Revelation - читать бесплатно онлайн полную версию книги автора Bill Napier (20 FBI) #21

20 FBI

Romella was sitting at a big panoramic window with the early morning sun throwing an orange-red light on the top of the canyon walls. The Colorado River far below was still in gloom. This morning she was in Levi's, cuff boots and an Aran sweater, and Findhorn wondered where she kept her store of clothes. The long silver earrings, he noticed, were back. Coffee cups and a plate of biscuits were on a low table in front of her, along with a few sheets of photocopied typescript.

There was a serious edge to her expression. Without preliminaries, she handed over a sheet of paper. 'Read this.'

SECRECY ORDER

(Title 35, United States Code 1952, sections 181–188).

NOTICE: To Dr Lev Baruch Petrosian, his heirs and assignees, attorneys and agents.

You are hereby notified that your application has been found to contain material, the disclosure of which might be detrimental to national security. Accordingly, you are ordered not to publish, construct or disclose the invention or any information relevant to it, either verbally, in print, or in any other manner whatsoever, to any individual, group or organization unaware of the invention prior to the date of this order, but to keep the principal and details of the invention secret unless written consent is first obtained from the Commissioner of Patents.

You are expressly forbidden to export all or any part of the invention described in your application, or any material information relating to the invention, to any foreign country or foreign national within the United States.

Breach of this order renders you liable to penalties as described in Sections 182 and 186 of 35 U.S.C. (1952). This order should not be construed to mean that the Government intends to, or has, adopted the aforementioned invention.

Findhorn looked up. 'Wow!'

'He invented something.'

'Which the United States Government suppressed.'

Findhorn stood up and walked over to the big window, to give himself time to take in this new information. The sunlight had crept a little way down the canyon, and a light mist was rising from the snow on the trees along the south rim. A little group had started on the downward trail. Findhorn counted five adults and two children. He turned back and sat down at the table. Romella was rubbing her thighs, clearly enjoying the warmth which the sunlight was now bringing. He said, 'You know what this means, Romella? We're looking for something which the US government doesn't want us to find.'

She nodded. 'Yes. We're in hostile territory. Maybe we're even spies.'

'Do they know we're here?' Findhorn wondered.

Romella said, 'I don't want to find out the hard way. It might be a good idea to get out of America as quickly as possible.'

'How did you get this?' Findhorn asked, waving the paper.

'Didn't I mention that my old man is an attorney?'

'In La Jolla, not Washington.'

'Still, Grigoryan, Skale and Partners have connections, and Dad will do anything for her little girl except part with his money. So, when I went to the Patent Office to search under Petrosian, a smooth path had been prepared for me. Otherwise…' She tapped the papers in front of her. 'And then I went to the FBI and did exactly the same. Dad tells me there's freedom of information and there's Freedom of Information. To get the right sort of freedom you sometimes need a little arm-twisting.'

'So you turn up on Dad's doorstep and say, hey, I want to get material on Lev Petrosian the atom spy, and he said, sure Romella, I'll fix it for you. Didn't he ask any questions?'

'Dad gave up on me long ago. I think he sees me as slightly eccentric, like Mother.'

'Romella, for a woman, you've done brilliantly. We now know there's some machine at the focus of this.'

'The bad news is that somebody's been asking for the same material as us. It's some legal office in Switzerland, acting on behalf of a client.'

'Switzerland,' Findhorn repeated.

'Switzerland,' she confirmed.

Findhorn poured coffee and sat back with a sigh. 'I have to get to Greece as quickly as possible.'

Romella raised her eyebrows, but asked no questions. 'And I want to get the hell out of here before the system catches up. But read the FBI stuff before you go.'

Show: 18. Tape: 3142.

7 November, this is Agents Miller and Gruber, we are with Doctor Lev Petrosian. Um, this is (non-interview dialogue).

Q. Doctor Petrosian, thank you for agreeing to speak to us. This is really just a routine enquiry and I'm sure you'll be able to satisfy us.

LP. Sure. Go ahead.

Q. You're entitled to have an advocate present if you wish.

LP. Okay, but I don't see the need.

Q. Of course we know that, um, we know that your work here at Los Alamos is highly classified and we can't, um, enter into any aspects of that.

LP. Fine, yes, I'm glad you appreciate that.

Q. Uh, it's really what might be called your extra-mural activities. In particular you took a week's leave over the period beginning 15 June this year.

LP. That's right, I did, yes.

Q. Which you spent in New York City.

LP. About three days, yes. Then I did some walking in the Appalachians.

Q. What was your business in New York?

LP. It's like I said, I was on vacation.

Q. Did you, uh, during your stay there, did you, uh, meet a man called John McGill on the steps of the American Museum of Natural History?

LP. Not that I recall.

Q. Did you hand over an envelope to the aforesaid John McGill?

LP. No.

Q. I'm now about to show you a series of photographs. Would you examine these, please, and can you identify the parties?

LP. Well yes, that's me, obviously, and that's the guy called McGill. I guess you've been following me around.

Q. You admit to having met him?

LP. Yes I did, well there's the evidence I guess. I'd forgotten all about that.

Q. I'm sure of that, sir. Now, can you explain the circumstances of that meeting?

LP. It's coming back now. He's a journalist. He has a lot of contacts or so he tells me, and being a journalist that would make sense. He said he could put in a word for me about an enquiry I was making.

Q. About?

LP. About a lady.

Q. Yes, a lady.

[Interjection by Agent Miller: ] So who's the dame, buster?

[Non-interview dialogue between agents Gruber and Miller]

Q. Sorry about that, sir. Would you like to tell us about the lady?

LP. A German girl I knew pre-war. Her name is Lisa. Or was. I wanted to find out what happened to her, whether she came through.

Q. How were you introduced to McGill?

LP. It was through a man called Jurgen Rosenblum. We met in 1941 in Camp Sherbrooke, that was an enemy alien camp in Canada, before they sorted out who their friends and enemies really were. Jurgen and I met by chance again a couple of years ago.

Q. Does the address 238 West 28th Street mean anything to you?

LP. No.

Q. Would it surprise you to know that John McGill's real name is Andrei Sobolev and that his working address is 238 West 28th Street and that this is the address of Amtorg, ah, otherwise known as the Soviet Trade Delegation?

[Silence]

Q. Sir?

LP. Yes, I'm shattered.

Q. What was in the envelope you gave him?

LP. Well it wasn't nuclear secrets if that's what you're thinking. It was information about Lisa which might help to trace her. Her friends pre-war, the university classes she attended and so on.

Q. Did you have an emotional attachment to this Lisa?

LP. It was a long time ago.

Q. Yes, sir. Would you like to answer my question?

LP. I can't say what my feelings are now.

Q. [Agent Miller]: Were you screwing her, for Christ's sake?

[Gruber to Miller]: Shut up.

LP. There was another woman in the meantime but that broke up. The war did funny things to some of us not that King Kong here would understand that even if I could explain it. Lisa was a link to my past.

Q. Has it occurred to you, um, huh, sir, did you think, has it occurred to you that if you had an emotional attachment to this Lisa, and she was found alive and well in the Soviet sector, that you would become a prime target for Soviet blackmail?

LP. No. I guess I'm a bit naive about stuff like that.

Q. [Agent Miller]. Or (expletive) smart. Maybe there were atomic secrets in that envelope and the dame story is a cover.

Q. During that vacation, did you have any other business in New York or elsewhere?

LP. No.

Q. Did you visit the, were you at, did the Soviets, did you, er, visit the Soviet consulate during your vacation?

LP. Oh God, I did, this must look very bad. Yes I did.

[Agent Miller]: Here we (expletive) go again.

LP. I have a brother in Soviet Armenia. I was trying to get an exit visa to let him visit here. I've saved enough money that I could pay for his air fare. I haven't seen him in twenty years. He's all the family I have.

[Agent Miller]: Another frigging weak link.

LP. Not at all. Army Intelligence have known about Anastas from day one.

Q. One last thing, Doctor Petrosian. May we have permission to search your flat?

LP. No, I don't want you to do that.

Q. Why not?

LP. Because there are things in it I'd rather you didn't find.

Q. Um huh. Thank you for your co-operation, sir. Have a good day.

Findhorn was looking puzzled. 'Things he'd rather they didn't find?'

Romella said, 'Maybe the diaries. But keep reading.'

Q. Thank you for agreeing to assist us in our enquiry, Mrs Morgenstern.

KM. That's okay, glad to help. What's this about?

Q. You are acquainted with Lev Baruch Petrosian?

KM. Is this about Lev? Yes, I've known Lev a long time.

Q. And how long is that?

KM. Over a decade now. We met in Santa Fe in the early forties.

Q. When he was working on the bomb?

KM. I know that now, but I didn't know it then. Why are you asking about Lev?

Q. What exactly was your relationship with Doctor Petrosian?

KM. We were friends.

Q. Close?

KM. Yes.

Q. Was it an intimate relationship?

KM. I'm sorry but I don't think that's any of your business.

Q. Then Petrosian went off to the South.

KM. Yes, and we sort of lost touch. He came back to Los Alamos in the fifties.

Q. By which time you were married.

KM. Yes.

Q. [Agent Miller] To Mr Morgenstern.

KM. Got it in one.

Q. When you met Petrosian again in the fifties, did you resume your friendship with him?

KM. Yes.

Q. [Agent Miller] Were you lovers?

KM. You've got a damn nerve.

Q. Mrs Morgenstern, how much did Doctor Petrosian reveal to you about his work at Los Alamos, either in the forties or fifties?

KM. Not a thing. It was secret work. Of course everybody in Santa Fe knew there was some secret army work going on but we never had an inkling of what it was.

Q. Did he ever talk about Russia?

KM. No. We talked movies, not politics. Wait a minute, yes, I think he said something about how he admired the fight the Russian people were putting up. That was during the war.

Q. He made pro-Russian comments?

KM. I suppose you could put it that way.

Q. Did he ever talk to you about his family?

KM. No.

Q. Did you know he had a brother in Soviet Armenia?

KM. No.

Q. Did he, at any time, ask you to post documents or letters?

KM. No.

Q. [Agent Miller] You're lying, lady.

KM. Maybe a postcard or something.

Q. [Agent Miller] Maybe a big fat envelope now and then?

KM. I don't want to answer any more questions.

Q. How long did this passing of documents go on?

[Silence]

Q. Let me put it like this, Mrs Morgenstern. Is Mister Morgenstern aware that you and Petrosian are having an affair?

KM. That's outrageous. We are not.

Q. [Agent Miller] You want to hear a nice juicy tape?

KM. You bastards.

Q. How many letters did you post, Mrs Morgenstern?

KM. I have nothing more to say to you people.

Q. On 21 June last, did you drive to Niagara Falls with Lev Petrosian and another man?

KM. I told you, I've nothing more to say.

Q. What was the other man's name?

[Silence]

Q. [Agent Miller] Here's an even better (expletive) way to put it. Espionage could get you thirty years, maybe even the chair.

KM. I want to speak to my lawyer.

Q. Mrs Morgenstern, we can all save ourselves a lot of trouble here if you will just answer the question.

Q. His name was Railton or something. I'd never met him before.

Q. Is this the man? [Subject shown photographs of Jurgen Rosenblum.]

KM. Yes that's Railton.

Q. What did you talk about?

KM. Just anything. The things people talk about on a pleasant afternoon's drive.

Q. [Agent Miller] We got some pleasant pillow talk Mister Morgenstern might like to hear.

KM. Would you do a thing like that?

Q. We're not concerned with your private life, ma'am. Just so long as we know what was said on that drive.

'Now hold on. There's something peculiar here.'

'What do you mean?' Romella asked.

'Rosenblum was a Soviet spy, right?'

She flicked through some pages. 'Yes, one of a string of couriers used by the Soviets in the fifties. Fuchs used to pass on secret papers to a guy called Tommy Gold in the forties, but by this time Gold was doing thirty years.'

'So if Petrosian was handing over secret papers, why was he giving them to Kitty? Why not Gold in the forties and then Rosenblum in the fifties?'

'Maybe she was a courier too.'

'So why didn't the FBI charge her?'

Romella raised her hands expressively.

KM. It was just a drive into the Santa Fe hills. We talked about nothing in particular.

Q. [Agent Miller] And where was Mister Morgenstern at this time?

KM. Chicago. On business, or so he said.

Q. The documents you passed on: where did they go?

KM. It was always the same. Some address in Turkey.

Q. Can you be more specific?

KM. I paid no attention. A place called Igloo or Iguana or something. I can't say any more.

Q. Who was it addressed to?

KM. It was a shop. Some unpronounceable name. He said his sister worked there.

Q. There is no record that Petrosian has a sister. Does that surprise you?

KM. I told you, he never talked about his family.

Q. On that drive on 21 June, were Rosenblum and Petrosian ever out of hearing?

KM. Just once, when I had to attend a call of nature.

Q. Was there discussion of Petrosian's work at Los Alamos?

KM. No. There was one thing.

Q. Yes.

KM. Will you give me that tape? [pause] On the way back from my call of nature, there was some sort of altercation. Railton was sort of animated, and Lev was shaking his head and I'm sure he said, 'No, I won't do it,' something like that. They shut up when I got near.

Q. Can you think of anything else they said?

KM. No.

Q. Anything at all, then or later? Please take your time.

KM. It was all just day-in-the-country talk after that.

Q. Is there anything else you would like to tell us?

KM. No. There is nothing else.

Q. Thank you for your co-operation, Mrs Morgenstern. Have a good day.

KM. About that tape.

Q. What tape is that, Mrs Morgenstern?

Romella looked up from the transcript. 'He was sending messages through Kitty.' Their eyes locked. 'I wonder what sort of messages he was sending, Fred.'

Findhorn said, 'Whatever, they were going to a place in Turkey called Igloo.'

'Or Iguana.'

'So half a century ago he maybe sent something to some unknown address in some unknown town, and it's never been heard of since.'

Romella said, 'I'll bet Kitty Cronin knew all along where it went. And she may still be alive.'

Findhorn looked at Romella incredulously. 'Are you serious? That has to be the coldest trail on the planet.'

'Do you have a better idea?' Romella asked, seething.

'I'm going to try and work out what Petrosian discovered myself.'

Romella laughed and spluttered, clattering her coffee cup on the table. The desk clerk looked up sharply.

'Okay, Mizz Grigoryan, but we're living in desperate times.'

She patted her bruised lip dry with a paper napkin. 'I suppose two magnificent idiots are better than one. Talking about time…'

Findhorn stood up. 'Yes. We must be almost out of it. The other side have more expertise and more money. And they have another advantage over us: they know what they're after.'

'I fear we're beginning to lose it.' She tapped the papers on the table into a neat pile. 'Where will we meet up, Fred?'

'Somewhere on the planet.'

Romella nodded thoughtfully. 'Agreed. Somewhere on the planet.'