"El Presidente of the nation sent for me this morning, Coronel," he an-nounced. "I have just returned from the Casa Rosada."
Mart¡n didn't reply.
"Presidente Castillo has been informed by a source he considers very reli-able," Montoya said, "that the Grupo de Oficiales Unidos is not dissolving, as he hoped they would, following the tragic death of el Coronel Frade. They are in fact planning the overthrow of his government."
Does that mean what it sounds like-that we have been betrayed-or did Castillo finally wake up ? And does Montoya's careful choice of words-sug-gesting this is the first he has heard the Grupo de Oficiales Unidos is planning the coup-mean that he has chosen sides against us?
"Mi Almirante, did el Presidente identify the source of his information?"
"Of course not."
"Do you believe el Presidente's source to be reliable, mi Almirante?"
"I would think so. Among other things, el Presidente's source provided him with a complete list of the officers who were at Estancia Santo Catalina over the weekend. According to that source, General Arturo Rawson has replaced el Coronel Frade as President of the Grupo de Oficiales Unidos."
So we do have a traitor in our midst. Or, from Castillo's perspective, a pa-triot. And I have no idea at all who it could be.
"I hadn't heard that, but I am not surprised. I thought it would be either Rawson or General Ramirez."
"Apparently, you were not able to place anyone at Estancia Santo Catalina?"
"At the estancia, of course," Mart¡n said. "You will recall that on Monday morning I furnished you with a list of the officers who were at Estancia Santo Catalina...."
For precisely this purpose, in case someone else out there was counting noses and making lists.
"Fortunately, I was able to present el Presidente with your list. If it wasn't for that list, I would have looked-we would have looked-more incompetent than otherwise."
"I was unable, mi Almirante, to place a source inside the meeting of the G.O.U., if there was such a meeting."
"Of course there was a meeting. At which Rawson was elected, or ap-pointed, to replace Frade."
"Appointed by whom, mi Almirante?"
"I was thinking Ramirez."
"General Ramirez was not at Estancia Santo Catalina over the weekend, mi Almirante."
"Juan Domingo Per¢n was. He was almost certainly Ramirez's proxy."
"That is a possibility."
"Putting together all the intelligence you have gathered, Coronel, what is your assessment of the chances that the G.O.U. will succeed if they attempt to depose Presidente Castillo?"
"I think they will succeed, mi Almirante," Mart¡n said.
Although he looked carefully, Mart¡n could not see any reaction to that on Montoya's face.
But if I told him I thought the coup would fail, the next time he opened his mouth he would have ordered me to arrest everybody on the list, and probably Ramirez as well.
"And when do you think they will try?"
What they did talk about at that damned meeting was when they would ex-ecute Outline Blue. And they didn't make a decision. The foot draggers tri-umphed. "Let's wait until there is the absolute minimum chance that something will go wrong!" It is one thing to talk about, even plan, a coup d'‚tat, and en-tirely something else to vote to try it. And if whoever among them knew that Rawson was elected president of G.O.U.-and who is that sonofabitch?-he also knew that no date was decided upon. Does Montoya know that?
"I can only guess, mi Almirante."
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"Guess."