WASHINGTON DC: The Sadir Affair (The Puppets of Washington Book 1)

by Lavina Giamusso

  “Not to worry, ma’am, I understand.” Carvey sat down, no longer looking at the mess but at the pictures that adorned the walls. There were several of flowers, a couple depicting a street scene, and another three—landscapes, apparently of the same area.

  Millicent cleared a chair of the books that filled the seat, and plopped herself into it.

  She noticed his eyes travelling around the walls of the room. “Ah, yes,” she said, “my paintings. Do you like them?”

  “I’m no connoisseur, Mrs. Harsinai, but they’re very beautiful.”

  “Indeed. I love them. A dear friend of mine painted them for me. I mean, not exactly for me, but she left them to me when she passed.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry...”

  “Don’t be...” Millicent waved a hand in front of her. “She’s in a better place now.”

  Carvey didn’t know how to reply, so he said nothing and lowered his eyes to the floor.

  “But, I’m sure you didn’t come all this way to talk about my friend’s paintings, so what brought you down to Melbourne and to my home?”

  He looked up. He didn’t know how he would tackle this. “Well, ma’am...” He hesitated. “It has come to our attention that you have a friend by the name of Samuel Meshullam.”

  Millicent’s face paled. She seemed frozen in time and place. “What happened?” Her voice was trembling. “Has there been an accident? Is he alright?”

  “Yes, ma’am, as far as we know, he is fine.”

  She let out an audible sigh, placed a hand on her chest, and reclined in the chair.

  “I’m sorry, Officer Carvey, but you see, at my age we seem only to expect the law to come knocking when bad news need to be delivered.”

  “I understand,” Carvey said, yet he didn’t. “The reason I’m here is because we thought you might be able to give us some insights as to where he could be at this time.”

  “You mean you’re looking for him? Is he a fugitive? Don’t tell me.” Millicent waved an open-hand in front of her in denial. “He can’t have done whatever he’s accused of, I’m sure.”

  Carvey shook his head. “No, ma’am, nothing like that.” He had no idea how he was going to get out of that one, without antagonizing the woman.

  “Then what is it?”

  Carvey looked down at his feet.

  “All right.” Millicent appeared all of a sudden to sympathize with the officer’s obvious plight. “You probably can’t divulge the reason behind your query, is that it?”

  “Yes, ma’am, that’s correct.”

  “Well then, why didn’t you say so?” She stared at him for a moment. “Alright, far from me to impede your investigation, because I’m sure that’s what this is, let me tell you as much as I can about Samuel.”

  Carvey, without a word, took his notebook out of his pocket, and, pen poised, looked at Millicent expectantly.

  “Let me tell you first that I have not seen Samuel for almost two years now. In itself, that fact is not surprising. He’s told me that he’s working for a large organization in Israel, and he only comes home for a few weeks from time to time.”

  “You think he has not come back for the past two years then?”

  “That’s right. You see, I leave this apartment every winter and take myself up to my house on the Sunshine Coast until October. I find the winters in Melbourne too enduring for me. While I was away, Samuel stayed at my place when he was in town. He would always give me a ring before he would come in, so I would know how long he would be staying.”

  “And this year, he has not rung you to tell you he was coming to stay?”

  “No. So far he hasn’t.”

  “Would it surprise you if I told you that he’s been staying in Sydney for the past several months then?”

  “That it would. Yes, indeed it would, Officer Carvey. Yet, if I think about it, he might have wanted to stay near the Manly beaches.…”

  Carvey was all ears now. “And why would you say that, ma’am?”

  “Well, you see, for one thing, Samuel is an avid swimmer and one must admit that Melbourne’s surrounding waters are nothing compared to those of Sydney, wouldn’t one?”

  “Yes, ma’am, I’d say you’ve got a point there,” Carvey replied, grinning.

  “On the other hand, Samuel often visited my friend, Eugenie…”

  “Who’s that?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry…, didn’t I say?”

  “No, ma’am, you didn’t.”

  “Well then…, Eugenie is the artist who painted these...” Millicent ran her extended arm around the room. “Eugenie did all these from her flat in Sydney.”

  “And Samuel was acquainted with the artist?”

  “Oh yes. Actually, he was more interested in her daughter, Talya.”

  In a jerk, Carvey dropped his pen. He could not believe what he had heard. It had to be a mistake.

  “You look surprised, Officer. Have I said something curious?”

  Picking up his pen from the floor, Carvey uttered, “Yeah…, I mean, yes, ma’am. Would you mind if I ask you if you recognize this woman?” Carvey pulled out Talya’s photo from the back of his notebook and handed it to the author.

  “Oh my! After all these years! Yes, yes, that’s Talya Krist.”

  “Pardon me, but did you say “Talya Krist”?”

  “Sure, she was the daughter of Eugenie Krist. Why? Does she have another name now?”

  “We know her as Ms Kartz.”

  “Oh yes, of course. How silly of me. Talya married a man by the name of Moses Rubenstein. The marriage didn’t last but a year or two, and then Eugenie told me that she chose to revert to her grandmother’s name—Kartz. Her grandmother was from Poland, you see, and she always wanted to observe the Jewish tradition of keeping the family name.”

  “Why not Krist then, since that was her birth name?” Carvey asked with curiosity.

  “As I understand it, she didn’t want to live in the shadow of her father. She admired him; oh yes, there was even adoration in that young woman’s heart, but she needed to be her own person.”

  “May I ask how you know Ms Kartz so well?”

  “Oh of course, you don’t know... Talya Krist, as I knew her, was a very talented writer. She was amazing. I tell you, she wrote poetry and prose like no one else I knew. To this day, I have not met another child like her. And her mother asked me if I could take her under my wing, sort of thing, and I did. For a few years, while they stayed in Melbourne, Talya would come to me and I tried to teach her.” Millicent paused. She seemed to be lost in her recollection of the time with her pupil. “Teach her, is not quite correct,” she went on musingly. “You see, she had it in her. It was very much an innate talent, a gift, if you prefer. All I did was to help her forge her knowledge.”

  Carvey could not believe his luck. Sorenson had been right. There was a connection between Samuel and Talya. “And Samuel was well acquainted with Talya then?”

  Millicent nodded, still lost in thought.

  “But you said she married someone else; that Moses bloke. How did that happen?”

  “I don’t exactly know. Talya wanted to escape, be her own woman, as I said. I guess this marriage provided an opportunity for her to be away from a very protective, even possessive mother, enabling her to blossom into the marriage.”

  “I gather she didn’t get what she wanted”

  “You’re right. Moses expected a lot from Talya and she had nothing to offer. I mean she couldn’t have children and all she cared about was to travel; to re-visit some of the places where she grew up. Yet, Moses was a sedentary man. He was everything Talya wasn’t.”

  “Why didn’t she marry Samuel then, if he was so taken with her?”

  “Ah, yes. Well, Samuel had a lot of travel in his blood as well, and he really didn’t want a marriage to tie him down. Besides, Talya felt she needed to look after her mother—before she met Moses that is. She was getting on in years by then. She gave birth to her daughter very late in life and she reli
ed very much on Talya for everything.”

  As he was finishing taking down what Millicent had told him, Carvey raised his head to her. “One last question, Mrs. Harsinai, if you have no objection”

  “No-no, go ahead, but I don’t know what else I could tell you about Samuel or Talya.”

  Nevertheless, Carvey decided to try. “Do you know if Talya and Samuel kept in touch after Talya’s divorce, in particular?”

  “That, I wouldn’t know. Besides, when Moses signed the “Get” for Talya…”

  Carvey fixed his gaze on the old woman. “Sorry to cut you off, Mrs. Harsinai, but what is a “Get”?”

  “Oh, of course, you don’t know. It’s a letter. According to Jewish law, the man who accepts or wants to divorce his wife writes a letter that releases her from her bonds to him.”

  “I see, and Talya got this letter?”

  “Yes, she did, and right after that, I think Moses went back to Israel... Oh, I remember now; he was killed in a car crash. I’m sorry I had completely forgotten about that.”

  “That’s alright, ma’am.”

  Millicent didn’t seem to have heard his comment. She went on, “You see, Talya left Australia soon after her mother’s death. That would be three years ago now. She went back to Vancouver, I believe. As for Samuel, he was already gone to assume his function in Tel-Aviv, some three or four years before that. And I didn’t hear Talya mention correspondence of any sort between the two before her mother died.”

  “Well, thank you so much for your assistance, Mrs. Harsinai. It was a pleasure meeting you.”

  “The pleasure was all mine, young man. It’s not often I get the visit of Adonis…,” Millicent joked. Carvey looked at her curiously. “I can see you don’t know Adonis, do you?”

  “No, ma’am, I don’t. Is he someone else I should know?”

  Millicent giggled. “No, dear, no-no, he is a mythical man of great beauty—just like you!”

  Carvey didn’t know what to do. He decided to ignore the remark and just smiled. “Thank you.” He got to his feet.

  “Don’t mention it, Officer Carvey.”

  When Carvey left the building, he was elated. He had never felt so thrilled during his career. He had not made a long awaited arrest of a famous perpetrator; he had not participated in an overwhelming task force of any sort; yet he had interviewed an old woman, and in less than an hour had unlocked the door to making the connection to an international plot between the powers of this world. He knew now how Mark Gilford felt and why he was such a good agent.

  Chapter 37

  Within minutes of the news reaching Sorenson’s ears, he was on the phone with Fred Gibson. Once again, unfortunately, he had awakened the big man in the middle of the night.

  “I’ll be damned!” Fred uttered when Sorenson told him what Carvey had learned in Melbourne. He was sitting on the edge of the bed (again) and had a hard time grasping the impact this news would have on what they knew of Talya and Samuel. “Thanks, Sorenson. Have a good night then.”

  “Same to you, Gibson, and I’m sorry to have woken you.”

  “Anytime, Sorenson, anytime.”

  As he put the phone down, Fred shook his head and laid down again. He had to think what he needed to do next. Samuel was not going to kill Talya, and the only reason he had shot her last year was possibly to protect her from going any further into the investigation or from finding out Sadir was a man to be feared. He thought of Mark. He had to stop him as soon as he landed in Vancouver, which would be in a couple of hours now. There was no time to send anyone to meet him at the airport. He would need to get the customs’ office involved. Fred smiled to himself. Mark was in for another apprehension by the authorities. He was not going to like it.

  Chapter 38

  The landing at YVR was one of the roughest Mark had ever experienced. The aircraft seemed to bounce onto the tarmac several times before finally rolling down toward the airport. As soon as he cleared the gangway, happy to be out of that overloaded cattle carrier, he saw the two officers who were waiting for him. Not again, he thought, when the two men approached him.

  “Passport, sir?” the taller of the two said to Mark.

  He dropped his shoulder bag to the ground and showed him his travel documents.

  “Welcome home, Agent Gilford. This way, please.”

  “Do you have any luggage that you would want to retrieve from the carousel?” the second customs’ officer asked him as they were taking the escalator down toward their offices.

  “No, I usually travel light,” Mark sniggered.

  “Do you have any weapons with you or on you?”

  “That’s another no, Officer. I usually use the weapons given to me by the authorities of the country I visit. And Australia didn’t need me to do anything which involved weapons of any kind.”

  Gilbert nodded and said, “Agent Gilford, we have been instructed to ask you to remain in Vancouver until Mr. Samuel Meshullam disembark at this airport.” Mark’s jaw fell open. He thought Samuel would have been ahead of him. “I see that you thought Agent Meshullam had already reached our coast.”

  “Yes, that’s right,” Mark replied.

  “Well, I am sorry to disappoint you in that regard, but no, Agent Meshullam has not crossed any of the borders in and around Vancouver.”

  “Is Ms Kartz alright?” was Mark’s next question. He figured he would ask since these two seemed well informed.

  “Yes, she is okay. She’s still on Bowen Island. We’ve had reports from our police department that she’s been seen in company of a Dr. Aziz Hendrix at quite a few locations on the island.”

  “Okay then, that’s great news. Would you know which is the shortest way to that island and where I could find her?”

  “We would, sir, but the orders from Ottawa are for you to remain in Vancouver. You should contact your boss as soon as you reach your hotel, but you are to stay at the Hyatt on Burrard Street meanwhile.”

  “Well, thanks, Officer... What is your name?”

  “Gilbert, sir, and this is Officer Jacobin.” He nodded in the direction of his colleague.

  “Nice to meet you guys,” Mark replied, standing up.

  “One more thing, Agent Gilford, before you go…”

  “Yes?”

  “You will have no access to any firearms while you are in the city, or until the police tell you otherwise. Is that clear?”

  Mark was surprised. What if Samuel comes after me, what then? “Perfectly, Officer Gilbert, I’ll keep that in mind. Can I go now?”

  “Yes. Thanks for stopping by,” Jacobin replied, a smirk on his face.

  Mark was not listening. He was out the door like a shot. What had happened, he wondered. No rifle; no going to the island; no moving until further orders; and why the Hyatt? That was all too strange for an exhausted agent to figure out.

  Chapter 39

  Talya was relaxing on the terrace of her room. The prospect of being alone on the island was far from a pleasant on. She was getting bored. She had left her writing aside for far too long. It was high time for her to get back in front of her computer. That thought reminded her of the time she had spent with Millicent in Melbourne. What is the woman doing now, she wondered. She gripped the armrests of the chair fiercely. She had blocked out the memory of Isaac since the shooting, but now, and quite suddenly, his face came to mind. Isaac was Samuel. No matter how many times she had tried to deny the fact, there was no escaping it; Samuel was the one who had put her in that wheelchair. She looked at it and wished she could have kicked it out of sight.

  The double doors were slightly open. He was about to knock when Jay Kravits heard Talya scream. Not waiting for an answer, he swung the doors open and ran to the terrace. Talya was yelling for all to hear. “I know it’s him. I know it’s him! But why did he do that to me?”

  Chapter 40

  “Chief, this is Mark,” he said when he heard Fred pick up the phone. He had arrived at the Hyatt a half hour earlier. He had dropped his s
houlder bag on the bed, and had rushed into the shower. He took a cold one to wake up. Still finding this whole thing very odd, Mark wanted to stay alert when he would be talking to Fred.

  “Ah good! You’ve made it. How you feeling?”

  “Never mind that, Chief, what’s going on here?”

  “The short answer is you’re staying at the Hyatt and put Muhammad Sadir under surveillance.”

  “Sadir? What would he be doing here? What about Samuel? Where is he?”

  “He’ll come in his own good time, don’t worry about him.”

  “Come on, Chief, what’s happening? Has the world turned upside down while I was in that frigging plane?”

  “Language, boy! I’ve told you before, none of the ‘F’ words with me, okay?”

  “Okay, Chief, I’m sorry. Just tell me what’s going on.”

  “It’s a long story, Mark, and I don’t have time right now. But I’ll tell you this; Samuel is a friend of Talya. He’s known her almost since the first day she was in Australia.”

  Mark was dumfounded. “If that’s true, why would he be here? Wouldn’t he want to be as far as he could from this place?”

  “No, Mark, not quite. See, we’ve finally come up with an answer as to who was behind the sale of faulty weapons to Israel. And Sadir appears to be that person.”

  “And Samuel is after him now…?”

  “Right.”

  “But what about him killing Slimane if Mossad knew he wasn’t the traitor?”

  “Because Mossad didn’t know—or Sadir managed to convince the powers-that-be he was a traitor to Israel. When we get to talk to Samuel, we’ll know better.”

  “And I gather that’s why it was so easy for Sadir or Samuel to point the finger at Prince Abdullah,” Mark suggested.

  “Yes, although, that’s not as clear-cut as you’d think, because there was a lot more involved in that affair than sending faulty armaments to Israel.” Fred paused. “Anyway, right now, we’ve got to worry about Sadir. If he came to Canada, it’s for a reason, and we want to know what that is. We’re hoping it’s not to tickle a terrorist cell along the West Coast.”