walked to the back, where a small room was set aside for regular patrons. She nodded at the owner as she passed. The man smiled; she’d promised him a hundred euros to keep others out for the few minutes her conversation would take.
“What is this about?” asked Rostislawitch as she pulled out a chair.
“In a moment.” Kiska opened her purse and took out a small radio finder, which would tell her if the place had been bugged. She didn’t actually care if Ferguson overheard the conversation, but she did want to know if he was listening in.
Apparently not; there were no signals.
“What are you doing?” Rostislawitch asked again.
Kiska left her device on the table between them.
“Doctor, you are employed by the Karamov Institute, are you not?”
Rostislawitch’s last hope that he had been singled out by mistake vanished.
“I am on the payroll, yes.”
“You are an important member of the Institute.”
“I have very few duties these days.”
“Doctor, there are circumstances where it does not pay to be modest. I am well aware of your abilities. As are many others.”
“Then you are aware that my abilities are not being put to use, except in the most mundane manner.”
“That is not my concern, and is probably a matter of opinion,” said Kiska. The scientist’s arrogance shocked her. He was, she believed, contemplating treason, but had the gall to pretend, at least to himself, that he was not at fault because he was bored. “A few days ago, one of the locks in a sensitive area was tampered with.”
“Was anything taken?”
“The investigation continues. You were among the people who knew of the area, and the combination to the lock.”
“If I opened it, there would be a record,” said Rostislawitch. “There are many safeguards in the lab.”
“You know which area I’m talking about?”
“I can guess,” said the scientist, doing his best to backtrack.
“I see. What area is that?”
Rostislawitch hesitated, unsure whether a wrong answer would simply make it obvious that he was trying to divert attention from himself. He knew there would be no record of him going in or out; without a record, there would be no proof. He knew also that he would not have been the only one who had been in the lab.
“We are talking about either the monkeys, or the critical storage area,” he said, deciding to combine the right and wrong answers. “There are digital code locks in both areas. I have been to both regularly.”
“Several other areas do as well,” said Kiska. She had not thought she could get a confession from Rostislawitch — there was, in fact, considerable doubt as to whether anything had even been taken, as she’d admitted to Ferguson. But now she sensed that she had the scientist under her control; she would press him as far as possible. “Why mention those?”
“Because those are the only important areas where I have access.”
“The clinic is not important? The medicine area.”
“I have access there,” Rostislawitch said. “But no, I don’t think it would be that important. Not unless they have resumed the experiments — which they told me they would do without me.”
“Why did you come to Bologna?”
“I’m here at a conference. As you know.”
“Who have you met here?”
Rostislawitch rose. “I don’t have to answer these questions. We’re not living in the old days.”
“Sit down, Dr. Rostislawitch. You may not care much about your position, but I am sure you would feel terrible if your brother lost his. And if Irena Grinberg and her husband were similarly unable to find work.”
“Don’t threaten me.”
“If you interpret that as a threat, that’s your business.”
“What is it that you want?” he asked, still standing. A day ago, she might have been able to browbeat him, but today he felt strong, able to resist.
Kiska rose. She was several inches taller than the scientist, and she leaned forward across the table, emphasizing her physical advantage.
“Who have you spoken to here?” asked Kiska.
“I’ve spoken to many people at the conference.”
Kiska shook her head. “Don’t be coy, Doctor. You must not do anything that would endanger others.”
“Blackmail will get you nowhere.”
“The others I’m speaking about are the people who would be hurt by the material you took.”
“I didn’t take any material.”
Kiska stared into his face. She saw guilt there, fear — he had taken something; she was sure of it.
“Doctor, the lives of many people could be in your hands. Do you trust the Americans?”
“I do not trust the Americans at all.”
“The girl you took to dinner the other night is an American.”
“She’s Greek.”
Kiska frowned. It was sad to see how easily a man could be fooled by a woman who took an interest in him.
“Check her more carefully,” Kiska suggested.
“I don’t have to check her,” said Rostislawitch. He knew this was the sort of trick the FSB played to make him suspect everyone. That was how these spies succeeded, by making one paranoid. The KGB had done it; whatever agency succeeded the FSB would do it. It was in their blood.
“There was an explosion the other day, while you walked on the street,” said Kiska.
“Yes?”
“The Americans believe you were the target. I myself was nearby — I had just arrived from Moscow. Who do you think was trying to kill you?”
“Me? It was a terrorist attack. They weren’t aiming at me.”
“Are you sure?”
Rostislawitch clamped his teeth together, afraid that anything he said would give him away. He made his face angry; he had a right to be angry, he thought, and bitter.
Despite the scientist’s bluster, Kiska knew she had rattled him. While she lacked the evidence she would need to arrest him, Kiska felt it was now only a matter of time before he did something to give himself away. He might even do it voluntarily, if she could play him right.
“I can help you,” said Kiska, softening her tone gradually. “I can get you home. Repair things.”
“There’s nothing to repair. If you have any real weight with the Institute,” added the scientist, “then make them give me my rightful job back. Make them use me the way I should be used, instead of as a babysitter. Tell them it is foolish to allow me to go to a conference, and then hound me there.”
And with that, he stalked from the room.
Ferguson waited until Kiska and Rostislawitch had been gone for a half hour before going into the cafe. By that time the room had been reopened, and the table he wanted near the wall was occupied.
In any other country, he might have waited for the two men sitting there to leave. But drinking coffee in Italy could be an all-day affair, and he couldn’t spend that much time waiting. Thera was back at the conference, her only backup the Italian security people.
Fortunately, he had come prepared.
“Excuse me. I’m from the U.S. and I’m a little lost. Hey, what was that?” he added, turning as if he’d just spotted something out of the corner of his eye.
As he spun, he released something on the table.
