Quiller Solitaire

It was simply a thought, running through my head. I was not mad; I knew the risks; but the situation was so obviously attractive: the executive for Solitaire was within fifty feet of the target and if he could close that distance to within killing range he could complete the mission in a matter of seconds and two or three hundred people would board their flight and feel nothing worse than a touch of jet lag at the other end, attractive, such a very attractive situation.

With legs as long as that,' Inge was calling above the sudden roar of the crowd, 'I'm not surprised he can make that kind of speed!'

I said no, it wasn't surprising, something like that.

There was another thought in my mind, less attractive. Inge had been full of suspicion this morning at the airport when I'd told her we'd met at one of Willi's parties, and I couldn't tell how much I'd convinced her that it was true – that she simply didn't remember me. I might not have convinced her at alclass="underline" she could have brought me here tonight to have me killed.

'Do you smoke?'

She had a packet of Players in her hand.

'I'm trying to quit.'

She flashed her smile and lit a cigarette, and the scent of marijuana came on the air.

To have me killed, because I didn't know what she'd said to Dieter Klaus when she'd phoned him in Frankfurt. I've just met an arms dealer who says he respects you and what you're doing. He supports people who try to bring down the capitalistic establishment, and he says he can sell you a nuclear missile. Are you interested?

That would be all right. That would be very nice. But she might have said something quite different. I've just met a man who says that he knows you and your organisation – he even knows its name. He says he knows that you have substantial backing from Colonel Gadhafi. He pretended he'd met me before, but I've never seen him in my life, and I think you should have him worked over to find out who he is. If you like, I can bring him to you.

That would not be all right. It would not be very nice at all. But that is what I thought she'd probably said to Klaus, and those were the terms of the critical risk I was taking. I hadn't walked in here with much hope of getting clear again if I wanted to, if I had to. I was committed now: if I got up and tried to walk out of here I wouldn't get farther than the car park if they didn't want me to, the people in the black track suits. I didn't underestimate them because four of them were women: I've trained too many women myself at Norfolk in the lethal use of the hands. The men would only be there in case they were needed.

And as Johan gets through and shapes for the strike he's no more than two feet ahead of Lieberman and he'll need an awful lot of speed to bring this one off.

I was committed, and that had been my intent. From here I could only go in deeper, all the way to the centre, and I could only get out by destroying Nemesis first.

'She's one of his girls,' Inge said.

'Yes? What's her name?

'Dolores. I'm one of his girls too, one of his concubines. We share him. It's an honour.'

Her eyes were shimmering.

'How nice for him.'

She drew on the cigarette, deeply. 'We'd do anything for him.' She looked at me with her eyes narrowing. 'We would kill for him.'

I said, 'He must have quite a lot of enemies.'

'Of course. They are dealt with.'

One of the players made a goal and the crowd roared and I tried to think how to bring Maitland into the conversation, and Helen. This girl might know where Helen was, what had happened to her. There was an Englishman, I remember, killed in Berlin last week, May ford, was it, or Mason? Was he one of Dieter's enemies? But I couldn't risk it; there were too many reasons for murder in a big city, and there didn't have to be any connection with Nemesis.

'I must ask Dieter,' I said, 'why he flew in to Berlin tonight. You've got me interested.'

She looked at me. 'He might tell you. He might not.'

'I'm a salesman, Inge, and at the moment I'm selling something rather impressive. As I told you, he could take out an entire sports stadium like this one.'

She looked around her. That would be impressive, yes. That would be powerful.' Her eyes had darkened, the blue ice gathering shadows. 'I like power. That's why I'm with Dieter Klaus. He's the most powerful man in Europe. It'll be interesting to see what he thinks about you, Hans, but I must tell you something. I have a very good memory, and I've never been to one of Willi Hartman's parties in my life.'

Please check to make sure you haven't left any belongings on your seat, and be patient with children and elderly people… they may be a little slower than the rest of us.

'Wait,' Inge said.

People moved past us, and she slipped between them and went down the steps and spoke to Klaus, and for an instant he looked across at me. Then Inge turned and came back, her eyes bright as she said, Hell see you for a moment outside the stadium.'

She put a hand on my arm, and we waited until Klaus and his bodyguards moved past us to the exit tunnel. He didn't look in our direction; none of them did. It was a huge crowd but we kept up a good pace once we'd started moving.

'Then it must have been somewhere else,' I'd told her, and she'd laughed lightly and said yes, it must have been, but I knew now that when she'd phoned Dieter Klaus she might have told him that I was an arms dealer but she'd also told him that I'd pretended we'd met before and seemed suspect, so perhaps he should have me worked over.

'Did you like the game?' she asked me.

'Very much.'

Her smile was different now; it had secret amusement in it, and her eyes were cold fire. I didn't think it was the marijuana. I thought that if she could consider the idea of destroying a packed sports stadium and find it 'impressive', she'd probably feel turned on by escorting a man to his execution.

We were held back at one of the gates to the car park by an old man with a ruff of silver hair below his black wool hat; he'd dropped something, a glove, I think, and Inge brushed past him with a quick laugh – 'Don't you think that when people get to a certain age they should be shot?'

They were ahead of us, Klaus and his guards and the woman, Dolores; then they slowed as they neared a black Mercedes limousine with smoked windows and an array of antennae over the boot. A uniformed driver opened a rear door and Dolores got in; then Inge stopped me with her hand as Dieter Klaus swung round.

'What do you want to see me about?'

'I'll tell you in private.'

'Why in private?

'Because I don't talk in the presence of hirelings.'

He studied me, his hands in the pockets of his black sable-trimmed coat, his blunt head forward, his mouth tight. I couldn't see his eyes. He spoke in jerks, his whole body moving, energised by his thoughts.

'You've heard of bodyguards. I don't talk to strangers except in the presence of my bodyguards.'

'I won't hurt you, Klaus.'

I caught a soft sound from Inge. I suppose she thought I was being disrespectful to the Fuhrer.

'You say you are an arms dealer. An arms dealer.'

'That's right. If we -'

'Why should that interest me?'

I took a step forward, as if to be closer so that I could lower my voice, and the bodyguards came in very fast indeed and crossed in front of Klaus in a protective shield with their hands coming up into the Ken-po defence posture. One of them was Asian, I thought Mongol. They stared at me with the indifference in their eyes of a predator before the kill. I had needed to know how good they were.

I couldn't see Klaus any more, or at least not much of him, just the left lens of his dark glasses. I waited.

In a moment Klaus said, 'Leave him.'

They moved slowly backwards, lowering their hands.

'Klaus,' I said, 'you've been told what I've got to offer you. That offer expires at midnight. I've got an appointment tomorrow with the Soviet Foreign Minister in Geneva. My plane -'

'Answer my question. Why have you approached me with this offer?'

'Because you're a professional in your field. I like dealing with professionals. We could -'

'What do you know about me?'

'I can see you in private,' I said, 'for half an hour. But -'

'What do you know about me? '

I looked at my watch. I'm afraid you're wasting my time. I'll give you another -'

'Take him.'

They wore soft shoes and were with me almost in silence, locking my arms, and then Klaus said, 'Take him to the garage. Give him to Geissler. Tell Geissler to find out who he is and what he wants.'

I saw Inge, her eyes bright as she called out to Klaus – 'Can I be there too?

He swung to look at her. 'Yes.'