Natalya had seen the three stars on the epaulets of the visitor’s MGB uniform. Three stars meant the head of a main directorate.
She didn’t need to know the man’s name, and she didn’t want to ask. It would only show that she was in some way concerned about the man’s visit—which would only result in someone being suspicious of her motives. Part of life was behaving correctly so suspicion never arose.
The rumor mill soon identified the man as Lieutenant General Pyotr Fedotov, head of the MGB’s First Main Directorate, responsible for all foreign intelligence. His remit included keeping surveillance over all Soviet diplomatic personnel. More chillingly, he reported directly to Beria.
The rumor mill also had several theories about why Fedotov would be visiting Sokolov. Any of them could, of course, be true. Conspiracy theories were only as good as their plausibility. Natalya could hope desperately that one of them was indeed true and not the one she held to herself—that the visit was about Mikhail. She was flooded with fear for Mikhail and her children.
She steeled herself to find out at the “planning meeting” with Sokolov if Fedotov’s visit was about Mikhail. For now, all she could do was wait for Sokolov to tell her when and where that meeting would happen.