man is dead in Paris, and now you say there's
another in Bonn. You talk of scouts and patrols and
those horrible chemicals, and how you ran through
the woods and had to hide in the river. Don t you
understand, son? Nobody's blaming you or even
holding you responsible. Something happened;
you're living it all over again."
"My God!" broke in Converse, stunned. 'You
don't believe a word I've said!"
You believe it, and that s all that matters. I saw
my share in North Africa and Italy, but nothing to
compare with what you went through later. You
have a deep, understandable hatred for war and all
things military. You wouldn't be human if you
didn't, not with the suffering you experienced and
the terrible things you endured."
~Larry, everything I've told you is true!"
Fine, splendid. Then reach Peregrine go to the
embassy and tell them. They'll listen to you. He'll
listen."
Are you denser than I think?,' shouted Joel. 1
just told you, I can t! I'd never get to see Peregrine!
I'd get my head blown away!'
' 1 spoke to your wife sorry, your ex-wife. She
said you'd have these moments at night...."
'~You spoke to Val? You brought her into this!
Christ, are you out of your mind ? Don't you know
they trace everyone
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 345
down ? It was right under your nose, counselor!
LucasAnstett Stay away from her! Stay away or
I'll I'll "
"You'll what, son?" asked Talbot quietly. "Kiln' me,
too?"
"Oh, 1esust"
' Do as I say, Joel. Call Peregrine. Everything wilt be
all
Suddenly Converse heard an odd sound over the
line, odd in context but one he had heard hundreds
of times before. It was a short buzz, barely significant
but there was significance to it. It was Lawrence
Talbot's courteous signal to his secretary to come
into his office and pick up a revised letter or a
corrected brief or a dictation tape. Joel knew what it
was now. The address of a seedy hotel in Bonn.
"All right, Larry," he said, feigning an exhaustion
that was all too real. "I'm so damned tired. Let me lie
down for a while and maybe I will call the embassy.
Maybe I should get in touch with Peregrine.
Everything's so confused."
"That's the way, son. Everything's going to be fine
now. Just splendid."
"Good-bye, Larry."
"Good-bye for now, Joel. See you in a couple of
days."
Converse slammed down the phone and looked
around the dimly lit room. What was he checking
for? He had come with nothing and he would leave
with nothing but what was on his back what he had
stolen. And he had to leave quickly. He had to run.
In minutes men would be speeding in cars from the
embassy, and at least one of those men would have
a gun and a bullet meant for him!
What in hell was happening to him? The truth
was a fantasy bolstered by lies, and the lies were his
only means of survival. Insanity!
19
He ran past the elevator to the staircase,
descending the steps two and three at a time, his
hand on the iron railing as he lurched around the
landings, and reached the lobby door four stories
below. He swung it open, suddenly gripping the
346 R06ERT IUDLUM
edge and slowing his pace so as not to call attention
to himself. He need not have been concerned. The
small band of people milling about in front of the
benches against the wall and wandering around the
warm tile floor were the neighborhoodelderly,
looking for nightly companionship, and a few drunks
walking in and out of the neon-lit door to the noisy
cafe. Oh Christ! His mind was in a frenzy. He could
walk around in the night, hiding in alleys, but a lone
man in unfamiliar streets was too easily spotted by
unofficial hunters or by the official police. He had
to get inside somewhere, somehow. Out of sight.
The cafe! His Samaritans! He pulled up the
collar of the leather jacket and forced the belt of
the trousers lower, inching down the gap around his
ankles. He then approached the door casually,
feigning a slight stagger as he pushed it open. He
was greeted by Roating levels of smoke not all of
it tobacco, by any means and adjusted his stinging
eyes to the erratically flashing lights as he tried to
block out the offending noise, a combination of
guttural roars and disco music blaring from
high-tech speakers. His Good Samaritans were
gone: he looked for the young blond girl as his focal
point, but she was not there. The table they had
occupied was taken by another foursome no, not
four different people, only three, who had joined
the English-speaking student who had sat beside
him in the car. The three were young men who
seemed also to be students. Joel approached them,
and passing an empty chair in his path, he gripped
the back and unobtrusively pulled it behind him to
the table. He sat down and smiled at the
blond-haired student.
"I didn't know- if I'd left enough money for
those twelve beers I promised," he said pleasantly
"Ach! I was just talking about you, Herr
AmerJkaner! These are my friends like me, all
dreadful students!" The three newcomers were
introduced rapidly, the names lost in the music and
the smoke. Everyone nodded; the American was
welcome.
"Our other two friends left?"
"I told you," shouted the blond youngster
through the noise. "They wished to drive to our
house and make love That's all they do! Our
parents went to Bayreuth for the music festival, so
they shall make their own music on her bed and I
shall come home late!"
"Nice arrangement," said Converse, trying to think
of
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 347
how to broach the subject that had to be broached
quickly. He had very little time.
'Very good, sir!" said a dark-haired young man on
his right. "Hans would have missed that; his English
is understandably inferior. I was an exchange student
in the state of Massachusetts for two years.
'Arrangement' is also a musical term. You combined
the two! Very good, sir!'
"I keep trying," saidJoel aimlessly, looking at the
student. "You really speak English?" he asked
sincerely.
"Very well. My scholarship depends upon it. My
friends here are good people, make no mistake, but
they are rich and come here for amusement. As a
boy, I lived two streets away from this place. But
they protect the lads here, and why not? Let them
have fun; nobody is hurt and money is spread."
"You're sober," said Converse, the statement
bordering on a question.
&nbs
p; The young man laughed as he nodded. "Tonight,
yes. Tomorrow afternoon I have a difficult exam and
need a clear head. The summer-session examinations
are the worst. The professors would rather be on
holiday."
"I was going to talk to him," said Joel, nodding at
the blond student, who was arguing with his two
companions, his hands waving in the smoke, his voice
strident. "But that doesn't make sense. You do."
"In what sense, sir, if you will forgive the
redundancy of the expression?"
"'Redundancy'? What's your major?"
"Preliminary law, sir."
"I don't need that."
"It is a difficulty, sir?"
"Not for me. Listen, I haven't much time and I
have a problem. I have to get out of here. I need to
find another place to stay just until tomorrow
morning. I assure you I've done nothing wrong,
nothing illegal in case my clothes or my appearance
gives another impression. It's strictly a personal
matter. Can you help me?"
The dark-haired young German hesitated, as if
reluctant to answer, but nevertheless did so, leaning
forward to be heard. "Since you bring up the subject,
I'm sure you can understand that it would not be
seemly for a student of the law to help a man under
questionable circumstances."
"That's exactly why I brought it up," said
Converse rapidly, speaking into the student's ear.
"I'm an attorney and under
348 ROBERT LUDLUM
these clothes a reasonably respectable one. I simply
took on the wrong American client over here and
can't wait to get a plane out tomorrow morning."
The young man listened, studied Joel's face and
nodded. 'Then these are not lodgings you would
normally seek?"
'To be avoided wherever possible. I just thought
it would be a good idea to be inconspicuous for the
night."
"There are very few places such as this in Bonn, sir."
"To Bonn's credit, counselor." Glancing about
the cafe and its predominant clientele, Converse
had another thought. "It's summer!" he said urgently
to the student through the bedlam. "Are there any
youth hostels around here?"
"Those in the vicinity of Bonn or Cologne are
filled, sir mostly with Americans and the Dutch. The
others which might have spaces are quite far north
toward Hanover. However, there is another
solution, I think."
"What?"
"Summer, sir. The rooming houses usually filled
by those attending the university have many spaces
during the summer months. In the house where I
stay there are two empty rooms on the third floor."
"I thought you lived around here."
"That was long ago. My parents are retired and
live with my sister in Mannheim."
"I'm in a great hurry. May we go? I'll pay you
what I can tonight and more tomorrow morning."
"I thought you said you were taking the plane in
the morning."
"I have two stops to make first. You can come
with me; you can show me where they are."
The young man and Joel excused themselves,
knowing they would not be missed. The student
started toward the lobby door, but Converse
grabbed his elbow, gesturing at the street entrance.
"Your luggage, sir!" shouted the Cerman
through the din and the flashing lights.
"You can lend me a razor in the morning!"
Converse yelled back, pulling the young man
through the mingling bodies toward the door.
Several tables before the entrance was an empty
chair, on the seat a soft, rumpled cloth cap. He bent
down and picked it up, holding it in front of him as
he reached the door and walked outside to the
pavement, the student be
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 349
hind him. "Which way?" he asked, pulling the cap
over his head.
"This way, sir," replied the young Cerman,
pointing beneath the shabby canopy of the adjacent
hotel entrance.
"Let's go, ' said Joel, stepping forward.
They stopped that is, Converse stopped first,
gripping the student s shoulder and turning him into
the building. A black sedan had come speeding down
the street, swerving into the open space in front of
the canopy. Two men got out of the back doors and
rushed toward the entrance, the second man running
around the trunk to catch up with the first. Joel
angled his head as the young German stared at him.
He recognized both men; both were Americans. They
had been at the Cologne-Bonn airport eight nights
ago, hoping to trap him then as they were coming to
trap him now. The black car moved forward out of
the glare of the lights into the shadows. It pulled into
the curb and waited, a hearse prepared to receive its
cargo.
"Was ist los?" asked the German youth, unable to
conceal his fear.
"Nothing, really." Converse removed his hand and
gave the student two friendly claps on the shoulder.
"Just let this be a lesson to you, counselor. Know
who your client is before you get greedy and accept
too large a retainer."
'ha, " said the young German, attempting a smile
but not succeeding, his eyes on the black sedan.
They walked rapidly past the parked automobile
with the driver inside, the glow of a cigarette seen in
the darkness of the front seat. Joel pulled down the
cloth cap and again angled his head, now away from
one of his countrymen.
The truth was a fantasy bolstered by lies.... Survival
was in running and concealment Insanity!
The early morning was mercifully uneventful
except for his raging thoughts. The student, whose
name was Johann, had secured him a room at the
boardinghouse, the proprietess delighted with a
hundred deutsche marks for the rental. It more than
made up for the gauze, tape, and antiseptic she gave
him to rebandage his wound. Converse had slept
soundly, if intermittently, awakened by fears
transposed into macabre dreams. By seven o'clock
sleep was impossible.
There was an urgent piece of business that had to
be taken care of; he understood the risk, but the
money was nec
350 ROBERT LUDLUM
essary,nowmore than ever. On Mykonos, the
knowledgeable if serpentine Laskaris had forwarded
$100,000 to banks in Paris, London, Bonn and New
York, using the accepted practice of written-out
numbers as a signature to withdraw the funds.
Laskaris further had suggested that Joel should not
attempt to carry with him or try to memorize four
sets of lengthy and entirely different digits. Instead
the banker would wire the American Express travel
offices in the four cities to hold for a period of
three months a message for who, Mr. Converse?It
should be a name meaningful to you but not to others.
> It will be your code, no other idenfff cation neces-
sary as with certain telephone banking facilities in
your own country.... Make it Charpentier. 1.
Charpenffer.
Joel understood that he might have revealed the
device while under narcotics. Also, he might not
have; his mind was not on money. He had a great
deal in his possession, and the chemicals tended to
elicit only feverish priorities.. He had learned that in
the camps a lifetime ago, twice astonished that he
had not mentioned far-off tactics down the roads of
escape. There was also a backup, ethics
notwithstanding. The young German, Johann, would
be his intermediary. The risks could not be avoided,
only minimized; he had also learned that a lifetime
ago. If the boy was taken, his conscience would be
stricken, but then, what could be the worst that
would happen to him? There was no point in
thinking about it.
"Go inside and ask if there's a message for J.
Charpentier," said Joel to the student. They were in
the backseat of a taxi across the street from the
American Express office. "If the answer is yes, say
the following words. 'It must be a wire from
Mykonos,'" he added, recalling Laskaris' precise in-
structions.
"That is necessary, sir?" asked the dark-haired
Johann, frowning.
"Yes, it is. Without mentioning Mykonos and the
fact that the message is a cable, they won't give it to
you. Also it identifies you. You won't have to sign
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