‘No.’
‘They’re code words for operations or individuals, and they sometimes appear in the calendar alongside numbers which we believe are encrypted IBAN numbers. The National Security Agency is working on these and we’ll have them pretty soon, unless they’ve been really scrambled.’ Samson thought of Naji. If these numbers had been through Naji’s hands, he doubted anyone would get the right result: Naji had his own approach to encryption. Reiner continued: ‘The words appear with varying frequency. BERLIN is the most common, with forty-four mentions. PEARL gets twenty-nine, SAFFRON fourteen, PITCH thirteen and AURORA eleven. Over the last couple of months all five words make more appearances than they did in the two previous months, so, obviously, this signals increased activity of some sort, which we think may have been focused on the hearing in Congress this week.’
Samson had stopped listening. The image in his mind was the poorly cleaned whiteboard in the room known as the Pit in 209 Herbert Street. He wanted to consult the photographs on his phone, but there was really no need because he recalled the remaining letters in at least two of the column headings, which had not quite been wiped clean. PIT did not refer to the room of that name, which was his original supposition, but consisted of the first three letters of the word PITCH. Likewise, EAR was part of the word PEARL. He considered this for a few seconds before deciding that he would tell Reiner and Toombs about this once he had reached either Naji or Zoe Freemantle to ask them what they meant.
Reiner noticed he’d tuned out. ‘Is there something on your mind?’
‘My leg’s giving me gyp – sorry.’
‘Are you able to help us with any of this?’
He shook his head. ‘Can I make a note of some of these words, or take a photograph?’
‘We don’t allow photography in the facility, sir,’ piped one of the young agents.
‘Have you got a photocopy?’
Toombs looked sceptical, but Reiner handed him a printed sheet with the numbers and the five words.
‘What about the dates in the calendar where the words appear?’
Reiner shook his head. ‘See if you can help with these and then we’ll talk about the dates. You may figure something out. And if you do, we would like to hear from you.’ He flicked a card across the table.
Toombs got up, tucked his thumbs into the front of his waistband and walked around the room. ‘I’ll give you my number momentarily, but you may not have time to use it. The reason we came to your restaurant is that Special Agent Reiner heard through his sources that the police are going to use the death of the man you killed in self-defence as an excuse to arrest and detain you. We wanted to speak with you before that happened. I know things are fucked up in this country, but why would they arrest you? To stop you talking? About what, for Chrissake? You don’t know anything.’ He paused, removed his thumbs from his trousers and clapped his hands together. ‘I got it. They know you’re going to find out their big secret.’ He put air quotes around that. ‘And why would that be? Because they know the secret is headed towards you.’
‘I’m not sure I understand you,’ said Samson.
‘Sure you do. You’re still in the game. So you know that sometimes you go and find the secret, but other times the secret comes to you, and that’s usually when you don’t want it. Make no mistake: this secret is coming your way, pal, which means you will be in a position to harm them, just as Mr Hisami and Mr Harland were. That’s why they wound up dead and in a coma. And they want you dead. I don’t think they’ll be bothering with amateurs like Visser and Rajavic any longer. They’ll set someone really good on you.’
‘Thanks for the reassurance.’
‘We want to make friends with you for the time when the secret comes to you. We want to be the guys you share it with because you know we will do the right thing. Does that make sense?’ He offered his business card in the palms of both hands.
‘You keep saying “them”’, said Samson, taking the card. ‘Who do you think is them?’
‘I guess the them is a big part of the secret. Maybe that’s the whole goddamn secret, eh? It feels like that to me.’ He returned to his chair and leaned back with his hands clasped behind his head. ‘There’s one thing you need to do and that’s get the hell out of this shitty country. Go travel. It’s not good for you here. They have your entire life mapped out and someone high up here wants to nail you.’
Reiner rose and moved to the door. ‘I believe you were on your way to a meeting. Can we give you a ride?’
‘Yes, Mayfair,’ said Samson.
Toombs gave him a pitying look from his chair. ‘Myself, I don’t think you’re going to make it, but the number on the card is good for these two guys, also,’ he said, gesturing to the two young agents. ‘If you need protection, they’re the bubblewrap.’
Chapter 17
The Bird
Samson returned to Cedar and went to eat at the table he sometimes used at the rear of the restaurant by the kitchen entrance. It was still early and the surrounding tables were empty. Ivan reported no sightings of the Matador, but a police presence in the street had been noted earlier, although it was not clear whether it had been focused on Cedar. Samson could have gone round to Macy’s office immediately, but he needed to eat and ponder things. He’d reached a conclusion about
