‘Have one faxed through to our Zürich headquarters, then we can circulate them both to all the airports and stations If they’ve passed through any of them in the last few hours, we’ll know about it.’
‘I’ll call Jacques right away. May I use your phone?’
‘Please do,’ Kuhlmann replied.
Kolchinsky explained the situation to Rust who promised to contact Philpott immediately and have a photograph of Whitlock faxed through to Zürich. Kolchinsky had barely hung up when the telephone rang.
‘Excuse me,’ Kuhlmann said as he answered it. After listening for a few moments he put his hand over the mouthpiece. ‘Ubrino’s been found.’
Kolchinsky and Paluzzi exchanged excited glances.
Kuhlmann spoke for a minute more and then replaced the receiver.
‘An estate agent recognized him from one of the photographs. He came here a month ago and booked a chalet on the outskirts of the city. He picked up the keys from the estate agent on Monday.’
‘The son-of-a-bitch,’ Paluzzi hissed. ‘He’s been here all the time. We’ve been chasing shadows for the past three days.’
‘Is the chalet being watched?’ Kolchinsky asked.
Kuhlmann nodded.
‘There’s a couple of plainclothes men up there now. There’s no sign of Ubrino but they’ve reported seeing smoke coming from the chimney. So it’s fair to assume he’s home.’
‘Fabio, call Michael and Sabrina. Tell them to meet us here.’
‘And Calvieri?’ Paluzzi asked, his hand hovering over the receiver.
‘And Calvieri,’ Kolchinsky said with a sigh.
The briefing was short. Paluzzi would take Graham and Sabrina to within five hundred yards of the chalet, where they would rendezvous with the two policemen. Then, once they had seen the chalet for themselves, they would decide on the best way to approach Ubrino and recover the vial intact.
‘Can you see anything?’ Paluzzi asked as the Westland Scout passed over the rendezvous area.
‘Not a damn thing,’ Graham muttered, then glanced over his shoulder at Sabrina. ‘You’ve got the binoculars. Any sign of those cops?’
‘Not yet,’ she replied without lowering the binoculars. She continued to scan the desolate white slopes beneath them, hoping to catch a glimpse of movement. Nothing. Not even a deer bounding through the snow in search of shelter from the deafening whirr of the helicopter’s rotors. Was it such godforsaken territory? Ubrino had certainly chosen his hideout well.
A sudden movement caught her eye and she swung the binoculars on to the cluster of pine trees to her left. Had she been wrong? Then she saw it again, the glint of sun on a ski pole. She tapped Paluzzi on the shoulder and pointed in the direction of the trees. A figure in a white camouflage overall emerged from the trees and waved at the helicopter.
‘I’ll take the helicopter down,’ Paluzzi said, his eyes focused on the altimeter. ‘I daren’t land it, though. I don’t know the depth of the snow. Get ready, both of you. I’ll give you the signal to deplane.’
Graham and Sabrina were wearing white Goretex overalls and white ski boots lent to them by the local police. The sunglasses were their own. They clambered into the back of the helicopter and retrieved their ski poles and Völkl skis from the rack against the side of the cabin.
They were both experienced skiers but, like the other field operatives, they still had to undergo rigorous outdoor training which included skiing, mountaineering and hang gliding at a secret camp in the backwoods of Maine.
Graham pulled open the door and winced as a gust of cold wind whipped through the cabin. After they had snapped on their skis Sabrina kept her eye on Paluzzi, waiting for his signal for them to deplane. Paluzzi continued to press down on the collective-pitch lever to lower the helicopter towards the ground then, when the pads were a couple of feet above the snow, he nodded his head vigorously, the signal to deplane.
They launched themselves through the doorway and landed nimbly in the snow, bending their knees to cushion the impact of the fall. The helicopter immediately rose upwards and banked sharply to the left, soon to disappear over the treetops.
The man approaching them was in his late twenties with short blond hair and blue eyes. His goggles were pushed up on to his forehead.
‘Mike? Sabrina?’ he called out.
‘Yeah,’ Graham replied and shook the man’s outstretched hand.
‘Lieutenant Jürgen Stressner,’ he said, shaking Sabrina’s hand.
‘Where’s your partner?’ Graham asked.
‘He’s watching the chalet,’ Stressner replied, pointing behind him. ‘Our orders are to assist you in any way possible. Do you have a plan in mind?’
‘Not yet,’ Graham replied. ‘We’ll need to see the chalet first.’
‘Of course,’ Stressner said, pulling the goggles back over his eyes. ‘Follow me.’
Stressner led them down the slope and into a narrow gulley which emerged out on to another slope. Ten yards ahead of them was a dense forest of pine trees. He cut a swath through the trees and came to a sudden halt two hundred yards further on. He pointed to where his partner was crouched behind a rock twenty yards away, a pair of binoculars in his hand.
‘Sergeant Marcel Lacombe. He knows this part of the country better than any man I know.’
Lacombe was a middle-aged man of military bearing, with silver-grey hair and a thick grey moustache. He greeted Graham and Sabrina with a nod.
‘Still no sign of him?’ Stressner asked, taking the binoculars from Lacombe and giving them to Graham.
Lacombe shook his head.
Graham studied the lone chalet, fifty yards away from where they were crouched.
‘It’s totally exposed out there. He’ll see us the moment we show our faces.’
‘Can I make a suggestion?’ Stressner said.
‘Please do,’ Graham replied, handing the binoculars to Sabrina.
‘There are two doors. Front and back. I suggest we pair off and approach the doors separately. If he sees two of us coming towards the front of the chalet he’s sure to try and make a break for it through the back door.’
‘Assuming he doesn’t open the vial first,’ Graham muttered, his eyes flickering towards Sabrina.
‘Vial?’ Stressner said, frowning. ‘What is that?’
‘Haven’t you been briefed?’ Sabrina asked.
‘All we know is his name and what he looks like.’
‘We have to tell them about the vial,’ Sabrina said to Graham. ‘They can’t be expected to go in there blind.’
Graham nodded in agreement and explained briefly about the contents of the vial.
‘And you think he would open this vial if he saw us coming?’ Stressner asked anxiously.
‘It’s possible,’ Graham replied, tight-lipped. ‘But I think he’s more likely to try and make a break for it, especially if he only sees two of us approaching the chalet.’
Sabrina nodded.
‘I’d go along with that. So if two of us lie in wait for him at the back of the chalet, out of sight, and he does try to sneak out we’ll be able to grab him before he has a chance to open the vial.’
‘In theory,’ Graham said.
‘We have no choice,’ Stressner said.
‘You’ve got a point there,’ Graham replied.
‘It’s best if we stick with our original partners. I presume the two of you are armed?’
The question surprised Stressner. ‘This is Switzerland, not the backstreets of America. We only use firearms in exceptional circumstances.’
‘And this isn’t an exceptional circumstance? Ubrino will be armed to the teeth in there, you can be sure of that. Here, take my Beretta.’
Stressner put a restraining hand on Graham’s arm.