“Good idea,” Jim said. “I’ll call Dante in a minute and ask him to do that. In the meantime I wanted you to know that I heard from Langley . . .”

“You mean, Lance?”

“From Langley. Your request is getting serious consideration. They seem to be trying to build a national security case, instead of just one of law enforcement. That’s not really what we do.”

“I understand. I should think that international organized crime would constitute a threat to national security.”

“I’ve made that case to the powers that be,” Jim said. “We’ll hear from them in due course.”

“That sounds like a long wait.”

“Not necessarily—we can move quickly.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“In the meantime, we’ve had a nibble on your offer of a reward for Casselli.”

“Oh?”

“Oddly enough, it’s from a German citizen who is visiting Rome.”

“Does Casselli have business dealings in Germany?”

“It’s the European Union—much easier than in the past to do business in different countries.”

“Who is he?”

“His name is Frederic Klaucke.” Jim spelled it for him. “He’s in the chocolate business: an importer.”

“Do we have any indication that Casselli has an interest in chocolate?”

“Casselli is interested in money: if chocolate looked profitable, and if he could find a way to make an illegal bundle in it, he’d be interested.”

“Okay, what now?”

“Herr Klaucke is in a car downstairs. Shall I ask him up?”

“Let’s not invite him into our secure location,” Stone said. “Is there somewhere else we could meet him?”

“In one of our vans downstairs in the courtyard?”

“That sounds good. What has he told you so far?”

“Almost nothing. He’s had some business dealings with Casselli, that’s all he’ll say. He wants to speak directly to the person offering the reward.”

“Do you think he wants to get at me?”

“No. My sense is, he knows something. It might not be what we want to know, but it can’t hurt to listen to him.”

“Tell me what you know about the man.”

“He’s tall, probably six-two or -three, in his fifties, mostly bald, seems to be well-educated, dresses well.”

“Where in Germany is he from?”

“Hamburg. Lives in the suburbs, has offices in the city.”

“And he wants to meet me.”

“He does. He doesn’t know your name, but he’s seen the flyer we distributed. Had a copy of it in his pocket, actually.”

“This sounds preposterous.”

“Maybe it is, who knows? You’re the one offering the reward. That would sound preposterous to a lot of people.”

“I suppose it would.”

“I think the distribution of the leaflet has also told Casselli how much you want Hedy back. I think he looks at five million euros as your opening bid.”

“My opening bid?”

“Yes.”

“He thinks I’m negotiating?”

“Probably. To tell you the truth, I drew the same conclusion.”