It was sublimely hot in the great ornate baths in Budapest, green and yellow, like being inside some strange Hungarian dragon. Curioso stepped into the waters and heard the echoes revolving around and around his head. He smiled as the warmth enveloped him, and lay back. So far everything had gone beautifully well, except for the little byplay with Morzik, and they had always known that there had to be someone in the network who was piping the information. Maybe Morzik, maybe not. It hardly mattered. They had brought them out into the open anyway, and the hunt was on. He looked around, and saw only the usual collection of old, rich Hungarian men, bobbing here and there like they were bait for young rich Hungarian women just below the surface of the water. He couldn't help laughing when he thought about the great theatrical scene he and Annette had played out for the benefit of the bug attached to the underside of the bed; followed by some extraordinary exertions just to make the man on the other side of the wall with the headphones very very very lonely. When they were done for the moment, she whispered in his ear: "The things I do for science, mon amour." "I know, I know," he whispered back, " it is terrible, but how else can we get the plans through?"

He came back to the baths, thought better about getting out for the moment, and turned his attention to the problem of Marie of Romania.