“It’s already tucked away in a safe place,” he said.

Nordstrum smiled. They ran side by side awhile in silence, cresting the knoll and then heading down toward the Reflecting Pool. The water sparkled in the morning light.

“I’ve got something for you,” Blake said. “It wasn’t easy. Anyone finds out I leaked it, I can open up that bagel joint my cousin Steve in Chicago always wanted me to go in on.”

Nordstrum nodded but said nothing.

“You know the Lian Group?” Blake said.

“Of course.”

“They made the goods,” Blake said.

Nordstrum nodded again. His face was serious and thoughtful.

“What about the end purchaser?” he asked.

“The trail leads to a Russian distributor. After that, it’s an open question.”

There was a long pause.

“Crap,” Nordstrum said finally, shaking his head.

“I didn’t figure you’d like my news much,” Blake said.

Nordstrum was quiet another moment.

“Is that all of it?” he said.

“So far, yeah,” Blake said. “I’ll let you know if I dig up anything more.”

“Thanks,” Nordstrum said. “I’m glad I gave you an A in class.”

“I earned it,” Blake said.

Nordstrum looked over at him.

“Insolent pup,” he said.

“It’s looking more and more as if you were right the other day, Gord,” Nordstrum said into his telephone.

Freshly showered and wrapped in a bathrobe, he was back in his Pennsylvania Avenue townhouse after his jog, and had just gotten through telling Gordian what he’d learned from Blake.

“I’m almost wishing I’d been wrong,” Gordian said. “This Lian Group ... I’ve heard of it before. Didn’t the name come up in the Thompson campaign finance hearings a few years ago?”

“Right again,” Nordstrum said. “The evidence that it was involved in funneling Chinese government funds into our election wasn’t as conclusive as it was for Lippo, among other foreign contributors ... but it was strong nonetheless. In my opinion, Lian money gave at least two senators a considerable edge against their opponents, and may very likely have won them their seats.”

“I’m still pretty much with Megan insofar as being confused. What’s the connection between Lian and the Russians? And specifically which Russians?”

Nordstrum sat forward on his living room sofa, absently winding the telephone wire around his fingers.

“The best I can do is speculate,” he said. “I mean, I’d need to look into my files, do some research, before I could expect you to bank on this information.”

“Go ahead, I understand.”

“There are circumstances that would point toward Russia’s Agricultural Minister, Yeni Bashkir, being knee-deep in this affair. He and Lian have a long relationship. As do members of the Chinese regime and Bashkir. Also, Bashkir’s family held commercial interests throughout Asia until after the Bolshevik Revolution.”

“And his motive?”

“Bashkir’s hardly an Americanophile ... is that the proper term?”