Authors: Michael Genelin
J
ana, not yet packed, was having dinner as she waited for Jarov so she could point out the house he was to watch, when the phone rang. It was Karina, the Ukrainian girl who waited tables at the Gremium. Jana decided not to talk to her on the tapped phone, unwilling to risk Karina’s life to obtain a bit of information. She arranged to meet Karina at the Partisan statue just off Postová.
When Jana got there, Karina was leaning against the figure of the heroic Slovak partisan carrying his wounded World War II comrade. Standing near Karina was a woman who Jana didn’t recognize at first, she was so bundled up against the cold. It was one of the women from Andreea’s apartment, the one with the sweater who had urged Veza’s girlfriend to give Jana information about him.
To get out of the cold, they walked over to the Church of the Brothers of Mercy, which Jana had sometimes attended as a child, taking seats in a chilly side-chapel pew. There were only a few parishioners sitting in the rear, all well out of hearing. In the darkly lit church, the three women were indistinguishable shadows.
“If the weather doesn’t warm up, I’m almost ready to go back to Ukraine,” the woman with the sweater vowed, shivering.
“We agreed that you came from Slovakia,” Jana reminded her.
“I’m a Slovak through and through,” the woman corrected herself, smiling slightly. “My name is Olena, and, although it is a Ukrainian name, I was obviously born in Bratislava.”
Karina nodded. “I can vouch for that.”
“Naturally, you were present at her birth,” Jana joked.
“Of course. I’m older than she is,” Karina said, although she was plainly the younger.
Jana glanced at Karina. “You called for a reason.”
“My friend”—she pointed at Olena—“has been evicted from Andreea’s apartment.”
“All the other girls had to leave too,” Olena added. “It’s impossible to live there any longer.”
“Olena is staying with me for a few days.” Karina related her own tale of woe. “The apartment belongs to my boyfriend from the Gremium. He says if Olena stays much longer, we’ll both have to leave.” She looked hopefully at Jana. “You told me I could call you if there was any difficulty.”
“I can’t help you find an apartment,” Jana responded. “That’s not the type of help I meant.”
“I know,” Karina affirmed. “But if Guzak leaves, the girls can return.”
Guzak’s name took Jana by surprise.
“He comes in every night, decides which girl he wants, then takes her to bed with him. None of us can stand him, so we left. We want him out so we can go back.”
Both women looked expectantly at Jana.
“You’re saying that the elder Guzak brother is now staying at Andreea’s apartment?”
“Every night,” Olena affirmed. “We’re all afraid to say anything, even Andreea.”
“And the police are after him,” Karina reminded her.
“I know,” Jana reminded her. “I’m the police.”
Both women relaxed, satisfied that they had made their case.
“Arrest him,” Karina suggested.
“Tonight would be satisfactory,” Olena added. “I could move back in tomorrow if he were arrested tonight.”
“That would do it,” Karina agreed. “My boyfriend would be happy.”
The two women waited for Jana to tell them what to do, expecting her to swing into action.
Guzak was a very dangerous man, not someone to go after alone. Sending a few inexperienced beat officers to capture him wouldn’t do. It would probably get them killed. Unfortunately, trying to form a large-scale arrest crew at this late hour would take time, and a man like Guzak could leave the apartment at any moment and vanish before they could seize him. Jana had to act at once. She knew only two police officers who would respond fast enough to be her backup: Seges and Jarov. She decided against Seges. He was not a man she wanted to have to rely on in a situation like this. As for Jarov, his duties at her house didn’t start until tomorrow.
Thirty minutes later, she was sitting in her car with Jarov near Andreea’s apartment, with Olena in the back seat. Two beat officers who had been on patrol had been commandeered by Jana to watch the back of the building, in case Guzak tried to escape through the rear. Jarov had stopped to get protective vests for both Jana and himself, and they were finishing adjusting them as they planned their next moves. The primary difficulty, aside from Guzak himself, was Andreea. They had to remove her from the danger zone, which was why they had brought Olena along.
Two patrol officers drove by. Jana flagged down their car and placed them halfway down the block, out of sight. In case Guzak got past Jana and Jarov, they would be the last barrier to his escape.
The plan was for Olena to go to the door, knock, and call to Andreea that she was back. When Andreea opened the door, they would grab her, pull her out, and then go in after Guzak.
It went off exactly as they’d hoped.
Olena knocked. Andreea came to the door. Olena responded to Andreea’s query, “Just me, coming for a visit.” Andreea opened the door. Jarov grabbed her as soon as the opening was wide enough, clapped a hand over her mouth, and pulled her out of the apartment. Jana went in.
Guzak was sleeping on the couch, his pistol resting on his chest, ready for action.
Jana tiptoed over to him, gently lifted the pistol off his chest, and put the muzzle of her own gun to his forehead. She pulled the hammer back so he could hear the loud click. Guzak opened his eyes.
“Welcome back to Slovakia,” Jana greeted him.
They took him to jail immediately. Jana decided to talk to him in the morning, and rescheduled her trip to Vienna for later in the day. She went home to sleep, happier now. Things just might be working out.
Unfortunately, Jana was greeted rudely when she awakened. A special edition of the Slovak newspapers had been printed to disseminate a piece of breaking news. Guzak had escaped. The details were still not clear, but it was known that he’d produced a gun and forced his way out of jail during the early morning hours.
Jana had taken his gun away right before she woke and arrested him. She had supervised a complete search of the man. Guzak had had no other weapons on his person. There was no way he could have brandished a gun unless it had been smuggled to him while he was in custody.
Captain Bohumil was right to suspect someone in the department of leaking information about his investigations.
Only it was not Jana.
Somebody else had turned bad.
Very bad.
T
here was no use in staying in Bratislava. The manhunt was on, and it would continue without Jana’s supervision. It seemed like everyone in the government was investigating Guzak’s escape. Every bureaucrat in the administration put his nose into the affair, trying to discover how Guzak had obtained a gun and waltzed out of his cell to freedom.
Jana took the train to Vienna’s Sudbahnhof station, then a taxi to an Ibis Hotel in the central city area, one of a chain of hotels with Spartan but cheap rooms. Trokan would not quibble over having the government pay for it. The desk clerk carefully checked through Jana’s passport with the usual patented Viennese scorn. Jana was back in the AEIOU, the old Latin motto which translated as “The Entire World Is Austria’s Empire.” Jana gritted her teeth, registered and carried her bag up to her room. She called Sofia at the Vienna International Center. When Sofia was finally summoned to the phone, she was not very happy to hear that Jana was only a short cab drive away
“Jana, I told you I was busy.”
“Too busy to see your childhood friend?”
There was a pause.
“I’m here on business, Jana.”
“So am I.”
There was another pause.
“We’re engrossed in a round of negotiations.”
“Sofia, you’re still a Slovak citizen. A member of parliament. It’s not so good to say ‘no’ to a police officer. What if the voters heard about it; the people in your neighborhood? And, besides, what if they sent another police officer to talk to you who is not your friend? It’s much better to see me.”
The pause was longer this time.
“This evening is the best time. At 1800 hours. It will have to be brief.”
“I would like to see Boryda as well.”
“Impossible. He needs to work. Utterly impossible.”
“Under the circumstances, it
has
to be possible.”
“He can’t see you.” There was tension in her voice that increased with each word. “He absolutely cannot come.”
It was Jana’s turn to pause. She was not in Slovakia. She had no authority here. She could try calling on the Austrian police, but that option did not really appear to be feasible. Boryda probably had diplomatic immunity. The Austrian police would avoid an international incident at all costs. Jana had to settle for talking to Sofia.
Sofia gave Jana directions. They would meet in the small conference room, which was actually named the Slovakia Room. They could celebrate as if they were having dinner at home, just the two of them. Perhaps it would be better, Jana thought, to talk to Sofia without Boryda. Sofia might talk more freely without her former lover there. Perhaps.
Jana went to the ultra-modern building complex and was directed to the correct structure. She reached the Slovakia Room a good half hour before the appointed time. Under circumstances like these, Jana made a habit of trying to feel comfortable in what she perceived might be an arena. Better to get to know the terrain before the actual battle began.
The Slovakia Room, an insignificant meeting room as international conference rooms went, was nevertheless comfortably furnished, the conference table small enough to permit real conversation. Jana felt a small buzz of national pride, then settled into an overstuffed chair, setting her watch to ring in a half hour and closing her eyes. The watch went off on time, but Sofia had not arrived. She finally appeared a half hour late, just as a food cart was wheeled in behind her.
The cart was wheeled out, two dinners carefully placed on the conference table, provided for the women courtesy of the center’s cafeteria service. The two friends had not exchanged a word, not even said hello. Both were on their guard, recognizing that Jana’s trip was official and that their interview would go into a file to be reviewed by others.
Jana hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and even then she’d had just a small snack, so she started right in on the veal dish that had been set out for them. After the first bite, Jana waved her fork in the air, announcing that the Slovaks knew how to cook pork better, but the Viennese certainly knew how to prepare veal. Then she took a second forkful. She chewed, watching Sofia, who picked at her food. There was no harm in making Sofia simmer. It was part of the stew she and Trokan had talked about.
“I’m very impressed by this building complex. I get the feeling, from its appearance, that the world’s problems are settled here.”
Sofia kept picking at her food without responding.
“The UN, those other organizations, so many countries represented here; international issues brought to the table and settled peaceably. Great things are accomplished here.”
Showing more irritation than hunger, Sofia dropped her fork on her tray.
“Jana, I’m glad you think that the world’s business is being attended to properly. But to remind you, it’s necessary that I pay attention to a number of those issues. That means we have to finish our talk in the next few minutes, or you and I have to go our separate ways without discussing whatever you’ve come to browbeat me about.”
“Why would I take the train all the way to Vienna to browbeat you?” Jana continued to eat. She could see that Sofia was reaching the end of her patience. A good sign. The moment for Jana to utilize Sofia’s impulsiveness and impatience was coming. Jana took another forkful. “I really like the way they made this. It’s always surprising when a cafeteria takes care in preparing food. Maybe they could open an annex in Bratislava?”
Sofia shoved her tray across the table, making her point very loudly as it just missed Jana. There was a clatter of cutlery and a crash of broken dishes bouncing off a seat and dropping to the floor.
Unperturbed, Jana finished her last bite and set her tray to one side.
“Finished,” she announced cheerfully, as if the incident with the dishes had never occurred, and carefully wiped her hands on a napkin. “Time for us to talk. It’s always easier when the belly is full, don’t you think so? People are calmer.” Jana focused on Sofia, preparing to drop her bomb.
“How is your relationship with Ivan coming along? Has it reverted to what it was?”
“You asked me here to talk about Ivan?”
“Ivan as he relates to your situation with the police. Ivan has an emerging problem, and I feared that your close association with him might bring you down as well, particularly considering that the newspapers have linked the two of you. Not one person who has read the articles will believe that you had nothing to do with Ivan’s business.”
Sofia stared at Jana, unblinking. “I told you that Ivan and I have stayed apart since the situation became public.”
“You’re both here in Vienna.”
“By political necessity. I’m on a parliamentary committee; he’s the government person taking the point on this issue. We’re here for an International Atomic Energy Agency meeting on research reactor utilization and advanced reactor design. We’ve been fighting for years with the Austrians to win approval to build an advanced reactor in Slovakia, and for years the Austrians have opposed it. They’re downwind, and if anything went wrong they’d be endangered. For the first time, the IAEA is on our side with this issue.”
Sofia’s voice took on a messianic fervor that had been absent from it lately. “Ivan is leading the conciliation and compromise meetings with the Austrians. That’s where I’m supposed to be right now. We do nothing but attend sessions during the day, and then have clandestine meetings with the Austrians at night. You should hear Ivan talk to these people, bargain with them, always maneuvering them toward our position. He’s been absolutely brilliant.
“When Slovakia gets her reactor as a result of these meetings, then Ivan will get the credit he deserves. He’ll bring our country into the forefront of nuclear research; we’ll be independent of oil for industry. We’ll be the leader in eastern and central Europe. We’ll be able to export energy. And it’ll all be because of Ivan.”
Sofia’s face had become more flushed with each sentence, more adulatory, her voice hoarsening with infatuation with Ivan and zeal for the program. “Only Ivan can do this. And when it’s accomplished, he will use it as a springboard, perhaps to become prime minister, maybe to attain a position at an international level. Ivan Boryda is a great and wonderful man, Jana. A man of destiny!”
Sofia had the look of the true believer, but more a true believer in a man than a cause. They might not currently be carrying on their affair, but Sofia was still in love with Ivan Boryda.
Jana sat, waiting for Sofia to come down from her emotional high. It was almost time for Jana to bring her even further down to earth. She regretted it, but events had shown she had to go forward.
“You sound like you would do anything for him, Sofia.”
“Anything, Jana,” she acknowledged. “You would have to know him, and me, to understand this.”
“And are you both equally committed?”
“We’ve stayed at a distance from each other. We had to stay apart, except for dealing with government affairs. But, when the scandal sheets have had their day, we’ll be together again. Meanwhile, we work.”
Jana dropped the bomb.
“Sofia, we have evidence that Ivan Boryda is involved in criminal activities. The evidence indicates that he’s implicated in a number of murders. Are you involved with him in these crimes?”
Sofia stared at Jana as if she didn’t comprehend Jana’s words.
Jana repeated herself, waiting for understanding to dawn. When it finally came, Sofia’s face showed a flux of conflicting emotions. Jana had raised ominous and terrible possibilities, with a crash that was much, much louder than that of the tray of dishes. Sofia tried to speak; her lips moved, but no words came out.
Jana persevered.
“Sofia, I have to know where you stand in this partnership the two of you have. Are you aware of any of the circumstances surrounding these crimes?”
Sofia’s face finally resumed a hue near to its natural tone. “I think our conversation is over.”
“Sofia, if you are innocent, I’m trying, for the sake of our friendship, to prevent your falling with him.”
Sofia grimaced at the thought of Boryda falling. “I’ve understood what you said and will talk about it with Ivan.”
Sofia looked at Jana, expecting that she would object to her informing Boryda of what they had just discussed. Jana said nothing.
“Well, I have to go to my meeting,” Sofia announced, trying to sound as if nothing of moment had occurred.
Jana stood first. Sofia rose slowly, still absorbing what she had been told.
“He’s a great man, Jana. Nothing will stop the world from acknowledging that.”
“You may think so, but thinking it doesn’t make it true. That’s a judgment for history to make.” Before Sofia walked out, Jana dropped her last bombshell. “We are looking for Kamin. Do you know where he is?”
Sofia hesitated.
“Are you interested in what I’ve found out about the diamond, Sofia?”
Sofia left the room without answering.
Jana watched her go, then quickly made a phone call to the Austrian police officers she knew from the regional crime committee, asking for a quick favor. She didn’t even have to get off the phone: they gave her the information she was seeking in a few minutes. Jana thanked them, then took a cab back to the hotel. Immediately upon arrival, she called Trokan at his home and told him what had transpired with Sofia . . . and what she now wanted done based on what she’d learned.
Sometime this evening, or at the latest tomorrow, there was going to be a defining event in the case.
It would be interesting to see what the coming hours would bring.