Carte Blanche - Jeffery Deaver [25]
Rather unskilfully inserted, Bond reflected.
‘So, it’s Percy and James. Sounds like a stand-up act at a Comic Relief show. Anyway, I’ve heard about you, James. Your reputation precedes you. Not “exceeds”, of course. At least, not from what I hear.’
Oh, God, Bond thought, his patience already worn thin. He pre-empted a continuation of the monologue and explained in detail what had happened in Serbia.
Osborne-Smith took it all in, jotting notes. Then he described what had happened on the British side of the Channel, which wasn’t particularly informative. Even enlisting the impressive surveillance skills of MI5’s A Branch – known as the Watchers – no one had been able to confirm more than that the helicopter carrying the Irishman had landed somewhere north-east of London. No MASINT or other trace of the chopper had been found since.
‘So, our strategy?’ Osborne-Smith said, though not as a question. Rather, it was a preface to a directive: ‘While Defence and Six and everybody under the sun are prowling the desert looking for Afghans of mass destruction, I want to go all out here, find this Irishman and Noah, wrap them up in tidy ribbons and bring them in.’
‘Arrest them?’
‘Well, “detain” might be the happier word.’
‘Actually, I’m not sure that’s the best approach,’ Bond said delicately.
For God’s sake, be diplomatic with the natives . . .
‘Why not? We don’t have time to surveille.’ Bond noticed a faint lisp. ‘Only to interrogate.’
‘If thousands of lives are at risk, the Irishman and Noah can’t be operating alone. They might even be pretty low in the food chain. All we know for sure is that there was a meeting at Noah’s office. Nothing ever suggested he was in charge of the whole operation. And the Irishman? He’s a triggerman. Certainly knows his craft but basically he’s muscle. I think we need to identify them and keep them in play until we get more answers.’
Osborne-Smith was nodding agreeably. ‘Ah, but you’re not familiar with my background, James, my curriculum vitae.’ The smile and the smarminess vanished. ‘I cut my teeth grilling prisoners. In Northern Ireland. And Belmarsh.’
The infamous so-called ‘Terrorists’ Prison’ in London.
‘I’ve sunned myself in Cuba too,’ he continued. ‘Guantánamo. Yes, indeed. People end up talking to me, James. After I’ve been going at them for a few days, they’ll hand me the address where their brother’s hiding, won’t they? Or their son. Or daughter. Oh, people talk when I ask them . . . ever so politely.’
Bond wasn’t giving up. ‘But if Noah has partners and they learn he’s been picked up, they might accelerate whatever’s planned for Friday. Or disappear – and we’ll lose them until they strike again in six or eight months when all the leads’ve gone cold. This Irishman would have planned for a contingency like that, I’m sure of it.’
The soft nose wrinkled with regret. ‘It’s just that, well, if we were on the Continent somewhere or padding about in Red Square, I’d be delighted to sit back and watch you bowl leg or off breaks, as you thought best, but, well, it is our cricket ground here.’
The whip crack was, of course, inevitable. Bond decided there was no point in arguing. The dandified puppet had a steel spine. He also had ultimate authority and could shut out Bond entirely if he wished to. ‘It’s your call, of course,’ Bond said pleasantly. ‘So, I suppose the first step is to find them. Let me show you the leads.’ He passed over a copy of the pub receipt and the note: Boots – March. 17. No later than that.
Osborne-Smith was frowning as he examined the sheets. ‘What do you make of them?’ he asked.
‘Nothing very sexy,’ Bond said. ‘The pub’s outside Cambridge. The note’s a bit of a mystery.’
‘March the seventeenth? A reminder to drop in at the chemist?’
‘Maybe,’ Bond said dubiously. ‘I was thinking it might be code.’ He pushed forward the MapQuest printout that Philly had provided. ‘If you ask me, the pub’s probably nothing. I can’t find anything distinctive about it – it’s not near anywhere important. Off the M11, near Wimpole Road.’ He touched the sheet. ‘Probably