Yesterday's Sins

by James Green

  ‘About coming here.’

  ‘Oh, he wants us to go to Paris, a break to help me get over what has happened. I said I’d come and buy something to wear and then we could go as soon as he wants. Straight away.’

  ‘I see.’

  There was a silence between them. Udo tried to offer what words he could.

  ‘I’m sorry, Elspeth, truly sorry for what you have learned, for what I have had to tell you.’

  She gave him a twisted smile.

  ‘The trouble was I already knew something was wrong.’

  ‘Well, a car bomb ...’

  ‘No, after that. After he came back from Hamburg. A man came to the house. Charlie told me afterwards that he was police, but he didn’t behave at all like a policeman. He asked Charlie about why he had gone to Hamburg so suddenly. Charlie told him a lie, or he had already told me a lie.’

  ‘A lie?’

  ‘He told me he had gone to get help, that there was an FBI agent in Hamburg who could help us. When he told me he said the man he met would help us. He said the agent was a man. But when he told the policeman who came, it had become a woman, a woman who worked in London. I suppose he had to say it was a woman because they could check. But it meant he’d lied to me. I couldn’t understand why he’d lied but I just put it away. Tried to forget it. And the way he behaved when he met me at the airport and when we got home. It was as if nothing at all had happened. So when I got the letter, I knew.’

  Udo waited. She was almost finished not least because she was running out of time if she was going to stick to her story.

  ‘One last question, Father. Am I married?’

  ‘I told you, Charlie is a British citizen, you married him legally so, yes, you’re married.’

  ‘In the eyes of the Church?’

  ‘You know the answer to that, Elspeth. You don’t need me to spell it out.’

  She nodded. Yes, she knew the answer. She waited for a moment then looked at her watch. If she told Charlie she’d searched through all the shops but couldn’t find anything then she still had a little more time.

  ‘Can you hear my confession, Father?’

  ‘Sure.’

  Udo got up, went to a drawer and pulled out a stole, a scarf- like strip of embroidered cloth. He put it to his lips, draped it round his neck and sat down again. Elspeth made the Sign of the Cross and began. Udo sat and listened. Priest and penitent both with their own thoughts behind the words. She, coming to terms with what awaited her. He, wondering why Yuri would be on the move again so soon, and why Paris?

  Jimmy came back about an hour after Elspeth had left.

  Udo told him what had happened.

  ‘He’s on the move, Jimmy.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘For God’s sake, he has to have a reason.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘He must be trying to sell you out. He’s going to Paris to set it up. Can’t you see it?’

  ‘Yes, I suppose I can. But what can I do about it?’

  Udo sat and thought. What could Jimmy do about it? It was a good question, unfortunately he didn’t have a good answer. ‘Can you get me a gun?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Can you get me a gun? A nice, reliable gun. Like Long Otto said, German, efficient, ex-Stasi issue. It will only have to make one shot from close range. Can you do that?’

  ‘And if I got you this gun, what would you do with it?’

  ‘I’ll put a bullet in his head.’

  ‘He’ll be in Paris, maybe by tomorrow, if not tomorrow then soon. If I’m right, by the time I could get you a gun he’d already have sold you. What good will it do to kill him when he comes back? It won’t save you.’

  ‘At least she’ll be free of him and he’ll have got what he deserves. Udo, they’ll get me sometime, I’m running out of places to go. But before they get me I can at least remove one nasty bastard from this planet.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘It shouldn’t be too difficult. Tell him you need to talk to him, ask them to dinner, just think of something. All I need is to be able to do is get close enough to hold the gun to his head when he’s not expecting it.’

  ‘It’s not so easy. You make putting a bullet in someone’s head sound easy but, believe me, it’s not.’

  ‘I know, Udo.’

  ‘Do you? Do you really know?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You’ve done it?’

  ‘Long ago. It was something I thought I had to do, so I did it. And you’re right, it wasn’t easy.’

  ‘What about the police? You can’t blow someone’s brains out at the dinner table and just walk away. What will you do afterwards?’

  ‘Nothing. He’ll be dead, she’ll be free of him and I’ll get what I should have got years ago. I’ll spend the rest of my life in prison. God knows I deserve it.’ Jimmy smiled. ‘And it won’t be so easy for them to get at me in prison, will it? Their kind of writ doesn’t run so well on the inside. For that, you have to have been on the wrong side of the law.’

  ‘Don’t be so sure. They have long fingers.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘I’ll get you your gun, as self-protection, not to assassinate Yuri. If they come after you, at least you’ll be armed.’

  ‘And dangerous?’

  ‘No, you’re not dangerous any more. I can see how you might have been once. Very dangerous. But not any more. I’ll tell you something. There are times when I think some people are chosen, that there are people who God has chosen. You may be one of them.’

  ‘That’s crap and you know it.’

  ‘Do I? Then why aren’t you dead? Or serving that long stretch you say you deserve in some British jail? Why are you still going, what keeps you going, and where is it you’re going to?’ Jimmy didn’t answer. There was no answer. ‘You see what I’m saying, I don’t know and you don’t know, but maybe God knows.’

  ‘If there is a God, which I more and more doubt. And if he exists, he isn’t a watchmaker and he doesn’t play chess. If he does anything he just waits and watches. So let’s leave him out of it, shall we? Just get me the gun, get Bronski where I can put him on the end of it and leave the rest to me.’

  ‘OK, Jimmy. I’ll get you your gun. Anything else is up to you.’

  TWENTY-NINE

  Jimmy’s mobile rang. He took it out. It was Udo. ‘That’s handy. I was going to call you. Do we need eggs?’

  ‘No, Jimmy, we don’t need eggs. Finish shopping and come back, you’ve got a visitor. It’s a Monsignor from Rome, the one who asked me to take you on. Very smooth, very ...’

  ‘Bland?’

  ‘That’s it, that’s the exact word, bland. Very smooth, very bland. He wants you here, so come running.’

  Jimmy put his mobile away and headed for the checkout. It wasn’t busy. He didn’t like shopping so he always tried to do it during a quiet time. He finished paying and left the small supermarket with a carrier bag in each hand. Suddenly a young woman was at his side. She had a mac over her left arm which hid her hand. With her right hand she took Jimmy’s arm. He stopped and looked at her. She was a stranger. She smiled a big smile and leant forward to kiss his cheek. With both hands holding carrier bags there was nothing he could do. But he would have done nothing anyway for two reasons. One was what she said, very quietly.

  ‘Get in the car.’

  The other was the feeling of something hard held in the hand under the mac poking him in the ribs. A car was waiting next to them. The girl kept the big smile going while she opened the door with her free hand. Jimmy got in and sat down with his two carrier bags on his lap. There was another young woman beside the driver. She was half-turned looking at him but she wasn’t smiling. Her hands were out of sight. Jimmy didn’t need to see the gun to know it was there. The woman with the mac went round the car and got in beside him. The driver pulled away into the traffic. Nobody said anything.

  The car drove up to the top of the busy Vesterbrogade with its shops and restaurants. They passed the
Central station on their right with the Tivoli Gardens opposite and turned into Hans Christian Andersen Boulevard. Jimmy looked out of the window. Despite what was happening he found it difficult not to feel more like a tourist than someone snatched at gunpoint. He didn’t know why, but he felt strangely detached. Maybe it was because he was helpless. Maybe he had just accepted that one day this would happen. Now it had.

  The car crossed the bridge over the channel between Copenhagen and Christianshavn. Ancient defensive bastions jutting out into the water kept them company on the left until the car veered away following the main road round to the right. They headed on until they joined the long, straight Amagerbrogade which ran through the comfortable suburbs all the way down to Tårnby. If we keep going we’re headed for the airport, thought Jimmy. Whatever they wanted to happen to him, it looked like they didn’t want it to happen in Denmark. Then his mobile went off.

  He looked at the woman sitting beside him. She shook her head so he let it ring until it stopped and he looked out of the window again. The roads weren’t busy and everything looked exactly as it should look. Why is it, he wondered, that you only notice how normal things are for everyone else when things have gone completely arse-up for you?

  The car moved on quickly but not speeding. No one was taking any chances, everything was very under control.

  ‘Can I put this shopping on the floor. It’s heavy.’

  The woman beside him nodded.

  ‘Don’t do anything foolish, Mr Costello. Just put it there.’

  Both of her hands were visible and the mac lay across her knees. She didn’t have her gun out but he guessed she probably didn’t need one. If he did anything except put the carrier bags on the floor she’d probably break his arm with one hand. She might even do it with nothing more than a look. He put the two carrier bags on the floor between his legs. They weren’t really heavy, it was just something to do.

  They reached Tårnby. The main road leading to the airport was a left turn but the driver crossed straight over the intersection into more suburbs. He drove on until they were clear of the houses and the flat expanse of runways became visible on their left. Planes rose steeply into the sky at regular intervals and others slowly descended. The car was on some sort of service road which ran round the outside of the airport perimeter fence. They drove on for a while and eventually stopped by a pair of big wire gates.

  The driver got out and went to the side of the gates. Jimmy watched him speaking into a box. Then he went to the middle of the gates and pushed them open and came back to the car. They drove through and the car stopped. The driver got out and walked back to the gates. It was then they saw a car coming at speed along the service road. The driver turned and ran back to the car. He got in and the car shot forward only to brake hard after about twenty yards. Coming towards them fast were two more cars from inside the airport. They all looked round. The car behind them had stopped, blocking the open gateway. Someone was getting out. In front of them the two cars skidded to a halt, one to the left one to the right. There was nowhere to go. The driver turned round to the woman sitting beside Jimmy. She didn’t say anything. She was watching the two cars in front. Nothing happened. No one got out, they just sat there at a distance from them. Then a voice from a loudhailer came from behind them.

  ‘Please do nothing. I have Major General David Weiss on the phone for you. I repeat, please do nothing, I have Major General David Weiss on the phone. He wishes to speak to Hannah Levi. I repeat, I have Major General Weiss on the phone and he wishes to speak to Captain Hannah Levi.’

  The woman said something in a language Jimmy didn’t recognise. The driver got out of the car, left the door open and headed towards the car behind them. Jimmy watched him go and when he turned back noticed that a gun had appeared in her hand again and it was pointing at him. He hoped that this Major General, whoever he was, said the right thing.

  The woman beside him had half turned to look out of the back window. Jimmy very gently turned his head so that he just got a glimpse of what was going on. He was slow and careful, at this moment any sudden move on his part would be a silly move and probably his last. The driver was walking towards the other car. The man beside it had a loudhailer in one hand and held out something small in the other. Jimmy slowly turned back. The woman in the front seat had turned round and was looking at him. Now she had a gun as well. Suddenly everybody had a gun, everybody except him of course.

  The driver returned, put his head into the car and said something to the woman beside Jimmy. Then he got back in but left the door open. The woman, who Jimmy now supposed was Captain Hannah Levi, got out and closed the door. The driver turned to look out of the back window. Jimmy risked slowly turning his head. When Captain Hannah got to the man with the loudhailer, she took what Jimmy realised was a mobile and listened. While she was listening somebody else got out of the back of the car. He was dressed in a smart black suit and had on a purple shirt topped off by a clerical collar. It was an old acquaintance, the Monsignor from Rome. Had the US cavalry arrived in the nick of time? Please God they had. The Monsignor waited until the woman handed back the mobile, said something, then they both started to walk back towards her car.

  The Monsignor opened Jimmy’s door.

  ‘Please get out, Mr Costello, but do only that.’ He nodded towards Loudhailer. ‘The gentleman at that car over there wants to be able to see you.’

  Jimmy looked at the woman in the front who was still pointing her gun at him.

  ‘OK?’

  She wagged the gun indicating for him to get out. They weren’t a chatty group. Jimmy got out and stood by the car. The Monsignor turned to the woman in charge, Captain Hannah Levi. He held out his hand and she gave him the mobile. She didn’t look a happy bunny. Things were obviously not going to plan, at least not to the plan she had been given.

  ‘Hello, General, I have a message for you from Professor McBride. She wants you to know that for the last two days Mr Costello has been officially in the employment of the Vatican and that he now travels on a diplomatic passport. Neither the Vatican nor the Danish authorities could allow a member of the Vatican Diplomatic Service to be kidnapped and taken by force out of Denmark. It could, indeed would, create a major diplomatic incident. I need hardly add that if anything even more dramatic were to happen to Mr Costello at the hands of members of the Israeli Secret Service, the damage could well prove irreparable and provoke consequences of the most severe nature.’ The Monsignor listened for a moment then resumed. ‘Professor McBride understands that and agrees with you. She too feels this has gone on long enough and needs to be resolved.’ He smiled as he listened. ‘No, General, I think not. I can see how that would suit you but it would suit you alone and all parties must be happy with the outcome.’ He listened again. ‘I think we all understand that, but Professor McBride asked me to point out that Mr Costello has not spoken to anyone at all about his time in Rome. He has not tried to use anything you think he might know against you in any way. Nor has he used it to try and protect himself against any actions he thought you might take, indeed now have taken. He has made no provision for any information to be used by any third party in the event of anything untoward happening to him. It is the Professor’s opinion, and I agree with her, that Mr Costello has shown that he represents no material threat to Israel, nor anyone else. He is now in the employ of the Vatican and Professor McBride herself will vouch that for as long as he stays a Vatican employee neither she nor Mr Costello will communicate with any other party about any information you might think they possess.’

  There was a silence. The General was obviously weighing up his options. The Monsignor had been good. But had he been good enough? Then the Monsignor took the mobile from his ear and signalled to Loudhailer. The man holding the loudhailer handed it back into the car and walked towards them. When he arrived he took the mobile.

  ‘Yes, General, what can I do for you? Yes, I can authorise that at once. They will be free to leave, no charges wi
ll be made against them. Please understand, this whole matter has been carried out in a way that nothing of it will become known to anyone except our two Services and, of course, Professor McBride. If you can answer for yours, I will answer for mine. If you accept that Professor McBride can answer for the Monsignor and Mr Costello it can all be concluded here and now.’ He listened. ‘Certainly.’

  He handed over the mobile to Captain Levi. She listened for a moment then handed it back, got into the car and closed the door. The new arrival looked at Jimmy. It was the policeman with the funny sense of humour.

  ‘Stand away from the car please, Mr Costello.’

  Jimmy didn’t need to be told twice. He pushed the car door shut and stood back. The driver pulled his door shut and the Israeli team pulled away. Their car went between the two blocking cars and headed towards the Terminal buildings far away in the distance. The three men watched it go. Then the policeman waved to the two cars. They turned and left.

  ‘Aren’t you going to stop them?’

  ‘The Israelis? Stop them, Mr Costello? What on earth for? I’ve just gone to considerable efforts to send them on their way. Why should I stop them?’

  ‘You said you were a policeman when you came to see me and Udo. I want to report them. They’ve stolen my shopping. It’s in the back of their car.’

  The policeman wasn’t amused and it was the Monsignor who spoke.

  ‘Shall we all go to the car?’

  The policeman led the way, Jimmy and the Monsignor followed. They got into the car, reversed out of the gates and stopped. The driver got out, closed the gates and said something into the box. He got back into the car and headed off the way Jimmy had come. No one was inclined to talk. The journey was going to be about as chatty as the last one. But at least there are no guns this time. None that he would see anyway.

  The car retraced his recent journey and when it reached Copenhagen it drove to Udo’s church and pulled up outside his front door. The Monsignor turned to Jimmy.

  ‘We travel to Rome tomorrow, Mr Costello. I will call for you at nine sharp. Please be ready.’ He reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a passport. ‘Take this, please.’