“I told him I couldn’t help him. I sent him away.”

“You didn’t know he’d met Judith?”

“No.”

“And now?” Mac exhaled smoke. “Now what do you think he is?”

“What can he be? An opportunist. A thief. Behind my back, he met with my wife, he seduced her into giving him things, he destroyed her happiness.”

Mac dropped his cigarette into Crockett’s water glass. “What if I told you he was the same man who arranged for us to get out of Budapest—and then betrayed us to the Russians?”

Balaton went white. “What are you saying?”

“We knew him as orült szerzetes. The mad monk. He was a true Hungarian hero—or so we were led to believe. In fact, it’s my opinion that he was working for the Russians all along, and probably still is. Imagine the valuable information he could have provided them, posing as a hero of his enslaved countrymen. I’ve had thirty years to think over that night, Andrew. And now, from what’s happened during the past few days, I can make a few educated guesses. One, our ‘mad monk’ wanted you that night, not just me. He must have found out you’d been supplying the Americans with information from your position with the ÁVH.”

Crockett leaned forward. “The what? What the hell are you talking about, Stevens?”

“The Államvédelmi Hivatal,” Balaton said hoarsely. “The Hungarian secret police. I was a member during the Stalinist period, but I served as an agent for the Americans.”

“Why was I never told?”

Mac gave a raw smile. “State security, Crockett, or whatever bullshit you want to call it. I was sent into Budapest to get Balaton out. Our ‘mad monk’ did his damnedest to stop us—without exposing himself as a traitor to his people, of course. He got me, but Balaton escaped. And orült szerzetes came after him. I don’t know what happened between him and Judith, I don’t know about her children, I don’t know about her death. But I do know Wakefield has been sitting tight for the past thirty years, waiting for his chance.”

“Doesn’t make sense,” Crockett said, the sharp executive now. “Any damage Andrew could have done the Russians he’s already done.”

Mac nodded, patting out yet another cigarette. “My thought exactly—until I looked into how he could help the Russians. Crockett Industries has huge interests in the defense industries, companies and departments on the cutting edge of technology. The Soviets would be delighted to get their hands on some of your company’s secrets, Crockett. If they could get to Andrew, blackmail him somehow, they could get themselves some valuable information.”

Crockett nodded thoughtfully. “I see.”

“And that,” Mac went on, “is where the jewels come in.”

“Don’t be absurd.” Balaton sniffed arrogantly. “What could this man have on me? I have a clear conscience. I have nothing to hide.”

“What about the diamond-and-pearl tiara and choker, Andrew? Wakefield went to tremendous lengths to get them from Ashley. What kind of leverage do they give him against you? What do the jewels prove, Andrew?”