The Day of the Jackal

'Secondly, if the agreement of the entire council of the OAS and the CNR could be obtained to the idea, we would be no further forward, and nearly thirty people would know about it. If, on the other hand we go ahead, take the responsibility and it fails, we shall be no further back than we are now. There will be recriminations no doubt, but nothing more. If the plan succeeds we shall be in power and no one will start arguing at that time. The exact means of achieving the destruction of the dictator will have become an academic point. In brief then, do you two agree to join me as sole organisers and operators of the idea I have expounded to you?»

'Again Montclair and Casson looked at each other, turned to Rodin and nodded. It was the first time they had met with him since the kidnapping of Argoud three months earlier. When Argoud had taken the chair Rodin had kept quietly in the background. Now he had urged as a leader in his own right. The chief of the underground the purse were impressed.

Rodin looked at them both, exhaled slowly and smiled.

«Good,» he said, «now let us get down to details. The idea of using a professional mercenary assassin first occurred to me on the day I heard over the radio that poor Bastien-Thiry had been murdered. Since that time I have been searching for the man we want. Obviously such men are hard to find; they do not advertise themselves. I have been searching since the middle of March, and the outcome can be summed up in these.»

He held up the three manila folders that had been lying on his desk. Montclair and Casson exchanged glances again, eyebrows raised, and remained silent. Rodin resumed.

I think it would be best if you studied the dossiers, then we can discuss our first choice. Personally, I have listed all three in terms of preference in case the first-listed either cannot or will not take the job. There is only one copy of each dossier, so you will have to exchange them.»

He reached into the manila folder and took out three slimmer files. He handed one to Montclair and one to Casson. The third he kept in his own hand, but did not bother to read it. He knew the contents of all three files intimately.

There was little enough to read Rodin's reference to a «brief dossier was depressingly accurate. Casson finished his file first, looked up at Rodin and grimaced.

'That's all?»

«Such men do not make details about themselves easily available,» replied Rodin. «Try this one.»

He handed down to Casson the file he held in his hand.

A few moments later Montclair also finished and passed his file back to Rodin, who gave him the dossier Casson had just finished. Both men were again lost in reading. This time it was Montclair who finished first. He looked up at Rodin and shrugged.

Well… not much to go on, but surely we have fifty men like that. Gunslingers are two a penny…»

He was interrupted by Casson.

«Wait a minute, wait till you see this one.»

He flicked over the last page and ran his eye down the three remaining paragraphs. When he had finished he closed the file and looked up at Rodin. The OAS chief gave away nothing of his own preferences. He took the file Casson had finished and passed it to Montclair. To Casson he passed the third of the folders. Both men finished their reading together four minutes later.

Rodin collected the folders and replaced them on the writing desk. He took the straight-backed chair, reversed it, and drew it towards the fire, sitting astride it with arms on the back. From this perch he surveyed the other two.

«Well, I told you it was a small market. There may be more men about who do this kind of work, but without access to the files of a good Secret Service; they are damnably hard to find. And probably the best ones aren't even on any files at all. You've seen all three. For the moment let us refer to them as the German, the South African and the Englishman: Andre?»

Casson shrugged. «For me there is no debate. On his record, if it is true, the Englishman is out ahead by a mile.»

«Rene?»

«I agree. The German is a bit old for this kind of thing now. Apart from a few jobs done for the surviving Nazis against the Israeli agents who pursue them, he doesn't seem to have done much in the political field. Besides his motivations against Jews are probably personal, therefore not completely professional. The South African may be all right chopping up nigger politicians like Lumumba, but that's a far cry from putting a bullet through the President of France. Besides, the Englishman speaks fluent French.»

Rodin nodded slowly. «I didn't think there would be much doubt. Even before I had finished compiling those dossiers, the choice seemed to stand out a mile.»

«Are you sure about this Anglo-Saxon?» Casson asked. «Has he really done those jobs?»