“No comment—that’s what I should have said at the start.”

“As you wish. But now, you do your duty and report the details of our chat to your master. Or mistress.”

Addis left the alley.

“I notice there was no denial,” Hynes-Pierce shouted after him.

Addis wheeled around.

“How can I deny what I don’t know?” he asked.

“That is the question, isn’t it?” Hynes-Pierce said.

He lit a match. Before it hit the ground, Addis was gone.

Rudd was on the phone when Addis returned to the suite. Legal documents were scattered across the bed. She was laughing. She placed a hand over the receiver. “M. T.,” she said.

Addis went into the other room and flopped on the bed.

“So then,” Rudd was saying into the phone, “the vice president of the union asks, ‘Can I give this to him in cash?’”

She laughed again.

“How would you like to be the one to tell him that two Justice Department officials are in the other room? Okay … he just came in … . Yeah, it was good talking to you, too … . Hope it all works out … . Here he is.”

Rudd waited for Addis to pick up the other phone, she then hung up and told him she was going to take a bath. She closed the bathroom door behind her.

“Margaret asked me to call,” O’Connor said.

“I talked to Brew earlier. Sounds like a busy day.”

“She wanted to know how it’s going.”

“Of course,” he said.

He lowered his voice. He told O’Connor about his discussions with Whalen and the men in Alexandria. He mentioned the trouble he was having reaching Griffith and the phone calls with Joe Mik. He recounted his conversation with Hynes-Pierce.

“He’s a pig,” O’Connor said.

“Yes, and a diligent one … . You will tell Margaret about this offer?”

“Where is he getting his information?”

“Must be Griffith. His lawyer made it sound like Griffith is talking.”

“Jesus.”

“He’s probably trying to sell the story. Maybe to Hynes-Pierce.”

“And is it true?” she asked. “The sellers and then the buyers were associated with Chasie?”

“It could be.”

“That’s a lot of help, Nick. You know what this could mean?”

“M. T., I’m not an idiot.”

“And this Griffith jerk has proof? This is what happened?”

“I wasn’t there when they bought the land … . You’re going to tell her, right?”

“He’s just a sotty hack blowing smoke. That’s what this is. You know the other stories he’s done.”

“Even a trash collector finds something valuable once in a while. And it’s her decision. Tell her what he said. Otherwise, I will.”

“She doesn’t have enough to worry about?” O’Connor asked.

“Now she has one more thing.”