“As I have told Stone, during my career in the arms trade I have taken great care not to violate the laws of the United States, so it will be a waste of time for you to attempt to trap me into an admission of that sort.”

“I see,” Lance replied.

Stone spoke up. “Do you have the documents we requested?” he asked Lance.

Lance opened his briefcase, which was on the table, and handed Stone two envelopes. “There you are. Please feel free to examine them.”

Stone opened the two envelopes and found Lance’s letter to him, along with the attorney general’s, both retyped exactly as he had written them and both signed and notarized. Stone showed them to Pablo, then tucked them into his inside jacket pocket.

“I’ll make copies for you later,” he said to Pablo. “Now, Lance, we may begin.”

Lance stated the date and time and recited the names of those present, for the benefit of the recordings. “During these proceedings, Mr. Gelbhardt will be addressed as Pablo, which is his preference. First question, Pablo: Please tell us how you left the federal courthouse, where you went, and what you did there?”

Pablo took a sip of his coffee. “After the attorneys had completed their closing statements and the jury had been removed from the courtroom, I went to the men’s room on the floor below, where a briefcase had been left for me with a change of clothing and a disguise, consisting of a wig and a false beard. I changed, applied the disguise, then took the elevator to the basement garage, walked outside, took a taxi to New Jersey, where, by previous arrangement, I boarded a cargo ship which had completed its lading and which sailed as soon as I came aboard.

“I was shown to a comfortable cabin and was given a Merchant Marine uniform and introduced to the crew as a company inspector, along for the ride. The vessel sailed to Oran, in Algeria, where I left it and, using three taxis, went to a private clinic on the south side of the city.

“There I underwent some cosmetic surgery procedures—I had never liked my nose or my chin very much, you see—and I spent another ten days there, recuperating. I was issued a legal Algerian passport during that time and acquired other identification documents. After that I proceeded to Malta, then to Italy, and finally to Spain, where I purchased a small villa on four acres in Marbella.”

“Did you do any business during your time in Algeria?” Lance asked.

“No, I devoted myself to recovery from surgery and to arranging identity documents.”

“And what did you do when you arrived in Spain?”