Mexico Set

24

It was like stepping into a sauna bath to get off the plane into the heat of Mexico City. I arrived on a particularly bad day, when the humidity and temperature had reached a record-breaking high. Like a city under bombardment, the steamy streets echoed with constant rolls of distant thunder that never got louder. And black-headed cumulo-nimbus clouds, poised over the mountains, did not bring the threatened rainstorms. Such weather played upon the nerves of even the most acclimatized inhabitants, and the police statistics show a pattern of otherwise unaccountable violence that peaks at this time of year.

'I'll have to talk with Stinnes,' I told Werner. 'I've got to see him face to face.' We were in the apartment that belonged to Zena's uncle. The list of breakages hanging by the phone had grown much longer. Perhaps that was another sign of the way the oppressive weather made everyone so jumpy. I was reluctant to move away from the air-conditioner, but the air coming through it was warm, and the noise of the motor was so loud that it was difficult to hear what Werner was saying in reply. I cupped my ear.

'He'll be ready to go on Friday,' said Werner, raising his voice as he said it a second time. 'Just as London requested. Friday; no sooner and no later.' Even Werner, who seemed to enjoy the hot weather, had finally succumbed to the high humidity. He was shirtless and continually gulping deep draughts of iced lemonade. I'd told him that it would not help but he persisted. Werner could be very stubborn at times.

I said, 'London will not authorize the payment of such a large sum of money until someone on the spot checks with the recipient and okays it, and I am the someone on the spot.'

Zena came into the room bringing more iced lemonade. She said, 'His embassy has restricted everyone's movements. It's not so easy for them to go strolling in and out as they used to do.'

'I find that difficult to believe,' I said. 'Stinnes is a RGB man. He doesn't have to take any notice of anything the embassy says; he can tell the ambassador to drop dead.'

Zena interpreted my response as a sign of nervousness. 'It will be all right,' she said, and smiled at me in the patronizing way she did so often with Werner.

'It won't be all right,' I said. 'London won't authorize the money… not this kind of money.'

'Then tell London that they must authorize it,' said Zena.

'My standing with London Central is not so good that they will take my orders so readily,' I explained. They'll want some questions answered.'

'What questions?' said Werner.

'They'll ask why Stinnes is so insistent upon having the money up front.'

'Why not?' said Zena, who would be surprised at anyone wanting money any other way.

'What's the hurry?' I said. 'Why won't Stinnes wait until he's in the UK? What's Stinnes going to do in the middle of Mexico City with a suitcase full of pound notes?'

'American dollar bills,' said Zena. 'That's what he asked for, used hundred-dollar bills.'

Zena's manner annoyed me and I snapped at her. 'Golden sovereigns, zlotys, shark teeth or cowrie shells… what's the difference?' I said. 'Why carry a case filled with cash through a rough town like this? What's wrong with a bank transfer or a letter of credit or even a bearer bond?

'I wonder if Erich thought of sovereigns,' said Zena. 'Do you know, I think he might have preferred sovereigns or krugerrands, even, to US paper. How heavy would it be in gold?'

I ignored her question. 'Whatever he chooses to have as a payment, he'll still have it with him when he gets into the car, won't he? So if we were acting in bad faith we could easily take it away from him. I can't see what's in his mind.'

'I don't think he'll have it with him,' said Zena very casually, as if wondering whether the storm would come and the rain cool the streets. 'Erich is clever. He'll put it away somewhere where no one else can get their hands on it.'

'Will he?' I said.

'That's what I'd do,' said Zena.

'Nip into the bank, and give it to the cashier?' I said mockingly.

She rose to my bait. 'Or give it to someone he trusts,' said Zena.

I laughed. 'He gives his money to someone he trusts, but delivers his body to people he doesn't trust? I'd say anyone who followed that line of reasoning is an imbecile.' I looked at her to see what made her so sure about what Stinnes had in mind. There was no doubt that she had great influence over him. Now I began to wonder if Zena was thinking of delivering him to us, and then stealing his money from him. Poor Erich Stinnes.

'No doubt you do,' she said haughtily. 'That's because, now your wife has left you, you have no faith or trust in anything or anyone. But there are trustworthy people in this world.'

'Yes,' I said. 'There are trustworthy people in this world, but you have to take such unacceptable risks to find out who they are.'

She smiled as if pitying me and with unmuted sarcasm said, 'Life is difficult, isn't it? You have to risk what you need to get what you want.' She picked up the coffee-cups from the table and put them on a tray, making more noise than was necessary. 'I have to go out, Werner,' she said, as if by adding his name I would not be privy to this item of information.

'Yes, darling,' said Werner.

'Goodbye, Mrs Volkmann,' I said. 'It was nice to talk with you.' She glared at me. She knew I'd come back to the apartment with Werner only because I knew she had an appointment.

'I wish you and Zena got along better,' said Werner after she had gone.

'You mean you wish I'd be more polite to her.'

'She's not the easiest of people to get along with,' said Werner. 'But you always seem to say the wrong things.'

'Did you get the gun for me, Werner?'

I did my best. I followed him over to the big bookcase in which chinaware was displayed. He opened a locked drawer. Reaching into it, and groping about behind the cloth-wrapped silver cutlery, he got a Colt.38 Detective Special. He handed it to me. I took it from the fancy tooled-leather holster and examined it. Its nickel finish had almost all worn off; it must have been a quarter of a century old. At some recent time it had been fitted with a hammer shroud to reduce the chance of its discharging accidentally and shooting a hole in someone's foot. 'I know you wanted a small automatic with a silencer but this is all I could get at such short notice,' said Werner apologetically.

'It's fine,' I said. I tried to say something nice about it other than it might be a valuable antique. 'These steel-frame guns are easier to hold against the recoil the short barrel gives. I just want it to wave about, in case Stinnes suddenly has a change of mind.'

'Only one box of bullets, but they are not too ancient.'

'It's Stinnes. I just don't like the feel of it, Werner,' I said. I stuck the gun in the waist of my trousers and almost fell to the floor with the weight of it. I needed the box of bullets in my pocket to balance me. 'It's almost as if Zena doesn't want me to see Stinnes.'

'She's become protective about him. She thinks London Central are out to swindle everyone. And frankly, Bernard, you don't do very much to lessen her suspicions.'

'And what about you?' I asked. 'Do you share the suspicions?'

'If you were promising Stinnes the money, I'd be sure he was going to get it. But they're keeping you out of all that, aren't they?'

'They'll have to send me the money soon. They'll have to have it here by Friday or they can't expect me to get him on to the plane.'

Werner pinched his nose with his finger and thumb. 'Well, I'm not sure London will send you the money,' he said.

'What do you mean, Werner?'

'Your friend Henry Tiptree arrived here in the city. What would you bet me that he's not arranging the cash payment. They'll keep you out of it, Bernard.'

'Tiptree? How do you know?'

'I know,' said Werner. 'Perhaps it's just as well. Let him play his secret games if that's what London wants him to do. It's right what you said, Bernie. It's dangerous to carry a bagful of cash across this town. There are plenty of people here who'll knife you for fifty centavos. Plenty of them.'

'But I still don't understand why Zena is so keen to prevent me meeting Stinnes,' I said. 'We can't go on with this absurd business of me talking to you and Zena, and then you bringing messages back from Stinnes. It was all right at the beginning but now time is tight.'

'What difference does it make?' said Werner. 'You talking to him; me talking to him; Zena talking to him. What's the difference?'

'If Stinnes pulls out at the last moment. Or if there is some other kind of cock-up… and it's quite possible that something will go wrong… then I'd like to think it was my fault rather than yours.'

'It will be all right,' said Werner. 'But Erich is very nervous. He has enemies there in the office with him; it's dangerous for him.'

He was 'Erich' now to both the Volkmanns. I didn't like that; it was too personal. Better to keep a doctor-patient relationship in this sort of operation just in case it got very rough. 'He should have thought of that when he was vacillating,' I said.

'It's a big step, Bernie.'

'Yes, it is.' I went over to the air-conditioner. I held my hand in front of the outlet but the air was still not much cooled.

'It makes a lot of noise but doesn't work very well,' explained Werner. 'The Mexicans call them "politicians".'

'And if I have to finally submit to London a report about a cock-up, they are immediately going to ask me why the hell I didn't insist on seeing Stinnes for myself.'

'Erich knows what's at stake,' said Werner. 'He's an experienced agent. It will be just as if we were doing it. We'd make sure we got it right, wouldn't we?'

'He'd better get it right,' I said. 'He won't be able to go back to his embassy and say he's had a change of mind.'

'Why won't he?' said Werner. 'We've known that to happen before, haven't we? I thought that's why London were so keen to load him on to the plane and get him away.'

'London have thought of that one,' I said. 'As soon as they get the telex to say that we have Stinnes, they'll leak a story to one of the news agencies. It will say that we have a high-grade KGB defector who has been supplying information for some years. And the chosen reporter will even have some details of the intelligence that good old Stinnes is said to have provided to them.'

Now Werner pinched the cloth of his undershirt between finger and thumb and pulled it away from his body to let some air get to him. 'Erich Stinnes has never passed anything back to London, has he?'

'What do you think?'

'I'd think that's just London Central dropping him into the dirt so he doesn't dare think about going back again ever.'

'Fantastic, Werner,' I said with mock admiration. 'You got it at first guess. But for God's sake don't let Stinnes get wind of it.'

'Who came up with that nasty little idea? Bret Rensselaer?'

'Well, we both know it couldn't be Dicky,' I said. 'Dicky never had an idea.'

'Where do you want to meet Erich?' Werner asked.

'I'll have to see him,' I said. 'Face to face, and well before Friday. Today if possible. If he wants to confide in Zena, or anyone else for that matter, that's up to him. That's a decision I can't take for him. The information about Friday's rendezvous is for him alone, Werner.'

'You're going to keep Zena out of it, are you? Are you going to keep me out of it too?'

'You've done your bit, and so has Zena. Let's get it over with. I want to get out of this city. The rain and the heat… and the smell. It's not my idea of a holiday.'

'Zena's uncle and aunt are due back from their vacation at the weekend, so we'll also be leaving. But I won't be sorry,' said Werner. 'I'll never complain about Berlin weather again after this damned humidity. Three times I've had someone in to look at that air-conditioner and they keep telling me it's working fine. They say it's too hot outside for the machine to cope with it.'

I looked at him and nodded.

'Okay,' said Werner. 'I'll get you together with Erich Stinnes. He's going to phone about six. I'll bring him anywhere you want him.'

'I'll need to talk to him. Somewhere safe. Angel's body shop; that car repair place out near the Shrine of Guadalupe. Remember? It's painted in very bright red and yellow.'

'What time?'

'Drive straight in, through the workshop and out the back. There's a yard. I'll be parked there. Oh, say seven o'clock.'

'I'll be there.'

'No Zena,' I said.

Werner drank some lemonade. 'I've never seen her like this before,' he said sadly. 'She really likes Erich. She's worrying about him.'

'Keep her out of it, Werner.'

'Bernie. You don't think Zena could be infatuated with Erich Stinnes, do you?'

'You know her better than I do,' I said, to avoid the question. Or rather to avoid the answer, which was simply that I knew only one thing that Zena was infatuated with. And Erich Stinnes was about to take delivery of a quarter of a million of them.

'But do I?' said Werner, as if he doubted it. 'You never see the person you love, except through tinted spectacles. Sometimes I expect too much of her. I love her. I'd give her the crown jewels.'

'She'd like the crown jewels, Werner.'

He smiled without putting much effort into it. 'I love her too much, I know that. You're a friend; you can see it better than I can.'

'It's no good asking me about Zena,' I said. 'It's no good expecting me to understand anything about any woman. Whatever Zena feels about Erich Stinnes, there's not much chance that either of us will ever discover what it is. I thought she hated Russians.'

'She talks about him a lot. She kept one of those passport photos he sent to you. She keeps it in the pages of her own passport. I noticed her remove it when we went through immigration at the airport.'

'That's not very significant,' I said.

'If she ran off with Stinnes I'd die,' said Werner.

'She's not going to run off with Stinnes,' I said. 'And, even in the unlikely event that she did, you wouldn't die, Werner. You'd feel miserable but you wouldn't die.' I felt like grabbing him and shaking him out of his despondent mood but I knew it wouldn't work. I'd tried such measures before.

'When we left Berlin this time, she took all her jewellery across to her sister.'

Shit, I thought, don't say there's another Zena. But I smiled and said, 'Has she got much jewellery?'

'Quite a bit; some diamond rings, a three-strand necklace of pearls and a platinum bracelet set with large diamonds. And there's a heavy gold necklace that cost me nearly ten thousand marks. Then there are things from her mother; pendants, a watch set with diamonds and pearls. She likes jewellery. You must have seen her wearing it.'

'I may have done,' I said. 'I didn't notice.'

'She took it to her sister.'

'She was frightened of burglars,' I said.

'She never leaves it in the apartment when we're away.'

'Well, there you are. She wanted to make sure it was safe, There'd be no point in bringing it to Mexico. You'd be asking for trouble with the Customs. And taking it out again would be even more difficult.'

'But usually she asks me to put it in my safe-deposit box. This time she took it round to her sister.'

'You could always ask her about it,' I said, and tried to think of a way to change the subject.

'I did ask her,' said Werner. 'She said she thought her sister might like to wear it while we're away.'

'There you are, then. That's the explanation.'

'Her sister never goes anywhere she could wear stuff like that.'

'So why do you think she took it to her sister?'

'If Zena was going to run off with Erich Stinnes, it would be a good thing to do. She likes that jewellery better than anything in the world.'

'It will be better that Zena doesn't know exactly what's happening on Friday,' I said.

'You mean I refuse to tell her?' I could see Werner anticipating the fight he was going to have about it.

'Better that neither of you know,' I said.

'She won't be satisfied with a refusal,' said Werner. 'She's followed this one through right from the beginning. She'll want to be in on the final act.'

'We'll think of something to tell her,' I said. 'By the way, how do you know that Henry Tiptree has arrived here?'

'He phoned me. He gave me a lot of flattery about what a wonderful reputation I had. Then he arranged a meeting. He said he wanted to pick my brains. But he phoned up later and put the meeting off. He'll phone again, he said.'

'Why did he cancel?'

'Is it important?'

'I'm just curious.'

'I can't tell you why. Zena took the call. He didn't give any reason as far as I know. Zena said he just phoned up and cancelled the meeting.' I nodded. Werner said, 'Don't mention the gun to Zena. She hates guns.'

So Zena had been talking to Tiptree. Or he'd been talking to her. Either way I didn't like it. And I didn't like the way they'd kept Werner out of it. They were a bad combination: the tough, dedicated little Zena, and Tiptree, the ambitious diplomat trying his hand at a cloak-and-dagger job. They were amateurs. Amateurs keep their eyes on the target instead of looking over their shoulders.