"Yes. Pillow talk, mostly. The man couldn't keep his mouth shut around Esther. He liked to paint himself as large as possible, to impress her. She encouraged him of course. She knew how to get him to run off at the mouth."

"Whose idea was it? For Esther to do what she did?"

"Hers. Esther's."

"No one pushed her into it?"

"No one. In fact, I tried to talk her out of it. I found the whole notion distasteful. I told her there were other ways she could be of service to the Irgun. But Esther was adamant. She said she could do more good by getting intimate with Clapper than by being just another run-of-the-mill Irgun member. She convinced me, and she was right. The information she got for us was priceless."

"Why did you choose Clapper?"

"For a number of reasons. One, his wife had remained in England, so he was here without a woman. Two, his position and role in the CID made him a prime target. In more ways than one, actually. The bastard's lucky to be alive."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because Clapper was marked for assassination by the heads of the Irgun. He was very effective in stopping our ships and was seen as a major threat to continued Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel. The reason why no attempt was made on his life was due to the extraordinary precautions he took. He rarely ventured out in public, kept odd hours, switched vehicles frequently, and changed his routine often. It was difficult to formulate an assassination plan that was likely to succeed. When Esther became his lover, Clapper became more valuable alive than dead and the order to have him killed was rescinded. Michael was furious."

"Why?"

"Because he had been given the task of eliminating Clapper. He did not like it when he was ordered to desist. He viewed it as a personal failure. You see, Michael did not know Clapper had been compromised."

"Compromised by Esther," I said.

Mira nodded. "Exactly. Only I knew of her actions, and only one higher-up in the Irgun knew that I had an agent close to Clapper. It had to be that way for security reasons. The more people knew, the greater chance there was of Esther being uncovered as a spy."

"Wasn't she taking an exceptional risk, being so close to a high-ranking British officer?"

"I explained the risks to her. She accepted them. Esther was very brave. Very dedicated. I remember her telling me that this wasn't a choice she was making. She felt compelled to do whatever she could to help other Jews get into our homeland."

Mira ran her hands through her hair, then clasped them tightly in her lap. She shook her head mournfully. "I knew she faced a risk of being exposed by the British. I never imagined that what she was doing might be used against her by a Jew."