“I’m not going anywhere until I get my son back. You’ve got to help me. You’ve got to!”
“In time, in time. My stake in this is personal too,” Burgess said grimly. “I’m supposed to hand you over straightaway to Roy’s men but first I’ve got my own questions. Whoever took your son killed Brian. That’s the score I’ve got to settle.”
“Then that much is true. You and he were friends.”
“Far more than just friends, mate. He saved my life in East Berlin….”
“And carried you back to the Wall.”
“Your information is rather complete.”
“The other Burgess passed it on. The Committee leaves nothing to chance.”
Burgess looked away. “You’re throwing ghosts in my face again, mate.”
“The Committee’s no ghost. Nobody can see it because that’s the way it functions. But you’ve heard of it, haven’t you?”
“Rumors, just rumors.”
“That’s the way they want it, damn it! That’s how they’ve been able to go undetected for so long.”
Burgess looked back at him. “And what is it they’re about to do now?”
Locke hesitated. Burgess seemed to read his mind.
“Wondering why you should trust me, right? What if I’m the imposter and the other Burgess was the real thing? Here, check my ID again. I’ve got a flashlight somewhere in the front to let you study it letter by letter.”
Burgess started to reach into his jacket but Locke stopped him.
“Don’t bother. Fake identifications must be child’s play for the Committee.”
“Then I’ll have this car take us straight to Whitehall in London, right to MI-6 headquarters. Or would you prefer Downing Street and the Prime Minister herself? Afraid they might have built a replica of her house, mate?”
“I wouldn’t put it past them, not after what I’ve seen and heard this past week. I trust you because everything finally makes sense. They had to be aware of my movements while keeping me isolated at the same time. The other Burgess had to be one of theirs, I see that now. Otherwise, they never could have arranged for Felderberg’s death so conveniently and left me holding the bag.”
“Felderberg was connected with this?”
“Indirectly. He acted as a middleman for the Committee without realizing whom he was acting for.”
Burgess was nodding feverishly in the half light. “Yes, yes, that fits. He was killed the same day you were placed in Liechtenstein. Go on. Go on!”
“He confirmed the key to the entire operation was food — crops, to be specific. The Committee was buying up huge amounts of land in South America.”
“Why—”
“I’ll explain the details later. What Felderberg didn’t grasp was the significance of these investments. He sent me to the Dwarf in Florence. The Committee would have followed me to him as well if it wasn’t for Dogan.”
“Dogan!” Burgess roared. “How does Grendel enter into this?”
“Apparently he was assigned to kill me but realized I was the wrong target. He went to South America to check out a lead that started this whole thing.”
“My Lord,” Burgess sighed, “what did Brian drag you into?”
“I’m not sure, not of all of it anyway. It’s all centered around something called Tantalus, some sort of plot to destroy the U.S. economy.”
“Did you say ‘destroy’?”
Locke nodded. “And when it’s done the Committee plans to replace us as the number-one crop producer in the world. I was at a plant in Liechtenstein where they’ve come up with a way to drastically speed up crop growth. I saw the results.”
“And this Tantalus?”
“Still bathed in darkness, unfortunately. But Dogan should be returning soon with more answers.” Locke felt his muscles stiffen. “We’ll have to get to him. The plan was for him to meet me in Rome. But the Committee penetrated my cover. The other Burgess obviously passed on the false name I was traveling under.” Chris held the real Burgess’s weary eyes. “All the more reason for me to trust you.”
Burgess nodded. “I didn’t get myself assigned to this detail for nothing, mate. I knew you held the key to finding Brian’s killers. Now we’ll bring the bastards down. I’ll have the wheels in motion by tomorrow morning, even tonight. Just let me get everything straight.”
“You can’t destroy them. They’re too big.”
“Exposure will do for a start. It’ll give us time to operate.”
“What about Dogan?”
“Leave that to me.”
Chris touched his mangled fingers. “They’ll spare nothing to find him … and us.”
Burgess glanced down at the bandage. “Broke your fingers, did they, mate?”
“How did—”
“Simple. It’s a crude torture and usually quite an effective one when used on amateurs.” He regarded Locke closely. “It seems they underestimated you.”
“I got lucky.”
“In this business there’s no such thing as luck.”
They were almost to Plymouth. Locke rested his head against the back of the seat.
“The other Burgess told me he — you — were responsible for my mother’s capture. Is …”
Burgess nodded. “Yes, mate, it’s true. I caught her, all right. Those were difficult times. A man wasn’t always able to be a gentleman.”
“I understand,” Chris said, swallowing the lump in his throat. “She deserved to die for what she did.”
Burgess’s eyes went blank. “She escaped.”
“She what?”
“You heard me. We hanged someone else in her place. Too much publicity to do otherwise, you understand. Morale in the country was low enough as it was. We couldn’t let on the truth. There were only a few of us who knew it anyway. I authorized the switch. It wasn’t a public execution, so there were no witnesses.”
“You’re saying she escaped England alive?”
“No. I’m just saying she wasn’t hanged. Our people caught up with her again at a farmhouse the Germans had been using as a pickup point. It was quite a battle. No survivors on their part. We used explosives in the end. Whole house burned. Not a board left standing by the time it was over.”
“Her body?”
“Nothing left, like I said. I’m the last one left alive who knew the truth. I figured you deserved to hear it.” Burgess closed his eyes. “Those were bad days, awful ones. I thought when they were over I’d seen the worst.” The eyes opened again. “Now you’ve made me wonder.”
Locke felt more secure almost as soon as the two cars passed into Plymouth. Somehow returning to a big city comforted him, especially when they approached Holiday Inn’s familiar logo. He almost felt at home.
Though not comparable to the Dorchester, Armada Way’s Holiday Inn was Plymouth’s finest hotel. Burgess explained that Locke would go through an initial debriefing period there. The risk of moving him at this stage had become too great. The involvement of the Committee in what was going on merited a change in strategy.
Two of Burgess’s men stayed outside while the other two accompanied Locke and the MI-6 man across the lobby into the hotel’s finest restaurant. The lighting was bright and there were plenty of windows looking out at the darkened city. They were ushered to a table against a wall in the rear, similar in placement to the one Charney had chosen in The Tombs a week before. Locke noticed that it was impossible for shots fired from beyond the windows to reach them. And Burgess left two men on guard at the restaurant entrance.
The MI-6 man sat down with his back against the wall and signaled Locke to take the chair adjacent to instead of across from his. Burgess waved an approaching waiter away and leaned across the table.