“You mean a terrorist group?” Kreisman shook his head. “Why would anyone acknowledge the bomb? We caught it, ergo, we won, they lost. Their mission was a failure. As a matter of fact, if I were Hamas or the PLO or some other terrorist group, and I’d paid Milligan a bundle of money to pull this stunt off, I’d be pretty damn pissed off at her. If Milligan’s involved, she’s not only running from us, but from whoever hired her as well.”

Kreisman rubbed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

“I can understand why any of the terrorist groups would do this. If they succeed, they have everything to gain. And not much to lose, if they fail. But I can’t understand why Kate Milligan would do it. Risk everything she had—which was a shitload—to be even more obscenely rich. And don’t tell me greed. She might be greedy, but we all know she isn’t stupid.”

“Money’s a powerful motivator,” Rina said.

“She had money,” Kreisman said.

“Maybe she wanted power,” Decker said. “Maybe Milligan was tired of being passed over when she felt she deserved to be number one. VerHauten is a male-dominated, family business. She knew she couldn’t ever be CEO no matter how hard she worked. She wanted it all.”

“So she did all this to get back at VerHauten?” Kreisman shook his head. “That’s stupid.”

Rina said, “Well, we exhausted money and power as catalysts. She’s not an Arab, so she probably didn’t do it for revenge. That leaves only one other prime motivator.”

No one spoke.

Rina smiled. “Maybe she did it for love, gentlemen. Maybe she was in love with a radical Arab terrorist and did it for him. They’ve used women in terrorist acts before.”

Decker suddenly sat up. “I don’t think she was in love with an Arab. I think she was in love with a black.”

“Black?” Rina said. “Why do you say that?”

“Not American black. A South African black. Wasn’t Mandela a big supporter of the PLO when he was in prison?”

Rina said, “I think he still is, although I know he’s more moderate now. He’s met with Israeli officials.”

“I’m not painting Mandela as a villain,” Decker said. “I’m just saying, when Mandela was in prison, the South African blacks and the Palestinians allied themselves together as exiled, displaced people. Israel was often compared to South Africa—”

“That’s not a fair assessment,” Kreisman interrupted.

“I’m reporting the news, Sgan Nitzav, not making a value judgment,” Decker said. “My partner in America and I had discussed the possibility that Arik Yalom had been blackmailing Kate Milligan. Why else would Milligan deal directly with someone as small as Yalom?”

“Go on,” Rina said.