Chapter 12 — Fire Ward
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~ 1 ~ In the Keep, a thousand miles from the Cortez Cottage at Quinceañera Beach, Herbert Schooner (Gesalec) was formally addressing Marge Hemming (Bauda): “Mistress, in response to your request for a Fire Ward, I have come at once.” One of her runners had carried the request to him, and Herbert was now standing in the doorway to Marge Hemming’s office. A pace behind him hovered Esther, her hands resting on a three-foot-long black carrying case.
Marge’s “penthouse office” was located, along with her luxurious living quarters, in a rotunda atop a three-story office building. The building contained the head offices of Arch Production Company, and attached to it an oblique angle were two large, handsomely-designed factory wings. The northern wing was recessed into the sloping land which rose up toward the mountains. From Marge’s rotunda, the Turret of the Keep could be seen a quarter of a mile to the east, and the two structures—the Keep and the Arch complex—were connected underground. Aboveground they were separated by a ridge of native chaparral, along the east side of which ran a gully formed by the Campus Creek flowing out of the mountains. From the University’s campus, only the rotunda was visible above the ridge, appearing to be a structure built upon it.
Hemming Chemical’s California office, which occupied part of the Arch office building beneath Marge’s rotunda, transacted little of Hemming Chemical’s business; that was done in New York. Marge’s staff in the California offices managed her arms trade and other illicit and licit enterprises. Over in Hemming Chemical’s section for special projects in the industrial side of the Keep, the Separator was housed in a subterranean chamber, in Herbert Schooner’s Workshop.
After greeting Marge, Herbert closed the door of her private office behind him, leaving Esther to wait in the lobby outside. He saw one other person in Marge’s office—lying on the floor, dead.
Outside the office, Marge’s staff appeared to be paying no attention to Esther. Because she was known as Kane’s new woman and Herbert’s apprentice, they were unsure of her power, but some wiser Shades shuddered, suspecting that they knew what was contained in the black case which she held standing upright before her—and what that said about her.
While she waited, Esther looked out through a window at the Turret of the Keep lying beyond the ridge and the campus creek. In the Turret, the windows of her own office were visible next to Kane’s much larger windows. She recalled that after she had moved into that office, she had occasionally, in idle curiosity, trained her old birdwatcher’s binoculars toward the rotunda's upper windows. Once, she had seen a woman looking back at her through binoculars, and she had guessed that the woman was Marge Hemming herself. When Kane had finally introduced them, each woman had recognized the other but had said nothing about it.
When Herbert had received Marge Hemming’s request for the Fire Ward, Esther had been with him in the corridor outside his Workshop.
“Inform your mistress that I shall come at once,” Herbert had replied to the runner. Then he had said to Esther, “Lady Esther, do you want a practical lesson in the use of Refining Calipers and in Circle realpolitik?”
“‘Lady Esther’? Herbert, what do you mean?”
Opening the Workshop, Herbert had answered, “One rises by doing, in the Circle. Marge Hemming has found the service of one of her underlings wanting, and she has issued an official call for a Fire Ward, which is a call to refine a body to dust. The office of Fire Ward ranks high in the Circle.”
Esther’s blood ran cold. She partially understood, because such things happened in her father’s political machine—at his command, not by his own hands. This was a test. Had Kane set it for her, or was Herbert acting on his own?
Herbert remarked over his shoulder, “The man is dead, Esther. She will have executed him. The Fire Ward merely confirms her work and obliterates the body by Refining Fire.”
Would Rabbi Cohen say I have blood on my hands as an accessory? In her mind, Esther heard the rabbi’s voice answer, “You will become unclean, Esther.”
From a locker, Herbert withdrew a three-foot-long Calipers case. He opened it, and Esther came to his side to look inside. He said, “These are the Refining Calipers which we have fabricated. I have used my own field Refining Calipers to reduce many a body to dust, and I believe that this new pair will serve the same purpose very well. Esther, if you want to advance as my apprentice on this errand, close the case and carry it, following me.”
~ ~ ~
Marge was standing over the body. With a flourish, she tucked the set of poisoned kitten claws—which Herbert had fabricated for her—into her purse. “Herbert Gesalec, my kitten claws work well! You have done good work!”
Why did she mix my old name with my new?
“My Hands, who is she?” asked the voice of the Comrade in his ears.
I am with my precious colleague Marge Hemming Bauda.
“Ah. One of my Liege Lord’s playthings.”
Herbert had been wearing his Calling Beacon ring constantly ever since he had learned about the Son’s House hearing and the fact of the First Histories being still unfound. He had felt a need to confer with the Comrade, but the Comrade had been silent. Now he shows up! Herbert removed the ring and slipped it into his pocket.
“Thank you, Bauda." Herbert made a little bow to her in response to her compliment about his good work. He looked down at the dead figure sprawled on the floor of her luxurious office. With the toe of his shoe, he carefully moved the corpse's hand from its face—and was shocked by the victim’s identity. However, being long practiced in responding to such situations, he concealed the fear which was welling up in him and knelt down to examine the evenly-spaced cat-claw scratches running across the left side of the face. "You have used them deftly,” he said. “How quickly did the poison work?"
“In seconds. I barely had time to gloat. The fool! He had tried to convert me to that absurd Christian religion which is affected by those Clan dupes. I was merciful, using one quick stroke to put an end to his rant. After all of these centuries of centuries, Godogisel had become a fool! It seems that the Clan has so highly developed the art of casting psychic archetypes, that they were able to ensnare my old rival. I was once exposed to their seductive force, but I passed through their snares.”
Addressing the body, Marge chanted in Old Goth, "Cherokee Godogisel, you are my offering for the Way. May the Fire now take you!" She looked at Herbert and commanded, "Now, my good Fire Ward, name your reward and perform your office!”
“I am prepared. I have brought my initiate to strike with the Refining Fire.”
"Esther Rosen?” There was a flicker of interest and of satisfaction in Marge’s face. "What reward do you wish, if she succeeds?"
"Your body—while it is green. Your newly blossoming beauty overwhelms me.”
Marge smiled, pleased by his new arrogance.
She asked herself where—now that she had control over Cherokee‘s arms business and the atomic bomb sale—would she fit Herbert? She had, with the now-dead Cherokee, more than once discussed Herbert’s interventions in Swinthila’s endless stream of human sacrifices. She was sure that even Mortimer Kane did not fully understand the purpose of his own bloody labors, but she suspected that Herbert might understand it. From him, in bed, I may learn some things of value.
“Fire Ward, let us offer Cherokee Godogisel’s body to Thersa’s third god. Then you shall receive your wages.”
Herbert bowed.
~ 2 ~ “Warren Gundersen? Esther! You, personally, have incinerated his body with Refining Fire?” Mortimer Kane was astonished.
"Yes. With the Refining Calipers fabricated by Het and Herbert and me. Herbert called me ‘Lady Esther’ and offered me an opportunity to do the refining. The body was in her office, looking like it had just then fallen, and Herbert said she had killed him."
"How did he die?"
"By poison; there were four scratch lines on his face, but not much blood.
"What was the expression of his face?"
"Strangely peaceful, as if he had passed in his sleep. Herbert said it was a very fast-acting poison.”
"Poisons are her speciality, and Herbert has made some of them them for her. Esther, did Miss Knox or Dr. Chavez provide aid in making the Fire Calipers?"
"Not directly; we used some of the tools that they’ve given to us. Herbert thinks we’re putting these tools to better use than the Clan may have thought possible.”
Kane nodded, smiling in appreciation.
“Mort, as I was working the Calipers, I was very favorably impressed by the work of the Refining Fire. It consumed even the blood stains on the rug, leaving only the finest dust. The rug itself was untouched, and there was no heat from the fire. It seemed uncanny to me. All that was left was a large gold circlet that Cherokee must have worn around his neck. Herbert told me not to touch it, and leave it for Miss Hemming.”
"Did Herbert tell you why she had killed him?"
"No. He said only that Marge wanted Cherokee (He did not call him Warren Gundersen.) to be offered up to ‘Thersa's third god’. …Mort, you’re startled! Did I make a big mistake?"
"No, Esther." Kane smiled.
"Oh. That’s good. After I had put on the Refining Calipers and I was ready to see if I could do to a body what I’d done to a block of wood, Herbert muttered something that sounded like an offering ritual to me. I thought, ‘Oh, God! If Rabbi Cohen could see me now!’ Still, the Refining Calipers worked perfectly. But then Herbert said, 'Well, our Calipers work on the dead.' So, did his religious moment pass very quickly? Or, was the ritual a joke?"
"No. He was doing exactly what Marge had told him to do. Does Dr. Kerrigan know about this incident?"
"No. Herbert told me to tell no one about it."
"That is good. Dr. Kerrigan has no need to know. Did Marge Hemming participate in the ceremony?”
“No. She waited outside in the outer office.
“Then they have just ‘elected’ you to be a peer of theirs in the Circle of the Friend.”
“What?!”
“Refining can be performed only by someone of stature equal to that of the person requesting the Fire Ward. And you were not only performing Herbert’s office, serving as Fire Ward in Herbert’s stead; you were also performing Marge’s role of overseeing the ceremony. So, had you not been a peer of both of them, you would have been refined along with Warren Gundersen’s body.”
“So that’s why he called me ‘Lady Esther’! Well, when we were done, Herbert opened the door and announced, ‘Lady Marge, your offering has been accepted,’ and she seemed surprised.”
“So am I. Now we must give an account of this business to the Friend. I will get his Calling Stone. Relate to him everything that you did and everything that you saw.."
~ 4 ~ “So, Herbert, the Refining Calipers have not consumed Miss Rosen along with the body.” Marge shook her head. “I did expect otherwise. For now, Kane’s consort is safe, and we have nothing to explain to him.”
“Why be concerned? Our offering was accepted.”
“Yes, but by whom? Spare me your piety, Herbert. Tell me: Why did Kane bring Miss Rosen on board?”
“I can tell you only what Dr. Kerrigan has told me: Miss Rosen is to watch out for political dangers that might threaten him, and advise Dr. Kerrigan about them. I think that means she is to shield him as much as possible from the nature of our business while he is being gradually brought under the Circle’s influence. Miss Rosen has quickly risen, becoming a confidante of Kane.”
“Had you expected Miss Rosen and Dr. Kerrigan to become your Workshop assistants when they began working in the Keep?”
“Certainly not, Marge—not until Kane decided to retrieve my workshop for work on the Soma, after you got the Clan to renew their cooperative work on the Separator.”
“Herbert, it was the Friend’s idea for me to contact the Clan.”
“I did not know that.”
“The Friend does not communicate with you?”
“Only in Kane’s presence.”
“How had he communicated with you, Gesalec, to order you to perform your old interventions in Swinthila’s work of human sacrifices?” By asking this question, Marge was prying into the Friend’s secrets.
“One of the Friend’s Thanes communicated his orders to me.”
Marge smiled evilly, satisfied to have learned this bit of information. A Thane? That must be Cleaver, who must be more than just the Friend’s mouthpiece. So Gesalec, although he doesn’t have the guts that Godogisel once had, may have more tricks and secrets than I had suspected. And I want to know what they are.
Herbert looked away from her to hide his own expression—which was little different from hers.
Looking again at Marge, he said, ”Before Esther became close to Kane, she told me that Miss Knox has a business relationship with Alice. And Esther speculated that Alice and Thersa are the same person.”
"From where had that idea come to her?"
"From the campus newsman, Alberto. He showed to Esther and Het some photographs which led them to that speculation. I think it’s nonsense."
"I agree, Herbert, but it’s not impossible. Has Georg shared with you in any detail, his theory that psychic archetypes are the means by which the Clan controls its members? It might be possible to mask a person's identity."
"Georg and I have not discussed the subject. You have mentioned these psychic archetypes before, and I took you to mean induced fantasies. Eugene has mentioned the subject, so I will question him further.”
“Good. Tell me, Herbert, how long have you known that Home Construction is a Clan-held company?”
"I suspected it when they began tunneling. Liuva Herder—Kane’s ‘Miss Callaghan’—handled most of the communications with Home Construction, because neither Kane nor Cherokee wanted to bother with the details. Because she would have had good reason to hate the Clan, I let my suspicions float, thinking that she would not be working with them if she knew their identity.”
“She would hate the Clan because they prevented her from becoming ‘Empress of Europe’?”
“Yes. I, like her, have a head for details, so I gradually became Miss Callaghan’s consultant and her go-between on many Keep construction issues, and I soon learned that I was right about her not knowing that the Circle was dealing with the Clan. I was convinced also that the Clan did not know that they were dealing with the Circle.”
“Did you not report your findings to Kane?”
“Marge, would you have done so, had you not been asked?”
“No.” She flashed her evil smile at him, but he did not turn away, and she was answered by a flash of cunning in his face. A thrill with a hint of fear coursed through her body, calling up old memories of orgiastic blood-letting which she had led—Dionysian frenzies…on the very edge.
Herbert was blandly saying, “I think it has been within only the past year or so that Hector Masen and Cherokee had discovered each other's identities—and learned that they were birds of a feather. It was Miss Callaghan herself who informed me of the Clan’s relationship to Home Construction. “Too late,” she said bitterly to me, when she told me that Hector and Cherokee had made a private deal for some special tunnel work—aimed, I suspected, at keeping his bombs close to him.”
"You are full of news, Herbert. It was only recently that Arch put their name on this building, admitting, I suppose, that Arch money had been behind Kane’s Keep.”
“There is more, Marge. It comes from the Home Construction Maker, Benjamin, who reports to Hector and with whom, in fact, Miss Callaghan and I have mostly dealt. As I mentioned, Cherokee and Hector had an understanding of which Benjamin was ignorant. I inferred, however, from conversations with Benjamin, that he has a business relationship with Miss Knox’s private company, Knox Aviation. Home Construction is using her hangar Workshop in Ontario to mellow the Keep, and now they have offered to us a Workspace there for our work on the Soma.”
“All of the information you’ve given me has value. Are you making me a new offer, Herbert, beyond your wages as my Fire Ward?”
“Of course, my good Lady.”
“‘Good’ for what?”
“For money and for access to Quinceañera Beach.”
“Money, I have. For what reason do you want access to the Beach?”
“To have secret access to Swinthila’s Left and Right Hands.”
She cast her evil smile at him again. “So, old times are returning.” Beginning to unbutton his shirt, she said, “I grant you money and access, Herbert Schooner. Now I must, in good conscience, pay your wages for Fire Ward service. I understand that I am a ‘friend’ these days but not a ‘Shade’. We shall put Thersa’s treatment to the test.”
Marge had removed his shirt and was running her hands sensuously over his chest when one of her hands brushed against the leather pouch hanging form a cord around his neck. At once she sensed that it contained a Calling Beacon like the one in the bracelet which Thersa had given to her and which Marge had removed that day to keep the Friend out of her private affairs. Herbert tensed slightly. She quickly and boldly removed the pouch and dropped it carelessly on a side table. Herbert relaxed then and abandoned himself to his adversary, resolved to collect full payment for his service to her as Fire Ward.
It is as I had thought: My Fire Ward desires to visit his old cronies who are lurking at the Beach. Herbert, I do not think you will find their embrace as pleasing as mine.
~ 5 ~ On the next day, Marge summoned Witteric from Quinceañera Beach.
It was Marge’s habit to stroll around her spacious private office while listening to an agent’s report, pausing now and then to gaze from one window or another. Witteric sat while reporting to her, not knowing that his chair had been placed on the spot where Cherokee’s body had fallen. Marge thought it fitting that he receive there, the news of Cherokee’s permanent departure from the Circle. It would be Witteric’s job to pick up the threads of Cherokee’s organization and carry on the delicate market dance of auctioning atomic bombs.
She began by questioning him about the bomb sale negotiations.
“The clients who have the means to purchase the bombs have been, along with related others, sending representatives to Quinceañera Beach,” Witteric reported.
“Others?”
“Foremost among the others is the new Mexican vice president, who is a longstanding member of the Quinceañera Beach Club. Enrico went there with several other Party members for a weekend celebration of victory in the recent election. While he was there, he talked for an hour with our Russian technicians.”
“I know Enrico through some arms deals. He’s a very crafty man, not good-looking, but a good running mate for Leandro. Leandro is good-looking, even to me, and I don’t vote in Mexico. How near to the Beach is the nearest Mexican army outpost?”
“About twenty miles. Cherokee pays ‘tithes’ to General Fernando, to have him look away from our traffic.”
“Witteric, we must pay those tithes now. Cherokee is dead.”
No Circle overlord had been lost since Thersa had dispatched Athaloc, but Witteric knew that Marge was not joking. His cold blood ran colder. “He had many enemies,” he said, attempting to sound indifferent.
Marge was pleased by the trace of fear betrayed by his voice.
“Witteric, a month ago the Friend, for his own reasons, cast out Cherokee. Then, very recently, an enemy has found him.”
“Mazzatelli? I’ve heard that Cherokee owed him three million.”
“Who knows, Witteric?” Seeing her evil smile, Witteric understood that it was she who had slain Cherokee.
“So that is the reason for the somewhat odd behavior of Cherokee’s people at the Beach. After several weeks without any communication from him, many rumors are circulating. I suspected that your summons had something to so with this situation. Retimer, too, has been ordered to come to the Keep—to confer with Dr. Kane. We came up on the same plane.”
Marge looked down at the parking lot and smiled. “Retimer has just now arrived. Shortly he will be informed by Dr. Kane that he now reports to me—through you, Witteric. You and I have both risen in the world, but Cherokee’s three henchmen are dead. So, my good Witteric, you must pick up the loose ends of his organization; you know all of his remaining crew there. And you must pick up the threads of our current negotiations, because we must proceed with the bomb sale before the Russians and the Americans can reach an agreement to move against us.”
“I will do these things, although many details were in the heads of Cherokee and his henchmen.”
“Yes; that is your problem. I understand that Cherokee had serious dealings in this affair with Mr. Leo Roberson of Home Construction. Do you know him?”
“Yes. You understand correctly about his importance. He is the key to Cherokee’s plans. Two months ago Cherokee introduced me to Mr. Roberson, and we took him on a tour of some places on the Beach. Cherokee and Roberson had just returned from a jungle hunting expedition together, and I learned that formerly they had been colleagues in combat. Marge, Cherokee’s actions led me to presume that you were informed in some detail about Roberson’s role. I know the terms of Cherokee’s deal with Mr. Leo Roberson, but he has kept secret the negotiations with each client.”
That is some good news, Witteric, which I have gained by having you remain at the Beach after the Friend had cast Cherokee out. The Friend wanted Cherokee left at large, and Kane wanted no one else to know about it until it was clear why the Friend had let him loose.”
“And why was Cherokee cast out?”
“The Friend’s wrath was provoked against him by Cherokee’s interference in the crucial aid being provided by the Clan in restoring the Separator. It is Martin Knox’s daughter who made the deal with Georg, and it is she who is now doing the work of restoring the Separator. But Cherokee had attempted to make Miss Knox his Offering for the Way before leaving the Keep to devote himself to selling the atomic bombs. That attempt cost him his henchmen and his place in the Circle—and, recently, his life.”
Witteric briefly thought this over. He continued, “Well, Cherokee has paid Leo Roberson—in exchange for the return of the atomic bombs and his aid in arranging a demonstration for our clients using Aeronauticas equipment and political connections—over two million dollars, and promised him a substantial cut of the gains from selling the bombs. So Cherokee trusted him to deliver on this deal.”
“Could that be done without Martin Knox’s knowledge?”
“I don’t know. When Cherokee asked him that question, Mr. Roberson joked about Martin being ‘adroit in looking the other way’ and they laughed like it was a private joke. Cherokee told me that Roberson is in the Clan but he’s not a member of it; he’s married to a Clan woman.
“Are not the bombs here in the Keep, Witteric?”
“No. All of them are at the Beach. The bombs that we had discovered here have been replaced by authentic-looking dummies supplied by Roberson. This, I learned recently from the Russian technicians. They informed me that the real bombs are now at the Beach.”
Marge paced a circuit of the room and stopped before Witteric. “I’ve heard from Dominick about Miss Lancaster’s opinion that the bombs taken from Cherokee’s secret cellar in that cabin had been restored to the Soviets by the Americans soon after Cherokee had hidden them.”
“I’ve heard that rumor, too. It can’t be true, since we’re in possession of five real atomic bombs, one of which will be detonated to prove to our clients that they are genuine. There’s another rumor—which is true—that Cherokee had seized two other atomic bombs from a different secret Soviet location.”
“He spoke to me only of the five about which I had informed him after Miss Lancaster told me of them. Did Cherokee have much contact with her?”
“No; he regarded Miss Lancaster as your contact. She has become a regular at the Beach. I wonder, though: With Cherokee and his Henchmen out of the picture, and Retimer and me both absent from the Beach, have we created an opportunity for a conspiracy to seize the bombs?”
“I see what you’re thinking, Witteric: Although Miss Lancaster, Dominick and Enrico each could raise a number of armed men on a few days notice, they would have to join together and plan a unified action. But since no one outside the Keep knows yet about Cherokee’s death, and Mr. Roberson needs Cherokee to sell the bombs in order for him to get his cut, I think Roberson would not join such a move against us.”
“The biggest problem for those planning such a move is in locating the bombs. They are well-hidden, Marge, rather than well-guarded. And now that Cherokee and his henchmen are dead, it’s likely that I am the only one who knows exactly where they are hidden.”
“Such as in the crypt beneath that cabin in the mountains?”
“In a different location, I should think. In the 1500’s the Beach was a temporary Clan outpost. Then, when Godogisel began using the Beach, he discovered a tectonic offset to a medium-sized chamber, of which he has made use ever since. It is there, in a resort building near the Old Wall, that the five bombs are now kept.”
“Good grief! Witteric, does the Clan know of it?”
“Cherokee said that he has kept other treasures there, posting constant guard for over three centuries in which no one has attempted to access it.”
“Who else might possibly know of the location?”
“Leo Roberson. I have a suspicion, based on the other things I’ve heard Cherokee tell him, that Leo knows of the offset chamber.”
“Herbert has told me that Steuben’s man, Dr. Ricardo Chavez, has told him that he is an expert in the design of nuclear devices.”
“That is interesting, especially if he’s really engaged to Miss Knox.”
“I understand that he is. I’m beginning to think that Knox is looking beyond the sale of the atomic bombs. When the Separator is working, it will produce only the raw material, the explosive, for atomic bombs, for which there’s a good market, but somebody has to make the bombs from the explosive material—bombs for which this sale is opening the market. Knox may foresee using us to perform the risky business of selling the radioactive explosive material. Maybe they know how to make bombs and they’re planning to profit from producing bombs for those who buy the explosive material from us.” If Cherokee had planned to sell Knox-manufactured bombs, his take would have been more than mine. Did Miss Knox set me up to kill Cherokee, in order to get her personal vengeance while keeping her hands clean? Or does Knox think I’d be easier than Cherokee to deal with? Maybe Herbert really does know how to manufacture atomic bombs, but he’s a weasel and I can’t trust him.
Witteric asked, “My Mistress, can the Clan be working secretly for the success of the bomb sales? I know of a new development that’s consistent with this speculation about their motives: The Arab factions have united, and they’ve obtained a third party negotiator. He is Henry Okubo, a rich Nigerian who is represented at the Beach by his daughter Yohanna. Do you recognize the name?”
“The name sounds familiar, but I’ve left Africa to Godogisel; I’m sure he would have recognized it.”
“He did, and he told me also that the Okubos are in, or are close to, the Clan; they do not buy arms from him or from you, but they are well-armed. I’ve also learned that Yohanna Okubo is a New City University graduate student—or pretends to be one—and that Esther Rosen knows her well. Esther has told Herbert that Yohanna Okubo and Rhoda Knox are close friends.”
“Interesting. Witteric, what other interested parties have appeared at the Beach?”
“Laura Payne has been in and out, and she has installed a small staff at her Cortez Cottage, where she entertains Yohanna Okubo and her party. When Leo Roberson is at the Beach, he stays at the Cortez Cottage, too. Each comes and goes in his or her own seaplane.”
“Is Miss Knox in Yohanna Okubo’s party?”
“Not physically. Dominick has given me some more detail about what’s going on: The two Arab factions have pooled their funds, and Abdul has enlisted the Okubo family to represent the Arabs. Dominick’s nephew Guido observed the offer being made to the Okubos when he was in a Westwood restaurant casing things out before a meeting between Miss Lancaster and Dr. Cunningham. Guido saw Abdul deliver a message to Mrs. Okubo, who was sitting alone at a table near Abdul’s. A minute later, Yohanna Okubo, accompanied by Miss Knox, joined her mother at the table and read the letter. Guido saw Mrs. Okubo nod yes to Adbul, and she flew to Nigeria the next day. A week later, Laura Payne began her activity at the Beach.”
“Witteric, have you fully briefed me on Laura Payne?”
“No, my mistress. Again, I thought that Cherokee had done so. Laura Payne is a silent owner of the Beach.”
“Didn’t Cherokee own it?”
“No. He was, in effect, a squatter. He had never bothered to seek legal ownership until he sent Lawrence in to front for him. Lawrence is not a Clan member, so he’s a good front for Cherokee regarding Clan interests.”
Marge sat down at her desk.
“There is a Clan connection through Laura Payne,” Witteric continued. “Her ‘uncle’, Walter Payne, also has appeared at the Cortez Cottage with his party. Although my people have identified the man as Walter Knox, Lawrence identified him to me as Walter Payne, the man he had dealt with in order to buy the land a quarter of a century earlier. Part of the deal was that Laura Payne would be a silent partner, receiving a cut of revenues and ownership of the Cortez Cottage. Laura was Walter Payne’s young mistress when the deal with Lawrence was made years ago. She is not related to him in any way.”
“We have known Walter Knox through the business of my dear, departed husband Harold. Did you not recognize him?”
“I had never met him; he was your Harold Whittaker's client.”
“I thought Walter Knox was dead. Witteric, could he be the head of the Clan?”
“I believe he’s retired and has been brought in for the sake of an older lady who represents another potential buyer. The lady is registered as ‘Czarina’ at the Inn, and she represents the Soviet Union. I will tell you the story of Walter Knox’s meeting with ‘Czarina’. They knew each other, and I witnessed their reunion.”
“Wait with the story, Witteric. It appears that the Clan is servicing three of my buyers: The two Arab factions, and the Soviets. But the Soviets have to pay up front, because we’d never get a nickel from them after they’d gotten their bombs back. The Arabs can buy on installment, because they’ll want to buy again—which means there’ll be an eventual aftermarket for Knox if making bombs is Knox’s game. The Soviets can make their own bombs.”
“My mistress, now is the time for me to tell you that Czarina is here to buy back the two bombs stolen by Cherokee that Leo Roberson has very recently found. She wants those specific bombs for political reasons, and she is not interested in the other five bombs.”
With a false smile at Witteric, Marge shook her head. “Soviet politics.”
“Yes, and Knox sees the Soviets as a market for their cloaking technology. That accounts for Martin Knox looking the other way regarding Leo Roberson’s activity. So Roberson’s involvement with the Soviets on the bomb sale will make him the broker whom they can trust to get the cloaking technology—by means of Cherokee’s operation.”
“We will be that means, now. Is Knox not really interested in the production of atomic bombs?”
“Certainly they are interested in cloaking technology, and they may have some interest in atomic bomb production, my mistress.”
Marge nodded. “What issues do we have with the Indian and Chinese buyers?”
“They, too, have pooled their resources, and the representative they’ve selected is Olivia Lancaster—the Soviet agent Capricia.”
“Capricia is in bed with Dominick; she is not a loyal communist. I’m sure the Indians and the Chinese have already paid handsome fees to her. It is I who got her started in this business. I’ve had some dealings with Enrico, who is expecting a cut of the atomic bomb sale profits for keeping the Mexican military away from the Beach. And I had some dealings with Dominick before Cherokee discovered him. I’ll talk with all three: Capricia, Enrico and Dominick. I presume that, like Miss Lancaster, this ‘Czarina’ belongs to Cherenkov’s faction.”
“That’s the issue I had started to tell you about, my Mistress. Czarina is Praskovya Shtcherbatov herself.”
Marge stood up. “What does she have to do with Walter Knox?”
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