Jaws of the Tiger
Page 29
“Thought you’d never ask.”
Chapter 71
Dulles International Airport, Washington DC, December 15th 2017
Dulac had left the preliminary briefing meeting at Langley with CIA agent Jim Crothers on the Ellipse case an hour before, and the taxi had stopped abreast of the Arrivals section’s main entrance. He paid the cabbie, entered and made his way through the heavy crowd to the Arrivals notice board. He glanced upward. Air France Flight 256 from Paris was on schedule. He looked at his watch. 10.45 am. If he hurried, he still had time to intercept Karen before she exited the airport.
He checked again for the small card tucked between the ribbon and the box of chocolates, making sure it hadn’t slipped out, and hurried towards the Arrivals section.
Moments later, he saw Karen, wearing a dark beige outfit, her shoulder-length, thick auburn hair partially wrapped in a blue scarf. Dulac noticed a very slight limp in her otherwise determined gait. He waved.
She recognized him and waved back. All smiles, she walked over, hugged him and gave him a long, sensuous kiss.
“I missed you,” she said.
“And I you,” said Dulac, his right hand still behind his back. “How was your flight?”
“Fine. What’s the surprise?” She tried to peek.
Dulac brought his hand in front and offered her the box of chocolates.
“Godivas, my favorite! You remembered.” She squeezed him.
“For medicinal purposes only.” Dulac grabbed her overnight bag. “Come, let’s get a cab to the hotel.”
Twenty minutes later, they were sitting in the lounge of the Jefferson Hotel, sipping on their glasses of Pouilly-Fuissé white wine.
“The last I heard, you were about to take a flight to Lyon.” Karen deposited the high-stemmed glass on the table. “Where is it all at?”
“Officially, the investigation is closed. To make a long story short, Singh is charged with conspiracy to hijack, the other conspirators Assirgan and Mehta are dead and Hays—”
“The Home Secretary?” Karen looked bewildered.
Dulac leaned over, kissed her left ear and whispered, “None other. Hays is in deep-doodoo with the Financial Services Authority on insider trading, possibly money laundering. I wouldn’t be surprised if he resigned. I’ve heard that even if the file is officially closed, Bolding’s murder is still being investigated and—”
“Murder? I thought the press said it was suicide?”
“I know different.”
“Why hasn’t that been released?”
“Because that would lead to motive, which in turn might lead to questioning some pretty high profile people, including Hays.”
“Wow!” Karen leaned back in her chair, hands on her lap. “But why can’t you—?”
“Interpol doesn’t have jurisdiction any more. Mills’ and Bolding’s murders were attributed to a Zabin Mehta, a Baluchistan Mole working for MI-6. Trouble is he’s dead also so we can’t know for sure if he had accomplices.” Dulac looked at his watch and got up. “We’d better hurry. You might want to freshen up before we head to The White House. Secretary of State Nancy Lombardi has invited us for lunch. She mentioned our friend Hank Porter will be there also.”
“Thierry, you’re changing the subject again. I get the distinct impression we’re talking cover-up here.”
Dulac gave her a comforting kiss and whispered. “Don’t worry, darling. Not for long.”
Epilogue
December 16th, 2017, The Washington Post, page 3
Interpol inspector Thierry Dulac and retired army officer Henry Porter were among the four recipients to be honored by the President yesterday, who awarded them the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the US’s highest award for bravery. The medal was awarded to Dulac and Porter for their roles in the rescue of the ill-fated cruise ship Caravan Star from hijackers off the Azores. Disregarding personal safety and under gunfire from the hijackers, Dulac and Porter helped save many lives by their courageous actions. Governor George Dickinson, who was aboard the ship when she was hijacked, was among the dignitaries present at the ceremony. Also present were recently appointed Secretary of State Nancy Lombardi and CIA Director Don Peters.
December 27, 2017, The Daily Sun, London
Following the explosive revelations of an anonymous source in what is being dubbed by the British press as “Downingate”, and the resignation of Home Secretary Sir Terence Hays three days ago, the Sun has learned of possible wire transfers of sums of money from Hays to Switzerland to a corporation named Miramar SA headquartered in Berne. The source also disclosed that Mirolet SA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Miramar, may have been used by Hays to short-sell shares of the now defunct P & W Cruise Lines. The UK’s Financial Services Authority is also looking into possible allegations of insider trading. When contacted, Swiss authorities failed to comment. Rumors are to the effect that other British ministers could also be involved. In parallel, Scotland Yard is investigating a possible link between the death of the late Sir Adrian Bolding and the transfer of sums to Mirolet and Miramar.
March 10th, 2018 The New York Times, page 7
The US Government has reached a settlement with the victims and heirs of the dead passengers of the Caravan Star, the cruise ship hijacked off the Azores on October 15th 2017. The total amount of the settlement was not disclosed. The claimants had sued the US Navy for 5.1 billion dollars, claiming it used an unsafe, untested nerve gas called Bezorban in an attempt to subdue the hijackers, resulting in the death of 27 passengers and injuriesto 158 passengers and crew, many of whom still suffer debilitating effects from the gas.
Bezorban is similar to the gas used by the Russian government in 2002 in their rescue attempt of hostages in a Moscow theater, where 130 people died.”
July 20th, 2018, The Daily Telegraph, Page 1
HAYS NOT GUILTY
After deliberating for nearly a week in the sensational trial of Sir Terence Hays for the murder of Sir Adrian Bolding, a jury of 8 men and 4 women returned a verdict of not guilty as to the charge of first-degree murder. When interviewed, Hays’s barrister John Falk says he always believed in the innocence of his client and that justice had been served. Crown prosecutors James Waddell and Judy Dill declined to say whether or not they will appeal the verdict. They say they are investigating allegations of jury tampering and may ask for a retrial. Hays, who has pleaded guilty to charges of insider trading, also faces charges of conspiracy in the hijacking of the cruise ship Caravan Star. The date of that trial has not yet been set.
The End
André K. Baby is a Montreal-born lawyer and author. A former Crown prosecutor and international business attorney, he has travelled extensively throughout Europe, North Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas. Before feeling the inexorable tug of the law, André spent time inter alia as a construction worker in the Canadian North, a yacht broker, and a night-club bouncer on the French Riviera. He continues to mine the wealth of his varied and rich life’s experience to forge his novels’ characters, locations and plots.
An avid reader, André still manages to find time for the occasional weekend of sailing. When inspiration runs dry, he’ll often turn to his Steinway piano and massacre a Brahms rhapsody or a Bach prelude. He and his wife live in Québec.