Castillo thought, If I needed another proof that I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, I never thought about any of this.
“. . . And in theory at least, the government can demand that the perpetrators be extradited to the United States for trial. I don’t know—I just haven’t had the time to look into it—where Mrs. Masterson’s abduction fits into this, but her abduction violates Argentine law.”
“I never even thought about this,” Castillo confessed.
“I’ve given it some thought,” Silvio said. “Now, presuming that the people who did this are apprehended, they would be arrested by the Argentines, and tried in an Argentine court. The problem I have with that is that if found guilty, the maximum penalty is twenty or twenty-five years’ imprisonment.”
“No death penalty,” Castillo said.
“And, for your ears only, Mr. Castillo, while I would dearly love to see these people—what is that lovely phrase?—‘hung by the neck until dead, dead, dead,’ that’s just not going to happen.
“Furthermore, extradition poses some problems. Unfortunately, a number of Argentine officials and more important legislators oppose anything we norteamericanos ask for—probably a vestige of Juan Domingo Perón—as a Pavlovian reflex. While I’m fairly certain that extradition would ultimately be approved, I’m not certain.
“Our death penalty enters into the equation. When I was a young consular officer in Paris, there was a terrible man from Philadelphia who stuffed his girlfriend in a trunk and let her petrify there. When this was finally discovered and he was arrested, his attorney—now Senator Arlen Specter, as a matter of interest—got him out on bail, which he promptly jumped. We finally located him in France. When we tried to have him extradited, French officials and legislators, who seem to share the Argentine fondness for denying anything we Americans ask, were more than a little difficult.
“One of the reasons they cited for denying extradition was that we have the death penalty, and they don’t. There were other reasons, but that was one of their major moral arguments. It took us about twenty years to get this chap extradited from France. That took place just a couple of years ago. And I feel sure that our death penalty would be advanced as a reason for the Argentines to deny extradition.”
“I heard that story,” Castillo said. “I have some friends in the Philadelphia Police Department.”
Including a former sergeant named Betty Schneider, who at this very moment is on her way down here. And who may not be nearly as delighted to see me as I will be to see her.
“Two of whom, sir,” Castillo went on, “have become Secret Service agents. I asked that they be sent here to assist me. One of them is a woman, whom I intend to assign to Mrs. Masterson’s security detail. The other is a very bright detective, who will keep his eyes on the investigation for me. He’s a black guy, which I thought might be useful.”
“So you do have some ideas what to do?” Silvio said. “I suspect you’re not nearly as far out of your depth as you say you are.”
Oh, yes I am. And did I ask for Sergeant Schneider because I wanted her to sit on Mrs. Masterson, or because I can’t get her out of my mind? How does Dick Miller so cleverly phrase it? That I have the lamentable tendency to think with my dick?
“With all of these things in mind,” Silvio said, “it seemed to me that justice—as much of it as can be expected in this circumstance—would best be served to have these scum tried and convicted in an Argentine court.”
“Yes, sir. I understand.”
“Which means, of course, that all evidence gathered will be retained by the Argentine judicial system; that extraditionof these people, even if finally approved, would be futile. Even if we could get around the double jeopardy business, we would have no evidence to present. Plus, the very act—justified, legally permissible, or not— of asking for extradition would certainly offend Argentine pride. It would be tantamount to saying we don’t trust their judicial system.”
“Did you tell the President what you had decided, Mr. Ambassador?”
“The conversation, Mr. Castillo, was rather one-sided,” Silvio said. “Is there anything else we should talk over before we go into the conference room, do you think?”
“I can’t think of anything, sir.”
[FIVE]
Everyone sitting at the long conference table stopped talking and rose to their feet as Ambassador Silvio and Castillo entered the room.
Alex Darby was at the foot of the table. Kenneth Lowery