“She was too headstrong. I had to leave her there. Two days later, on Sunday, word came from her that I was to send you that message, and I sent—”
“Who brought it?”
“Josip Pasic. At the moment there was no one else to send across to Telesio in Bari, and I sent him. Affairs still kept me here, and I couldn’t get away until Tuesday — that was a week ago today. I went to the mountains that night — it is always best to go at night — and Carla was not there. We found her body the next morning at the foot of a cliff. She had been stabbed in several places, but on account of the bruises from the fall down the cliff it was impossible to tell to what extent she had been mistreated. Anyway, she was dead. Because she had had no papers, and for other reasons, it would have been difficult to arrange Christian burial for her, but the body was decently disposed of. It would be a pleasure to tell you that we tracked those who had killed her and dealt with them, but it is not that simple in the mountains, and besides, there was another urgent concern — to take precautions regarding materials that must be guarded. It was possible that before killing her they had forced her to reveal the cache. We attended to that Wednesday night; and Thursday, Josip Pasic and I came back to Titograd; and that night he went to the coast and crossed to Bari, to send word to New York about Carla. I thought it proper also to tell Telesio to get word to you, since she was your daughter.”
Danilo made a gesture. “So there it is. I hade no chance to ask her who killed Marko.”
Wolfe regarded him glumly. “You had a chance to ask Josip Pasic.”
“He doesn’t know.”
“He was in the mountains with her.”
“Not precisely with her. She was trying to do something alone, against all reason.”
“I want to see him. Where is he?”
“In the mountains. He returned there Saturday night.”