Perish the thought, Roper told him, and switched off.
Holley didn t raise his head until ten-thirty, the travel catching up with him. The telephone brought him back to life.
It was Sara. Did you sleep well?
Like a log. What about you?
Drifted in and out. I do that a lot. I often leave my radio on.
What have you got planned?
That should be what has Rabbi Nathan Gideon got planned. He s doing one of his big fund-raising tours, all for charity. Four days, maybe five. Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh, they can t get enough of him. He left half an hour ago. What are you up to?
I sometimes go for a run.
Which is beyond me these days.
Well, I may be an older guy, but I m still up for a stroll in the park.
That sounds good to me. I ll be waiting.
He showered and dressed, and just before he left, two things happened. The concierge phoned to say the Alfa had just been delivered, and they d exchanged it for the Mercedes. Next came Roper to inform him of his conversation with Claude Duval.
So you see, he said when he had finished,
He believes our Pernod-drinking Frenchman to be too much of a coincidence. Duval s a good man to have on our side.
I m sure he is.
I m just leaving to go and meet up with him in Hyde Park. Tony s taking me in the van.
What s that all about? I m picking up Sara in a few minutes to go for a walk in the park.
Claude and I have a mutual interest in someone who s agitating at Speakers Corner this morning, Ali Selim.
What s he rabble-rousing about now?
The President s visit on Friday. What he s already calling the Great Satan s descent on London.
That could lead to a riot, Giles. Not exactly the right scene for a man in a wheelchair.
Oh, the police will be out in force, but if you are going anywhere near, make sure you ve both got your warrant cards with you.
When Holley drove the Alfa into Highfield Court, Sara came out to meet him wearing a khaki linen suit, a brown leather bag over one shoulder. He was wearing Ray-Bans, his flying jacket, and blue cords.
You re still looking very sharp, she told him. We don t need the car, it s only a short walk to Park Lane, and the subway will take us straight into Hyde Park.
And right next to Speakers Corner, he said. I was going to talk to you about that. Have you got your warrant card?
Oh yes, it was a present from Roper in a package he had delivered to the house along with this. She opened her bag and took out a snub-nosed. 22 Colt. With the new silencer.
Plus hollow points?
Naturally.
Well, you must carry them at all times. There s been a development. Put your fine Intelligence Corps mind on this.
He told her what had been discovered about the Alfa, the Frenchman at the Dark Man, Claude Duval, everything.
As they turned into Park Lane, she said, Whoever it is, it must be you they re targeting, Daniel. I ve only just joined.
That s a fair point, Holley said.
Let s talk as we walk. She slipped her hand into his arm.
Henri Legrande and Kelly had followed the Alfa from the Dorchester and were sitting in the Citro n in South Audley Street waiting for the Alfa to emerge.
When Holley and Sara appeared, Henri said, I m going to follow on foot. I can walk around with impunity, but not you. Holley would recognize you instantly. Wait for me in Grosvenor Square somewhere by the American Embassy. I ll find you.
Kelly said, You re right, scrambled behind the wheel of the Citro n as the Frenchman got out, and drove away.
When Holley and Sara went up the steps from the subway and entered Hyde Park, they could hear the noise from Speakers Corner at once. They paused to listen.
Who is this Ali Selim? Sara asked.
British-born, three months ago he came back home from several years in Pakistan and started to agitate as the mullah at the Pond Street Mosque in Hackney. You were in Arizona for that period, so you wouldn t have heard of him. Would you like to go see what s happening?
Actually, I d like to meet Giles Roper for real. So far I ve only seen him on screen.
Well, let s see if we can find him.
He took her hand and they followed the path, the noise getting louder, until they reached Speakers Corner. The crowd was already large. Individual speakers worked from their stands to offer a wide range of topics, some from people who took their politics seriously, but there were also cranks of every persuasion. There were a number of police vehicles parked on the fringe, the officers a mixed bag of men and women in normal uniform, riot police in full gear in the background.
There s the van parked to the right of that police line. Holley pointed. That s Roper in his wheelchair talking to Claude Duval in the navy blue trench coat, and the black guy standing at the front of the vehicle is Sergeant Tony Doyle.
Roper saw them and waved, and they approached. We meet properly at last, Sara. Tony, you ve only met on screen, like me.
Doyle held out his hand. My pleasure, ma am.
Roper turned to the man in the trench coat. This is Claude Duval of the DGSE, who is not supposed to be here at all.
Duval took her hand and kissed it gallantly. Your behavior at Abusan was truly remarkable. It is an honor to meet you.
She said, I appreciate the compliment coming from a man like you, Colonel, but when you think about it, I didn t have much choice at Abusan. It was fight or die.
He turned to the others. Only a woman could be so practical.
This Ali Selim that Daniel has mentioned he s not here yet, I presume?
No, but he s what most people are waiting for, and he explains the police presence, Roper said. There are many young Muslims in the crowd, the sort of people he s been urging to fight the good fight for a new Muslim empire, and pointing out that it s their duty to break as many wicked Western laws as possible.
Holley said, To the Arab world, the British government is the villain of the piece here, for harassing a devout holy man.
What if that s exactly what he is? Sara said.
Claude Duval said, What he is, Sara, is Al Qaeda s most important mover and shaker in London. He s been responsible for recruiting scores of young British Muslims for training camps in Waziristan.
Roper said, The Prime Minister and the government have handled him with kid gloves so far, but yesterday he made a very unhelpful speech regarding the President s visit here on Friday. That can t be allowed.
If you examine the crowd carefully, Holley said to Sara, you ll notice a decidedly rough element.
Tony Doyle put in, So as soon as Selim starts preaching fire and brimstone, they ll begin throwing things, the Muslims will respond, and we ll have a riot situation because the police will have to contain it.
Looking like Fascist bullyboys to the Arab world, Roper said. Which is exactly what Ali Selim wants. There was an outcry just beyond the crowd. Unless I m very much mistaken, here he comes.
Henri Legrande had been standing as close as he dared to the van, hoping to hear something useful, and found himself among those who were not interested in getting involved in this unfolding drama but wanted to see what was going on. At the sound of Ali Selim s approach, pressure from behind caused a surge forward and scuffling broke out.
Henri, involved in the pushing and shoving, voiced his displeasure in bad language, French style. Claude Duval, close by in the melee, hearing him, called in French, What do you expect, they re English!
They were swept apart, and Henri lost himself in the crowd fast. He had not been close enough to hear the exchanges between Roper and the others, so he did not realize who Duval was, but there had been something about him, a face from the past perhaps.
The group of Muslims who forced their way through the crowd covered a wide age range. Some wore Western clothes, others wholly traditional, and there were those who wore a mixture of both. Ali Selim sat in a palanquin carried on the shoulders of six men. He wore a large white skullcap, his long black hair flecked with silver, as was his beard, and his face was fiercely intelligent. A young woman ran alongside, a hand on the palanquin. She was all in black, as if mourning, and wore a silk chador, a loose shirt, and leggings. She had big eyes and high cheekbones in an olive face.