Iceberg

Pitt smiled. "I suspect they'll wonder in another half hour."

"I believe you've met this gentleman." Sandecker motioned to the fat man.

"We've talked over the telephone," Pitt answered.

"We haven't been formally introduced… at least not with proper names."

The fat man walked quickly around the desk and offered Pitt his hand. "Kippma

Pitt took the hand. It was a fooler. There was nothing weak and fat about the grip. "Dean Kippma

"We deeply appreciate your help," Kippma

"After Iceland, a little South American sun couldn't hurt."

"You'll enjoy the sun all right." Kippma

"Southern California?"

"By four o'clock this afternoon."

"By four o'clock this afternoon "At Disneyland."

"At Disneyland?"

Sandecker said patiently: "I'm well aware that your destination isn't exactly what you had in mind. But we can do without the echo."

"With respects, sir, none of this figures."

"Until an hour ago, those were our words precisely," Kippma

"Just what have you got in mind?" Pitt asked.

"This." Kippma

"Until we were able to question you and the other survivors who were physically up to it, we had only a sketchy idea at best as to the purpose behind Hermit Limited. We knew it existed, and we were fortunate to ferrett out a small percentage of their business dealings, but their ultimate goal, the brains, the money behind the entire operation remained a mystery-" Pitt broke in guardedly. "But you had a lead. You suspected Dr. Hu

"I'm glad you didn't tumble sooner, Major. Yes, the N.I.A. was trailing Dr. Hu

"Oh, God, it was a setup!" It wasn't easy to combine a sour exclamation and an anguished moan in the same breath, but Pitt pulled it off. "The whole goddamned scene on that iceberg was a setup."

"Yes, Hu

"Then emtombing the Lax was a neat little piece of deception," Pitt said. "That was your drawing card.

Hu

"Again, Yes. Major."

Kippma

Pitt ignored him, and looked up at Sandecker evenly and steadily. "The truth comes out at last. The Lax was found by the search fleet and then tailed until it burned."

Sandecker shrugged. "Mr. Kippma

"Reproach us if you will," Kippma

"It didn't quite work out that way, did it?"

"We underestimated the other side," Kippma

Pitt inhaled on a cigarette and idly watched the smoke curl toward the ceilng. "You haven't explained how the Lax came to be in the iceberg. Nor have you shed any light on what happened to the pirate crew, or given a hint as to how Fyrie and his crew and scientists could disappear for over a year and then suddenly hove their charred bodies turn up on the ship again."

"The answer to both questions is simple," Kippma

Sandecker took his hands from behind his head and slowly leaned forward, placing them palms down on the desk in front of him. His eyes were rock-hard. "Matajic reported a crew of Arabs, not fair-haired Scandinavians."

"That's true," Kippma

He passed the prints to Sandecker and extra copies to Pitt. He then sat down in a chair and lit a cigarette after inserting it in a long holder. Kippma

"Please note photo number one," Kippma

"It was taken with a very sharp telephoto lens through a periscope. As you can see, it clearly shows ten crew members going about their duties on various parts of the ship. There isn't a dark-ski

"Coincidence," Sandecker said guardedly. "The Arabs Matajic reported seeing might have been below."

"A slim possibility, Admiral, providing we stopped at one picture.

However, the other photos were taken at different times and on different days. By comparing them all together, we get a count of approximately fourteen men, not one of Arab ancestry. Surely, gentlemen, if there were even one arab on that ship, he would have had to make an appearance during a three-week period." Kippma

"And what of Matajic?" Sandecker asked, probing. "He was a top scientist, trained in accurate observation. Surely he was positive of what he saw' "Matajic saw men who were made up to look like other nationalities," Kippma

"I see," Pitt said mildly. "And then what?"

"You can guess the rest, if you don't already know it." Kippma