phone hummed again. Caller ID showed only the code for a British government number. Thinking Philly might be ringing from a different office, Bond answered.
He immediately regretted doing so.
31
‘James! James! James! Guess who? Percy here. Long time no speak!’
Bond’s heart sank.
Leiter frowned at the glower on Bond’s face.
‘Percy… yes.’
Division Three’s Osborne-Smith enquired, ‘You well? No altercations requiring anything more than a plaster, I trust.’
‘I’m fine.’
‘Delighted to hear it. Now, things are proceeding apace here. Your boss has briefed everyone about the Gehenna plan. You were perhaps too busy fleeing the jurisdiction to be in touch.’ He let that hang for a moment, then said, ‘Aha. Just winding you up, James. Fact is, I’m calling for several reasons and the first is to apologise.’
‘Really?’ Bond asked, suspicious.
The Division Three man’s voice grew serious. ‘In London this morning, I’ll admit I had a tac team ready to grab Hydt at the airport, bring him in for some tea and conversation. But it turns out you were right. The Watchers picked up a scrap and managed to decrypt it. Hold on – I quote from the record. Here we go: something garbled, then “Severan has three main partners… any one of them can push the button if he’s not available.” So you see, James, arresting him
In the intelligence world, Bond had learnt, your allies sought forgiveness for their transgressions against you about as often as your enemies did. He supposed that some of Osborne-Smith’s contrition was based on staying in the game for part of the glory, but that was all right with Bond. All he cared about was learning what the Gehenna plan was and preventing thousands of deaths.
‘I suppose.’
‘Good. Now, your boss sent us a signal about what you found up in March and I’m following it up. The “blast radius” is pretty obvious – an IED – so we’re tracking down any reports of stray explosives. And we know that one of the “terms” of the deal involves five million quid. I’ve called in some favours at the Bank of England to check SFT activity.’
Bond too had thought of calling the Bank with a request to flag suspect financial transactions. But nowadays five million pounds was such small change that he’d believed there would be far too many responses to plough through. Still, it couldn’t hurt for Osborne-Smith to go ahead.
The Division Three man added, ‘As for the reference to the “course” being confirmed, well, until we know more, there’re no aircraft or ships to monitor. But I’ve put the aviation and port chaps on alert to move fast if we need to.’
‘Good,’ Bond said, without adding that he’d asked Bill Tanner to do much the same. ‘I’ve just found out that Hydt, his lady friend and the Irishman are on their way to Cape Town.’
‘Cape Town? Now that’s worth chewing over. I’ve been peering into Hydt’s recesses, so to speak.’
This was, Bond supposed, what passed for a comradely joke with Percy Osborne- Smith.
‘South Africa is one of Green Way’s biggest operations. His home from home. I bet Gehenna must have some connection with it – Lord knows, there’re plenty of British interests there.’
Bond told him about al-Fulan and the girl’s death. ‘All we learnt specifically is that Hydt gets a kick out of pictures of dead bodies. And the Arab’s company probably has something to do with Gehenna. He’s supplied equipment to arms dealers and warlords in the past.’
‘Really? Interesting. Which reminds me. Take a look at the photo I’m uploading. You should have it now.’
Bond minimised the active-call screen on his mobile and opened a secure attachment. The picture was of the Irishman. ‘That’s him,’ he told Osborne-Smith.
‘Thought it might be. His name’s Niall Dunne.’ He spelt it out.
‘How did you find him?’
‘Footage from the CCTVs at Gatwick. He’s not in the databases but I had my indefatigable staff compare the pic with street cameras in London. There were some close hits of a man with that weird fringe inspecting tunnels that Green Way’s building near the Victoria Embankment. It’s the latest thing – underground rubbish transfer and collection. Keeps the roads clear and the tourists happy. A few of our boys pretended they were from Public Works, flashed his picture and got his real name. I’ve sent his file to Five, the Yard and your chief of staff.’
‘What’s Dunne’s story?’ Bond asked. In front of him the fish cooled but he’d lost interest in it.
‘It’s curious. He was born in Belfast, studied architecture and engineering, came top of his year. Then he became a sapper in the Army.’
Sappers were combat engineers, the soldiers who built bridges, airports and bomb shelters for the troops, as well as laid and cleared minefields. They were known for their improvisational skills, building defensive or offensive machinery and bulwarks with whatever supplies were available and under less-than- ideal conditions.
The ODG’s Lieutenant Colonel Bill Tanner had been a sapper and the soft-spoken, golf- loving chief of staff was one of the cleverest and most dangerous men Bond had ever met.
Osborne-Smith continued, ‘After he left the service he became a freelance engineering inspector. I didn’t know that any such line of work existed but it turns out that in constructing a building, ship or plane, the project has to be inspected at hundreds of stages. Dunne would look over the work and say yea or nay. He was apparently at the top of his game – he could find flaws that nobody else could. But suddenly he quit and became a consultant, according to Inland Revenue records. He’s a damn good one, too – he makes about two hundred grand a year… and doesn’t have a company logo or cute mascots like Wenlock and Mandeville.’
Bond found that, since the apology, he felt less impatient with Osborne-Smith’s wit, such as it was. ‘That’s probably how they met. Dunne inspected something for Green Way and Hydt hired him.’
Osborne-Smith continued, ‘Data mining’s placed Dunne going to and from Cape Town over the past four years. He’s got a flat there and one in London, which we’ve been through, by the way, and found nothing of interest. The travel records also show he’s been in India, Indonesia, the Caribbean and a few other places where trouble’s brewing. Working on new outposts for his boss, I’d guess.’ He added, ‘Whitehall’s still looking at Afghanistan, but I don’t give a toss about their theories. I’m sure you’re on the money, James.’
‘Thanks, Percy. You’ve been very helpful.’
‘Delighted to be of service.’ The words that Bond would have found condescending yesterday now sounded sincere.
They rang off and Bond told Felix Leiter what Osborne-Smith had turned up.
‘So that scarecrow Dunne’s an engineer? We call ’em geeks in the states.’
A hawker had entered the restaurant and was moving from table to table selling roses.
Leiter saw the direction of Bond’s gaze. ‘Listen up, James, I’ve had a wonderful dinner but if you’re thinking of sealing the deal with a bouquet, it ain’t gonna happen.’
