David observed Julia very closely as he made this last statement to see how she reacted. He had expected to see an expression of confusion if she was involved or curiosity and relief if she was truly only trying to solve the mysterious double death. Julia had maintained a "poker-face" — and David saw no change in her expression. He didn't like this although he knew that she was a trained Mossad field operative that excelled in her job. Finally Julia said "This is very interesting. Do you think that the Berlin police can perform this test?"
David said that his colleagues in the Israeli police would be glad to instruct their Berlin counterparts on performance of the test. However he thought the proper chemicals should be flown from Israel, perhaps with an experienced technician as the murder of the two Israelis could be directly connected to the country's national security. Once again he scrutinized Julia trying to see how she responded, but she maintained her "poker-face" and he didn't know how to interpret her lack of reaction.
The technician from the Israeli police forensics laboratory arrived with the kit for taking palm imprints. He was met by a representative of the Berlin police who drove him straight to the crime scene where David and Julia were already waiting. The technician got to work immediately and within minutes it was clear that Sam had not fired the pistol when he was alive and that the gunshot residues were the result of someone else firing the gun in his palm after he was murdered in order to stage the murder-suicide scene. David thanked the Israeli police technician and told him to enjoy the evening in Berlin before catching the morning flight back to Tel-Aviv.
David called Shimony and gave him an update on the findings and his suspicions. Shimony said that he should continue his investigation on the obvious suspects — Segan and the Iranians — and do that with Julia's help. When David pressed and asked whether he should also consider Julia's possible involvement Shimony instructed him to focus on the other suspects and leave Julia alone.
David asked Julia if she thought that it was time to summon Segan for an interrogation but she pointed out that they had no jurisdiction in Germany and could only invite him to give his testimony voluntarily. David wondered aloud if Segan would cooperate after the treatment he had received from the head of Mossad and the PM's office. Julia said that there was nothing to lose if they called him in for questioning. She added that he was probably upset about the murder of two of his most senior agents unless, of course, he was the one who did it.
So David called the main office of Segan's firm, identified himself to the secretary who answered the call as an old friend and asked to speak to Segan. He was told that Segan was out of town and would be back the following day. When he tried to enquire when Segan had left Berlin the secretary said she had a call on the other line and hung up without responding. David turned to look at Julia and said that he didn't like the reply and asked Julia to try and trace Segan's movements just before, and during, the time of the murder. Julia said that it wouldn't really help because he could always have one of his other agents do the job while he had arranged a waterproof alibi for himself. David said that they should wait for Segan's return to Berlin and try to interview him, and perhaps they could learn something from his responses and body language, if he agreed to meet them.
Chapter 11
The Senior Assistant of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran summoned the General Aslawi who was in charge of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and demanded to know what progress has been made with regard to Israel. Imam Mourtashef was also present at the small meeting and looked at the general like a bird of prey observes a squirrel trying to avoid its fate by freezing on the spot. The general was not intimidated by the Senior Assistant but was evidently made anxious by the Imam's stare.
He said "So far our agents and collaborators have captured a dozen Israelis, including a Member of the Knesset. The Israelis are running around themselves in circles trying to figure out what was happening. Naturally they suspect us but we have been careful to avoid leaving any evidence that would lead to Iran. I have some more news"…
The Imam spoke up interrupting the general "I believe that they are not too concerned about these hostages."
General Aslawi met the Imam's glaring eyes "Please let me continue" and when the Imam nodded, the general added "We have managed to trace the two Israeli agents who murdered our scientists. Alas, before we could lay our hands on them we received information from our contact in the Berlin that they had been sent straight to hell…"
This time the Senior Assistant intervened "General, do you mean to say that two Mossad agents did all this damage. Do you realize that our nuclear scientists are afraid to go out of Iran, our secret nuclear program has gone to an almost complete standstill and our whole regime is receiving a serious threat to its stability from the opposition factions. Two people — it is unbelievable."
The general said "Obviously these two were not operating alone. The Mossad, CIA and MI6 must all be behind this".
The Senior Assistant said "I have received a secret visit from General Koliagin of the Russian FSB, and he had a very interesting message. He said that he was contacted by a trustworthy senior Mossad operative — if there is such an entity — who wished to convey that the Israeli Mossad had nothing to do with the murder of our scientists. Furthermore, he suggested an informal meeting, hosted by the Russians, between our representatives and Israeli officials. The Israelis will try to convince us that they were not responsible for the heinous acts of terror committed against our people."
The Imam and general were silent as they pondered this improbable suggestion. The general responded "This must be a trap. The Israelis are masters of disinformation and fabrication. I suggest telling General Koliagin that we don't need his services".
The Imam said "On the contrary. We must get to the bottom of this. If the Israelis are not responsible then someone else is. We have to find out who is killing our people and trying to undermine our regime or else these acts might continue".
The Senior Assistant concluded the meeting by saying "Thank you both. I'll inform the Supreme Leader of these developments and wait for his decision".
As soon as Shimony received the update from David, he didn't wait for the PM to call him but initiated the call himself despite the late hour. After being transferred to the PM he said "Prime Minister, there are some important developments in the hostage situation and in the elimination of the Iranian scientists. First, the man I put in charge of the case, David Avivi, has contacted General Koliagin of the FSB. The general assured him that the hostages were being treated well and indicated that although the FSB know of the family ties you have with one of the captives the Iranians are not aware of that. Second, the general also agreed to try to arrange an informal, off the record, meeting between David and the Iranians to give him a chance to convince them that Mossad and the Israeli government have not sanctioned the elimination of the scientists. Third, most recently two of our former Mossad agents, Sam and Ruby, who were dishonorably discharged after the US fiasco were found dead in their Berlin apartment. The bodies were staged to look like a murder and suicide but with the help of our forensics experts it was shown to be a double murder. At this point we are not sure whether they were killed by their boss, my former Deputy Director that we all call Segan, or by the Iranians". Shimony didn't mention that David suspected that Julia may be involved as he thought that this would make the PM raving mad.