“What does any man do in a store like that? They’ll cover that up. Out of respect,” he said, an edge in his voice. “He’s a crime victim, Molly. Mugged. It happens in Washington all the time.”
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
He looked at her. “Yes, I’m sure. It’s over.”
“Except for one more thing.”
“Yes.”
They took a taxi to the hotel and he made the phone call while Molly packed. No one was outside, watching. He drove her to a hospital out in Georgetown, the late sun still glowing on the buildings.
“Why Georgetown?”
“It’s on the way to Hoover’s. He said he’d see me at home.”
“God, his home,” she said, sounding better, as if movement itself had begun to rub away the shock. “I never thought of him living anywhere.”
“Remember, don’t leave,” he said as they pulled up to the hospital. “For any reason. They’re still out there.”
Thirtieth Place was a quiet cul-de-sac near Rock Creek Park, large brick houses with Georgian windows set back on narrow lawns. For a second Nick stopped, disbelieving. Hoover’s grass, a hardy even green, was Astroturf.
A Negro houseman opened the door and led him into the living room. At first Nick thought he had walked into a gift shop-there were hundreds of antiques, vases and statues, silver teapots and curios, oriental carpets laid on top of each other so that every space was filled. An oil portrait of a young Hoover on the stair landing. Hoover himself, in an open-necked shirt and slacks, came into the room followed by two Cairn terriers, who sniffed at Nick’s ankles, then padded away. The voice, still quick, had lost its machine gun effect, as if it too had been softened by domesticity.
“Drink?”
A drink with Hoover.
“No. I can’t stay.”
Hoover indicated the overstuffed couch. He took the chair next to it, sinking into the cushion so that his body became foreshortened, the round head bobbing on it like Humpty Dumpty’s. He made the first move, extending his hand and opening it. The lighter.
Nick took it, staring at the initials. No longer shiny, a dull gold, from the days when they used to go dancing. “Thank you,” he said.
“Now what have you got for me?”
“I want to make a deal.”
“The Bureau doesn’t make deals.”
“That’s no way to do business. You haven’t heard what I’ve got.”
A flash of irritation, then a slow smile. “The father’s son. Larry never comes empty-handed. What have you got?”
“Names. I want to trade you some names.”
Hoover looked surprised, then distracted as a thin, once good-looking man shuffled vaguely into the room.
“Speed?”
“I’ll be with you in a minute, Clyde.”
“Oh, I thought it was time for drinks.” He was illness thin.
“Why don’t you start? I’ll be down as soon as I’m finished with my young friend here.”
The man nodded, still vague, and headed for the basement stairs, the rec room, where Larry had told him Hoover had an obscene cartoon of Eleanor Roosevelt. A joke from the past.
“Clyde’s staying here for a few days,” Hoover said, as if he needed to explain him. The rumored companion. But it was impossible to think of Hoover being intimate with anybody. Nick wondered what they talked about over, dinner. The Dillinger days, maybe, filled with public enemies.
“Speed?” Nick said.
“A nickname,” Hoover said, annoyed. “What kind of trade?”
“Five for one. Five Russian spies. Here, in Washington.” Hoover looked at him, impressed. “You were right about my father. He knew he’d have to buy his way out. This is what he had. It’ll be a coup for the Bureau. Headlines. You can pick them up now.”
“On your say-so.”
“The names are good. He knew.”
“Proof?”
“You’ll find it once you’ve got them. The Bureau’s good at that, isn’t it?”
Hoover’s face was wary and eager at the same time. “Why so helpful all of a sudden?”
“My father wanted you to have them. You were wrong about him. He wasn’t disloyal, he was trapped.” Hoover looked confused. “This was his way of giving something back.”
“A friend of the Bureau,” Hoover said, almost sneering. “Why didn’t you tell me this at the office?”
“I’ve been checking them out. But I’m not as good as you are-they caught me doing it. They know about me. Now I want you to pick them up.”
A slow smile. “That’s more like it. So you want me to save your behind. For two cents I’d let them take care of you. Not ‘disloyal’-your father was a traitor. You just want me to save your behind.”
“And yours,” Nick said easily. “You could use a little press. Nixon wants you out. You made him, but now you make him nervous. You could use this.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“No? One of them’s in Justice.”
Hoover raised his head, as if he’d heard a bell.
“If you don’t want them, maybe Nixon will. He could make you look awfully pathetic. Director’s so past it he doesn’t even know he has a spy in his own department. He’d do it. With a speech about your long record of service.” A twitch in Hoover’s jowls; anxious now. “But I’d rather give them to you.”
“Why?”
“Well, for one thing, I don’t trust him to get them off the street in time. You could do it in an hour. Keep my behind safe for walking around.” He paused. “And I want something from you.”
Hoover peered at him, waiting.
“I want to know who told you about Rosemary Cochrane. One name.”
“For five.”
“Well, four, to be precise. One of them’s at the Russian embassy. I only have the code name. But you probably know all the players there anyway. Maybe on tape. I’d like that destroyed too, by the way, the tape you played the other day. I always sound funny on tape.”
“A real wise guy, aren’t you?”
Nick shrugged. “I grew up in Washington. You get to know how a place works.”
“No, you don’t. A trade. What makes you think I wouldn’t get them out of you anyway?”
“What, with a rubber hose? Like the Commies? You don’t do business that way. You do business this way.”
Hoover said nothing.
“One name.”
“What do you want it for?”
“I just want to know. It’s worth it to me. But not as much as my names are worth to you. It’s a good deal.”
Hoover watched him, thinking, then leaned over and picked up a silver pen from an antique set on the coffee table. He scribbled on a notepad, then tore off the page and held it up.
“There’s not much you can do now anyway,” he said with a sly smile, making the better bargain.
Nick reached over, but Hoover raised his eyebrows. Nick nodded and took the sheet of names and addresses from his pocket. He handed it to Hoover with a formal gesture, like a diplomatic exchange, then looked at the small piece of paper.
