‘Some deals.’
‘What deals? Stocks, restaurants, futures, real estate? What?’
She looked at him quizzically, then said, ‘Real estate?’
‘Why would you be interested in this?’
‘Come on, you can’t ask me that. Please.’
‘Yes, I see.’ He paused, several calculations going on in his mind at once. ‘Information on high-ranking American officials is very useful to the Israeli government, but only if there is some impropriety that can be used against them, or even better, used to influence American policy in Israel’s favour. So you were seeking evidence of this nature. But why in London?’
She shook her head. ‘I can’t tell you.’
Harland slapped his knee. ‘Ah, I get it. You already had the evidence you needed and this meeting was part of a regular arrangement. He was working for you already. Was he telling you about American intelligence policy?’
She uncrossed her legs, leaned forward in the wicker chair and looked him in the eyes.
That was all he needed. ‘Thank you.’ He thought for a moment. ‘We both know we’re talking about the osteopath.’
Her gaze held his eyes.
‘So let me suggest this. Not only was Norquist telling you about US intelligence planning, he was also keeping you informed about Sammi Loz, specifically the transactions in New York that enabled you to work out the money flow to Hizbollah. But of course it wasn’t easy for Mossad to see Norquist, so your people had to fit into his arrangements. You never contacted him by phone or email; instead you popped up at some moment during his travels, to receive information and give instructions. Each time a different person would make contact, so Norquist’s security wouldn’t be suspicious. That explains why he didn’t know who you were at Heathrow.’
She nodded, but by the way she looked at him he knew there was something more.
‘What is it? What else?’
Again she shook her head. She was prepared to give a mute confirmation, but only if he reached the right solution without her aid.
‘So let’s think about this,’ he said, wishing he had brought a couple of miniatures down to the beach. ‘There was something unusual about the message you were going to give him that day. That would explain why you followed him from New York and waited before passing through Immigration with him. If it had been routine you would simply have bided your time until you saw him at the St James’s Hotel. What was it? Did you have knowledge of the hit? Were you trying to warn him?’
Her eyes pulsed and he knew he was right. He was also momentarily aware that his attraction for her still moved deep in him. ‘Does that mean you knew about the switch that was going on in Terminal Three?’
‘No, we didn’t. You have to tell me about that.’
He then proceeded to give her everything he had learned from Isis Herrick, aware that this was specifically against the instructions of Sir Robin Teckman. But he had no illusions that he was still being used by Teckman, and reasoned that he could consult his own judgement about what to tell her. She listened intently, memorising the salient details, logging and filing them away to be recalled in a matter of hours for the benefit of her controllers in Tel Aviv. After he finished, she asked him a series of penetrating questions about the tracking of the suspects, not all of which he could answer, but she nevertheless soon grasped the significance of the exclusive Anglo-American arrangements.
‘Why is this? Why don’t they use the other services in Europe?’
‘Because they don’t trust them.’
‘But that is wrong. Only a few months ago the French told the British of some Algerian suspects. We help all the European agencies on Islamist terror cells, sharing information about the movements and backgrounds of suspects. This is the only way.’
‘I’m sure there are many who agree with you, but I didn’t design the policy.’ He stopped and looked at her again. ‘Has it occurred to you that this is the level we work best at – when we’re discussing some fucking intelligence problem?’
‘Yes,’ she said, as though this had long been evident to her.
‘Well,’ he said with a bleak smile, ‘let’s think about the connection between Sammi Loz and the switch at Heathrow. How much notice did you have of Norquist travelling?’
‘Eighteen hours.’
‘And how did you know where he was going?’
‘Other intelligence,’ she said.
‘Oh come on, Eva. What other intelligence?’
‘I cannot say. Operational security.’
‘Okay, okay,’ he said, raising his hands in surrender. ‘So when did you hear there was a threat to his life?’
‘Just before I got on the plane at JFK. Our people had been monitoring a website. There was nothing definite, but we thought that Norquist was the likely target, and I was told to get to him as soon as possible at Heathrow and warn him.’
‘Your service was ahead of everyone else on this. As far as I can gather, the British had very little notice of the threat.’
She shrugged.
‘Right, so you did get to him at Heathrow. Did you warn him?’
‘I was about to, but then I saw armed police waiting and I knew they must be there to protect him, so I thought it would be better to wait and talk to him about the other things later. I thought he was safe.’
‘Is it the assumption of your service that Sammi Loz tipped off the would-be killers about Norquist’s plans?’
‘Yes.’
‘Because?’
‘We believed Loz knew or guessed that Norquist had been talking to us and had betrayed details of his dealings. Norquist was disposable.’
‘I see. But if there’s a connection between the switch and Norquist’s death – and we should remember that was probably caused by a stray British bullet – it means that Loz must have had notice of Norquist’s plans far in advance of you. A dozen or more men had to get tickets and time their arrival at Heathrow. That would need several days’ preparation. As soon as the operation had begun and all these suspects were in the air bound for London, someone leaked the fact that an American diplomat was about to be topped at Heathrow, on a website they knew was being monitored. Diversion strategy in place.’
‘And because his plane was late, it worked even better than they had planned,’ she said.
Harland leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. ‘That means Sammi Loz is the planner, or at least one of the planners. It’s odd that Teckman hadn’t sussed all this by now.’
‘He couldn’t, because he didn’t know of the corrupt relationship between Admiral Norquist and Sammi Loz. Only we knew this.’
‘Right, but he suspected something, because he asked me to watch Loz.’ He paused. ‘That’s who I have been with.’
‘With Loz!’ She was shocked. ‘Our people are looking for him all over. Where is he? You must tell me.’
‘I can’t.’
‘You have to.’
‘I can’t, because you will wade in and others may be killed.’
‘But he’s in British hands?’
‘Sort of.’
‘I will have to tell my people that immediately. For God’s sake, why didn’t you say this before?’
‘Operational security,’ he said, grinning.
‘Bullshit.’
‘I needn’t have told you at all, Eva.’
‘But don’t you see, we are working on this together now. There are things that only we can put
