It's all pretty much the same, so hear it from somebody else." Only it wasn't our church."
"Well, it was at least a church."
"Not exactly. It was a synagogue." They both laughed as the telephone rang. Latham picked it up.
"Yes?"
"It is I, Moreau."
"Any word on your secretary? I mean, on who might have killed her?"
"Absolutely nothing. My wife is distraught; she's making the arrangements. I shall never forgive myself for what I believed."
"Get out from under the hair shirt said Drew.
"It doesn't help."
"I know. Fortunately, I have other things to occupy me.
Our ambassador's wife made her first move. About an hour ago she stopped at an expensive leather shop on the Champstlys6es,_ dismissed her taxi, and then disappeared."
"A leather shop?"
"Riding equipment, saddles, boots-they're rather famous for their boots."
"A boot maker
"Yes, you could say that-"
"That was one of the items we found on the neo who tried to blow my head off!" interrupted Latham.
"A repair receipt in the name of AndrE."
"Where is this receipt?"
"Witkowski's got it."
"I'll send someone over to pick it up."
"I thought you didn't like sending [email protected] people to the embassy."
"It's only annoying when questions are asked."
"Then don't bother. Stanley's having a car brought over to take Karin to the doctor. I'll tell him to give the receipt to the marine escort-wait a minute!" Drew snapped his head up in sudden thought, his eyes creased as a person does when trying desperately to remember something.
"You said Courtland's wife disappeared . ?"
"She went in and never came out. My people think she was taken somewhere else; they found a delivery entrance in the rear with a small parking area. Why?"
"It's probably a losing long shot, Claude, but there was something else on our Bois de Boulogne Nazi. A free pass for an amusement park on the outskirts of the city."
"A strange item for such a man-"
"That's what we thought," Latham broke in.
"We were going to check it out, along with the boot maker when that arsenal at the Avignon Warehouse went up in smoke. It sidetracked us."
"Youthink she might have been driven there?"
"As I say, it's a long shot, but as we both agree, a free pass to a fun house is a pretty strange ticket for a Nazi killer to keep buried in his wallet."
"It's certainly worth a try," Moreau said.
"I'll reach Witkowski; he'll be sending the car for Karin soon.
When it gets here, I'll have the receipt and the pass. In the meantime, you order up one of your fancy vehicles and wait for me at the side entrance of the hotel."
"It is done. Have you a weapon?"
"Two. I didn't give Stanley's sergeant Alan Reynolds's automatic last night. He was so pissed off at me for going out, I thought he'd wear gloves, shoot me, and say Reynolds did it."
"Good thinking. One of my people probably would have. A bientEt."
"Make it soon." Drew hung up the phone and looked over at Karin, who was now standing in front of the couch, her expression none too pleasant.
"I'm calling our colonel, want to say hello?"
"No, I want to go with you."
"Come on, lady, you're going to the doctor's. Youthink you fooled me last night, but you didn't. You got up and went to the bathroom, and you were there a hell of a long time. I turned on the light and saw the blood around your pillow. Later I found the bandage in the wastebasket. Your hand was bleeding."
"It was nothing-"
"Let the doctor tell me that. And if it's true, why is your right arm bent at the elbow so your hand is across your chest, somewhat ignoring gravity? Are you in the middle of a benediction, or would you rather not have the bandage soiled again?"
"You're very observant, you bastard."
"It hurts, doesn't it?"
"Only in spasms, and only now and then. You're probably responsible."
"That's the nicest thing you've said in quite a while." Latham got up from the desk; they crossed to each other and embraced.
"My God, I'm glad I found you!"
"It's a two-way street, my darling."
"I wish I could say things better, say the things I feel. I haven't had much practice, not in a genuine way-I guess that's a dumb thing to say."
"Not at all. You're a grown man, not a monk. Kiss me." They kissed, long and sensuously, searching their swelling arousal. Quite naturally, the telephone rang.
"Answer it, Officer Latham," said Karin, gently disengaging herself and looking up into his eyes.
"Someone's rightfully trying to stop us. There's work to...
"Did that uniform make me a general?" said Drew, now