Slaton began moving, and Bloch remembered—the kidon was never at ease when still. He strolled the sidewalk and Bloch kept up, wondering if the easy pace was for his benefit. They paralleled an ancient stone wall as light traffic skittered past, and while they walked Bloch studied Slaton. He looked more physically robust than ever. Deep tan and sun-lightened hair, lean muscle straining the shoulders of a loose, untucked shirt. On outward appearances, a man in vibrant health.

“You look fit,” Bloch offered.

“I’ve been working.”

“I’m told there are quarries outside town. Men here, it seems, still pull blocks of granite and marble from the earth by hand.”

“Do they?”

Bloch looked pointedly at Slaton’s roughhewn hands, but said nothing.

“So?” Slaton asked. “Did you do as I asked?”

“I have to say, your method of contact took me by surprise. A check in my name for five million dollars and a plane ticket to America? You never were one for subtlety.”

An unsmiling Slaton asked, “Were you tempted to take it and run?”

“No. But be thankful my wife didn’t open it first. I’d have a villa in the south of France and two new cars by now.”

This time Bloch saw perhaps a crease of humor at the corner of Slaton’s mouth. It disappeared as soon as he asked his next question. “Did she take it?”

“I think you know the answer.”

“How did you put it to her?”

Bloch sighed. “Not as you suggested. Your idea about a widow and orphan’s fund for Mossad operatives lost in the line of duty? Please, David. Do you not know your own wife?”

Slaton didn’t respond.

“I told her it was a personal life insurance policy. I said your premiums were dutifully paid, and that she was the legal beneficiary. It didn’t matter, of course. Maybe it had something to do with the messenger. You should have hired an actor to pose as an insurance adjuster, a stranger who could arrive at her door with papers to sign and a settlement statement. Or perhaps you might have set up a company with a bland name and simply mailed her a check. But no—one look at me and she wanted nothing to do with the money. By the way, where did you get it?”

“It’s not Mossad money, if that’s what you mean. Not exactly.”

Bloch eyed the kidon, but didn’t pursue the point.

“Does she have any doubts?” Slaton asked.