“Talk, Symons, and stop the bullshit. The next time it won’t be just a punch on the nose.”
“You’re going to regret this, Boyd. You really …”
And this time Symons screamed as the solid fist crunched into his battered face. He tried to stand up to get away from the pain, rocking his head, his eyes closed, his throat swallowing blood as he fought for breath.
When he eventually opened his eyes to look at Boyd they were pleading for mercy, all trace of superciliousness gone.
“He’s British. They wanted a suitable subject. All I did was programme him the way they wanted.”
“The way who wanted?”
“Your man Carter. And his stooges. Maclaren and Sturgiss.”
“Did Grabowski agree to this?”
“You know Grabowski?”
“Did he agree?”
“Yes. It was a deal.”
“What did you make Walker do?”
“He gave the coup de grâce to men who had sold or given away military secrets.”
“You mean he killed them?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t they just do it themselves?”
“It’s a standard precaution. If anything came to light. A body, say. Then there’s no connection with anyone except the subject. And he could never be arrested and tried because as far as he’s concerned he never did it. And was never in that place. That time or any other time.”
“You said it’s standard precaution. You mean it’s standard for CIA?”
“For Grabowski’s people, yes.”
“How many murders did Walker commit?”
“Seven.”
“Where were they?”
“Two men and a girl in Germany. Two men in Holland. One in Israel and one in Athens.”
“Now tell me about the girl. Debbie Shaw.”
“We used her as a courier while she was travelling around the service camps in the States. Then we used her for carrying gold and drugs across combat lines for dissidents.”
“What about over here?”
“She killed two men in Dublin and one in Belfast. They were IRA leaders. I gather your people were delighted with the results.”
“When did you stop using Walker?”
“He was due out of the army. And after he was released he went to see a psychiatrist, and we dropped him then.”
“How long did you use him?”
“About a year.”
“Is that why he can’t remember anything about that year?”
“Yes. I put a memory block on him.”
“You programmed him to be a different person. What was the name of that person?”
“Dickens.”
“And who was Sergeant Madden SAS?”
“That was a second level. I needed that so that I could rationalize the violence for him.”
“And the girl?”
“She was Nancy Rawlins at the first level of hypnosis and Lara for the second level. The two levels weren’t really necessary in her case. It was an early experiment to see if it would hold.”
“You realize she’s a permanent patient now in a mental unit?”
“That was only because the hypnosis was filtering. When I found that she’d gone for treatment Carter had her detained for security reasons. I told him she was ninety-nine per cent locked-in but he wouldn’t risk her being around.”
“Did you expect her to filter, as you call it?”
“No. It was always possible, but I’d controlled her perfectly for several years.”
“But it’s always possible you were taking a risk?”
“Not really.”
“Why not?”
“I’d arranged a terminal programme.”
“What’s that?”
“Self-immolation.”
“You mean suicide?”
“Yes.”
“How do you make that work?”
“She’s programmed to do it when she hears a five figure number.”
“You mean you say the number and she just kills herself?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“We had some research done. There’s a high cliff on the south coast called Beachy Head where people frequently commit suicide. If she’s in England that’s where she’d do it.”
“And if she was somewhere else?”
“She walks into the nearest lake or ocean.”
“What’s the number?”
“50556.”
“Why that number?”
“It doesn’t come up in dates or clock times.”
“Can you undo it? Cancel it?”
“Possibly. It wouldn’t be certain.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. We haven’t got that tested yet.”
Boyd looked for a long time at Symons in silence. Then he said softly, “Does your conscience ever trouble you, Symons?”
“Why should it?”
“You know why it should, don’t bullshit me.”
“You mean medical ethics and all that?”
“Yes.”
“I’m a CIA man first, a doctor second. The Soviet Union, the KGB do it. So we have to. We have to know how to use the method and how to combat it.”
“Forget being a doctor. Don’t you have any scruples as a human being?”
“Are you married, Boyd?”
“Yes.”
“Ever thought about the animals that die in agony to test your wife’s eye-shadow or lip-salve?”
“She doesn’t use them.”
“Good for her. What about the drugs that save lives, or kidneys, or lungs or livers. Thousands of animals die to test them.”
“What’s that got to do with it?”
“Millions of people will die in the next war. We’re trying to prevent it happening. So maybe fifty or a hundred people die or get disabilities in testing. It’s a very small sacrifice.”
“The ends justify the means?”
“Exactly.”
“That was the Nazis’ excuse and Stalin’s.”
“And now you’re sitting there hoping I’ll say that maybe they were right? So that you can label me as a Nazi or a sadist.”
“Not at all. I labelled you way back. You’re a psychopath.”
Boyd saw the two red spots of anger suffuse Symons’s white cheeks. “You don’t know what the word means, Boyd.”
“Now tell me about the Kennedys.”
“That’s nothing to do with Walker and the girl.”
“I didn’t say it was. But it is. That’s where you started. Right at the top. And you’ve been working your way down ever since.”
“Boyd. You’re having your bit of fun but you’d better remember one thing. I’m a senior CIA officer, privy to a lot of highly confidential information. They’re not going to sit on their butts while some Brit does a bit of private enterprise kidnapping. You’ve got a few hours, maybe even a day, before Washington really starts leaning on your people. Then your people will be leaning on you. Meantime you can rough me up. There’s nothing I can do to stop you. I didn’t do the hoodlum training at Camp Peary so you’re in no danger from me. But when they come for you, you’re finished.”
“Now tell me about the Kennedys. I’ve read your report but there’s just one thing that puzzles me. How did they persuade you to do it?”
“Let me ask
