“This is documentation of cash in an escrow account,” he said. “Proceeds from the sale of a villa in Sardinia. The money is in the Barbadian branch of an Italian bank. Six hundred seventy-five thousand dollars waiting to be claimed by the seller, a trust established in Nevada. The name of the trustee has been left blank. You can fill it in as you wish.”

She took the envelope and said, “Thank you.”

“Do you want me to stay?” he asked.

Catherine looked at the attractive, kind, and considerate man sitting before her.

“Not tonight,” she said.

And his phone dinged with a text. From Stavro. Summoning him to a meeting.

Religion

RELIGION

Okoro invited Rafe to have a coffee.

“Why?” said Rafe. He was still standing next to his car. He shut the door and locked it.

“Because your friends were not very helpful to me.”

“What friends?”

“The ones I met after you followed me to the synagogue.”

Rafe didn’t see any point in denying further. Besides, he was curious.

“They said you were Jewish.”

“I am.”

“You’re wearing a cross,” Rafe pointed out.

Okoro looked down at it and smiled. “I am also Catholic. And Episcopal. God does not make distinctions. Why should we?”

Rafe didn’t know how to begin answering that one. He let Okoro lead him down the street to a small bar with a metal counter. There was a table with two chairs by the window. They got coffees and sat there. Through the window, on the street outside, they could see the prostitute with dyed orange hair talking to a man in a gray overcoat.

“Interesting neighborhood,” Okoro said. “The sex trade and cheap hotels.” He took a sip of his coffee. “The Chinese tourists love them.”

“The prostitutes?” Rafe asked. If Okoro was in no hurry to get to the point, Rafe saw no reason to rush him. He sipped his coffee, too.

“The cheap hotels.” Okoro pointed through the glass to a middle-aged Chinese couple walking into a one-star hotel carrying three shopping bags apiece. “They save their money to come to Switzerland to buy prestigious goods. Watches and jewelry and handbags to impress people back home. Why stay in an expensive hotel? You can’t take the hotel back to Guangzhou to show your friends.”

“Where are you staying?” Rafe asked.

“That same hotel,” Okoro smiled again. “It is all my estacode can afford.”

“Your estacode?”

“My expense allowance,” he said. “A police term. I suppose you have heard I am here on police business.”

“How did you find me?” Rafe asked.

“You are not a very good spy. I saw you following me from the investment office. When I was finished with your friends I waited outside the American mission until I saw you come out. Then I followed you. Your tradecraft needs a little work.”