“I am Thomas Barlow,” Berezovsky said.
“My name is Winfield Broom, Mr. Barlow, I am the manager on duty. Welcome to the Mayflower.”
“Thank you,” Berezovsky said.
“From time to time, little mistakes are made, but sometimes—as now—they have a pleasant result.”
“I don’t think I understand.”
“Well, when Mr. Darby called to make your reservations, we were of course happy to accommodate him and you. But then Mr. Darby called back a few minutes later and asked if Mr. von und zu Gossinger still kept an apartment here. I told him he did, although we haven’t seen him for some time. And then thirty minutes after that, Mr. von und zu Gossinger himself called. He said he was skiing in Gstaad, but that he would be very pleased if you would stay in his apartment while you’re here.”
“That’s very kind of Mr. von und zu Gossinger,” Barlow said.
“Right this way, please,” Mr. Broom said, gesturing toward the elevator bank.
“This is really very nice,” S
vetlana said five minutes later. “Not at all what comes to mind when you hear ‘motel.’”
“I’m glad you think so,” Mr. Broom said. “Now, the sauna is separate ...”
“Why does Mr. von und zu Gossinger call this hotel the ‘Monica Lewinsky Motel’?” Svetlana asked.
“I’m sure I have no idea, madam,” Mr. Broom said, just a little huffily. “Now, if you’ll please come this way?”
[NINE]
Old Ebbitt Grill
675 15th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C.
1750 13 February 2007
“Truman, I told you that if we just waited, Roscoe would inevitably show up,” Ambassador Charles M. Montvale said to Mr. Truman Ellsworth looking over his shoulder to the end of the massive bar. “Hello, Roscoe!”
“Your office said I could find you here,” Danton said, taking a seat next to them at the bar.
“Waiting for my master’s call, Roscoe. The odds are strongly against it ever coming.”
“I’ll have one of those,” Danton said to the bartender. “And if these two are not already over their limit, give them another.”
“What happened to you after we came back?” Ellsworth asked.
“I thought you would never ask,” Danton said, and told them ...
“And Castillo’s on the airplane with Naylor?” Ellsworth said when he finished.
“Naylor, McNab, and General Yakov Sirinov.”
“That, I am having a hard time believing,” Montvale said.
“What if I told you the airplane is a Tu-934A?”
“Even harder to believe.”
“Charles, I think Roscoe is serious,” Ellsworth said.