Mimi stared straight ahead—a deer in the headlights. “You want me to be the informant? You want me to swear out the affidavit? Me?”
“Can you think of any pretense to visit Mrs. Zielinski?” Eli asked.
Mimi shook her head. “Pretense? No, not offhand. Why Mrs. Zielinski?”
“Well, it would get you into the house without arousing suspicion. If you visited Mrs. Zielinski, found an excuse to walk around and located the ledger books, well, you’d have the basis for an affidavit, and we’d get a warrant. There should be a lot of records. They wouldn’t be easy to conceal. Perhaps Vittie has an office in the home.”
Mimi nodded. “He does. They call it the library, but it’s really Vittie’s office, right off the front foyer.”
“Perfect.”
Mimi swallowed hard. “So you want me to sneak into Vittie’s office, dig though his desk and find the ledger books? Vittie’s private office? Seriously?”
“Exactly,” Mooney said. “That’s all.”
Mimi smiled. “That’s all? Are you kidding me?”
“Well, that’s not entirely all,” Ryan said, with a slight grimace. “If possible, we’d like you to plant a listening device. If the military contractors are meeting in Vittie’s office, and if we could get them on tape, that would be the jackpot.”
“Oh my Lord, what am I getting into?” Mimi said, with her hand on her forehead. “What would I have to do?”
“You said he called it the library? Bookshelves with lots of books?”
“Of course.”
“Just set the device behind some books on a shelf. Simple as that. If you had a good reason to visit Mrs. Zielinski, maybe to return something that Christine left at your apartment, then a simple in and out would do the trick.”
Mimi exhaled. “A simple in and out? Vittie’s always in his office. That would be pretty tough to do.”
“He has an event tomorrow night at McCormick Place,” Eli said. “He’s the featured speaker. He won’t be home all evening, and Stanley will be with him. We think Mrs. Zielinski will be at home alone. If anyone else is there, abort the plan, have a nice visit and go back home. What do you say? Do you want to give it a try?”
Mimi drew a deep breath. “I must be crazy, but all right, I’ll do it. I have a sweater that Chrissie left at my apartment. I’ll bring it to Vera and take a look around. If the office is open, I’ll plant the device.”
Ryan pumped his fist. “Fabulous! I’ll set it up and bring the device to you tomorrow afternoon.” He left the room to make a phone call. Eli handed a cup of coffee to Mimi and said, “Now who’s the spy?”
She laughed. “You’re just the person my mom and I always thought you were.”
“How were you so sure I was working with the FBI?”
“The very first day, when you were looking for an apartment, you told my mom you were working for the government. Some boring desk job, I think you said. She told me you looked like James Bond. When I came into your apartment, I saw a suitcase with a Washington Dulles baggage tag. Mom keeps an eye on what goes on in our building. She said that you’re absent for several days at a time each month. She’s also observed businessmen coming in and out of your apartment at odd times. I assume she meant Mr. Ryan and Colonel Rooney.”
Eli chuckled. “I like the way you two secretly keep track of me. How do you know I wasn’t simply traveling to Washington to visit my family?”
“I guess I don’t. Do you have family in Washington?”
“Yes, I do. My wife and I have a home in Chevy Chase, and my son and his wife live in Silver Spring.”
“You’ve never mentioned your family, other than the couple of photographs in your apartment: your father, your wife Esther and your son Izaak.”
Eli paused for a moment before he answered. “I brought those particular pictures with me for a reason. I made promises to those people, Mimi. Solemn promises. And each and every time I made one of those promises, it was a sacred oath. I believed that when I gave my promise, Eli’s promise, it was solid, as good as gold and I would keep it. But I didn’t.” Mimi watched him pause to reflect, as though he were turning pages in his memory. With discernible sadness, he slowly shook his head from side to side. “I failed to keep those promises to those people, Mimi.”
“Failed or prevented?” she said quietly.
“That’s very charitable of you. But I’ve made some bad decisions. Were they otherwise, would it have been any different?” He shrugged. “Who knows? I’ve come to realize that I can only see the ground in front of my feet. There’s no way to know what Providence has in store for me down the road. Nevertheless, one more promise remains, and I intend to keep it.” He pointed at the pictures. “I’d like them to be here, at least vicariously, when I do.”
Their conversation was interrupted by Ryan, who reentered the room and said, “It’s all set. Mimi, you’ll visit Mrs. Zielinski tomorrow night. I think you should just pop in, unexpected like. Don’t call in advance. We’ll have the device ready for you, and we’ll give you thorough instructions.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
CHICAGO
ALBANY PARK NEIGHBORHOOD
FEBRUARY 1966
To say that Mimi was nervous would be a gross understatement. This was new territory for her, and she feared she would say or do the wrong thing, arouse suspicion and blow the whole operation. Vera Zielinski had known Mimi since she was a little child. Maybe Mimi’s nerves would betray her, and Vera would detect the subterfuge. Moreover, Mimi was not a liar, and she hated the duplicity. Finally, Vera was a good woman who didn’t deserve to have her world come crashing down because of her husband’s misdeeds.
Earlier in the day, Ryan had given Mimi a listening device the size of a small compact. “Keep it in your purse,” he said. “When you get the chance, hide it behind some books on a shelf. Remember, if the circumstances don’t allow you to be alone in the office, abort the plan altogether, have a nice visit and go home.”
Mimi’s phone rang at five thirty. “The coast is clear,” Eli said. “The congressman and Stanley have left the property.”
* * *
A dusting of fresh snow covered Albany Park like powdered sugar. The five short blocks between Mimi’s building and the Zielinski home seemed like a long way that evening. As she approached, she saw tire tracks exiting the congressman’s driveway. She hesitated, took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. After a moment, the Zielinski housekeeper swung the door open. “Oh hello, Mimi,” she said. “It’s so nice to see you again. I haven’t seen you since … well, since that dreadful time. Come on in and I’ll tell Mrs. Zielinski you’re here.”
Mimi waited in the foyer. Her boots were wet, and as she took them off, she glanced to the right. The congressman’s office was dark, and the door was wide open. No need to lock it up in your own home, Mimi thought.
“Mimi, darling,” Vera said loudly as she bustled into the foyer. “Come in, come in. What brings you out on such a cold night?”