“He knew me before you were born. Does the interception delay delivery to you considerably?”
“No. They work it fairly well.”
“Did you get a letter from Telesio today?”
“No.”
“Then tomorrow, I suppose. He mailed it in Bari yesterday afternoon. In it he tells you that he has just received a cablegram from New York, signed Nero Wolfe, reading as follows: ‘Inform proper persons across Adriatic I am handling Vukcic’s affairs and assuming obligations. Two hundred thousand dollars available soon. Will send agent conference Bari next month.’ Telesio’s letter will say that it came in English and he has put it in Italian. As I say, it is a diversion for the police. For you it has no validity. I promised Telesio I would make that plain. To the interceptors it should be plain that Nero Wolfe is in New York and has no intention of crossing an ocean.”
Danilo, still frowning, objected, “Belgrade has people in New York. They’ll learn you’re not there.”
“I doubt it. I rarely leave my house, and the man in my office, answering my telephone, named Saul Panzer, could flummox Tito and Molotov put together. There’s another purpose the cablegram may possibly serve, but that’s an off-chance. Now for Josip Pasic. I intend to see him. You spoke of the risk of betraying a carefully guarded secret, but if it’s what I assume it is, I already know it. Marko never told me explicitly that weapons and ammunition were being smuggled in to you, but he might as well have. He said that certain costly and essential supplies were being stored at a spot in the mountains less than three kilometers from the place where I was born, and he identified the spot. We both knew it well in boyhood. It must have been near there that Carla was killed. It must be there, or nearby, that this Josip Pasic is so importantly engaged that you refuse to call him away. So my course is simple. I don’t fancy spending another night cruising the mountains, and we’ll stay the night in Titograd, heaven knows where, and go tomorrow. We shall betray no secrets heedlessly, but we have to find Pasic.”
He pushed back his chair and stood up. “Thank you again, Mrs. Vukcic, for your hospitality. And you, Danilo, thank you for whatever you consider to deserve thanks.” He switched to English. “If you’ll get the knapsacks, Archie? We’re leaving. What time is it?”
I looked at my wrist as I arose. “Quarter to ten.”
“Sit down, you fools,” Danilo growled.