Bishop as Pawn (41 page)

Now dressed as a priest, he left the men’s room, carrying the valise and the duffel bag. He went directly to an outside bin he knew would be emptied within the hour.

Twenty minutes later his flight was called. The security people had no problem with his carry-on valise, nor with the contents of his pockets. The forged passport passed muster.

He found his seat in the tourist section, loosened his clerical collar, and settled in for the first leg of his twelve-hour trip to Detroit. By the time he had mentally run through his agenda for the next few days, lunch was being served. Later when the movie began, he took a cassette from his pocket, inserted it into a compact player, and connected the earphone. It was a book being read by an actor with Midwest American roots. He shut his eyes and, as he had done so many times before, silently moved his lips as he practiced an accent that was not his.

Sometime later he drifted off to sleep.

He needed the rest. He had business in Detroit.