"Ludlum, Robert - Scarlatti Inheritance" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ludlum Robert)

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 For MARY:

For all those reasons she must know so well "Above all, there was Mary."
THE
SCARLATTI
INHERITANCE
 PART 0
 CHAPTER I

October 10, 1944-Washington, DX.

The brigadier general sat stiffly on the deacon's bench, preferring the hard
surface of the pine to the soft leather of the armchairs. It was nine twenty
in the morning and he had not slept well, no more than an hour.
As each half hour had been marked by the single chime of the small mantel
clock, he had found himself, to his surprise, wanting the time to pass more
swiftly. Because nine thirty had to come, he wanted to reckon with iL
At nine thirty he was to appear before the secretary of state, Cordell S.
Hull.
As he sat in the secretalys outer office, facing the large black door with
its gleaming brass hardware, he fingered the white folder, which he had
taken out of his affach6 case. When the time came for him to produce it, he
did not want an awkward moment of silence while he opened the case to
extract the folder. He wanted to be able to thrust it, if necessary, into
the hands of the secretary of state with assurance.
On the other hand, Hun might not ask for it. He might demand only a verbal
explanation and then proceed to use the authority of his office to term the
spoken words unacceptable If such was the case the brigadier could do no
more than protest Mildly, to be sure. The information in the folder did not
constitute proof, only data that could or could not bolster the conjectures
he had made.
The brigadier general looked at his watch. It was nine twenty-four and he
wondered if HuIrs reputation for

3
 punctuality would apply to his appointment. He had reached his own office at
seven thirty, approximately half an hour before his normal arrival time.
Normal, that was, except for periods of crisis when he often stayed through
the night awaiting the latest development of critical information. These
past three days were not unlike those periods of crisis. In a different way.
His memorandum to the secretary, the memorandum that had resulted in his
appointment this morning, might put him to the test. Ways could be found to
place him out of communication, far from any center of influence. He might
well be made to appear a total incompetent. But be knew he was right.
He bent the top of the folder back, just enough to read the typed title
page: "Canfield, Matthew. Major, United States Army Reserve. Department of
Military Intelligence."
Canfield, Matthew. . . . Matthew Canfield. He was the proof.