Windmills of the Gods

When the report on the licence plate came back, Sergeant Twill decided that Hanson had made a mistake. He took his information upstairs to Inspector Pakula and explained the background.

‘I wouldn’t have bothered you with this, Inspector, but the licence-plate number –’

‘Yes. I see. I’ll take care of it.’

‘Thank you, sir.’

At SIS headquarters, Inspector Pakula had a brief meeting with one of the senior heads of the British Secret Intelligence Service, a beefy, florid-faced man, Sir Alex Hyde-White.

‘You were quite right to bring this to my attention,’ Sir Alex smiled, ‘but I’m afraid it’s nothing more sinister than trying to arrange a Royal vacation trip without the press being aware of it.’

‘I’m sorry to have bothered you about this, sir.’ Inspector Pakula rose to his feet.

‘Not at all, Inspector. Shows your branch is on its toes. What did you say the name of that young constable was?’

‘Hanson, sir. Leslie Hanson.’

When the door closed behind Inspector Pakula, Sir Alex Hyde-White picked up a red telephone on his desk. ‘I have a message for Balder. We have a small problem. I’ll explain it at the next meeting. Meanwhile, I want you to arrange for three transfers. Police Sergeant Twill, an Inspector Pakula, and Constable Leslie Hanson. Spread them out a few days. I want them sent to separate posts, as far from London as possible. I’ll inform the Controller and see if he wants to take any further action.’

In his hotel room in New York, Harry Lantz was awakened in the middle of the night by the ringing of the telephone.

Who the hell knows I’m here? he wondered. He looked blearily at the bedside clock, then snatched up the phone. ‘It’s four o’fucking clock in the morning! Who the –?’

A soft voice at the other end of the line began speaking, and Lantz sat upright in bed, his heart beginning to pound. ‘Yes, sir,’ he said. ‘Yes, sir … No, sir, but I can arrange to make myself free.’ He listened for a long time. Finally he said, ‘Yes, sir. I understand. I’ll be on the first plane to Buenos Aires. Thank you, sir.’

He replaced the receiver, reached over to the bedside table and lit a cigarette. His hands were trembling. The man he had just spoken to was one of the most powerful men in the world, and what he had asked Harry to do …What the hell is going down? Harry Lantz asked himself. Something big. The man was going to pay him $50,000 to deliver a message. It would be fun going back to Argentina. Harry Lantz loved the South American women. I know a dozen bitches there with hot pants who would rather fuck than eat.

The day was starting out great.

At 9 a.m. Lantz picked up the telephone and dialled the number of Aerolineas Argentinas. ‘What time is your first flight to Buenos Aires?’

The 747 arrived at the Ezeiza Airport in Buenos Aires at 5 p.m. the following afternoon. It had been a long flight, but Harry Lantz had not minded it. Fifty thousand dollars for delivering a message. He felt a surge of excitement as the wheels lightly kissed the ground. He had not been to Argentina for almost five years. It would be fun to renew old acquaintances.

As Harry Lantz stepped out of the plane, the blast of hot air startled him for a moment. Of course. It’s summer here.

During the taxi ride into the city, Lantz was amused to see that the graffiti scrawled on the sides of buildings and sidewalks had not changed. Plebiscito las pelotas (Fuck the Plebiscite). Militares, Asesinos (Army, Assassins). Tenemos hambre (We are hungry). Marihuana na libre (Free pot). Droga, sexo y muncho rock (Drugs, sex and rock ’n’ roll). Juicio y castigo a los culpables (Trial and punishment for the guilty).

Yes, it was good to be back.

Siesta was over and the streets were crowded with people lazily walking to and from appointments. When the taxi arrived at the Hotel El Conquistador in the heart of the fashionable Barrio Norte sector, Lantz paid the driver with a million peso note.

‘Keep the change,’ he said. Their money was a joke.

He registered at the desk in the huge, modern lobby, picked up a copy of the Buenos Aires Herald and La Prensa, and let the assistant manager show him to his suite. Sixty dollars a day for a bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen, air-conditioned, with television. In Washington, this set-up would cost an arm and a leg, Harry Lantz thought. I’ll take care of my business with this Neusa broad tomorrow, and stay around a few days and enjoy myself

It was more than two weeks before Harry Lantz was able to track down Neusa Muñez.

His search began with the city telephone directories. Lantz started with the places in the heart of the city: Plaza Constitución, Plaza San Martin, Barrio Norte, Catalinas Norte. None of them had a listing for a Neusa Muñez. Nor was there any listing in the outlying areas of Bahia Blanca or Mar del Plaza.

Where the hell is she? Lantz wondered. He took to the streets, looking up old contacts.

He walked into La Biela, and the bartender cried out, ‘Señor Lantz! Por dios – I heard you were dead.’

Lantz grinned. ‘I was, but I missed you so much, Antonio, I came back.’

‘What are you doing in Buenos Aires?’

Lantz let his voice grow pensive. ‘I came here to find an old girl friend. We were supposed to get married, but her family moved away and I lost track of her. Her name is Neusa Muñez.’

The bartender scratched his head. ‘Never heard of her. Lo siento.’

‘Would you ask around, Antonio?’

‘Por qué no?’

Lantz’s next stop was to see a friend at police headquarters.

‘Lantz! Harry Lantz! Dios! Qué pasa?’

‘Hello, Jorge. Nice to see you, amigo.’

‘Last I heard about you, the CIA kicked you out.’

Harry Lantz laughed. ‘No way, my friend. They begged me to stay. I quit to go into business for myself.’

‘Si? What business are you in?’

‘I opened up my own detective agency. As a matter of fact, that’s what brings me to Buenos Aires. A client of mine died a few weeks ago. He left his daughter a bundle of money, and I’m trying to locate her. All the information I have on her is that she lives in an apartment somewhere in Buenos Aires.’

‘What’s her name?’

‘Neusa Muñez.’

‘Wait here a moment.’

The moment stretched into half an hour.

‘Sorry, amigo. I can’t help you. She is not in our computer or in any of our files.’

‘Oh, well. If you should come across any information about her, I’m at the El Conquistador.’

‘Bueno.’

The bars were next. Old familiar haunts. The Pepe Gonzalez and Almeida, Café Tabac.

‘Buenas tardes, amigo. Soy de los Estados Unidos. Estoy buscando una mujer. El nombre es Neusa Muñez. Es una emergencia.’

‘Lo siento, señor. No la conozco.’

The answer was the same everywhere. No one has ever heard of the fucking broad.

Harry Lantz wandered around La Boca, the colourful waterfront area where one could see old ships rusting at anchor in the river. No one around there knew of Neusa Muñez. For the first time, Harry Lantz began to feel he might be on a wild goose chase.

It was at the Pilar, a small bar in the barrios of Flores, that his luck suddenly changed. It was a Friday night, and the bar was filled with working men. It took Lantz ten minutes to get the bartender’s attention. Before Lantz was half way through his prepared speech, the bartender said, ‘Neusa Muñez? Si. I know her. If she wishes to talk to you, she will come here mañana, about midnight.’

The following evening, Harry Lantz returned to the Pilar at eleven o’clock, watching the bar gradually fill up. As midnight approached, he found himself getting more and more nervous. What if she did not show up? What if it was the wrong Neusa Muñez?

Lantz watched as a group of giggling young women came into the bar. They joined some men at a table. She’s got to show up, Lantz thought. If she doesn’t, I can kiss the fifty grand goodbye.

He wondered what she looked like. She had to be a stunner. He was authorized to offer her boyfriend, Angel, a cool two million dollars to assassinate someone, so Angel was probably up to his ass in millions. He would be well able to afford a beautiful young mistress. Hell, he could probably afford a dozen of them. This Neusa had to be an actress or model. Who knows, maybe I can have a little fun with her before I leave town. Nothing like combining business and pleasure, Harry Lantz thought happily.

The door opened and Lantz looked up expectantly. A woman was walking in alone. She was middle-aged and unattractive, with a fat, bloated body and huge, pendulous breasts that swayed as she walked. Her face was pockmarked, and she had dyed blonde hair, but her dark complexion indicated mestizo blood inherited from an Indian ancestor who had been bedded by a Spaniard. She was dressed in an ill-fitting skirt and sweater meant for a much younger woman. A hooker down on her luck, Lantz decided. But who the hell would want to fuck her?

The woman looked around the bar with vacant, listless eyes. She nodded vaguely to several people and then pushed her way through the crowd. She walked up to the bar.

‘Wanna buy me a drink?’ She had a heavy Spanish accent, and up close she was even more unattractive.

She looks like a fat, unmilked cow, Lantz thought. And she’s drunk. ‘Get lost, sister.’

‘Esteban say you are lookin’ for me, no?’

He stared at her. ‘Who?’

‘Esteban. The bartender.’

Harry Lantz still could not accept it. ‘He must have made a mistake. I’m looking for Neusa Muñez.’

‘Si. Yo soy Neusa Muñez.’

But the wrong one, Harry Lantz thought. Shit! ‘Are you Angel’s friend?’

She smiled drunkenly. ‘Si.’

Harry Lantz recovered swiftly. ‘Well, well.’ He forced a smile. ‘Can we go to a corner table and talk?’

She nodded indifferently. ‘Ess okay.’

They fought their way across the smoky bar, and when they were seated, Harry Lantz said, ‘I’d like to talk about –’

‘You buy me a rum, si?’

Lantz nodded. ‘Sure thing.’

A waiter appeared, wearing a filthy apron, and Lantz said, ‘One rum and a Scotch and soda.’

Muñez said, ‘Make mine a double, huh?’

When the waiter left, Lantz turned to the woman seated beside him. ‘I want to meet with Angel.’

She studied him with her dull, watery eyes. ‘Wha’ for?’

Lantz lowered his voice. ‘I have a little present for him.’

‘Si? What kin’ a presen’?’

‘Two million dollars.’ Their drinks arrived. Harry Lantz raised his glass and said, ‘Cheers.’

‘Yeah.’ She downed her drink in one gulp. ‘Wha’ for you wanna give Angel two million dollars?’

‘That’s something I’ll have to discuss with him in person.’

‘Tha’s not possible. Angel, he don’ talk to nobody.’

‘Lady, for two million dollars –’

‘Kin I have ’nother rum? A double, huh?’

My God, she already looks like she’s about to pass out. ‘Sure.’ Lantz summoned the waiter and ordered the drink. ‘Have you known Angel a long time?’ He made his tone casual.

She shrugged. ‘Yeah.’

‘He must be an interesting man.’

Her vacant eyes were fixed on a spot on the table in front of her.

Jesus! Harry Lantz thought. It’s like trying to have a conversation with a fucking wall.

Her drink arrived, and she finished it in one long swallow.

She has the body of a cow and the manners of a pig. ‘How soon can I talk to Angel?’

Neusa Muñez struggled to her feet. ‘I tol’ you, he don’ talk to nobody. Adios.’

Harry Lantz was filled with a sudden panic. ‘Hey! Wait a minute! Don’t go.’

She stopped and looked down at him with bleary eyes. ‘Wha’ you wan’?’

‘Sit down,’ Lantz said slowly, ‘and I’ll tell you what I want.’

She sat down heavily. ‘I need a rum, huh?’

Harry Lantz was baffled. What the fuck kind of man is this Angel? His mistress is not only the ugliest broad in all of South America, but she’s a lush.

Lantz did not like dealing with drunks. They were too unreliable. On the other hand, he hated the thought of losing his $50,000 commission. He watched as Muñez gulped her drink. He wondered how many she had had before coming to meet him.

Lantz smiled and said reasonably, ‘Neusa, if I can’t talk to Angel, how can I do business with him?’

‘Ess simple. You tell me what you wan’. I tell Angel. If he say si, I tell you si. If he say no, I tell you no.’

Harry Lantz distrusted using her as a go-between, but he had no choice. ‘You’ve heard of Marin Groza.’

‘No.’

Of course she hadn’t. Because it wasn’t the name of a rum. This stupid bitch was going to get the message all wrong and screw up the deal for him.

‘I need a drink, huh?’

He patted her fat hand. ‘Certainly.’ He ordered another double rum. ‘Angel will know who Groza is. You just say Marin Groza. He’ll know.’

‘Yeah? Then wha’?’

She was even stupider than she looked. What the fuck did she think Angel was supposed to do for two million dollars? Kiss the guy? Harry Lantz said carefully, ‘The people who sent me want him blown away.’

She blinked. ‘Wha’s “blown away”?’

Christ! ‘Killed.’

‘Oh.’ She nodded indifferently. ‘I’ll ass’ Angel.’ Her voice was beginning to slur even more. ‘Wha’ you say the man’s name is?’

He wanted to shake her. ‘Groza. Marin Groza.’

‘Yeah. My baby’s outta town. I’ll call him tonight ’n meet you here tomorrow. Kin I have ’nother rum?’

Neusa Muñez was turning out to be a nightmare.

The following evening, Harry Lantz sat at the same table in the bar from midnight until four in the morning, when the bar closed. Muñez did not appear.

‘Do you know where she lives?’ Lantz asked the bartender.

The bartender looked at him with innocent eyes. ‘Quien sabe?’

The bitch had fouled everything up. How could a man who was supposed to be as smart as Angel get hooked up with such a rum dummy? Harry Lantz prided himself on being a pro. He was too smart to walk into a deal like this without first checking it out. He had cautiously asked around, and the information that impressed him most was that the Israelis had put a price of a million dollars on Angel’s head. A million bucks would buy a lifetime’s worth of booze and young hookers. Well, he could forget about that and he could forget about his $50,000. His only link to Angel had been broken. He would have to call The Man and tell him he had failed.

I won’t call him yet, Harry Lantz decided. Maybe she’ll come back here. Maybe the other bars will run out of rum. Maybe I should have had my ass kicked for saying yes to this fucking assignment.

Chapter Six

The following night at eleven o’clock, Harry Lantz was seated at the same table in the Pilar, intermittently chewing peanuts and his fingernails. At 2 a.m. he saw Neusa Muñez stumble in the door, and Harry’s heart soared. He watched as she made her way over to his table.

‘Hi,’ she mumbled, and slumped into a chair.

‘What happened to you?’ Harry demanded. It was all he could do to control his anger.

She blinked. ‘Huh?’

‘You were supposed to meet me here last night.’

‘Yeah?’

‘We had a date, Neusa.’

‘Oh. I went to a movie with a girl frien’. There’s this new movie, see? Ess ’bout this man who falls in love with this fuckin’ nun an’ –’

Lantz was so frustrated he could have wept. What could Angel possibly see in this dumb, drunken bitch? She must have a golden pussy, Lantz decided. ‘Neusa – did you remember to talk to Angel?’

She looked at him vacantly, trying to understand the question. ‘Angel? Si. Kin I have a drink, huh?’

He ordered a double rum for her and a double Scotch for himself. He needed it desperately. ‘What did Angel say, Ñeusa?’

‘Angel? Oh, he say yeah. Ess okay.’

Harry Lantz felt a surge of relief. ‘That’s wonderful!’ He no longer gave a damn about his messenger boy mission. He had thought of a better idea. This drunken bitch was going to lead him to Angel. One million dollars reward money.

He watched her slop down her drink, spilling some of it down her already soiled blouse. ‘What else did Angel say?’

Her brow knit in concentration. ‘Angel, he say he wanna know who your people are.’

Lantz gave her a winning smile. ‘You tell him that’s confidential, Neusa. I can’t give him that information.’

She nodded, indifferent. ‘Then Angel say to tell you to fuck off. Kin I have a rum ’fore I go?’

Harry Lantz’s mind started working at top speed. If she left, he was sure he would never see her again. ‘I’ll tell you what I’ll do, Neusa. I’ll telephone the people I’m working for, and if they give me permission, I’ll give you a name. Okay?’

She shrugged. ‘I don’ care.’

‘No,’ Lantz explained patiently, ‘but Angel does. So you tell him I’ll have an answer for him by tomorrow. Is there some place I can reach you?’

‘I guess so.’

He was making progress. ‘Where?’

‘Here.’

Her drink arrived, and he watched her gulp it down like an animal.

Lantz wanted to kill her.

Lantz made the telephone call collect, so it could not be traced, from a public telephone booth on Calvo Street. It had taken him one hour to get through.

‘No,’ the Controller said. ‘I told you that no names are to be mentioned.’

‘Yes, sir. But there’s a problem. Neusa Muñez, Angel’s mistress, says he’s willing to make a deal, but he won’t move without knowing who he’s dealing with. Naturally, I told her I had to check it out with you first.’

‘What is this woman like?’

The Controller was not a man to play games with. ‘She’s fat and ugly and stupid, sir.’

‘It’s much too dangerous for my name to be used.’

Harry Lantz could feel the deal slipping away from him. ‘Yes, sir,’ he said earnestly. ‘I understand. The only thing is, sir, Angel’s reputation is based on his being able to keep his mouth shut. If he ever started talking, he wouldn’t last five minutes in his business.’

There was a long silence. ‘You have a point.’ There was another silence, even longer. ‘Very well. You may give Angel my name. But he is never to divulge it, and never to contact me directly. He’ll work only through you.’

Harry Lantz could have danced. ‘Yes, sir. I’ll tell him. Thank you, sir.’ He hung up, a big grin on his face. He was going to collect the $50,000.

And then the million-dollar reward.

When Harry Lantz met Neusa Muñez late that evening, he immediately ordered a double rum for her and said, happily, ‘Everything’s set. I got permission.’

She looked at him indifferently. ‘Yeah?’

He told her the name of his employer. It was a household word, and he expected her to be impressed.

She shrugged. ‘Never heard’a him.’

‘Neusa, the people I work for want this done as quickly as possible. Marin Groza is hiding out in a villa in Neuilly, and –’

‘Where?’

God Almighty! He was trying to communicate with a drunken moron. He said patiently, ‘It’s a little town outside of Paris. Angel will know.’

‘I need ’nother drink.’

An hour later, Neusa was still drinking. And this time Harry Lantz was encouraging her. Not that she needs much encouragement, Lantz thought. When she’s drunk enough, she’s going to lead me to her boyfriend. The rest will be easy.

He looked over at Neusa Muñez staring filmy-eyed into her drink.

It shouldn’t be hard to catch Angel. He may be tough, but he can’t be very bright. ‘When is Angel coming back to town?’

She focused her watery eyes on him. ‘Nex’ week.’

Harry Lantz took her hand and stroked it. ‘Why don’t you and I go back to your place?’ he asked softly.

‘Okay.’

He was in.

Neusa Muñez lived in a shabby, two-room apartment in the Belgrano district of Buenos Aires. The apartment was messy and unkempt, like its tenant. When they walked through the door, Neusa made straight for the little bar in the corner. She was unsteady on her feet.

‘How ’bout a drink?’

‘Not for me,’ Lantz said. ‘You go ahead.’ He watched as she poured out a drink and downed it. She’s the most ugly, repulsive bitch I’ve ever met, he thought, but the million dollars is going to be beautiful.

He looked around the apartment. There were some books piled on a coffee table. He picked them up, one by one, hoping to get an insight into Angel’s mind. The titles surprised him: Gabriela, by Jorge Amado; Fire From The Mountain, by Omar Cabezas; One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Garcia Marquez; At Night The Cats, by Antonio Cisneros. So Angel was an intellectual. The books did not fit with the apartment or the woman.

Lantz walked over to her and put his arms around her huge, flabby waist. ‘You’re damned cute, do you know that?’ He reached up and stroked her breasts. They were the size of watermelons. Lantz hated big-breasted women. ‘You’ve got a really great body.’

‘Huh?’ Her eyes were glazed.

Lantz’s arms moved down and stroked her fat thighs through the thin cotton dress she wore. ‘How does that feel?’ he whispered.

‘Wha’?’

He was getting nowhere. He had to think of an approach that would get this amazon into bed. But he knew he had to make his move carefully. If he offended her, she might go back and report him to Angel, and that would be the end of the deal. He could try to sweet talk her, but she was too drunk to know what he was saying.

As Lantz was desperately trying to think of a clever gambit, Neusa mumbled, ‘Wanna fuck?’

He grinned in relief. ‘That’s a great idea, baby.’

‘Come on ’n the bedroom.’

She was stumbling as Lantz followed her into the small bedroom. It contained one closet with the door ajar, a large unmade bed, two chairs and a bureau with a cracked mirror above it. It was the closet that caught Harry Lantz’s attention. In it he glimpsed a row of men’s suits hanging on a rack.

Neusa was at the side of the bed, fumbling with the buttons on her blouse. Under ordinary circumstances, Harry Lantz would have been at her side, undressing her, caressing her body and murmuring exciting indecencies into her ear. But the sight of Muñez sickened him. He stood there watching as her skirt dropped to the floor. She was wearing nothing under it. Naked, she was uglier than when dressed. Her huge breasts sagged, and her protruding stomach shook like jelly as she moved. Her fat thighs were a mass of cellulite. She’s the grossest thing I’ve ever seen, Lantz thought. Think positively, Lantz told himself. This will be over in a few minutes. The million bucks will last forever.

Slowly, he forced himself to get undressed. She was propped up in bed, like a leviathan, waiting for him, and he crawled in beside her.

‘What do you like?’ he asked.

‘Huh? Choc’late. I like choc’late.’

She was drunker than he had thought. That’s good. It will make things easier. He began to caress her flabby, fish-white body. ‘You’re a very pretty woman, hon. You know that?’

‘Yeah?’

‘I like you a lot, Neusa.’ His hands moved down towards the hairy mound between her fat legs, and he began to make small, titillating circles. ‘I’ll bet you live an exciting life.’