Die Twice (33 page)

He held my gaze for thirty seconds before licking his lips and starting to speak again.

“There’ve been lots of questions, tonight,” he said. “But here’s the big one. This is all down to you, now. And I need to know. Are you going to call London? That’s the only thing left that matters.”

“That depends,” I said. “How many more canisters are there?”

“No more. You have them all. There were always only four.”

“There were four all along? Are you sure?”

“Certain. You nearly busted me when I left Gary, remember? When I’d said Tony had sold half the consignment, then found two more canisters? I should have only admitted to one.”

“Explain that.”

“Tony brought four canisters to Chicago with him. He gave them to me, along with the Myenese guys’ details. They wanted all four. I started out letting them have two. I was going to sell them the other two separately, for more money. I asked Tony to set up the meeting, but he caught on. We fought, and he got away with one canister.”

“The one you wanted me to retrieve?”

“Yes.”

“So you could sell it?”

“Yes.”

“And it was you who wanted McIntyre silenced?”

Fothergill looked at the floor and nodded, very slightly.

“What about the hard arrest?” I said. “That was a genuine order. I checked it myself.”

“It was,” he said. “But it was based on the information I provided. Let’s just say I adjusted certain details.”

“And the information you provided when you asked for a team, to back me up? And for a biochem expert? Did you adjust those, too?”

“Perhaps. A little. Couldn’t have too many cooks, you know.”

“What about the pair of canisters from Gary, in the packing cases? Did you really find them there?”

“Yes. They were the ones I originally sold. Half the consignment, like I let slip.”

“But you didn’t want to stay in Gary. You tried to talk me out of searching the place.”

“I know. I had no idea the canisters were there. Lucky you wouldn’t listen or I’d never have got my hands on them.”

“But McIntyre didn’t really take them back in the car crash?”

“No. I staged that to cover them disappearing.”

“And you killed this guy Milton in the process.”

“That was an accident. The air bag. The metal thing. It was a fluke.”

“It could have been a fluke, I suppose. If you hadn’t been holding the metal thing, to make sure it was end-on, ready to stab him.”

“No. It was on his lap. I had no part in that.”

“You couldn’t let him walk away. He’d know you’d stolen the canisters.”

Fothergill’s head drooped again.

“And your burns were on the wrong side,” I said. “They were on the back of your hand. Because you were holding something. If your hand had been empty, it would have been palm out, like a minute ago when you thought I was collapsing.”

He didn’t respond.

“How did the switch from the Myenese to the Sears guys come about?” I said.

“Oh, that,” he said, without looking up. “It was easy. An old friend of mine from South Africa called me. He had big money on hand for anything they could use as a contaminant. I didn’t even know they were targeting the Tower, at first.”

“They wanted any contaminant? They weren’t specific?”

“No. Originally they wanted something with nuclear waste in it. I convinced them that Spektra was better. Safer for them, when they were rigging the place.”

“And you used McIntyre’s name?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Insurance. We’d always used code names before. I figured you’d fall for it, if everything else failed. That’s why I lured you to the Sears Tower.”

“You wanted me to go to the Sears Tower?”

“Come on, David. Think about the pantomime at the architects’ o?ce. I led you by the nose.”

“You set me up. Just like you did at the Drake?”

Fothergill shrugged.

“There were no more Myenese left, were there?” I said. “You killed the last two at the Commissariat to stop me talking to them.”

“Couldn’t have them spilling the beans, now, could I?” he said.

“You burned the entire hotel down.”

“That was your fault, really. I tried to talk you out of going once I had things in place with the South Africans, but you wouldn’t listen.”

“And you killed the rent-a-goons. Why?”

“In case it didn’t work, and you escaped. Which you kept doing, you slippery bastard. I thought it would look less suspicious if you weren’t the only target.”

“So you could try again at the Tower?”

“Right. I was running short of options.”

I waited until he raised his eyes again before replying.

“OK, then,” I said. “To answer your question. London needs to hear about this. And it might as well be from me.”

Fothergill’s head dropped until his chin was resting on his chest. His breathing grew heavier, and for a moment I wondered about
the state of his heart again. But after thirty seconds he straightened his neck, hauled himself to his feet, and looked me straight in the eye.

“David, I need to ask you for a favor,” he said. “A trade, if you like. I have information about the situation with Tony that you should know about. I can tell you all of it, right now.”

“OK,” I said. “But what do you want in return?”

“We both know what has to be done here. There’s no way I can walk away from this one. I’m in absolute disgrace. And there’s not much else I can look back on in my life and feel proud of. In fact, there’s nothing. Everything I’ve ever done is tainted in some way. So what I want is the chance to take care of this, myself. To finally do one thing right. To salvage some kind of honor. Some pride, if you like. Will you let me at least have that, before you make the call?”

“What can you tell me about Tony?” I said, after a moment.

“Tony’s on the side of the angels,” he said. “He always has been. How much do you know about Equatorial Myene?”

“A little. A friend passed on some interesting facts.”

“So you’ve heard about the rebel movement they have there?”

“Are they the idiots talking about a coup? If so, they could use some help with their security.”

“They could use some help, all around. Which is why they roped in Tony’s buddy, Young. He provides mercenaries. Coups need muscle. It was a natural fit. But things developed. Young started believing in their cause. He talked about it with Tony. And before you know it, they’re both converts.”

“So Tony was siphoning the money and weapons for the rebels? Not the government?”

“He was. He hated the government. For him it was a case of right place, right time. He felt like he’d found a better use for the guns than melting them down, and more deserving recipients for the money than poppy growers and murderers.”

“So what went wrong?”

“It seems they’d been compromised from the start. Only the Myenese government was happy to let them get on with it. They found it easier to keep tabs on them, that way.”

“The classic story. If the government clamped down on them, they’d only pop up again somewhere else, and maybe stay underground for a little while longer.”

“Exactly. And they weren’t too worried about a few old AKs and M-16s kicking around. They weren’t threatened by the amount of cash, obviously. But when word spread about a consignment of Spektra suddenly appearing, their ears pricked up for sure.”

“They wanted it for themselves.”

“Right. But Tony didn’t want that to happen. He was worried about the civilians, so he came to me for help.”

“Because you’re old mates.”

“Partly. And partly because I already knew the background. No one does something like that in a vacuum. No one’s that stupid. Especially not experienced, serving intelligence officers. So I’d been helping them get the nods and winks lined up that they needed before getting involved.”

“What they were doing had official backing?”

“Oh, no. Everything was under the table. Complete plausible deniability was maintained at all times. But no one on our side was going to be counting the beans too carefully, if you know what I mean. And who can tell if a mass of molten metal came from three guns, or only two?”

“So Her Majesty’s Government was tacitly helping, but in Tony’s hour of need you sold him out for a quick buck?”

“Well, lots of bucks, actually. And the idea was for me to sell the canisters, and have Tony steal them back. That way, we—I—could make lots of money and the gas could be destroyed anyway. No one got hurt apart from the bad guys. It seemed almost poetic. And certainly criminal to let a chance like that go begging.”

“But Tony wouldn’t play.”

“No. We didn’t see eye to eye on it at all.”

“Which is why you wanted him stopped.”

“Don’t be so judgmental. I’m not proud of this, you know. Telling the truth is new to me, and I’m beginning to think it’s over-rated.”

“One more question. How did the Myenese know Tony was at that apartment? Did Young tell them?”

“No. You did.”

“What?”

“Well, you told me, and I told them. You called me before you went in. But it all boils down to the same thing.”

“And you told them that it was Young who killed their guys when they came to snatch Tony?”

“That’s right.”

“Why?”

“They were mad as hell. I had to give them someone. And I still needed you alive. So in a way, I saved your life.”

“Excuse me if I don’t thank you.”

Fothergill waited, rocking slightly, for another thirty seconds. I had no more questions for him. He seemed to sense this and took a slow, tentative step forward. He took another. Then he turned, stretched out his arm, and picked up the cylinder.

“Stop,” I said. “One more thing. The rug. Was it expensive?”

“Very,” he said. “I paid for it myself. Take it, if you want it. It’s yours.”

I waited till both his feet were on the original government-issue, nonabsorbent carpet at the edge of the room before pulling the trigger. But not to save the rug. I never had any intention of keeping it. That wasn’t why I’d asked him. I was just thinking it’s bad luck to leave a mess behind you, for other people to clear up.