Haggai Carmon - Triple Identity

So there was no security leak in my office after all.

As we got up to leave, I looked at Ariel. I wanted to talk to her but I felt a cold wind blowing from her direction. She left the briefing room and walked into the corridor. I joined her uninvited.

“So Blecher says that you were the one who exposed me to Guttmacher,” Ariel accused. Her voice was icy.

“How did I do that?” I asked, hurt and disappointed that she would choose those as her first words since parting from me weeks before. I didn't know how to bridge the rift between us. From the tone of her voice, it sounded as if Ariel was also going to blame me for a whole list of man-made or natural disasters.

“When you told Guttmacher that you knew that he was holding the envelope my father gave him for me. Since he knew that my father was dead, he presumed that I was the only person who could tell you that, and that showed him we were working together. Since he suspected you, I was contaminated as well.”

“That's not quite right, Ariel,” I said apologetically. “There is a simple explanation. It was my only way of convincing him that I was in the loop; I hoped that, by demonstrating that I had read your father's letter, Guttmacher would be convinced that I was in fact your father's partner in the deal with the Iranians. Obviously I didn't know he was the villain. I'm sorry I caused you trouble.” I didn't add that given Blecher's account, Guttmacher planned to kill Ariel regardless. There was no point in kindling more friction between us.

Ariel looked amused. She was toying with me. But when she saw my grim face she added, “Don't worry, I don't blame you. You didn't know. You see, when my father was killed, Guttmacher was sure he was home free with the money. He didn't realize that my father was too smart to trust him. My dad wrote me that he was suspicious of Guttmacher and therefore prepared new documents for me that replaced all the stuff Guttmacher was holding. But Guttmacher didn't know that my father was bypassing him and leaving new instructions for me. The letter you saw telling me to contact Guttmacher was written before my father started to suspect him.”

“Your dad was a clever man,” I put in. “He left a back door open.”

Ariel nodded. “So from the moment you gave that detail to Guttmacher, to gain his trust, I became dangerous for him. He realized that I knew that he'd kept the money. He was convinced that I was the final roadblock between him and more than many millions of dollars, so he had to have me put out of the way.”

I decided not to argue with her. There was no point in reminding Ariel of her own contribution to Guttmacher's decision to eliminate her.

“I'm surprised you even agree to speak to me, if that's really your opinion of me,” I said, trying to think how difficult it would be to erase all the dreams I had about Ariel. There seemed to be no chance for any of them to materialize.

“I was angry at you. I trusted you, and I was disappointed to realize that you betrayed my trust, until I saw the whole picture.”

“I don't think I've ever betrayed your trust,” I protested. “I may have kept some facts from you, but please understand, I was doing my job. You were the daughter of my target. You were the clue to the resolution of the mystery.”

“It was difficult to understand,” said Ariel, “because I thought you were working for the Mossad. But then when I found out that you weren't, at least not any longer, I started my own little investigation to find out who you were really working for.”

I was too surprised to say anything.

“When the Mossad agents took my mother from the pension, she asked them about you and discovered you weren't one of them.”

“So how did you find out who I was working for?”

“Rather easily, actually. Benny told me.”

“The collaborator,” I said, realizing that not only had Benny manipulated me throughout to achieve the Mossad's goals in the DeLouise-Iranian matter, he had also meddled in my private life.

“No,” she said, “not at all. He really loves you. He's the one who cooled me down. He helped me understand exactly what was happening.”

My tongue was dry. I'd blown it, at least with Ariel. The success we'd had with the Iranian files didn't mean much when I realized that Ariel was now out of reach.

“There is something else,” she said quietly, sensing my feelings.

I looked directly at her, suddenly at a loss for words. I felt bitter and defeated.

“What? You forgot to tell me the name of the plague I've just contaminated the world with?”

“There's no need to be sarcastic,” said Ariel. “I just want you to know that I wasn't completely truthful with you either. So now we're even, aren't we?”

“But did I step into a new trap?” I asked, “What else did I miss?”

“Moscow. I mean, when I went to Moscow, I had a mission.”

“I know that,” I said, “you've already told me. You wanted to expose the suppliers of nuclear materials to the Iranians.”

“That's the part I told you,” she confirmed, “but there was something else.” She hesitated.

She got my attention. She saw a question mark blinking in my eyes. “Go on, tell me.”

“The Moscow idea was not mine.”

I saw where she was heading. “It was Benny's ploy,” I said matter of factly.

Now it was Ariel's turn to be surprised. “How did you find out? I don't believe he told you.”

“No, he hasn't. I suspected you were working for someone in Moscow; your story just didn't make sense to me. So I called Benny from Moscow and asked him if you worked for him.”

“And what did he say?”

“He denied it,” I said. “I can't always tell when Benny is not telling the truth, but I know when he's outright lying.”

Ariel narrowed her eyes again. “You couldn't have figured it out by yourself? Or did you?”

I had to decide quickly whether to look smart or be truthful. I chose the latter.

“Remember when you were attacked and I ran to your room to pack your things?”

Ariel nodded.

“Well, I took a quick look and found your phone book.”

“And?”

“There was a small piece of paper in it with just a five-digit number. I recognized the number; it's the code you need to punch in after you've dialed a Belgian telephone number. Once the correct code is recognized, the call is automatically transferred to Benny's private line at his office in Tel Aviv.”

Ariel was stunned. “So you did figure it out after all!”

“Yes, it was really simple. He'd given me the code for the month. The only logical conclusion was that your contact with Benny had to have been very recent. But since you denied knowing who he was, you were lying to me on that, too.”

Ariel lowered her eyes.

“So you've been working for him all along?”

“No, just for the trip to Moscow. When I ran from the kidnappers in Munich to the Israeli Consulate and told them how angry I was about my father's murderers, Benny's guys suggested that I get even.”

“How?”

“They wanted me to go to Moscow to get some more samples of materials from my father's contacts.”

“Why? What was the purpose?” I asked, although I already knew the answer.

“I don't know, they just wanted me to meet with them, get another sample, give them some money, and tell them that we'd like to do more business in the future.”

“I guess you met them before I came to Moscow, because you were under my radar as soon I arrived. Besides, who's ‘we’?” I asked.

“Me and my dad,” she said,

“But he's dead,” I responded. “I saw him dead.”

“The Russians didn't know that.”

“Aha,” I said, “so Benny pulled off another brilliant one, keeping the flame burning for future reference.”