"Quite. And I'm sure you are in ahurry. But so are we all. This won't take long."

Zinov flushed angrily. The militiamanremoved all the bags and Lukin said to Stanski, "Please indicate yourluggage."

Stanski pointed out their two suitcases.Lukin examined both suitcases externally first, very carefully, running hisfingers along the joins. Stanski stood there, feeling the sweat on the back ofhis neck, trying to judge how many shots he could get off rapidly, decidingthere and then to shoot Lukin first.

The major looked up. "Open the casesplease, Captain."

Stanski did as he was ordered. Lukinknelt and flashed a light through the belongings. He examined the clothes'labels and felt the material of each garment. Finally he stood up and studiedStanski again. There was a look of indecision on the major's face, indicatingsomething was bothering him.

"You look familiar, Captain. Have wemet before?"

"I can't say we have, Major."

"Did you serve during the war?"

"With the Fifth Kursk."

"Infantry?"

"Yes, sir."

"Really? You knew ColonelKinyatin?"

Stanski pretended to think for a moment,then shook his head. "I was only with the Kursk for three months before Iwas transferred. I'm afraid I never heard of the man."

Zinov shivered from the cold andinterrupted again. "Really, Major, the poor fellow and his wife have hadtheir honeymoon plans upset as it is. You can see he's a genuine officer. Areyou going to make a fool of yourself and arrest him or are we all to just standhere and freeze to death?"

The major gave Zinov a withering stare,then looked at Anna and Stanski again, as if still unable to make up his mind.

"A question, Captain. What's yourwife's month of birth?"

"Sir?"

"Her month of birth. A simplequestion."

Stanski smiled faintly. "July. A mancould hardly forget that, especially being just married, sir."

"You seem a little old to be justgetting married, Captain."

"Sir?"

"is this your first marriage?"

Stanski shook his head and looked as ifhe was suitably hurt. "No, sir. My first wife died in the war. Really,sir, is this all necessary?"

Lukin hesitated for a long time, thenslowly handed back the two sets of papers. "My apologies for the delay.You may proceed. Have a pleasant trip, Captain. You too, madam. And you,Colonel,"

"About damned time too," saidZinov, puffing a breath of steaming air.

They all climbed back into the car. As Stanskislid in beside Anna in the back and threw the woollen blanket over their legs,he felt her hand reach for his and grip it very tightly, her fingers diggingpainfully into his flesh. He felt her shaking and there was sweat drippinginside his own shirt despite the cold, his heartbeat hammering in his ears.

As the Emka moved off and rattled overthe cobbles, Zinov was muttering angrily to himself in the front. "ThoseMoscow types think they run the damned show." He growled venomously,"And don't you worry, Major Lukin, you jumped-up little shit. I'll see toyou when I get to Leningrad. You've no fucking respect for senior rank."

As he kept on cursing, Stanski glancedback through the rear window.

The KGB major stood staring after thecar, a faint look of uncertainty clouding his face.

Stanski turned back. The major had beenclever, asking harmless questions, but questions that could have told him alot. Somehow, by the look on his face, he was still not completely convinced.Stanski tensed and shivered as the Emka rounded the next corner.

Anna whispered in the darkness of thecab, "What's wrong?"

"I think someone just walked over mygrave."

It was just before nine when Lukinreturned to the Tondy bar racks.

Kaman was waiting with a sheaf of papers.He looked exhausted.

"Some more reports for you, Major.Still definitely no sign of the man and woman, I'm afraid." He placed thepapers on the table. "You think at this stage we're wasting ourtime?"

Lukin fixed him with a stare. "Onthe contrary. I want the operation continued and expanded."

Kaman sighed. "Has the majorconsidered that these people could have been killed when they parachuted intoEstonia? Parachutes sometimes fail. Perhaps we should be searching thecountryside for bodies?"

"One death from an unopenedparachute I can accept, but not two. The order stands. Widen the net to includeup to fifteen kilometers beyond the town center. Every house, inn and shop inthe town is to be thoroughly searched."

"But that will take days!"

"You have twelve hours."

"Major, what you're proposing willinclude a quarter of the population of Estonia!"

Lukin rounded angrily. "I don't givea damn. Just do it. And quickly, man!"

"Yes, Major." Kaman saluted andleft, closing the door.

Lukin ran his hand through his hair inexasperation. He had been harsh on the captain-the man looked as tired as himself-but too much was at stake. The roadblocks and check points and thechecking of the hotel registers should have, yielded something.

But nothing. Not even a suggestion thatthe man and womai were in Tallinn.

The man and the woman ought to besomewhere out there It was ridiculous. With so many checkpoints somethingshould have turned up by now.

He thought of the captain and his youngwife at the Tower. Something odd about him he couldn't quite figure. He wassure he had seen the man's face somewhere before. The remark had been no ploy,like some of the other questions. where had he seen him?

The captain's wife was attractive buthardly beautiful. The make-up had spoiled her face. A little too heavy. Maybeit was deliberate? The man had said they were on their honeymoon She shouldhave been happy. She didn't look too happy, just anxious. Or was it hisimagination?

But the man had shown no sign of fear,just bemusement Lukin had found it hard to decide about him.

The question he had asked him about hiswife's birthday had influenced his decision, but only just. He had once caughta couple of German agents in Kiev who had been traveling as man and wife. Ahusband always remembered his real wife's birthday and the German had falteredtoo long, then finally made a run for it before he was caught. But the captainthis morning had known.

Still, the couple were borderline, and heshould have checked their story. The colonel's statement that he had known hispassengers personally had swung it in their favor.

But what really bothered Lukin still wasthe man's face. He was certain he remembered him from somewhere. somethingabout him that seemed oddly familiar. But he was too trouble( too stressed, andmemory worked best when the mind was at peace, not tired and in turmoil. Itwould come to him eventually, but right now, even though he racked his brain,it wouldn't.

He picked up the photographs of the womanand the man known as the Wolf. He looked down at them for a long time. TheWolf's picture was really too blurred to be useful and had been taken from toogreat a distance. Another thing kept bothering Lukin-the fact that there weretwo pages missing from the man's file. Perhaps Beria had his reasons forwithholding the pages, but Lukin felt somehow less than trusted. It was as ifhis path were being made deliberately more difficult.

Pasha was right. It was usual that aninvestigator be given access to all information concerning a case.

The photograph of the woman showed herwith no make-up, her hair cropped short and her face gaunt. There were obviousdark circles under her eyes from stress or lack of sleep, or both.