LITMIR.BIZ

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when Kim showed them in. He waved them to sit.

      ‘Yes, Prime Minister, of course, I’ll be there in an hour.’ He nodded. ‘We’ll have a complete update for you.’ He put the phone down. ‘What a balls-up. God knows what President Clinton’s going to say.’

      ‘Yes, it’s bad news, I’m afraid,’ Hannah said.

      ‘Bad news?’ His face was purple. ‘It’s bloody disastrous. I mean, you two were supposed to watch out for him.’

      ‘She was ahead of him, waiting in ambush in the cemetery,’ Dillon said. ‘It was only chance that I noticed her as we drove off.’

      ‘What happened? Tell me everything.’

      Which Dillon did. When he was finished he said, ‘A bit of luck finding the muslin trousers and the chador, not that they’ll help much in my opinion.’

      ‘Which doesn’t count for very much at the moment,’ Ferguson told him.

      Hannah said, ‘Dillon has a theory that January 30 will claim this one, sir.’

      Ferguson, in the act of taking a cigarette from a silver box, paused, frowning a little. ‘But they just have. Phoned the BBC about an hour ago. That’s one of the things the Prime Minister wants to see me about.’ He lit his cigarette. ‘All right, Dillon, let’s have it.’

      ‘I think we’ve met before, that’s why she knew me.’

      ‘Where?’

      ‘Belfast when the Sons of Ulster set me up, the lone motorcyclist in black leathers who took out the lookout man. I said at the time, if you recall, that he made a strange gesture. Raised an arm in salute before riding off.’

      ‘And?’

      ‘She did exactly the same tonight. So it was no man on that motorcycle in Belfast; it was her.’

      ‘Another thing, sir,’ Hannah said. ‘The night she saved Dillon in Belfast she used an AK, but all the other hits have been with the same weapon, the Beretta. I’ve a hunch that the rounds that come out of Mr Bell will match.’

      ‘I’m not sure that makes sense to me,’ Ferguson said, ‘but we’ll wait and see what the lab report shows. Anyway, I’ve got to go and see the PM now to discuss this whole unfortunate affair and the possible repercussions. You two will just have to wait here until I get back. Not much sleep for anyone tonight, but that’s the way it is.’

      Simon Carter and Rupert Lang were waiting downstairs when Ferguson arrived at Downing Street.

      ‘Good God, Ferguson, what went wrong?’ Carter demanded.

      ‘I’ll explain that to the Prime Minister,’ Ferguson said as an aide took them upstairs. ‘Are you thoroughly briefed on all this?’ he asked Rupert.

      Lang nodded. ‘I’m afraid so. Terrible business.’ He was, in fact, more up to date than any of them, for he had been at Cheyne Walk after the show discussing the night’s events with Grace, Curry and Belov when the call on his Cellnet phone had summoned him to Downing Street.

      The aide showed them into the study. The Prime Minister didn’t bother with the courtesies. ‘Sit down and let’s get on with it, gentlemen. Brigadier, what went wrong?’

      Ferguson explained exactly what had happened. When he was finished, Carter snorted angrily. ‘So Dillon failed this time?’

      ‘Nonsense.’ It was the Prime Minister who had spoken. ‘There was nothing more that Dillon or Chief Inspector Bernstein could have done, that’s obvious. This woman was ahead of them, waiting to ambush Mr Bell. What I’d like to know is how she knew about him, knew he was here, knew his whereabouts.’

      ‘Yes, a mystery that, Prime Minister, and Dillon has supplied another.’ He explained briefly Dillon’s theory that the motorcyclist in Belfast and the Muslim woman were one and the same person. ‘And it may not be just a theory,’ he concluded. ‘Dillon predicted who would claim responsibility before we heard about the call to the BBC.’

      ‘January 30,’ the Prime Minister said. ‘Surely to God we can do something about these people? Brigadier, I would be obliged if you’d mount a special investigation, go over everything they’ve ever been connected with. There must be something, some clue or other. There must be.’

      ‘If there is, we’ll find it,’ Ferguson told him. ‘Perhaps the Deputy Director’s people can do the same. Two separate approaches might turn something up.’

      ‘Of course, Prime Minister,’ Carter told him. ‘And I’d particularly like to find out why this woman didn’t shoot Dillon when she had the chance.’

      The Prime Minister stood up and warmed his hands at the fire. ‘Events in Ireland are moving faster than I would have thought possible. Because of this, I intend to make my flying visit to see President Clinton tomorrow. With luck I’ll be back before anyone knows I’ve gone. I do not, I repeat, not want this on the front page of the Daily Express.’

      ‘We understand, Prime Minister,’ Carter said.

      ‘But I stress again how worried I am that the Protestant factions may get out of hand and ruin all hopes of peace at the most crucial stage. This January 30 business tonight will hardly help. I know they’ve operated across the board and appear to kill willy-nilly, but Bell was not only a good man, he was a Catholic and this won’t sit well with Sinn Fein and the IRA.’

      ‘I’m afraid you’re right,’ Rupert Lang said.

      The Prime Minister nodded. ‘Another thing. As you know, President Clinton appointed Mrs Jean Kennedy Smith American Ambassador in Dublin last year. I understand from reports from your people, Mr Carter, that there have been threats to her life from Loyalist terrorists.’

      ‘A lunatic fringe only, Prime Minister.’

      ‘Perhaps,’ John Major nodded. ‘But I need hardly point out the disastrous consequences of anything happening to the sister of the most revered American President of the century.’

      At the Cavendish Square flat, Kim provided sandwiches and tea while Ferguson when over the proceedings at Downing Street with Dillon and Hannah Bernstein.

      ‘So what does he want us to do?’ Dillon asked. ‘We’ve already eradicated one of the worst Protestant factions and saved Ireland from nuclear threat. Do we work our way through the leadership of the UFF and UVF, one by one?’

      ‘I don’t think that will be necessary,’ Ferguson told him. ‘But coming up with an answer on January 30 would be more than helpful. I want you and the Chief Inspector to get straight on with it tomorrow. Go back through all the old files since they first struck. Check everything again. Ask the computer for answers.’ He stood up. ‘Good God, two o’clock. I’m for bed.’

      ‘All right for him,’ Dillon said as they went downstairs. ‘Ten paces to his bedroom, that’s all.’

      ‘Come off it, Dillon, it’s only five minutes’ walk to your place in Stable Mews,’ Hannah said.

      ‘True, but a lot further for you. I was thinking, how about a glass of something to warm you up on this cold night, and as you say, my place is just around the corner.’

      ‘Well, you can think again.’ She got in her car and switched on the engine. ‘Night, Dillon, sleep tight.’

      She drove off without waiting for his response.

      They were waiting for Rupert Lang when he got back to Cheyne Walk. Grace opened the door to him and led the way into the drawing room where the others were sitting by the fire.

      ‘Foul night,’ Lang said. ‘Any coffee?’

      ‘Tea.’ She nodded at the table. ‘Freshly made. Much better for you at this time of night.’

      ‘So, my friend, what happened?’ Yuri demanded.

      ‘Considerable

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