Honor Among Thieves

“Thank you, Patty.”

“Glad to have been of assistance, sir.”

Once the meeting at Dummond et cie had broken up, Cavalli returned to his hotel room to wait for Franchard to call and confirm that the sum of forty million dollars had been deposited in his No. 3 account in Zurich.

As long as the transaction was closed within the hour, he would still have easily enough time to catch the 4:45 out of Geneva for Heathrow and make the early-evening connection to New York.

Cavalli began to get a little anxious after thirty minutes passed and there had been no call, and even more so after forty. After fifty, he found himself pacing around the room, staring out at the fountain and checking his watch every few moments.

r /> When the phone eventually rang, he grabbed it.

“Mr. Cavalli?” inquired a voice.

“Speaking.”

“Franchard here. The document has been verified and taken away. It might interest you to know that Mr. Al Obaydi studied one word on the parchment for some time before he agreed to transfer the money. The agreed sum has been credited to your No. 3 account in Zurich as you specified.”

“Thank you, Monsieur Franchard,” said Cavalli without further comment.

“My pleasure, as always, Mr. Cavalli. And is there anything else we can do for you while you’re here?”

“Yes,” replied Cavalli. “I need to transfer a quarter of a million dollars to a bank in the Cayman Islands.”

“The same name and account as the last three transactions?” asked the banker.

“Yes,” replied Cavalli. “And the Zurich account, presently registered in the name of Mr. Al Obaydi: I want to withdraw one hundred thousand dollars from it and…”

Monsieur Franchard listened carefully to his client’s further instructions.

* * *

“State Department.”

“Can I speak to the Secretary of State?”

“Just a moment.”

“Office of the Secretary.”

“This is Calder Marshall. I’m the Archivist of the United States. It’s vitally important that I speak with Secretary Christopher.”

“I’ll put you through to his Executive Assistant, sir.”

“Thank you,” said Marshall, and waited for a short time.

“This is Jack Leigh. I’m Executive Assistant to the Secretary. How may I help you, sir?”

“To start with, Mr. Leigh, how many Executive Assistants does the Secretary of State have?”

“Five, sir, but there is only one senior to me.”

“Then I need to speak to the Secretary of State urgently.”

“Right now he’s out of the office. Perhaps the Deputy Secretary can help?”

“No, Mr. Leigh, he cannot help.”

“Well, I’ll certainly let Secretary Christopher know you called, sir.”