Our Kind of Traitor

‘How much does Longrigg get?’ Hector asks, after glancing at one of Ollie’s notes.

‘One half one per cent,’ Dima replies tonelessly. ‘On the day Arena get its banking licence, Longrigg get first money. After one year, second money. Year later, finish.’

‘Paid to where?’

‘Switzerland.’

‘Know the account number?’

‘Till Berne I don’t know this number. Sometimes I get only name. Sometimes only number.’

‘Giles de Salis?’

‘Special commission. I hear this only, no confirmation. Emilio say to me: de Salis get this special commission. But maybe Emilio keep it for himself. After Berne I know for sure.’

‘A special commission of how much?’

‘Five million cold. Maybe not true. Emilio is fox. Steal everything.’

‘US dollars?’

‘Sure.’

‘Payable when?’

‘Same as Longrigg but cash down, not conditional, two year not three. One half on official foundation Arena Bank, one half after one year trading. Tom.’

‘What?’

‘Hear me, OK?’ The voice suddenly alive again. ‘After Berne I get everything. For signing, I gotta be willing party, hear me? I don’t sign nothing I’m not willing party to, I gotta right. You get my family to England, OK? I go Berne, I sign, you get my family out, I give you my heart, my life!’ He swung round on Perry. ‘You seen my children, Professor! Jesus God, who the fuck they think I am any more? They fucking blind or something? My Natasha she go crazy, don’t eat nothing.’ He returns to Hector. ‘You get my kids to England now, Tom. Then we make deal. Soon as my family’s in England, I know everything. I don’t givva shit!’

But if Perry is moved by this appeal, Hector’s aquiline features are set in rigid rejection.

‘No bloody way,’ he retorts. And riding roughshod over Dima’s protests: ‘Your wife and family stay where they are until after the signing on Wednesday. If they disappear from your house before the Berne signing, they put themselves at risk, you at risk, and the deal at risk. Do you have a bodyguard at your house, or has the Prince taken him away?’

‘Igor. One day we make him vor. I love this guy. Tamara love him. Kids too.’

We make him vor? Perry repeats to himself. When Dima is sitting in his suburban palace in outer Surrey, with Natasha at Roedean and his boys at Eton, we will make Igor a vor?

‘Two men are guarding you at present. Niki and a new man.’

‘For Prince. They gonna kill me.’

‘What time is your signing in Berne on Wednesday?’

‘Ten o’clock. Morning. Bundesplatz.’

‘Did Niki and his friend attend the signing this morning?’

‘No way. Wait outside. These guys are stupid.’

‘And in Berne, they won’t be attending the signing either?’

‘No way. Maybe sit in waiting room. Jesus, Tom –’

‘And after the signing the bank will hold a reception in honour of the occasion. Bellevue Palace Hotel, no less.’

‘Eleven-thirty. Big reception. Everybody celebrate.’

‘Got that, Harry?’ Hector calls to Ollie in his corner, and Ollie raises his arm in acknowledgement. ‘Will Niki and his friend attend the reception?’

If Dima’s composure is deserting him, Hector’s has acquired a driven intensity.

‘My fucking guards?’ Dima protests incredulously. ‘They wanna come to the reception? You crazy? Prince not gonna whack me in the fucking Bellevue Hotel. He gonna wait a week. Maybe two. Maybe first he whack Tamara, whack my children. What the fuck I know?’

Hector’s furious stare remains unchanged.

‘So to confirm,’ he insists. ‘You’re confident that the two guards – Niki and his friend – will not attend the Bellevue reception.’

With a sag of his huge shoulders, Dima lapses into a kind of physical despair. ‘Confident? I’m not confident of nothing. Maybe they come to reception. Jesus, Tom.’

‘Assume they do. Just for argument’s sake. They’re not going to follow you when you take a piss.’

No answer, but Hector isn’t waiting for one. Stalking to the corner of the room, he places himself behind Ollie’s shoulder and peers at the computer screen.

‘So tell me how this plays for you. Whether or not Niki and his friend accompany you to the Bellevue Palace, halfway through the reception – let’s say twelve o’clock midday, as near as you can make it – you take a piss. Give me the ground floor’ – to Ollie – ‘the Bellevue has two sets of lavatories for ground-floor guests. One set is to the right as you enter the lobby, on the other side of the reception desk. Am I right, Harry?’

‘Bang on target, Tom.’

‘You know the lavatories I mean?’

‘Sure I know them.’

‘That’s the set you don’t use. For the other set you turn left and descend a staircase. It’s in the basement and not much used because it’s inconvenient. The staircase is next to the bar. Between the bar and the lift. D’you know the staircase I mean? Halfway down it there’s a door that pushes open when it isn’t locked.’

‘I drink many times in this bar. I know this staircase. But at night-time they lock. Maybe day too sometimes.’

Hector resumes his seat. ‘On Wednesday morning the door will not be locked. You go down the staircase. Dick upstairs will be following you. From the basement there’s a side exit to the street. Dick will have a car. Where he takes you will depend on the arrangements I make in London tonight.’

Dima again appeals to Perry, this time with tears in his eyes:

‘I want my family to England, Professor. Tell this apparatchik: you seen them. Send the kids first, I follow. That’s OK by me. Prince wanna whack me when my family’s in England, who givva shit?’

‘We do,’ Hector retorts vehemently. ‘We want you and all your family. We want you safe in England, singing like a nightingale. We want you happy. We’re in the middle of the Swiss school term. Have you made any plans for the children?’

‘After Moscow funeral, I tell to them, fuck school, maybe we make holiday. Go back to Antigua, maybe Sochi, fool around, be happy. After Moscow, I tell them any shit. Jesus.’

Hector remains unmoved. ‘So they’re at home, out of school, waiting for your return, thinking you may be making a move, but not knowing where to.’

‘Mystery holiday, I tell them. Like secret. Maybe they believe me. I dunno no more.’

‘On Wednesday morning, while you’re at the bank and celebrating at the Bellevue, what will Igor be doing?’

Dima rubs his nose with his thumb.

‘Maybe go shop in Berne. Maybe take Tamara to Russian church. Maybe take Natasha to horse-school. If she don’t be reading.’

‘On Wednesday morning, Igor needs to go shopping in Berne. Can you tell that to Tamara over the telephone without making it sound unusual? She should give Igor a long shopping list. Provisions for when you come back from your mystery holiday.’

‘Is OK. Maybe.’

‘Only maybe?’

‘Is OK. I tell Tamara. She’s a bit crazy. She’s OK. Sure.’

‘While Igor’s out shopping, Harry here, and the Professor, will collect your family from the house for their mystery holiday.’

‘London.’