictionary. In both instances it was a Spanish word. We know that as late as yesterday the file was in his vault because we heard him order a woman named Gertrude to bring the file out and we heard the vault click from a close distance.”
“So then,” I interrupted, “the woman in the photograph is likely the very same Gertrude.”
Eric gave me the look reserved for teachers showing displeasure toward a failing student. “We know that. There are several other pieces of information we obtained from the transcription. One is that Guttmacher planned to go to Moscow soon. The second is that he's probably blackmailing DiMarco to split some of the commissions the Iranians are paying. Guttmacher threatened DiMarco that unless he agreed, he'd simply be bypassed.”
“Is that all?” I was hoping my contribution to the operation would bring me closer to my original objective. While it was very exciting to participate in planning the operation against the Iranians, my main assignment was to locate and retrieve the missing ninety million dollars. The spy stuff was nice, but it was no longer my game.
“No,” said Eric, “we have plenty more, but it's being transcribed now. However, Guttmacher doesn't spend much time in his office. There is no question that he's a serious money launderer. I wouldn't be surprised if most of his business is built on dirty money.”
“OK,” said Benny, “I need Avi, my logistics guy, to confer with yours. I'll attach his findings to my EEI report.”
“Did you get the building plans?”
“Yes, I did,” said Jeff from his corner seat. “It was built in 1936 and no modifications have been made since. We are preparing the floor charts on three different small plastic sheets that glow in the dark. So Shimon, or anyone else, could read them. But I need Dan to go over the plan of Guttmacher's floor, in case they made changes that do not need a building permit.”
“No problem,” I said.
“Good,” said Shimon, smiling and exposing his perfect white teeth. “The plastic map is a good idea. But just in case, I use a night-vision scope that lets me see in the dark like a wildcat. Avi, show them our toy.” He looked at the Mossad's logistics man, a tall slim guy with a military crew cut. He opened his attache case, pulled out a scope with a strap, and handed it over to Jeff.
“This little baby enables you to see anything in pitch dark. It's the latest technology, made in Israel,” he added with unconcealed pride. “This is a compact, lightweight, handheld night binocular combining night vision with a laser range finder and a digital compass enabling accurate azimuth and inclination and elevation measurements.”
Eric gave it a brief, slightly jealous look and said, “OK, let's continue.”
“What about the utility company's junction box?” asked Shimon.
“It's next to the fourth building down the road. We could yank it off in no time,” said Tom. “It'll black out the entire block. The switch is mechanical, not electronic, so we can't make it look like the power failure originated from a different location. I think their repair team could be on the scene within thirty minutes of the power failure. We'll give them a drill later on tonight in another location to check their response time.”
“Shimon, under the worst-case scenario how long would it take to enter the bank building in the dark and with the alarm system immobilized?”
“About ten minutes if we take the roof-entry option,” said Shimon. “I'll climb the tree to the roof and, from there, to the third-floor window. If there are any alarm systems they could have a battery backup, so they could still be working. But in my experience many alarm systems go off in a blackout, so people are kind of used to it. Anyway, we'll try to shut down the alarm when we go in.”
Jeff added, “We also planned a decoy operation in another bank down the block, Bayerische Hypotheken und Wechsel Bank. We're trying to learn how to trigger their alarm system. It's electronic and linked to a monitoring control center. We want them to think there's a break-in and send the police in that direction. The street leading to that bank is not directly connected to the street on which Guttmacher's bank is located, and any police-car movement would be in the opposite direction. The sirens would also tell people that the police are on the way without knowing that they're on the wrong way. We'll monitor their waveband.”
“Now we're getting somewhere. Avi, you and Jeff need to talk logistics,” said Eric. “You two can work at the dining table. Speaking of which, is anyone hungry?”
“Good timing,” I said. “I'm starved. I haven't eaten all day.”
I grabbed Benny by his arm. “Let's you and me be the pickup and delivery boys.” We made a quick list of orders and left. It was time for Benny and me to talk.
T he rule was to leave the apartment one by one, making sure nobody was in the hallway, and then use different building exits. We met and talked only a block away after checking for watchers.