The Day of the Jackal

«My instructions on that are formal. Kidnappings are out. The Italian Government would go out of its mind if this kind of thing happened a few yards from the Via Condotti. Besides there are some doubts as to its feasibility. General?»

General Guibaud lifted his eyes to the assembly.

«The extent and quality of the protective screen Rodin and his two henchmen have built round themselves, according to the reports of my agents who have them under permanent surveillance, rule this out from the practical standpoint also,» he said. «There are eight topclass ex-Legion gunmen round them, or seven if Kowalski has not been replaced. All the lifts, stairs, fire-escape and roof are guarded. It would involve a major gun battle, probably with gas grenades and submachine guns to get one of them alive. Even then, the chances of getting the man out of the country and five hundred kilometres north to France, with the Italians on the rampage would be very slight indeed. We have men who are some of the world's top experts in this kind of thing, and they say it would be just about impossible short of a commando-style military operation.»

Silence descended on the room again.

«Well, gentlemen,» said the Minister, «any more suggestions?»

«This Jackal must be found. That much is clear,» replied Colonel Saint-Clair. Several of the others round the table glanced at each other and an eyebrow or two was raised.

«That much certainly is clear,» murmured the Minister at the head of the table. «What we are trying to devise is a way in which that can be done, within the limits imposed upon us, and on that basis perhaps we can best decide which of the departments here represented would be best suited for the job.»

'The protection of the President of the Republic,» announced Saint-Clair grandiosely, «must depend in the last resort when all others have failed on the Presidential Security Corps and the President's personal staff. We, I can assure you, Minister, will do our duty. ' Some of the hard-core professionals closed their eyes in unfeigned weariness. Commissaire Ducret shot the Colonel a glance which, if looks could kill, would have dropped Saint-Clair in his tracks.

Doesn't he know the Old Man's not listening?» growled Guibaud under his breath to Rolland.

Roger Frey raised his eyes to meet those of the Elysee Palace courtier and demonstrated why he was a minister.

«The Colonel Saint-Clair is perfectly right, of course,» he purred. «We shall all do our duty. And I am sure it has occurred to the Colonel that should a certain department undertake the responsibility for the destruction of this plot, and fail to achieve it, or even employ methods inadvertently capable of bringing publicity contrary to the wishes of the President, certain disapprobation would inevitably descend upon the head of him who had failed.»

The menace hung above the long table more tangible than the pall of blue smoke from Bouvier's pipe. Saint-Clair's thin pale face tightened perceptibly and the worry showed in his eyes.

We are all aware here of the limited opportunities available to the Presidential Security Corps,» said Commissaire Ducret flatly. «We spend our time in the immediate vicinity of the President's person. Evidently this investigation must be far more wide-ranging than my staff could undertake without neglecting its primary duties.»

No one contradicted him, for each department chief was aware that what the presidential security chief said was true. But neither did anyone else wish the ministerial eye to fall on him. Roger Frey looked round the table, and rested on the smoke-shrouded bulk of Commissaire Bouvier at the far end.

«What do you think, Bouvier? You have not spoken yet?»

The detective eased the pipe out of his mouth, managed to let a last squirt of odoriferous smoke waft straight into the face of SaintClair who had turned towards him, and spoke calmly as one stating a few simple facts that had just occurred to him.

«It seems to me, Minister, that the SDECE cannot disclose this man through their agents in the OAS, since not even the OAS know who he is; that the Action Service cannot destroy him since they do not know whom to destroy. The DST cannot pick him up at the border for they do not know whom to intercept, and the RG can give us no documentary information about him because they do not know what documents to search for. The police cannot arrest him, for they do not know whom to arrest, and the CRS cannot pursue him, since they are unaware whom they are pursuing. The entire structure of the security forces of France is powerless for want of a name. It seems to me therefore that the first task, without which all other proposals become meaningless, is to give this man a name. With a name we get a face, with a face a passport, with a passport an arrest. But to find the name, and do it in secret, is a job for pure detective work.»