The Bourne Identity

'We have different methods of verification,' pressed the associate director. 'No disrespect, Mr Abbott, but our transmissions equipment is literally instantaneous.'

'That's equipment, not verification. But I won't argue; it seems we have a disagreement Brussels or Zurich.'

'The case for Brussels is airtight,' insisted Knowlton firmly.

'Let's hear it,' said the balding Gillette, adjusting his glasses. 'We can return to the Zurich summary, it's right in front of us. Also, our sources have some input to offer, although it's not in conflict with Brussels or Zurich. It happened over six months ago.'

The silver-haired Abbott glanced over at Gillette. 'Six months ago? I don't recall N.S.C. having delivered anything about Cain six months ago.'

'It wasn't totally confirmed,' replied Gillette. 'We try not to burden the Committee with unsubstantiated data.'

"That's also quite a statement,' said Abbott, not needing to clarify,

'Congressman Walters,' interrupted the colonel, looking at the man from Oversight, 'do you have any questions before we goon?'

'Hell, yes,' drawled the congressional watchdog from the state of Tennessee, his intelligent eyes roaming the faces, 'but since I'm new at this, you go ahead so I'll know where to begin.'

'Very well, sir,' said Manning, nodding at the C.I.A.'s Knowlton. 'What's this about Brussels eleven days ago?'

'A man was killed in the Place Fontainas, a covert dealer in

diamonds between Moscow and the West. He operated through a branch of Russolmaz, the Soviet firm in Geneva that brokers all such "purchases. We know it's one way Cain converts his funds."

'What ties the killing to Cain?' asked the dubious Gillette.

'Method, first. The weapon was a long needle, implanted in a crowded square at noontime with surgical precision. Cain's used it before.'

That's quite true,' agreed Abbott. "There was a Rumanian in London somewhat over a year ago; another only weeks before him. Both were narrowed to Cain.'

'Narrowed but not confirmed,' objected Colonel Manning. 'They were high-level political defectors; they could have been taken by the K.G.B.'

'Or by Cain with far less risk to the Soviets,* argued the C.I.A. man.

'Or by Carlos,' added Gillette, his voice rising. 'Neither Carlos nor Cain is concerned about ideology; they're both for hire. Why is it every time there's a killing of consequence, we ascribe it to Cain?'

'Whenever we do,' replied Knowlton., his condescension obvious, 'it's because informed sources unknown to each other have reported the same information. Since the informants have no knowledge of each other there could hardly be collusion.'

'It's all too pat,' said Gillette disagreeably.

'Back to Brussels,' interrupted the colonel. 'If it was Cain, why would he kill a broker from Russolmaz? He used him.'

'A covert broker,' corrected the C.I.A. director. 'And for any number of reasons according to our informants. The man was a thief, and why not? Most of his clients were too; they couldn't very well file charges. He might have cheated Cain, and if he did, it'd be his last transaction. Or he could have been foolish enough to speculate on Cain's identity; even a hint of that would call for the needle. Or perhaps Cain simply wanted to bury his current traces. Regardless, the circumstances plus the sources leave little doubt that it was Cain.'

There'll be a lot more when I clarify Zurich,* said Manning. 'May we proceed to the summary?'

'A moment, please.' David Abbott spoke casually while lighting his pipe. 'I believe our colleague from the Security Council mentioned the occurrence related to Cain that took

place six months ago. Perhaps we should hear about it.'

'Why?' asked Gillette, his eyes owl-like beyond the lenses of his rimless glasses. The time factor removes it from having any bearing on Brussels or Zurich. I mentioned that, too.'

'Yes, you did,' agreed the once-formidable Monk of Covert Services, i thought, however, any background might be helpful. As you also said, we can return to the summary; it's right in front of us. But if it's not relevant, let's get on with Zurich.'

Thank you, Mr Abbott,' said the colonel. 'You'll note that eleven days ago, on the night of February twenty-seventh, four men were killed in Zurich. One of them was a watchman in a parking area by the Limmat River; it can be presumed that he was not involved in Cain's activities, but caught in them. Two others were found in an alley on the west bank of the city, on the surface unrelated murders, except for the fourth victim. He's tied in with the dead men in the alley - all three part of the Zurich-Munich underworld - and is, without question, connected to Cain.'

That's this Chernak,' said Gillette, reading the summary. 'At least, I assume it's Chernak. I recognize the name, and associate it with the Cain file somewhere.'

'You should,' replied Manning. 'It first appeared in a G-Two report eighteen months ago, and cropped up again a year later.'

'Which would make it six months ago,' interjected Abbott, softly, looking at Gillette.

'Yes, sir," continued the colonel. 'If there was ever an example of what's called the scum-of-the-earth, it was Chernak. During the war be was a Czechoslovakia!! recruit at Dachau, a trilingual interrogator as brutal as any guard in the camp. He sent Poles, Slovaks and Jews to the showers after torture sessions in which he extracted - and manufactured - "incriminating" information Dachau's commandants wanted to hear. He went to any length to curry favour with his superiors and the most sadistic cliques were hard pressed to match his exploits. What they didn't realize was that he was cataloguing theirs. After the war he escaped, got his legs blown off by an undetected land mine, and still managed to survive very nicely on his Dachau extortions. Cain found him and used him as a go-between for payments on his kills.'

'Now just wait a minute!" objected Knowlton strenuously. 'We've been over this Chernak business before. If you recall, it

was the agency that first uncovered him; we would have exposed him long ago if State hadn't interceded on behalf of several powerful, anti-Soviet officials in the Bonn government. You assume Cain's used Chernak; you don't know it for certain any more than we do.'

'We do now,' said Manning. 'Seven and a half months ago, we received a tip about a man who ran a restaurant called the Drei Alpenhauser; it was reported that he was an intermediary between Cain and Chernak. We kept him under surveillance for weeks, but nothing came of it; he was a minor figure in the Zurich underworld, that was all ... We didn't stay with him long enough." The colonel paused, satisfied that all eyes were on him. 'When we heard about Chernak's murder, we gambled. Five nights ago two of our men hid in the Drei Alpenhauser after the restaurant closed. They cornered the owner and accused him of dealing with Chernak, working for Cain; they put on a hell of a show. You can imagine their shock when the man broke, literally fell to his knees begging to be protected. He admitted that Cain was in Zurich the night Chernak was killed; that, in fact, he had seen Cain that night and Chernak had come up in the conversation. Very negatively.'

The military man paused again, the silence filled by a slow soft whistle from David Abbott, his pipe held in front of his crag-lined face. 'Now, that is a statement,' said the Monk quietly.