Sam’s judo training made him move quickly. His arm shot out like a striking snake to snatch the flashlight out of the man’s hand as he stepped into the man’s body and put him on the ground, then shone the light in the other man’s face.

Tibor was as shocked as the two sentries, but he recovered more quickly. He spoke loudly and harshly in Hungarian, and what he said was not a compliment. Sam and Remi could guess that it involved the guards’ dress and deportment. Tibor took the flashlight and shone it on them as he found fault with their shaves, then tapped one man’s shirt because its buttons did not line up with his belt. He didn’t like their shoeshines either. Finally he waved them past with a final threatening growl.

Sam said, “Very well done.”

“Thank you. But have you noticed we’ve been here only ten minutes and we’ve been stopped twice by men with automatic weapons?”

“It’s an encouraging sign,” said Sam. “This place is too well guarded to be an honest drug company. Let’s hope one of the things they’re hiding is Albrecht Fischer.”

Suddenly the big dog surged ahead. His leash tightened and jerked Remi’s arm, then pulled her relentlessly forward. “We’ve got a scent,” she said. Zoltán tugged Remi along the roadway between the windowless buildings, and the others followed closely. Sam and János spread out on both sides of her and watched for obstacles ahead and either way, with their hands resting on their pistols.

They reached a building near the farthest corner of the complex, some kind of utility or storage building. There was one door made of steel, and around it was a steel cage with its own door and an electronic card reader on the latch. Zoltán went to the cage, nosed around it, trying to find a way in, getting more and more excited, sniffing under the grating and then jumping up to put his forepaws on it.

“Ül, Zoltán,” Remi said. “Jo fiu.” She patted Zoltán as he sat. To the others she said, “This is it.”

Sam said, “We can knock or we can wait for somebody with a card key.”

“I’ll knock,” said Remi. “Take Zoltán out of sight with you.”

The three men and the dog stepped to either side into the shadows while Remi went up to the cage and pressed a button next to the card reader. A loud buzzer went off inside.

A small window in the steel door slid open at eye level, then closed. The door opened. A man in the usual gray uniform appeared and asked her a question in Hungarian. She laughed as though he’d said something charming. He was clearly intrigued by the sudden arrival of an attractive woman. She smiled brightly at him and he pressed a button on the inner wall of the building that buzzed and unlocked the cage door.

As Remi stepped inside, the man saw Zoltán materialize out of the darkness beside her. He began reflexively to shut the steel door, but Zoltán was much faster and pushed in ahead of Remi.