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Bodin moved to a large apartment in a building Dalton now owned in a quiet part of Venice. The first floor of the building consisted of offices and Dalton’s lab. The second held apartments and offices for visitors. Dalton lived on the third.
Bodin, sitting at his dining room table eating a focaccia sandwich in the dark, heard a creak in the hallway, then a knock at the door. “Come in Dalton.” Bodin knew only Dalton knew he was here.
Someone else entered. “I’m sorry to disturb you, Professor. It’s Rachel Baruch, Benny’s mother. Do you have a moment?”
“Of course, of course, Mrs. Baruch. Come in and sit down.” He waved a hand generally in invitation. “You are most welcome.”
“Thank you. Do you mind if I turn on a light?”
“Please do. My apologies, I wasn’t expecting any guests. I guess Dalton must have ... uh ... are you in Venice on holiday? To see the sights?”
“Please, call me Rachel. Oh, no, I’m not on holiday. I’m just checking things out for Benny. Then I must get back to him in Tel Aviv. Dalton thought Benny might be able to help on some new project.”
“Well ... what a surprise! Dalton is full of surprises. Uh ... welcome aboard to Benny ... and to you, of course. How can I help?”
“Oh, I’m just the nosy mama, here to ask nosy questions. Benny’s autism can make things difficult. I’m sorry to intrude, but anything he does requires a lot of preparation.”
“That makes sense. Mom needs to check out what Benny is up to. So, what do you need to know? Where he’d be staying? Local security for him? I’m afraid Dalton would be a much better source of information on those topics. And please call me Bodin.”
“Yes, I plan to talk with Dalton about that ... Bodin. But I wanted to talk with you about the project. I understand you’re the originator, so you’re the best person to tell us about it. Dalton said very little. Benny would like to help in any way he can. But I, as his mother, need to know a little more. Bodin, to be perfectly honest, I heard something very troubling about this project from a relative of mine who works in the Israeli government.”
Bodin interrupted her, very concerned, “I hope you didn’t tell him where we were?”
“No, of course not. Dalton was very insistent that I not tell anyone that. My uncle thinks I’m on my way to the US.”
“Oh. Good. So what did your uncle say about the project?”
“He said that, in principle, he liked what you were planning. But he was afraid that Israel would be blamed. He thinks you’re going to cause a major war in the Middle East. I told him there must be some mistake.” She silently opened the purse in her lap, slid her hand in, and gripped a pistol. Then she drew the pistol, with silencer attached, out of the purse. She held it on her lap.
Bodin looked aghast at what she said. “Why in the world would he think that? The whole reason for doing this is to stop wars, not start them. How in the world does he think this is going to start a war?” Then his head twitched up almost imperceptibly. He breathed in slowly through his nose.
Rachel said, “Well, when you kill a few hundred religious and political leaders in the region, you have to expect major retaliation.”
Bodin’s eyes went wide.
Then he said five words.
Rachel’s eyes went wide.
She was quiet for about fifteen seconds. Then she nodded to herself and silently put the pistol back in her purse. She said, “I approve.”
“Well ... that’s a relief. Now, if I may be so bold, Rachel, I have a question for you.”
“Oh?”
“I heard a very odd rumor from one of the reporters I work with. He has a close friend, an Israeli who just made a million dollars.”
“Really? Lucky for him. A soldier?”
“No. A pilot. A very crazy pilot. The rumor was ... and you’ll probably laugh at this ... The rumor was that the Israeli raid that grabbed Benny from that Army hospital didn’t do it just to kidnap him for Israeli research.”
“No?”
“No ... and here’s the part you’ll laugh at: The rumor said that you, yourself, played a role in that raid.”
“Oh? Really?”
“You’re not laughing.”
“And what role is Benny’s mama rumored to have played in that raid?”
“What a coincidence,” said Bodin. “That’s the very question I was going to ask you, Captain Baruch.”
“You can’t believe every rumor you hear, Captain LaBranche.”
“No, you can’t. Which makes my job writing history that much harder. But, did you know, I can hear in a person’s tone of voice when they are smiling.”
“Can you?”
“Definitely. There’s an important story here that needs to be recorded for history, Rachel. Your story and Benny’s story hold wonderful lessons for us all. Perhaps it shouldn’t be told for a while. And it won’t be. But I think it should be told eventually. Please, please don’t let that story be lost.”
Rachel paused, then sighed. “You may be right.”
“If you have time, I have extra sandwiches in the fridge. And there’s probably some gunpowder solvent around here somewhere, in case you need to freshen your perfume.”
As her private jet took off from Marco Polo Airport near Venice, Rachel called her Uncle Itzak. She explained why Bodin was not a threat, and why she didn’t kill him.
Itzak said, “And you believed him? I thought I taught you better than that.”
Rachel said, “You don’t believe me? I thought I taught you better than that.”
“Okay, okay, I believe you believe him. And maybe he even believes himself right now. That’s not my point. My point is there’s too much at stake. We’re talking potential for major war here. And Professor LaBranche has major mental health issues. He’s unstable. He’s proven that. Israel can’t risk war on his stability.”
“So you want me to go back and kill him?”
“No, honey. You come home. I’ll talk with Mossad about other options. I’m sure there’s something else we can do. Maybe just kidnap him until this blows over.”
“Okay Uncle Itzak. I’ll be home in a few hours. Maybe you can come over for dinner on Thursday?”
“I’d like that. See you then. Take care.”
“Bye.” Rachel hung up, then said, “You lovable sack of well-intentioned shit.”
She stood up and walked to the cockpit of the small jet. She said to the pilot, “Please turn around and take me back to Venice right away. I need to save a friend of mine from being killed.”