‘Coffee, sir?’ Whitlock asked, indicating the tray in the middle of the table.
Philpott shook his head and carefully lit his pipe. He exhaled the smoke upwards, then opened the folder in front of him.
‘I’ve divided the list into four sections. I want you to work in teams. Two to a team.’
‘I’ll work with C.W.,’ Graham said.
Philpott shook his head.
‘Your Italian’s non-existent. Sergei’s and C.W.’s isn’t much better. You’ll each be paired off with one of the Italians. They can cover for you.’
‘I’ll work with Fabio, then,’ Graham said.
‘I’m keeping you two well apart,’ Philpott replied, jabbing the stem of his pipe at each of them in turn. ‘I’ve read the Corfu report. You’re a bad influence on each other.’
Graham and Paluzzi grinned like a couple of mischievous schoolboys.
‘C.W., you’ll work with Major Paluzzi. You’ll be Team One.’ Philpott looked at Paluzzi. ‘I need two men to work with Sergei and Mike. Who would you suggest?’
‘Sergeant Visconti can work with Sergei,’ Paluzzi replied, patting the arm of the swarthy man sitting beside him.
Philpott jotted down the name.
‘You’ll be Team Two.’
‘Lieutenant Marco can work with Mike. They know each other from Rome. He’s also the most level-headed one amongst us. He certainly won’t be a bad influence on Mike.’
There was a ripple of laughter from the Italians, which Marco dismissed good-humouredly with a flick of his hand.
‘You’ll be Team Three. Which leaves you as Team Four,’ Philpott said, pointing his pen at the two men sitting between Visconti and Marco.
‘Sergeants De Sica and Alberetto,’ Paluzzi said.
Philpott wrote the names down, then handed out the four lists.
‘Teams One and Two will assume the identity of security agents. Teams Three and Four will be maintenance men. That way you’ll be able to gain access to the areas specified on your lists. I’ve tried to spread the workload evenly throughout the four lists but if a team does fall behind it’s up to them to contact me and I’ll try and get one of the other teams to help them out.’ He turned to Paluzzi. ‘I assume your men are armed?’
‘Beretta 92’s,’ Paluzzi replied.
‘Good.’ Philpott looked at Kolchinsky. ‘The handguns you ordered arrived just before I came here. They’re in the office.’
‘What about the maintenance overalls?’ Graham asked.
‘They’re also in the office,’ Philpott answered.
‘Dieter Vlok has given me four bleepers which work off the system he has in his office. Each team will carry one. You’ll be bleeped only in an emergency so please respond promptly. Call the office from the nearest house phone. The extension number’s on each of the lists. And one last point. For God’s sake be careful of the metal detectors at the main entrances. You shouldn’t need to leave the premises but if you do and you get into any difficulties, call the office. If I’m not there you can speak to Commissioner Kuhlmann. We’ll smooth things over. But under no circumstances are you to call on each other for help. I don’t want any public confrontations with the security staff. Is that understood?’
There was a murmur of agreement.
‘Well, I think that about covers everything,’ Philpott concluded, closing the folder. ‘All that remains now is for me to wish you luck. You all know what’s at stake. That alone should be enough of an incentive.’
Kolchinsky got to his feet, signalling that the briefing was over. The others followed him out of the room.
Philpott remained in his seat after they had gone. He was thinking about Sabrina. Was it any wonder that there was still only one female field operative at UNACO. No one had yet come close to matching her abilities. She was a cut above the rest. And that included the majority of her male colleagues as well. Graham was the exception. The maverick. Philpott regarded him as second only to Jacques Rust, in his opinion UNACO best ever field operative. But Graham had only been with them a year. He would become the best, given time, especially if Sabrina remained his partner. Their record was unparalleled. They had solved every case to date. Until now. If only she were there to partner Graham now…
He pushed the thought from his mind, reached for his cane and got to his feet. He picked up the folder and pipe and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Eleven
Whitlock checked underneath the last of the tables in his section of the restaurant on the eighth floor, then straightened up and looked across despairingly at Paluzzi.
‘Seventeen minutes to one,’ Paluzzi muttered, glancing at his watch. ‘It’s taken us over an hour just to check the kitchen and restaurant. We’re never going to finish at this rate.’
Whitlock nodded sombrely. ‘Don’t remind me. What’s next on the list?’
‘The foyer.’
‘Wonderful. Now we’ll be in full glare of the press.’
The bleeper sounded. It was attached to Whitlock’s belt. He switched it off and met Paluzzi’s questioning look.
‘Am I expecting too much?’
‘Probably, but there’s only one way of finding out.’
Whitlock crossed to the telephone and rang Vlok’s office. Philpott answered.
‘It’s C.W.’ sir. Has the vial been found?’
‘No,’ Philpott replied brusquely.
Whitlock shook his head at Paluzzi.
‘I might be on to something,’ Philpott told him. ‘I want the two of you to check it out.’
‘What is it?’ Whitlock asked eagerly.
‘Were you told about Nino Ferzetti?’
‘The maintenance worker Ubrino impersonated to get into the building?’
‘The same. Well, Commissioner Kuhlmann had the local police go round to Ferzetti’s flat to see if he was all right. He was still out cold when they got there. They managed to bring him round and he told them he was drinking with a Vito Cellina last night. He also works in the maintenance department. I called Jacques in Zürich and had him run a check on Cellina. He’s clean but it turns out his stepsister, Louisa, had been involved with the Red Brigades before her death from a drugs overdose last year.’
‘So Cellina could be Calvieri’s contact inside the building”
‘He could be, but I still have my suspicions. It’s all too convenient. It’s as if Calvieri wanted us to find out about Cellina. Why else would Ubrino have mentioned Ferzetti? I could be wrong, of course. That’s why I want the two of you to get on to it right away.’
‘Do you know where he is at the moment?’
‘In the basement. That’s where the maintenance department is housed.’
‘We’re on our way, sir.’
The lift only went as far as the foyer, but there were stairs leading down to the basement to the right of the reception desk. They ignored the sign on the door, STAFF ONLY, and descended the stairs to a tiled corridor. To their right was a swing door leading into the workshop. To their left was a cream-coloured door with the words ERHALTUNG MANAGER stencilled on it in black. The maintenance manager’s office. Paluzzi rapped loudly on the door.
‘Herein,’ a voice called out.
They entered the room. The man behind the desk was heavyset, his face remarkable only for its surly expression and black-framed glasses. The name tag on his grey overall identified him as Hans Kessler. Paluzzi told Kessler in German that he was a security adviser and asked him where they could find Cellina.