It was a bright sunny day in New Mexico, the sort of dry, hot day that is the hallmark of the American Southwest. The intense sun reflected off the light tan buildings, blinding anyone out in the noonday sun without sunglasses. On a small attractive bridge situated in the heart of Santa Fe, two men met. One was in short sleeves and khaki slacks, of average height, slim and somber, with steel-rimmed glasses and clip-on sunglasses. The other was short and dumpy, incongruously wearing a fedora and a raincoat. He was dressed inappropriately for the desert heat, and was squinting against the bright sun and its reflection off the bone-dry buildings.
They came together on the bridge, in full view of anyone who would care to glance their way. No one noticed them â?? they were merely two of the many strangers that had appeared in Santa Fe during the war years. However, on this June day in 1945, this apparently innocent meeting was not a casual happenstance. The taller of the two men handed an envelope to the short, fat easterner.
It contained the principal elements of the design of the atomic bomb.
This was not the first time the two had met. Five or six times prior to the meeting on the bridge in Santa Fe, the taller man had given the shorter one envelopes containing scientific documents. These other meetings had been in New York. Most of them were brief, lasting only a few minutes. The two men did not really know each other. The short man â?? the courier â?? was known to the taller man only as "Raymond." In New York, four days after the meeting in Santa Fe, the courier delivered the envelope to his Russian contact, just as he had delivered similar packets of secrets after other meetings.
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