Page 45 of Wild Oblivion

"How about you read me in?”

"What have you been able to get out of him?”

I lied, "The man is 98 years old. I'm not sure how much is in there.”

"Perhaps you fail to see the importance of this matter.”

"Perhaps you’ve failed to enlighten me as to why I should care?”

"Deputy Wild, you're a patriotic man. You want what's best for our country, don’t you?”

I didn’t appreciate her condescending tone. "I’ve bled for our country."

Novak hesitated for a long moment. "Is there somewhere we can speak in private?”

I nodded to the restaurant and escorted her inside. The door chimed as we stepped into the empty space. Chairs were upside down on tables.

We took a seat at the bar.

I thought I'd be a good host and asked if I could get her anything to drink.

"No, thank you.”

"You were about to tell me why you're interested in Strauss.”

"I think you already know the answer to that.”

21

"Time dilation comes to mind," I said. "As does the name Klaus von Markov.”

"How much has Strauss told you?" Novak asked.

"It's hard to sort fact from fiction.”

"Understandable.”

"I'm hoping maybe you could clear some of that up.”

"I can tell you what I know to be fact. I can tell you that von Markov’s research facility in eastern Prussia was bombed in 1945. I can tell you his body was never found.”

"Tell me something I don't know.”

"The device that von Markov was working on was never recovered.”

"How do you know he was at the location during the bombing?”

"According to the intel we had at the time, he was. Obviously, I don't have any firsthand knowledge of this. I'm just going by what's in the files.”

“Maybe his body was destroyed beyond recognition. Maybe the device was as well.”

“Certainly a plausible theory,” she said with some skepticism.

"You have a better one?”

"I don't know if it's better. But it's an alternate and worth considering.”

“I’m listening.”