not catch the quarry? Halfway to the trailhead he heard someone stumble. Ten yards before he reached the driveway a dark silhouette stepped into his path, blocking the way.
“Did you find it?” a man’s voice called out.
It was Holland. Still keeping tabs. Nat paused to let his pulse slow down.
“Find what?”
“Whatever you were looking for down there on the trail.”
“I was taking a walk.”
“Alone?”
“Except for you.”
“You’re sure?”
“Why, did you see somebody? I was stretching my legs, that’s all. It’s been a long day.”
“Thanks to you.”
“What do you want?” Nat was getting irritated with talking uphill to a shadow.
“We examined the memory chips from your cameras. They were clean. Not a single shot.”
“Guess we were in too much of a hurry when we took them out. Must have erased everything by mistake.”
“Or maybe you had another pair of chips, which you hid somewhere.”
“Care to search me?”
“Not really. Like you said, it’s been a long day. Besides, if anybody knows how to handle that kind of information, maybe even put it to good use, it’s someone like you, a professional historian.”
Uh-oh. It sounded like Holland wanted to make a deal.
“Provided that I do what?”
“We’d like you to keep working for us. Just in a slightly different capacity. Come up to the driveway. We’ll talk while you give me a ride to my car.”
Nat slid past him at the top of the trail. No scent of any aftershave, just the odors of sweat and the wool of his suit. Holland hadn’t even taken off his jacket. Nat unlocked the car and tried to look casual as he put Gordon’s old box on the floor in the back.
“What’s in the box?”
“Notes for a eulogy. Plus a guest list from Viv for a memorial service.”
To Nat’s relief, Holland didn’t pursue the matter further. He started the engine and put the car in gear before the agent could change his mind.
“I take it you didn’t find anything significant in the last of the boxes,” Holland said.
“Only those gaps, which I’d mentioned to you earlier.”
“The four missing folders?”
“If they’re numbered correctly.”
“Can’t say I’m surprised. All the more reason we still need your help. Oh, and here are your cameras. Figured you’ll need them.”
“If I agree to work for you, I’ll have to be able to proceed in my own way.”
“As long as your methods are legal.”
“Of course. What would I receive for my trouble?”
“Same rate you’re already getting. Plus expenses, within reason. Logistical help, if necessary. And first dibs on the recovered materials, once we’re finished with them.”
“Meaning after they’re declassified, which might be never.”
“It won’t be never. Of course, if you find them, you’ll certainly get a peek then. And chances are we’d be grateful enough to arrange for some sort of limited premature use.”
“Sounds wonderfully vague. The sort of agreement you might welsh on in seconds.”
“Are you in or not?”
“You’re going to have to tell me more. What is this all about?”
There was a long pause, no sound but the growl of the engine in low gear and the pop of gravel against the wheel wells. They reached Holland’s Suburban at the bottom of the lane, where a driver waited patiently in the dark. Nat stopped the car.
“First,” Holland said, “there are a few things you should know about Gordon Wolfe. None of them fit for the eulogy, I’m afraid. To begin with, he was a thief.”
“He said the boxes were planted.”
“Which means he was also a liar. Worse, he was a blackmailer. Had been for years. Decades. Quarterly payments to a numbered Swiss account. Puts all this nice mountain acreage of his in a new light, don’t you think?”
“And you know this how?”
“From the man he was blackmailing.”
“Let me guess. One of the surviving members of the Bauer family in Berlin?”
Holland gave him a long, probing look, and Nat realized he might have goofed.
“It’s not that hard to figure, from what you’ve already told me and what I’ve already seen,” he said, hoping he wouldn’t have to bring Berta’s name into it. “And I’m guessing you think the incriminating material is in the missing folders. But you must also believe there are clues to their whereabouts in the rest of the material. The kind of clues that only a historian might notice.”
“That’s why we want you to continue. Start tracking down any leads you can come up with, either from the materials here or from your own sources. Or, hell, from whatever you know about Gordon. You knew him for twenty years.”
“Why worry now that the blackmailer is dead?”
“As long as the information’s still out there, the subject might still be vulnerable.”
“And why’s that so important to you?”
“Because the subject is important. And we want to keep him happy. We’ve been seeking his cooperation for quite some time.”
“I’m presuming you mean Kurt Bauer.”
Holland said nothing.
“He must be what, in his eighties by now?”
Holland sighed.
“Eighty-one.”
“So he probably doesn’t even run the family business anymore.”
“It’s not a commercial issue. Unless you’re talking about the buying and selling of information, of contacts.”
“What kind of information?”
“I’ve already said more than I should have. Let’s just say he was once a very big player in a very important field, one that has our utmost attention at the moment. If we help him, then he’ll help us. Unfortunately, the competition is just as interested, and it’s winner take all.”
“Who’s the competition?”
“A smart fellow like you could probably go online and answer all these questions in about ten minutes, or I wouldn’t have said a word of this to begin with. Just don’t dig any deeper in the wrong places. Stick to the 1940s and everything will be fine between us.”
“When did Gordon start blackmailing him?”
“See? Already digging in the wrong place.”
“Well, I thought Viv might like to know.”
“You’re not to discuss this with his wife. For all we know she’s part of it.”
“I haven’t exactly noticed you arresting her.”
“We’re keeping an eye on things.”
“On her?”
“We’re doing our job. Now you do yours. Just find it. We’ll take care of the rest. And I expect daily progress reports. You can reach me anytime at this number.”
He put a card on the seat between them. Then he handed over a folded sheet of paper.
