Foucault's pendulum - Umberto Eco [151]
“So everything is settled.”
“If only that were all. Yet another revelation: Synarchy is a plot of the international technocrats. This was asserted in 1960 by one Villemarest, Le 14’ complot du 13 mai. The techno-synarchic plot wants to destabilize governments and, to do it, provokes wars, backs coups d’etat, foments schisms in political parties, promotes internecine hatreds...Do you recognize these synarchists? “
“My God, it’s the IMS, the Imperialist Multinational State— what the Red Brigades were talking about a few years ago!”
“The answer is correct. And now what does Inspector De Angelis do if he finds a reference to synarchy somewhere? He asks the advice of Dr. Casaubon, the Templar expert.”
“My answer: There exists a secret society with branches throughout the world, and its plot is to spread the rumor that a universal plot exists.”
“You’re joking, but I—”
“I’m not joking. Come and read the manuscripts that turn up at Manutius. But if you want a more down-to-earth explanation, it’s like the story of the man with a bad stammer who complains that the radio station wouldn’t hire him as an announcer because he didn’t carry- a party card. We always have to blame our failures on somebody else, and dictatorships always need an external enemy to bind their followers together. As the man said, for every complex problem there’s a simple solution, and it’s wrong.”
“And if, on a train, I find a bomb wrapped in a flier that talks about synarchy, is it enough for me to say that this is a simple solution to a complex problem?”
“Why? Have you found bombs on trains that...No, excuse me. That’s really not my business. But why did you say that to me, then?”
“Because I was hoping you’d know more than I do. Because perhaps I’m relieved to see you can’t make head or tail of it either. You say you have to read lunatics by the carload and you consider it a waste of time. I don’t. For me, the works of your lunatics—by ‘your’ I’m referring to you normal people—are important texts. What a lunatic writes may explain the thinking of the man who puts the bomb on the train. Or are you afraid of becoming a police informer?”
“No, not at all. Besides, looking for things in card catalogs is my business. If the right piece of information turns up, I’ll keep you in mind.”
As he rose from his chair, De Angelis dropped the last question: “Among your manuscripts...have you ever found any reference to the Tres?”
“What’s that?”
“I don’t know. An organization, maybe. I don’t even know if it exists. I’ve heard it mentioned, and it occurred to me in connection with your lunatics. Say hello to your friend Belbo for me. Tell him I’m not keeping tabs on any of you. The fact is, I have a dirty job, and my misfortune is that I enjoy it.”
As I went home, I asked myself who had come out ahead. He had told me a number of things; I’d told him nothing. If I wanted to be suspicious, I could think perhaps that he had got something out of me without my being aware of it. But if you’re too suspicious, you fall into the psychosis of synarchic plots.
When I told Lia about this episode, she said: “If you ask me, he was sincere. He really did want to get it all off his chest. You think he can find anyone at police headquarters who will listen to him wonder whether Jeanne Canudo was right-wing or left? He only wanted to find