The Eleventh Commandment

Lloyd quickly grabbed a blank yellow pad and flicked the top off a felt-tip pen. He didn’t need to press any buttons - every conversation that took place on that particular phone was automatically recorded.

‘I’ve just returned from ten days in Bogota, and someone down there was making sure that doors were not only slammed in my face, but locked and bolted.’

‘So Dexter must have found out what you were up to,’ said Lloyd.

‘Within minutes of my speaking to the local Chief of Police, would be my bet.’

‘Does that mean she also knows who you’re working for?’

‘No, I covered myself on that front, which is why I’ve taken so long getting back to you. And I can promise you that after the wild goose chase I led one of her junior officers on, she’ll never be able to fathom who I’m reporting back to. Our Cultural Attache in Bogota is now following up every known drug baron, every junior official in the narcotics department, and half the local police force. His report will fill so many pages it will take them a month just to read it, let alone figure out what the hell I was doing down there.’

‘Did you come up with anything we could pin on Dexter?’ Lloyd asked.

‘Nothing she wouldn’t be able to explain away with the usual smoke and mirrors. But all the evidence suggests that the CIA was behind the assassination.’

We already know that,’ said Lloyd. ‘The President’s problem is that, although our informant’s credentials are impeccable, he could never appear on the stand, because he’s the person who directly benefited from the assassination. Do you have anything that could stand up in court?’

‘Only Bogota’s Chief of Police, and his credentials certainly aren’t impeccable. If he were to stand up in court, you could never be certain which side he’d end up supporting.’

‘Then how can you be so sure the CIA was involved?’

‘I saw the rifle that I’m confident was used to kill Guzman. I even got hold of the spent cartridge of the bullet that hit him. What’s more, I’m fairly sure I know the man who made the gun. He’s the best in the business, and he’s contracted to work for a small number of NOCs.’

‘NOCs?’

‘Non-official cover officers, unattached to any government agency. That way the CIA can deny all knowledge of their activities if anything goes wrong.’

‘So the assassin is a serving officer of the CIA,’ said Lloyd.

‘It looks that way. Unless it turns out to be the one Dexter pensioned off a few days ago.’

‘Well there’s one person we ought to have on our payroll.’

There was a long silence before Jackson finally said, ‘That may be the way you do things at the White House, Mr Lloyd, but this man wouldn’t betray a former employer, however large a bribe you offered him. Threatening him won’t work either: he wouldn’t give you the time of day if you put a gun to his head.’

‘How can you be so sure?’

‘He served under me in ‘Nam, and even the Vietcong couldn’t get anything out of him. If you really want to know, he’s about the only reason I’m still alive. In any case, Dexter will already have convinced him that her orders came direct from the White House.’

‘We could tell him she was lying,’ said Lloyd.

‘That would only put his own life in danger. No, I have to be able to prove Dexter’s involvement without him finding out what we’re up to. And that won’t be easy.’

‘So how do you intend to do it?’

‘By going to his retirement party.’

‘Are you serious?’

‘Yes, because there’ll be one person there who loves him even more than she loves her country. And she might just be willing to talk. I’ll be in touch.’

The phone went dead.

When Nick Gutenburg, the Deputy Director of the CIA, entered the drawing room of the Fitzgeralds’ home, the first person he saw was his predecessor Chris Jackson, deep in conversation with Joan Bennett. Was he telling her who he’d been working for in Bogota? Gutenburg would have liked to overhear what they were talking about, but first he had to say hello to his host and hostess.

‘I’ll do another nine months with the company,’ Joan was saying. ‘By then I’ll be eligible for my full pension. After that, I’m hoping to join Connor in his new job.’

‘I’ve only just heard about that,’ said Jackson. ‘It sounds ideal. From what Maggie was telling me, he won’t have to spend quite so much time travelling.’