It took a concerted act of discipline not to grip the agent by his shoulders and shake an answer from him. However, it was probably true that he knew nothing. Controlling himself, Leo returned to the apartment, hurrying towards Elena’s bed, sliding his hand under the mattress. The diary was gone.

***

In the car Leo placed his hands on his knees, remaining silent as he was driven into the centre of the city. His thoughts were ablaze with possibilities of what might have happened. He paid no attention to the journey, breaking from his anxious theorizing only when the car finally stopped. They were outside his former place of work, the Lubyanka – the headquarters of the KGB.

Manhattan

Hotel Grand Metropolitan - 44th Street

Same Day

While the students ate lunch at the hotel, Raisa requested a phone call to her husband in Moscow, arguing that this was the only opportunity before the dress rehearsal that she would have to speak to him. The ability to lie convincingly was a talent that she had been forced to acquire as a young woman trying to survive during Stalin’s years of terror, fearful that every rejection from every man who made a pass at her would bring an allegation of anti-Soviet behaviour. In this instance she claimed that Leo’s elderly father was sickly and she wanted to make sure his condition had not worsened. She faced no resistance from the American authorities, who were more than happy to make arrangements, instead facing pressure from her colleagues, particularly Mikael Ivanov, who did not want members of the group phoning home. Raisa dismissed his objections: she was leading the delegation, not a homesick student, and a phone call to her husband was hardly an issue that need concern him, particularly if the Americans did not object. Of course, Raisa never believed the phone call would be private. The Americans and the Soviets would listen to every word. In view of such constraints, her dialogue needed to be coded. In her favour, Leo would understand from the mere fact of the phone call that something was wrong and she hoped, with careful phrasing, to communicate enough of events that he could offer an opinion. He would know very quickly whether there was something genuinely wrong or whether her anxiety was unwarranted.

Sitting in her hotel room, perched on the edge of the bed, she waited, staring at the phone on the side cabinet. If authorities in Moscow agreed to the request, Leo was going to be brought from their apartment to a phone. Once he was ready, the international call would be put through. Rationalizing both the Soviet and American position, she guessed that they were keen to hear what she had to say. If she made any remark the Soviets didn’t approve of the call would be cut short.