“Harv knows the score. Don’t worry about him, and don’t let him insist on staying in a hotel tonight.”

“I won’t.”

Harv placed the bags on the seat next to him and slid into the front. “We’re good to go. Listen, you two should be alone tonight. I don’t mind roughing it at the Hyatt again.”

Holly smiled at him in the rearview mirror. “I’ve got a spare bedroom. It’s no trouble at all.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

***

The all-night diner featured an aeronautical theme. Model airplanes of all shapes and eras hung from the ceiling. Wooden propellers and memorabilia adorned the walls. As always, Nathan was amazed at Harv’s ability to eat an inordinate amount of food.

Holly filled Nathan in on what she’d already told Harvey.

“Do you have an ID on the body?”

“Yes, his name is Arthur Kramer. His fingerprints were identified quickly. He was an American attaché assigned to the U.S. embassy in Hungary.”

“Hungary?” Harv asked. “What kind of attaché?”

“A commercial attaché—basically, a person whose job it is to promote American businesses in foreign countries. Apparently, he was part of a joint task force involving the U.S. and the Hungarian government to pursue clean coal technology. He had ties with a consulting firm called Energy Solutions, Incorporated. The group’s focus was on a huge reserve of lignite discovered in an open pit mine near the Mantra power plant.”

“How big a reserve are we talking about?” Nathan asked.

“Half a billion short tons.”

“What does that number mean?”

“I’m not sure, but the case notes say that because of this mine, Hungary could become a major exporter of lignite to other Eastern Bloc countries.”

Harv asked, “What kind of money’s involved with something like this?”

“Hundreds of millions of euros, maybe billions,” Holly said. “I’m obviously no expert, so I did a little research before coming to meet you. Most experts believe clean coal technology won’t be commercially viable on a large scale until the year 2025. In a nutshell, it involves two processes. The first is chemically washing the coal to remove undesirable minerals and impurities, and the second is treating the emissions. Steam would be used to remove sulfur dioxide, but that still leaves the problem of capturing and storing enormous amounts of carbon dioxide gas in solid form. Essentially, dry ice. Many environmental experts believe it just trades one evil for another. They’re worried all the carbon dioxide will be released into the atmosphere someday.”

“So Montez tortures and kills a clean coal consultant?” Harv asked. “That sure doesn’t sound like his usual MO.”