Divide and Conquer

FORTY-TWO

“We have the Harpooner’s location!” Korsov shouted.

Orlov looked up as Korsov rushed into his office. The young intelligence officer was followed by Boris Grosky, who looked less glum than Orlov had ever seen him. He did not look happy, but he did not look miserable. Korsov was holding several papers in his hands.

“Where is he?” Orlov asked.

Korsov slapped a computer printout on Orlov’s desk. There was a map and an arrow pointing to a building. Another arrow pointed to a street several blocks away.

“The signal originated at a hotel in Baku,” Korsov said. “From there it went to Suleyman Ragimov Kuchasi. It’s an avenue that runs parallel to Bakihanov Kuchasi, the location of the hotel.”

“Was he calling someone with a cell phone?” Orlov asked.

“We don’t believe so,” Grosky said. “We’ve been monitoring police broadcasts from the area to find out more about the oil rig explosion. While we were listening, we heard about a van explosion on Suleyman Ragimov. The blast is being investigated now.”

“It doesn’t sound like a coincidence,” Korsov added.

“No, it doesn’t,” Orlov agreed.

“Let’s assume the Harpooner was behind that,” Korsov said. “He might want to see it from his hotel room—”

“That might not be necessary, as long as he could hear it,” Orlov said. “No. The Harpooner would be worried about security if he were staying in a hotel room. Do we have any way of fine-tuning the location of the signal?”

“No,” Korsov said. “It was too brief, and our equipment is not sensitive enough to determine height in increments under two hundred feet.”

“Can we get a diagram of the hotel?” Orlov asked.

“I have that,” Korsov said. He pulled a page from the pile he was holding and laid it beside the map. It showed a ten-story hotel.

“Natasha is trying to break into the reservations list,” Grosky said. He was referring to the Op-Center’s twenty-three-year-old computer genius Natasha Revsky. “If she can get in, she will give us the names of all single male occupants.”

“Get single females as well,” Orlov said. “The Harpooner has been known to adopt a variety of disguises.”

Grosky nodded.

“You feel very confident about this?” Orlov asked.

Korsov had been leaning over the desk. Now he stood like a soldier, his chest puffed. “Completely,” he replied.

“All right,” Orlov said. “Leave the hotel diagram with me. This was very good work. Thank you both.”

As Grosky and Korsov left, Orlov picked up the phone. He wanted to talk to Odette about the hotel and then get her on site. Hopefully, the American would be strong enough to go with her.

The Harpooner was not a man to tackle alone.