The Falstaff Enigma (8 page)

"Yes, before or during the
war."

"Now I must reveal some information I learned while you
slept. I have contacts in the Turkish police and I found out that they were able to dig a well-preserved bullet out of the road behind the embassy. The bullet had a caliber of seven-point-six-two millimeters."

“
Russian,” Austin blurted out reflexively.

"Yes, Mr. Austi
n. Russian. The weapon was Russian made."

Austin spoke on the heels of Kemp's last sentence, cutting
him off from further speculation. "With that knowledge, the weapon was probably a Soviet SKS, a rifle produced in huge quantities before and during the War and modernized in 1946 when it was made into a semi-automatic carbine."

"
Holy crap, you've just confirmed it." For the first time Kemp lost control of his body and allowed himself to slump back in the seat. Austin had confirmed his suspicions and that was frightening.

"Confirmed what?"

"Let's review a few points.” Kemp paused for a moment to gather his arguments. “One: You saw a definite Westerner in charge of the operation. Two: The operation included at least one backup – a sniper. This is something that no terrorist group would ever do. Three: The sniper probably used a Soviet-made SKS bolt action rifle. Four: This weapon is never used by modern terrorist groups. Five: This weapon is the favorite of KGB snipers due to its range, accuracy and reliability. Do you understand what you've confirmed?"

"You're saying that that attack was done by a KGB team?" Austin posed it as a question. He could not bring himself to consider it as a statement.

"In my opinion, it was definitely a KGB team."

"Do you realize what
you're saying? That was the U.S. Embassy."

"I know, and I can't explain it except to say that for some reason the death of Poltovsky was so critical to some powerful group within the Soviet Union that they would entrust this assault only to the KGB."

"This is incredible. What you're saying, if true and if publicly known, could lead to World War Three."

"I know.
But a cover-up is already under way." John Kemp handed Austin an English language newspaper. Austin read the headline.

ARMENIAN SEPARATIST GROUP CONFIRMED IN EMBASSY BOMBING TURKISH AUTHORITIES ARREST THREE

John Kemp did not give Austin the chance to reflect on all he had learned in the last minutes. Kemp wanted Austin to see far more, and for that he needed to keep the analyst's mind off guard; undecided; open.

"I want to proceed with this, only now we are going to go on the assumption that this was a planned assault conducted by a KGB team with the objective of killing Poltovsky. Okay?"

Austin chose his response carefully. "Okay, it's certainly within the realm of possibility, although I still find it highly implausible."

"I
hope you turn out to be right." Kemp paused to finish his bread.

Austin was impatient.
"I think the question to tackle now is why? What motive would possibly lead the Soviets to use their own people to do something like this?"

Kemp swallowed.
"I agree, and we will come to that in due time. First, however, I want you to give me your opinion on the timing of this attack."

"What th
e hell are you driving at now?" Austin said it with a touch of humor in his voice, but both men knew the underlying tension that shaped this conversation.

"You'll know shortly.
Please tell me your reaction to my question."

"Going on our assumption, I don't think there's anything to the timing.
They struck as soon as they were ready."

"What if they were waiting for the right time?
General Poltovsky defected seventy-two hours before you arrived. It would take a KGB team – and remember, this is something that I am the expert in – less than twenty-four hours to be ready to make this raid."

"What about the lag time necessary to make a decision?" Austin was beginning to feel uncomfortable. He had an idea about what the CIA man was
driving at.

"Good point, but not logical.
Poltovsky knew something so important that some group within the Soviet Union was willing to order the destruction of a U. S. Embassy. That is something that would have been realized from the moment of his defection. In other words, it's not something that would have dawned on them after a couple of days. No, I'm sure that the decision to kill the general was made within several hours after the defection, if not before. Who knows, maybe he defected because he knew he was marked."

"That makes sense, but I still find it hard to believe that the team would be ready in a day." Austin was looking for proof from Kemp.

"For one thing, the KGB keeps this type of team on call year round. Fact two, we’re in Turkey and getting here from Russia is very, very easy, not like sending a team to the middle of Australia. The third and final point is that I received a call from an asset of mine who works in an Ankara hotel the day after Poltovsky defected, telling me that I should come by because he thought that a KGB soldier had just checked in. This guy had been reliable in the past so I decided to follow up. I hung around the lobby for a while and within an hour a KGB agent named Leonid Alexandrevich walked into the lobby and out the front door. He is notorious among Western field agents like myself. It's believed that he has personally assassinated at least six 'enemies of the State.'

"Outside,
” Kemp continued, “he hailed a taxi and I followed in my car. He was let off two blocks from the U. S. Embassy and headed off on a slow walk in that direction. I left to avoid detection but now I know what he was doing. When I left, I immediately sent a report of this to Langley and I ordered a report on Alexandrevich.

"What I received back makes our major assumption much more than that;
it must be considered a given. The report said that he was believed to be in charge of a secret assault team composed of highly skilled KGB field veterans designed to be deployed worldwide. In addition, it said that he was last seen the day before leaving the Lubyanka in Moscow. I think he was the man you saw get out of the car. That tells me that the decision to deploy and use the team was made during that first twenty-four-hour period."

Austin's enigma was becoming sharper in his mind.
He felt the emotion of fear building in his body, but he had to ignore it. He knew it could conquer him otherwise. "Then you're right. Killing Poltovsky was so important that the Soviets were willing to violate all the dictates of common sense to take him. But I can't see your point on timing."

"Okay, let's now assume that the team was ready to attack the day I saw Alexandrevich.
Remember that the Russians clearly made this decision to keep Poltovsky from talking. So every minute counted. Some reason kept them from attacking until yesterday. It is my contention that that reason was to be found in the embassy itself. To support this I look to the back-up."

"The sniper?"

"Yes. Probably one of several. Anyway, these men were thorough professionals with a specific mission. They kill only those necessary to complete their job. When that sniper opened up he knew his primary target: the general. After the general was dead, the sniper did not stop. If the general were the only person they cared about, then that sniper would have stopped and that much I can guarantee. Which means that they wanted Ridgeway killed and they wanted – want – you killed." Kemp watched Austin’s reaction carefully. He wanted to know how this sheltered analyst would react under the pressure of fear.

Wake me up. Please, someone wake me.
This cannot be – but is. I am marked for death
. Austin's face showed only cold emotion. "I guess it was because they knew we had, or were supposed to have, interviewed Poltovsky."

"I wish I c
ould agree but I have to say no. They risked a great deal in every hour that Poltovsky lived. It was another hour in which he could reveal what he knew. That team had orders to wait. The source of those orders wanted an added dividend with Poltovsky's death. That dividend was your death. Now we are left with two answers and no questions. We need to figure out why they wanted Poltovsky dead and you dead."

"
You are saying that our new assumption is that I was a target as well as the general?"

"Yes, and to ans
wer the 'why,' let's examine the general's words." John Kemp picked up a  page of his notes and held them up in the air at arm's length. "That man clearly thought you should know some facts. He told you to contact the CIA and 'not your own’, which I guess means the DIA, given the context of its use. That statement could mean anything, but it won't tell us why you and he were targets so we will pass on it for now. Next was ‘Vazhnevsky killed, Govenin, plot to kill, speak with Borskov.’ Of the three names, I recognize only one. Vazhnevsky is a Soviet general, but I haven't heard anything about his being killed. Poltovsky could have meant another person." Kemp stopped himself because Austin had the start of a smile on his face.

"Pol
tovsky didn't mean someone else. I happen to know that Marshal Vazhnevsky has been missing for a couple of weeks.” Austin was both enlightening the field agent and correcting him about the officer’s rank.

Kemp picked up on the correction but did not give the analyst the satisfaction of acknowledging it.
"Then we have some startling news. But I'll have to put the other names through Langley and see what comes up.

"Going back to our current assumption, I believe that you were marked because you must share something with Poltovsky, or at least the KGB thinks you do.
It is only logical to assume there is a connection somewhere. Perhaps it is something you know or wrote.”

"Or saw."
Light. A piece of the puzzle falls into place
. The enigma was now sharply in focus, presenting a labyrinth of possibilities.

"What?"

"You've done it, John. You've shown me the connection, the connection between Poltovsky and me that's perfectly plausible and confirms all your hypotheses.” Austin trembled. He fully grasped that one of Kemp's major hypotheses was that Austin was a man marked for death by the most ruthless organ of the Soviet Union.

"Please tell me what you mean."

"The connection between us is Vazhnevsky." Austin told the man from the CIA about the May Day films and the call to Don Clements. Kemp was astounded. He no longer needed to force himself to believe his own premises.

"Who did you talk to about the tapes other than Clements?"

"No one."

"Wh
at about your partner? What’s-his-name?"

"Jim Welch.
Not even him. After the conversation with Clements I decided to keep the whole affair to myself, and since I know you're thinking it, that includes my wife."

"Tell me what you know about Clements.
I've heard the name, but that's it."

"Not a lot.
Don Clements is, of course, with the DIA. What he does, to the best of my knowledge, is track Soviet military personnel. He is supposed to know where every key Soviet officer is at all times. The theory is that if all the key men in the Red Army start collecting in Eastern Europe then we know that something's afoot."

"Do you know w
here he is in the chain of command?"

"I've assumed that he is in charge
of a unit, but I honestly don't know if he is part of a staff or heads up a unit or works alone. He first contacted me about six or seven months ago when he was trying to track down a Soviet naval officer, an admiral, I think. I gave him the location of the port where an Alfa-class sub was stationed for sea trials. As I learned when I called him, he apparently was able to find this guy thanks to my information."

"What about his personal life?"

"Nothing. I’ve never even seen him, or he me to my knowledge. His voice is fairly normal; in fact it's bland. It really conveys nothing about him, although I would guess he's about forty years old."

Kemp pulled the page on which he had been writing out of his notes.
Don Clements was to be kept available for future reference. Kemp spoke to Austin, trying desperately to formulate a plan of action. "I want you to describe everything relevant that happened to you between your call to Clements and when you saw the man with the walkie-talkie at the embassy."

Austin complied.
It did not take long, only a half hour. Everything had been strictly routine until he met Oberheim. When he was finished, Austin shrugged his shoulders as if to say that nothing he told offered a clue. John Kemp thought otherwise.

"It's time to add another assumption.
You were sent to Ankara in order to die with Poltovsky."

"We've already established that the KGB waited to attack so that they could get the general and me at the same time."

"You don't understand what I’m saying,” Kemp responded. “What you just said supposes that the Russians found out you were being sent over and then decided to wait until you were here. I'm supposing that the decision was made to kill you and you were sent here specifically to die in the embassy attack."