The Evening News (88 page)

"Will you tell me which areas
?
”

Partridge asked
.”
I do not believe that would be wise. In any case it would not be possible
to go there yourself. Or do you, perhaps, have some such plan
?
”

Although Partridge did have a plan, he replied negatively
.
The remainder of the interview went much the same way, neither participant
trusting the other and playing cat-and
mouse, attempting to obtain
information without revealing all of his own. In the end neither succeeded
,
though in a summary for the National Evening News, Partridge did use two
quotes from General Ortiz-the one about Peru's "vast spaces where it is
possible to hide armies
”
and the cynical observation that
alleged human rights violations were "a one-day news trifle, forgotten twenty-four hours later
.”

Since there was no recording, New York used both quotes in print on-screen
,
beneath a still photo of the general
.
Partridge did not, however, regard his visit as productive
.
More satisfying was an interview later in the day with Cesar Acevedo
,
another long
time friend of Partridge's and a lay leader of the Catholic
Church. They met in a private office at the rear of the Archbishop's Palace
on the Plaza de Armas, official center of the city
.
Acevedo, a small, fast-talking, intense person in his fifties, had deep
religious convictions and was a theological scholar. He was involved
full-time with church administration and had considerable authority, though
he had never taken the ultimate step of becoming a priest. If he had
,
friends were apt to say, by now he would be a bishop at the very least, and
eventually a cardinal
.
Cesar Acevedo had never married, though he was a prominent figure socially
in Lima
.
Partridge liked Acevedo because he was always what he appeared to be, as
well as unassuming and totally honest. On an earlier occasion when
Partridge asked why he had never entered the priesthood, he replied
,
"Profoundly as I love God and Jesus Christ, I have never felt willing to
surrender my intellectual right to be a skeptic, should that ever happen
,
though I pray it never will. But if I became a priest I would h
ave surren
dered that right. As a young man, and even now, I could never quite bring
myself to do it
.”

Acevedo was executive secretary of the Catholic Social Action Commission
and was involved with outreach programs which brought medical help to
remote parts of the country where no doctors or nurses were regularly
available
.”
I believe
,”
Partridge asked early in their meeting, "that from time to
time you have to deal with Sendero Luminoso
.”

Acevedo smiled
.”
'Have to deal' is correct. The Church does not, of
course, approve of Sendero--either its objectives or methods. But as a
practical matter a relationship exists, though a peculiar one
.”

For reasons of its own, the lay leader explained, Sendero Luminoso did not
like antagonizing the Church and rarely attacked it as an institution. Yet
the rebel group did not trust individual Church officials, and when some
anti-government action or other insurrection was intended, the rebels
wanted priests and other church workers out of the area so they could not
witness it
.”
They will simply tell a priest or our social workers, 'Get out of here!
We don't want you around! You will be told when you can return.'
“
"And your priests obey that kind of order
?
”

Acevedo sighed
.”
It does not sound admirable, does it? But usually yes
,
because there is little choice. If the order is disobeyed Sendero will not
hesitate to kill. A live priest can go back eventually. A dead priest
cannot
.”

A sudden thought occurred to Partridge
.”
Are there any places, right at
this moment, where your people have been told to leave, where Sendero
Luminoso doesn't want outside attention
?
”

"There is one such area and it is creating a considerable problem for us
.
Come! I will show you on the map
.”

They walked to a wall where, under a
plastic cover with crayon markings, a large map of Peru was mounted
.”
It's this entire area right here
.”

Acevedo pointed to a section of San
Martin Province, ringed in red
.”
Until about three weeks ago we had a
strong medical team in here, performing an assistance program we carry out
each year. A lot of what they do is vaccinate and inoculate children. It's
important because the area is part of the Selva, where jungle diseases
abound and can be fatal. Anyway, about three weeks ago Sendero Luminoso
,
which controls the area, insisted that our people leave. They protested
,
but they had to go. Now we want to get our medics back in. Sendero says
no
.”

Partridge studied the encircled section. He had hoped it would be small
.
Instead it was depressingly large. He read place names, all far apart:
Tocache, Uchiza, Sion, Nueva Esperanza, Pachiza. Without much hope he wrote
them down. In the unlikely event of the captives being at one of those
places, it would
do no good to enter the area without knowing which. Effecting a rescue anywhere would be difficult, perhaps impossible. The only slim chance would be total surprise
.”
I suspect I know what you are thinking
,”
Acevedo said, "You are
wondering if your kidnapped friends are somewhere in that circle
.”

Partridge nodded without speaking
.”
I do not believe so. If it were the case I think there would have been
some rumor. I have heard none. But our church has a network of contacts
.
I will send out word and report to you if anything is learned
.”

It was the best he could hope for, Partridge realized. But time, he knew
,
was running out and he was no closer to knowing the whereabouts of the
imprisoned Sloane trio than when he had arrived
.
The thought had depressed him while in the Archbishop's Palace. Now, in
his hotel room, remembering that and the other events of the day, he had
a sense of frustration and failure at his lack of progress
.
Abruptly, the bedside telephone rang
.”
Harry, is that you
?
”

Partridge recognized Don Kettering's voice
.
They exchanged greetings, then Kettering said, "Some things have happened
that I thought you ought to know about
.”

Rita, also in Cesar's Hotel, answered her room phone on the second ring
.”
I've just had a call from New York
,”
Partridge said. He repeated what
Don Kettering had told him about discovery of the Hackensack house and
the cellular phones, adding, "Don gave me a Lima number that was called
.
I want to find out
who’s
it is and where
.”

"Give it to me
,”
Rita said
.
He repeated it: 28-9427
.”
I'll try to get that Entel guy, Victor Velasco, and start him working
on it. Call you back if there's any news
.”

She did in fifteen minutes
.”
I managed to get Velasco at
home. He says it isn't something his department handles and he may have a little trouble getting the information, but thinks he can have it by morning
.”

"Thanks
,”
Partridge said and, soon after, was asleep.

It was not until mid
afternoon on Wednesday that the Lima telephone number relayed through Don Kettering was identified. Entel Peru's international manager was apologetic about the delay
.”
It is, of course, restricted data
,”
Victor Velasco explained to Partridge and Rita, who were in CBA's Entel editing booth where they had been working with the editor, Bob Watson, on another news spot for New York
.”
I had trouble persuading one of my colleagues to release the information
,”
Velasco continued, "but eventually I succeeded
.”

"With money
?
”

Rita asked and, when he nodded, she said, "We'll reimburse
you
.”

A sheet torn from a memo pad contained the information: Calder
o
n, G-547
Huancavelica Street,
"We need Fer
na
ndez
,”
Partridge said
.”
He's on his way here
,”
Rita informed him, and the swarthy, energetic
stringer-fixer arrived within the next few minutes. He had continued
working with Partridge since his and Minh Van Canh's arrival at Lima
airport and now assisted Rita in a variety of ways
.
Told about the Huancavelica Street address and why it might be important
,
Fern
a
ndez Pabur nodded briskly
.”
I know it. An old apartment building near
the intersection with Avenida Tacna, and not what you would call"-he
struggled for an English word-"palatial
.”

"Whatever it is
,”
Partridge told him, "I want to go there now
.”

He turned
to Rita
.”
I'd like you, Minh and Ken to come
along, but first let me go inside alone to see what I can find out
.”

"Not alone
,”
Fern
a
ndez objected
.”
You would be attacked and robbed, maybe
worse. I w
ill be with you and so will Toma
s
.”

Tonids, they had discove
red, was the name of the burly,
taciturn
bodyguard
.
The station wagon Ferna
ndez had hired, which they now used regularly, was
waiting outside the Entel building. Seven people including the driver
made it crowded, but the journey took only ten minutes
.”
There is the
place
,”
Fernandez
said, pointing out of the window
.
Avenida Tacna was a wide, heavily traveled thoroughfare, Huancavelica
Street crossing it at right angles. The district, while not as grim as
the barriadas, had clearly fallen on bad days. Number 547 Huaricavelica
was a large, drab building with peeling paint and chipped masonry. A
group of men, some seated on ledges near the entrance, others standing
idly around, watched whi
le Partridge, Fernandez and Toma
s stepped out of
the station wagon, leaving Rita, Minh Van Canh and the sound man, Ken
O'Hara, to wait with the driver
.
Aware of unfriendly, calculating expressions among the onlookers
,
Partridge was glad of Fernan
dez's insistence that he not go inside
alone
.
Within the building an odor of urine and general decay assaulted them
.
Garbage was strewn on the floor. Predictably, the elevator wasn't working
so the men had no choice but to climb nine flights of grimy cement
stairs
.
Apartment F was at the end of an un
c
arpeted, gloomy corridor. At the
plain slab door Partridge knocked. He could hear movement inside but no
one came to the door and he knocked again. This time the door opened two
or three inches only, halted by an inside chain. Simultaneously a woman's
high
pitched voice let loose a tirade in Spanish-her speech too fast for
Partridge to follow, though he caught the words, ".anirnales! . .
.
asesinos! . . .
diablos
!”