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and he was identified by half a dozen guards as being one of the men spotted in the vicinity of the Balabomo Emerald at the time of the robbery. They have Greenwood cold, there isn’t a thing I can do for him, and I told him so. His only hope is to depart the premises.”

    Dortmunder said, “What about the emerald?”

    Prosker spread his hands. “He says he got away with it. He says your associate Chefwick handed it to him, he says he hid it on his person before being captured, and he says it is now hidden away in a safe place that no one knows about but him.”

    Dortmunder said, “And the deal is, we break him out and he hands over the emerald for everybody to split again, same as before.”

    “Absolutely.”

    “And you’ll be liaison.”

    Prosker smiled. “Within limits,” he said. “I do have to protect myself.”

    Dortmunder said, “Why?”

    “Why? Because I don’t want to be arrested, I don’t want to be disbarred, I don’t want to be occupying the cell next to Greenwood.”

    Dortmunder shook his head. “No, I mean why be liaison at all. Why stick your neck out even a little bit?”

    “Oh, well.” Prosker’s smile turned modest. “One does what one can for one’s clients. And, of course, if you do rescue young Greenwood he’ll be able to afford a much stiffer legal fee, won’t he?”

    “Sort of an illegal fee, this time,” Kelp said and cackled.

    Dortmunder turned to the Major. “And we go back on the payroll, is that right?”

    The Major nodded reluctantly. “It’s becoming more expensive than I anticipated,” he said, “but I suppose I have to go on with it.”

    “Don’t strain yourself, Major,” Dortmunder said.

    The Major said, “Perhaps you don’t realize, Dortmunder, but Talabwo is not a rich country. Our gross national product has only recently topped twelve million dollars. We cannot afford to support foreign criminals the way some countries can.”

    Dortmunder bristled. “What countries, Major?”

    “I name no names.”

    “What are you hinting at, Major?”

    “Now, now,” Prosker said, being jolly, “let’s not have displays of nationalism. I’m sure we’re all of us patriots in our various ways, but the important thing at the moment is Alan Greenwood and the Balabomo Emerald. I have some things …” He picked up his attache case, put it in his lap, opened the snaps, and lifted the lid. “Shall I give these to you, Dortmunder?”

    “What have you got?”

    “Some maps that Greenwood made up of the interior of the prison. Some photos of the outside that I took myself. A sheet of suggestions from Greenwood, concerning guard movements and so on.” Prosker took three bulky manila envelopes from his attache case and handed them over to Dortmunder.

    There was a little more talk after that, mostly killing time while they killed their drinks, and then everybody stood up and shook hands and they all left, and Major Iko stayed in his office and chewed the inside of his cheek, which is what he frequently did when he was angry at himself or worried.

    At the moment he was angry at himself and worried. That had been a slip, to tell Dortmunder how poor Talabwo was. Dortmunder had been distracted by chauvinism at the time, but would he remember it later and begin to wonder? Begin to put two and two together?

    The Major went over to the window and looked down at Fifth Avenue and the park. Usually that view gave him pleasure, knowing just how expensive it was and how many millions of human beings the world over could not possibly afford it, but at the moment he was too troubled to enjoy selfish pleasures. He saw Dortmunder and Kelp and Prosker emerge from the building, saw them stand talking briefly on the sidewalk, saw Prosker laugh, saw them all shake hands, saw Prosker flag a cab and be driven away, saw Dortmunder and Kelp cross the street and enter the park. They walked slowly away along a blacktop path, coveys of children ebbing around them as they