“Me? A powerful, globe-trotting journalist like Eric Truell needs a favor from me?” Dirk’s self-loathing had returned with gale force. “Me? The guy who spends his days analyzing whether leading indicators will be lagging and whether cattle futures will be rising faster or slower than hog bellies. You need help from me? I find that hard to believe.”

“Shut up, Dirk. This is for real.”

I removed a key from my pocket and handed it to him. “This is a key to the center drawer of my desk at home. Inside the drawer is a sealed envelope with a file inside marked ‘LA.’ If anything happens to me in China, I want you to get the file. Annie Baron has a key to the apartment—she’s watering the plants for me—and she can let you in. The file will explain what I’ve been working on. Take it to Ed Weiss.”

“What does LA stand for?” asked Dirk.

“Liars Anonymous,” I said. “Don’t ask what it means. I’m not sure I know myself.”

The night before my plane left from Dulles a courier dropped off an envelope at my house. The courier wasn’t from one of the commercial delivery services. He made me show identification before he would give me the package, and he made me sign a receipt. Inside the envelope was a one-page letter from Tom Rubino:

Dear Eric:

I mentioned two weeks ago that I had a special favor I would ask you to perform during your trip to Beijing. Because of its sensitivity, I didn’t want to give you the details until you were about to leave.

Here is my request: If you are able to see Roger Navarre and talk to him in confidence, I want you to judge his state of mind. If my information is correct and he wants to come home but is unable to do so, I would like you to give him this message.

Please tell him that the United States government is prepared to get him out of China and bring him to the United States, where he will be offered a generous resettlement payment and a stipend to support his research. Tell him that if he is interested, he should not go to the U.S. embassy, but to the following address: “Australia Shipping Desk, Gloria Plaza Hotel, 2 Jianguomennan Dajie, Beijing.” He should identify himself as Bob Thorpe. They’ll do the rest. If he asks, tell him that we’re very good at this. We do it with shipping crates, and it always works.

There are many reasons you might not feel comfortable with this request, and you are under no obligation to fulfill it. But I hope that you will. I cannot imagine a greater service you could do—an act that would make more of a difference for good. I know you well enough to be confident that is the business you are really in.

Good luck.

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