Deadlock

'Is that it, Klein?'

'Not quite. My fee buys absolute silence. See that rock sticking up out of the sea?'

Klein stood up, raised his right hand, dropped it in a chopping movement. There was a whooshing sound. Then a loud bang. Perugini stared at the rock where the explosion had happened. The top half had vanished, splinters of rock splattered the sea.

'Don't ever threaten me again,' Klein said and left.

Klein climbed the worn stone steps of the evil-smelling tenement building behind the Old Port to the first floor. The plaster was crumbling between the stonework. He paused outside the old heavy wooden door to Number Eleven. No sound from inside.

Using the phone number Perugini had scribbled on the scrap of paper with the address, he'd called Chabot, made an appointment for 11.30 a.m. It was now eleven o'clock. Klein liked to arrive early. You sometimes learned important things about a new recruit by catching them off guard. He rapped loudly on the door.

'Who the hell is it?' a man's voice called out in French.

'I phoned you earlier…'

'And you're early.' The door had opened on a thick chain, a swarthy, heavy-jowled face peered out. Naked to the flat waist. Trousers hastily thrown on. The man called to someone over his shoulder. 'Get dressed, get out…'

'No names,' Klein warned as the man unfastened the chain, gestured for him to come inside. 'You are Louis Chabot?'

'That's me.'

'You'll know who I come from then.' Klein handed him the scrap of paper when Chabot had relocked the door, glanced round the room.

'The mark at the bottom tells me.' He turned to the girl who had recently scrambled out of the bed against one wall. She'd had time to slip on her skirt, but like Chabot she was naked above the waist and had a pair of firm, rounded breasts. She stared saucily at Klein as she reached for a sweater, then pulled it over her head and slid her bare feet into shoes.

This is Cecile, my new girl,' Chabot introduced.

Her presence disturbed Klein: she'd had a good look at him, but he said nothing. Apart from the bed, which Cecile was hastily making up, the room was unexpectedly clean, neat.

Chabot put on a fresh striped shirt, buttoned it to the neck, then donned a linen jacket hanging over the back of a chair. On his instruction, Cecile took dirty glasses into the kitchen and washed them. She was a bottle blonde with a pretty gamine face and kept glancing at Klein when she was in the room.

He stood with his back to her, staring out of the window. It overlooked a jumble of ancient roofs on the far side of a narrow street. Lines of washing hung on makeshift clothes lines on flat rooftops, drying in the morning sun. Klein remained quite still as Cecile left.

'See you soon, dear,' Chabot called out to her. 'Don't do anything I would…'

'That's going to be a hell of a lot of fun.'

Then she was gone. Klein swung round, studied the Frenchman as he locked the door. About thirty, thick brown hair with brows to match, a hooked nose, pale blue eyes which didn't waver before his visitor's scrutiny, a brutal jaw. Heavily built, Chabot moved lightly on his small feet, his legs and arms long, his hands large, powerful-looking. Strangler's hands, Klein thought.

'Seen enough?' Chabot demanded. 'Want a drink?'

'Coffee.' He followed the Frenchman into the small kitchen. 'Who is that girl?'

'Cecile Lament. Hangs out at a bar along the street. The Wolf.' He was preparing cafe filtre. Klein said no milk, no sugar. 'It's our first week.' He glanced at Klein. 'If you have in mind what I think you have, she performs well. But only if she likes you. She likes you. Now, what's this all about? Do I measure up? You've been working that one out ever since you came in.'

'Know much about explosives?'

'Everything. Handle with care. Never trust them…'

'How did you get the knowledge?'

'Working in a stone quarry. Blasting rock. Everything I know I've learned legit. That way you don't get a police record.'

'Ever been inside?'

'Not a chance. Coffee's ready. Let's go into the other room, make ourselves comfortable…'

For ten minutes Klein grilled Chabot. At the end of that period he was convinced Perugini had not lied: this Frenchman had all the qualifications he needed. He nodded, his head turned slightly to the right.

'You'll do. On conditions…'

'Not so fast, Klein. What do I have to do. Kill a few people?'

'Maybe quite a lot…'

'You mean that?'

Klein didn't answer. With hands clad in white cotton gloves he had worn since leaving Aix, he took out an envelope, dropped it in Chabot's lap. 'Ten thousand francs. That's just for starters. And expenses.'

'What comes later?' Chabot was counting the banknotes.

Two hundred thousand. Used notes, of course.'

'What's the job?'

'That's part of the two hundred thousand. You don't get any more information until you need to know. And we work in cells of no more than three people. There will be a lot of cells – it's a security precaution. Which also protects you.'

'Does make it safer. You seem well organized.'

That was the moment when Klein knew Chabot was hooked. But the swarthy-faced man had one more question. 'It isn't political?'

Klein smiled grimly, a smile which did nothing to soften the coldness of his personality. He shook his head, gave his final instructions.

'I said there were conditions. You vanish. From Marseilles, I mean. No goodbyes to old cronies…'

'I don't have them. And if you're worried about Perugini – I work freelance. He hires me as bodyguard from time to time. At least six people want to take over from him, know the only way they can is to bury him. He told you I was freelance?'

Klein nodded. Perugini, the bastard, had omitted that interesting item – to push up his fee. Klein told Chabot to start packing while he completed the instructions. The Frenchman hauled a case out of a cupboard, began neatly packing clothes as Klein continued.

'You travel by train today to Luxembourg City. Second-class. Go via Lyon, then Mulhouse – where you pick up the express for Luxembourg City.' He tossed another envelope across to Chabot who caught it deftly and waited for Klein to finish. 'Inside that envelope you'll find the route I outlined typed out. Plus a phone number. Call that number from Mulhouse. Ask for Bernard. Tell him what time your train reaches Luxembourg City. Nothing else. It's a Hotel Alsace you'll be calling. Bernard will phone the time through to the man who will meet you on the platform at Luxembourg City. Inside that envelope you'll also find a Cook's label. I've written on it, Brussels Midi, and circled it twice. You put that label on your case only when you board the express at Mulhouse. The label will identify you to the man waiting to meet you.'

'Wouldn't it be quicker to travel via Geneva and Basle – then straight up to Luxembourg?'

'Yes. But Swiss security is good. We'll avoid them. And the route I've laid down is all inside the Common Market. No checks.'

'Name of the man meeting me?'

'He'll know you.' Klein checked his watch. 'You've got thirty minutes to catch the train for Lyon. And that's it. No more questions. I hope?'

'Only one.' Chabot shut the case, snapped the catches closed. A man who didn't waste time. 'Curiosity,' he went on. 'Why wear those gloves in this bloody heat?'

'Because I have eczema. I dislike unsightly hands.' There was a pause. Klein's tone hardened. 'And curiosity in this game can kill you.'

Truly.' Chabot glanced at Klein, saw his stone-faced expression, looked away. 'I'll remember that. I'm off now…'