“I was forced out.”
“why were you forced out?”
“They were afraid of me.”
“Who was afraid of you?”
“Everyone.”
“Specifically, who was afraid of you?”
281
“Stansfield and Olson.” Stansfield didn’t bother looking up. He kept his eyes closed and listened. “Mr. Higgins, were you the author of a covert operation back in the early sixties that resulted in the assassinations of several French politicians?” Stansfield felt a sharp pain shoot through his forehead. “Yes,” responded Arthur’s thick voice. “Who were you working for at the time?”
“The CIA.” Irene Kennedy looked to her boss. She had never heard of the covert operation, but it was long before her time. “How many French politicians did you kill?”
“Two.”
“Who were they?”
“Claude Lapoint and Jean Bastreuo.” Stansfield gripped his forehead and squeezed hard, wondering how the interrogators had managed to find out about one of the most classified operations in the history of the Agency. The generic computer voice continued, “Why were they killed?”
“Because they were ungrateful bastards.”
“Could you be more specific?”
“They were the leaders of a movement within the French parliament that wanted all
U.S. nuclear weapons removed from French soil.”
“Did anyone in the French government know that the CIA had killed two of their elected officials?”
“No.”
“How did you kill them without getting caught?”
“We made it look like French revolutionaries did it.”
“While you were with the CIA, did you conduct other operations similar to this?”
“Yes.”
“Since you left the CIA, have you conducted any operations similar to the one that you ran in France?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever conducted an operation like this in the United States?”
282
Stansfield’s eyes opened with the realization of where the confession was headed.
“Yes.”
“Did you use the recent string of assassinations as a cover to kill Senator Olson and
Congressman Turnquist?”
“Yes.” Roach shook his head and said, “Oh my God.”
“Why did you kill Senator Olson and Congressman Turnquist?”
“I had Olson killed for my own personal reasons and Turnquist … we killed him to confuse the FBI and the CIA.”
“Why did you kill Senator Olson?”
“I hated him. He was a weak man who had no business interfering in the operations of the Agency.”
“Why did you hate him?”
“He blocked my nomination for director of the CIA. I should have been the next director, but instead Stansfield, that weak imbecile, got it, and it was all Olson’s doing.”
“Who else was involved in your plot to kill Senator Olson and
Congressman Turnquist?”
“Mike Nance and Stu Garret.” Roach shook his head and said, “Unbelievable.”
“Why did they want Olson killed?”
“Olson was going to announce that the new coalition was a sham. That their proposed budget cuts were fake.”
“Garret and Nance wanted to have him killed for that?” “It was my idea, and Nance brought Garret in on it because we knew how desperate he was to get control of the situation. Besides, we knew if we killed some Federal agents, it would undermine the public support for the terrorists.”
“What were you getting out of the deal?”
