‘Only that he’d keep his ear to the ground. And that he found the plan acceptable — or at least, believable. Why would he have sat on it? Why didn’t he get on to the Americans, or the British, at once?’
‘Ah.’ Pol poured the last of the champagne into their glasses. ‘He wanted to sound you out, my dear Murray. To find out just how serious the plan was — and how seriously, if at all, these two pilots would react. To wait till the plan had begun to mature and ripen before cutting it down. He probably didn’t want you biting too quickly.’
Murray nodded, trying to convince himself that this was a plausible explanation. If Finlayson had been working for British Intelligence, would he really have worked alone on a job as big as this — even in a country as small as Laos? Or had he been working with Hamish Napper? And if Napper were the one who’d tipped Pol off, what percentage was he hoping to get at the end — to supplement his pension and the bungalow near Godalming? Yet there was one thing that didn’t quite fit. Why had Napper, if he had known that Finlayson was to be killed — indeed already had been killed — been so keen to warn Murray off Ryderbeit? Was Ryderbeit himself some mysterious double agent? It seemed hardly likely. Yet Napper had gone to some pains to warn Murray off — almost as though he’d known what Finlayson knew, and was anxious to keep Murray out of trouble.
Something, somewhere, didn’t add up. Murray would have dearly liked to talk again to little Hamish Napper. He thought of tackling Pol about it, but decided to hold his tongue. It was very possible that at the last moment Napper had got cold feet and wanted out — had been trying to do Murray a favour by hinting he should do the same. And if Pol suspected this, it was also a strong possibility he would have Napper disposed of as well. Pol’s ‘romantic idealism’ did not stop at the ‘necessary killing’. Instead Murray changed the subject, to something more academic, but which was also worrying him.
He nodded at the sheaf of photostats in Pol’s lap. ‘One and a half billion dollars is a fantastic sum, Charles. Isn’t it just a little too fantastic? Too big for anyone to get rid of — especially when one hell of a lot of it must be in numbered, traceable notes.’
Pol gave his sly smile. ‘Ah, but my dear Murray, it’s just the fantastic size of it, and the fact that so much of it can be traced, that is the very essence, the very beauty of the plan!’
‘I don’t follow.’
‘No? So what do you think the Americans will do when they find the money has gone? They’ll be very upset of course — and they’ll start the most massive land and sea search that the world has probably ever seen. But then what? After a few weeks — a few months — when they find nothing? After all, they will not be operating on American territory.’
‘They’ll alert every bank in the Western world — lean on every friendly, even unfriendly Government, to track those dollars down and hand them over — with us.’
Pol was shaking his head, still smiling. ‘Oh no they won’t, Murray. And I’ll tell you why. At this moment approximately forty-four billion American dollars are in circulation throughout the world. When the Americans discover that nearly three per cent of that cash has been stolen, you ask me what their reaction will be? A large proportion of that money, as we know, will be in high denomination bills — fifties and hundreds. And a large amount of those, particularly the ones held by the big international banks, will, as you say, be numbered and traceable. But if the American Treasury were to announce publicly that three per cent of this money — perhaps a half per cent of all fifty- and hundred-dollar bills in circulation in the entire world — was stolen money, then what do you think would happen? The value of the dollar, particularly the high denomination bills, would slump — probably more than the three per cent lost. So the Americans will do nothing. They will prefer to have the money still circulating, hot, than have their creditors and the international dealers shying off the dollar and turning to more respectable currencies. For that is the whole point, Murray. If we make off with this money, we are not only stealing it — we are threatening to discredit the currency of the United States of America! And the dollar, at all costs, must be kept respectable!’
‘And with a fraction of this sum — say ten million dollars — it wouldn’t work?’
‘Oh, a small sum would be useless. That is the only reason why I am so interested in this operation. Because one and a half billion U.S. is a reasonable, workable amount. It even gives us an edge over the United States Treasury!’ He chuckled gaily, rubbing his hands: ‘But this is all theory. What we must now attend to are more immediate, practical matters. We have the information, the two pilots, the landing-zone in Laos — and possibly the girl who could be of either great help, or great danger. We also have the small problem of the gentlemen who sent me my present for breakfast. I think we must find these gentlemen, and if possible neutralise them. Since they have already gone to such trouble to kill me — and must by now know they have failed — I suspect they are anxious to try and finish me off here in Bangkok before I get back into Cambodia.
‘Now I have already booked myself out, as you know, on the same flight as yourself — Air Vietnam to Saigon
