“Let’s go to Gatwick,” Campbell said without hesitation.
“Very well. And a helicopter, perhaps?”
“No. A car will be fine.”
Jean-Paul nodded and got up as Stuart Campbell lightly touched his arm.
“Jean-Paul? I really do value your professionalism and your conservative thinking. Thank you for keeping us safe.”
“You’re welcome, Sir William,” Jean-Paul said evenly, studying his employer’s face and hesitating. “This situation… with the American President… it has you agitated, no?”
“It does,” Campbell agreed with a sigh. “It’s a very serious, precedent-setting action, this. Very important to the development of international law.”
“And, I think to you, personally, it is important,” the captain offered.
“You mean, is there some old score to settle? There will be that criticism, but the truth is plain and simple, Jean-Paul. He’s guilty… although I’m not even sure John Harris knows it.”
Stuart Campbell waited until Jean-Paul returned to the cockpit before pulling the phone out of its cradle. He punched in a string of numbers and waited for a male voice to answer.
“What’s our status, Henri?” he asked.
“We have the judge for four o’clock in the Bow Street Magistrate Court. That’s the court that by law will eventually have to rule on extradition.”
“The committal hearing, as we call it for some obscure reason?” Campbell added.
“Absolutely.”
“Henri, please double-check my memory of the extradition procedure. First we’re essentially asking the municipal police to take the Interpol warrant to the magistrate and apply for a British arrest warrant.”
“That’s correct, Sir William. When we get the warrant, the police make the arrest, and then Peru has to send a formal request to the Secretary of State for extradition…”
“Already been done,” Campbell said, stopping the other man.
“Really?”
“Yes. Last week. Go on.”
“Very well. Once the arrest has been made, the Secretary will decide whether to sign the so-called Authority to Proceed.”
“He will.”
“And… then we deal with the committal hearing, which could drag on for several days. With Pinochet, it tied up the Bow Street Court for a week.”
“True, but Amnesty International was there, as was Spain, all represented by a gaggle of QC’s.”
“Well, once that’s over and it goes against Harris, his counsel may ask the Divisional Court for a habeas corpus writ.”
“Which he will not get.”
“Sir William, with Harris still on the ground at Sigonella, is there any chance the Italians will change their minds?”
Stuart laughed. “None. Anselmo is praying that Harris escapes as quickly as possible. He has no reason to guess that I’m hoping the same thing.”
“No flight plan has been filed as yet. You’re certain they’ll come to London?”
“It was John Harris’s own idea,” Stuart chuckled, “although he’s obviously misread the political climate.”
“Rather badly, I would say. Any chance he’ll discover that in time?”
“I would think not. Now, in the meantime, I want you to proceed with the plan I gave you this morning.”
“Right now?”
“Yes, Henri. Right now. The sooner we flush them out of there, the less time they’ll have to think it over. Make the call.”
Being chauffeured to #10 Downing Street was a baffling turn of events, Jay Reinhart thought, as he got out of the government car and followed a grim-faced man in a gray suit into a compact conference room to wait for the Deputy PM. Why they would have been expecting his call was even more of a mystery, although it was probably a result of White House efforts to help.
Hopefully that’s it, Jay thought. Hopefully the British want John Harris out of this, too.
Perhaps he could arrange a quiet little deal to give the chartered 737 time to refuel at some British airport and be on its way before the courts could get involved. That might work, he thought, provided Stuart Campbell hadn’t already taken the warrant to a British magistrate. He couldn’t expect the government of Great Britain to defy its own courts.
The fact that the aircraft couldn’t make it back to the United States without another refueling stop in Iceland or Greenland was still a significant problem. He wondered if they could charter another, longer-range aircraft, or even shift the President to a regular commercial flight at Heathrow.
If not, perhaps they could make Canada in one hop, although the reaction of the Canadian Government couldn’t be taken for granted either. They, too, had ratified the treaty.
Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Sheffield entered suddenly with two aides and shook Jay’s hand warmly before sitting in a chair across the table.
“Let me get right to the point, Mr. Reinhart. Her Majesty’s government is aware of your mission to defend Mr. Harris from the international arrest warrant issued by Peru. We’re aware he’s at this moment in Sicily and the circumstances of that presence. We understand the Italian government’s stance, and we’re aware that you’ve been making inquiries about our official attitude toward the Peruvian warrant if Mr. Harris should arrive on these shores.”
Jay nodded. “That’s all quite correct.”
“Very well. While we will need several hours to give you a formal answer, as a lawyer I’m sure you understand fully that, whatever our point of view, it is in no way controlling. I know you’re aware that our courts are independent, as are yours in the States. This matter will be decided by judges.”
“Well, sir, unless something has changed drastically in the last few weeks, the Secretary of State still has final authority.”
“Yes, but only after the judiciary.”
“Has the warrant already been presented to a magistrate court, Mr. Sheffield?”
“I really don’t know,” Sheffield replied. “But I should think we would be wise to expect that step at any moment.”
“I do believe that the government’s attitude, and your degree of interest, will very likely weigh in the thinking of any judges who get this case.”
“Again, I firmly doubt that,” Sheffield replied. “Let me ask, is your plan to fly President Harris here this afternoon?”
“Yes,” Jay said cautiously, “provided…”
“Provided our position is not interpreted by you as a threat?”
“Yes.”
“I can guarantee nothing, you understand, and I cannot even give you an idea until the PM has had time to consider the situation. We have been in touch with the White House, of course.”
“I thought you might.”
“And we are, as you might guess, very distressed to hear a legal process under a treaty to which we are a party, and to which we have unavoidable obligations, has been initiated against an American ex-President.”
Jay studied Sheffield’s eyes, looking for the deeper meaning behind his chillingly phrased words.
“As you can imagine, President Harris was equally distressed,” Jay replied. “Mr. Sheffield, let me emphasize that this… this warrant is a ridiculous and fraudulent instrument in essence, and one that will ultimately be quashed for lack of credible charges. But… in the meantime, we need to ask that there be no government support for any short-circuiting or speedup of the extradition process. That is your governmental province, and the Secretary of State is certainly a member of your government.”
“I understand.”
“May I tell the President he can count on that?”
“No, Mr. Reinhart, you may not. Only the PM can decide what, if anything, we can do from this level, and what, if anything, should be communicated to the Secretary, whose obligation is primarily legal, and not political. Now, how may I contact you later this afternoon?”