The Curious Case of the Missing Head

by Gabriel Farago

  ‘So, what’s the proposal?’

  ‘Grimaldi suggested that the Giordanos get out of the drug business in Florence, and Alessandro leave Italy at once. The Giordanos have extensive business interests in Chicago. This would remove a possible trigger for another war with countless casualties on both sides. With the South American drug supply now seriously interrupted, the drug business in Florence has been dealt a serious blow, giving the authorities the upper hand to contain the problem.’

  ‘Is that likely? I mean, the Giordanos getting out of drugs altogether?’

  ‘Giordano gave Grimaldi his answer yesterday.’

  ‘He did? And?’

  ‘He agreed. He wants to keep his remaining son alive. Remember, he already lost a son two years ago during a turf war with Salvatore Gambio, and he is getting on in years. Moving the family into legitimate businesses has been his aim for years.’

  ‘And Alessandro goes free? Is that it? His involvement in the Stolzfus abduction goes unpunished?’ asked Andersen, becoming agitated. ‘He’s the one who hired—’

  ‘Yes,’ interrupted Cesaria. ‘He seems to have been the facilitator, but the high-profile Stolzfus abduction and the Fabry fiasco in Malta have all been committed outside Italy in different countries, and are therefore matters for Great Britain and the US to sort out, not us. This is for MI5 and the CIA to resolve, not the Squadra Mobile in Florence. The crimes have been committed in other jurisdictions, not in Italy. We have received clear instructions from Rome to stay out of this ...’

  ‘What about Jack Rogan?’ said Andersen. ‘He was abducted on your turf! On your watch. He just falls through the cracks?’

  Cesaria shrugged. ‘We are working on that.’

  ‘I see,’ said Andersen. ‘Looking at the situation objectively – and from your point of view – I do understand.’

  ‘I knew you would,’ said Cesaria, grateful for Andersen’s reassurance. ‘These matters are never easy at this level.’

  No, they are not, thought Andersen. But letting Alessandro off the hook and go free wasn’t an option. A strong believer in justice, Andersen’s mind was already working overtime as she began to explore an opportunity to use what she had just learned to her advantage. And it was all about how to get Alessandro …

  48

  CIA HQ, George Bush Center for Intelligence, Virginia: 14 July

  ‘Excited?’ asked Andersen. She looked at Tristan sitting next to her in the large waiting room. Tristan nodded. She still found it difficult to believe that Tristan had been asked to accompany her.

  Despite a specific appointment arranged by the director of the CIA herself, it had taken them over an hour to navigate the complex security arrangements giving them access to ‘Langley’, as the CIA headquarters at 1000 Colonial Farm Road in McLean, Virginia was known colloquially. Andersen had been to the director’s office before and knew the drill and how long it could take. She had therefore allowed plenty of time because being late was unthinkable.

  Dr Rosalind Hubert, a woman in her late fifties, stood up and walked to the door to welcome Andersen and Tristan as they were admitted to her office by a security guard. Passing her in the street, no-one would have suspected that the petite, smartly dressed woman with short, greying hair and large horn-rimmed glasses was the director of the CIA, and one of the most powerful women in the United States.

  ‘Good flight?’ asked Hubert.

  ‘Yes, thank you,’ said Andersen and introduced Tristan.

  ‘Ah. The man who can hear the whisper of angels and glimpse eternity,’ said Hubert, smiling, and pointed to a man standing in the shadows next to a large conference table by the window. ‘Come, let me introduce you.’

  Andersen looked at the man, surprised. She had not expected the secretary of state to be present at the meeting. To have such an important man come over from nearby Washington to attend the meeting in person could mean only one thing: the subject matter was of national importance, reaching to the very top.

  ‘You can take it, Major, that we are familiar with all of your reports in this matter,’ began the secretary of state once they were all seated. ‘And so is President Gump, who is taking a personal interest in this case. You may not know this, but the president is a great admirer of Professor Stolzfus. In fact, he has met him on several occasions and considers him a national treasure. We have all seen that extraordinary video ...’

  ‘May I ask what you thought of it?’

  ‘Of course we had it expertly analysed,’ said Hubert.

  ‘And?’

  ‘We believe it’s genuine.’

  ‘And such an operation is feasible?’

  ‘Yes. Some of our surgeons in the military have been looking at something like this for a while now. It’s definitely possible.’

  ‘So, it could actually be Stolzfus in the video?’

  ‘Yes, and we are proceeding on the basis that it is.’

  Andersen nodded, but didn’t say anything further.

  ‘While you were crossing the Atlantic to get here, there have been certain developments,’ said Hubert. ‘Serious ones.’

  ‘Oh?’ Andersen didn’t like the turn this was taking. ‘Serious developments’ was intelligence speak for trouble and danger.

  ‘As you know,’ continued Hubert, ‘the Cordoba execution was stayed yesterday morning to give us time to consider the matter.’

  ‘Yes, I know—’

  ‘But what you may not know is this,’ interrupted the secretary of state. He lit a cigarette and looked at Andersen. ‘The president has decided that exchanging Professor Stolzfus for Alonso Cordoba is out of the question. The US does not make deals with wanted criminals. In short, releasing Alonso isn’t an option.’

  ‘Has this been communicated to his father in Bogota?’ asked Andersen, looking concerned.

  ‘It has,’ said the secretary of state.

  ‘And?’

  The secretary of state pointed to Hubert. ‘Would you please?’ he said.

  ‘We are communicating with Hernando Cordoba through our embassy in Bogota. The ambassador is in touch with Cordoba’s lawyer,’ said Hubert.

  ‘Raul Rodrigo?’ said Andersen.

  ‘Yes. We advised him earlier today that releasing Alonso wasn’t going to happen and that the only possibility may be to have his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment. We left the door open ...’

  ‘What did he say about that?’ asked Andersen.

  ‘A reply came in just before you arrived.’

  ‘Oh? What did it say?’

  ‘Only this,’ continued Hubert. ‘New York Times; tomorrow morning.’

  ‘That’s all? How curious.’

  ‘And ingenious,’ interjected the secretary of state. ‘You’ll see why in a moment.’

  Hubert stood up, went to her desk and picked up a sheet of paper. ‘Of course, we contacted the New York Times straight away and made enquiries,’ she said and held up the sheet of paper. ‘This will appear in the paper tomorrow morning.’

  Without saying another word, Hubert handed the sheet of paper to Andersen and sat down again. For a long, tense moment there was complete silence as she read the article.

  ‘Jesus!’ she said quietly. ‘Are they serious?’

  ‘Deadly, I’m afraid,’ said the secretary of state, stepping in.

  ‘And all this information came from Jack Rogan?’

  The article was a complete step-by-step account of what happened to Stolzfus, including his abduction at Westminster Abbey, the groundbreaking operation to save his life, and concluded with a specific demand and a deadline.

  ‘It did,’ said Hubert. ‘According to the New York Times, he provided all the information. He’s the source and Celia Crawford, the journalist, is vouching for him. The paper even has a copy of the video you saw. We believe this now explains why Rogan was abducted and taken to Bogota. He’s a high-profile go-between with international credibility. By having him contact the paper and going directly to Crawford with this, C
ordoba made sure that all his demands are being taken seriously and would be reported exactly as he had in mind.’

  ‘A very clever and effective strategy,’ said the secretary of state. ‘By going public with this through one of the most widely read and trusted papers in the US, if not the world, Cordoba is making sure that as of tomorrow morning, the explosive Stolzfus case is in the public domain, putting maximum pressure on the US.’

  ‘And as you can imagine,’ added Hubert, ‘all hell will break loose as soon as this comes out.’

  ‘A South American WikiLeaks?’ suggested Andersen.

  ‘Something like that.’

  ‘Will someone please tell me what this is all about?’ said Tristan quietly. ‘Or shall I just wait outside?’

  Hubert looked at Tristan, surprised. She wasn’t used to interruptions. ‘I do apologise,’ she said. ‘We owe you an explanation, Mr Te Papatahi. As you can imagine, a high-level security meeting like this isn’t normally attended by a civilian like yourself because everything here is classified. However, these are exceptional circumstances. You have been invited to attend because Mr Rogan has specifically asked for your personal involvement in this matter. He made this quite clear during his conversation with Celia Crawford.’

  ‘He spoke to Celia?’ said Tristan. ‘And asked for me?’

  ‘Yes, earlier today.’

  ‘Did he say why?’

  ‘Because of who you are and what you are capable of,’ said Hubert quietly. ‘Apparently, you work as a team and you have worked with Celia Crawford before.’

  Tristan nodded. ‘I have.’

  Andersen found it difficult to suppress a smile. Here was a young man who reputedly had some kind of psychic powers, talking to two of the most powerful people in the US because he could ‘hear the whisper of angels and glimpse eternity’. This case is becoming more bizarre by the moment, she thought, but she had to give credit to Hubert for taking Jack’s request seriously and going along with it.

  ‘So, if we don’t agree to the proposed exchange – Stolzfus for Alonso Cordoba – by noon on Monday; that’s in about 24 hours,’ said Andersen, ‘Stolzfus’s services will be offered to others. What others?’

  ‘We don’t know,’ said the secretary of state. ‘But we are taking this threat seriously.’

  Andersen shook her head. ‘You are?’ she said. ‘How will Cordoba implement this, do you think?’

  ‘The darknet,’ said Tristan quietly. ‘Giving interested parties an opportunity to acquire Stolzfus or, more accurately, give them access to his incredible mind and what it can do.’ Tristan paused to let this sink in. ‘Cordoba hinted at something like that during the video,’ he continued. ‘China, North Korea, perhaps even Russia could be buyers. So could some wealthy Russian oligarchs, smelling an opportunity to make some money. And by going public with this, Cordoba is putting maximum pressure on the US administration to take the threat seriously and do something about it.’

  ‘Correct,’ said the secretary of state, looking at Tristan with renewed interest. ‘And, of course, we cannot allow that to happen and Cordoba knows this.’

  ‘Where does that leave us?’ asked Andersen.

  ‘In a jam,’ said the secretary of state. ‘A jam we have to get out of!’

  ‘How?’ said Andersen.

  ‘By being clever and not losing our nerve, and most importantly, not doing anything rash. The US cannot be held to ransom, but we will not abandon Stolzfus and let the perpetrators go unpunished.’

  ‘There is a plan?’ asked Andersen.

  The secretary of state nodded.

  Hubert turned to Tristan and smiled. ‘As you can see, Mr Te Papatahi, things are moving very quickly here. I have to ask you to wait outside for a little while ... classified matters. I am sure you understand.’

  ‘Perfectly,’ said Tristan and stood up.

  So did the secretary of state. ‘Great to have you on board,’ he said, extending his hand. ‘Major Andersen will brief you on a need-to-know basis ...’

  ‘I understand.’ Tristan shook the secretary of state’s hand and walked towards the door. Just before he reached it, he stopped and turned around. ‘I can see an aircraft carrier, a deserted beach and a man in a wheelchair. I can also see a blinding flash and balls of fire, and I can hear the deafening roar of jet engines ... I better not say any more because it may be classified.’

  Herbert and the secretary of state stared at Tristan with stunned looks on their faces, but Andersen just smiled as Tristan quietly left the room.

  49

  H Cartel Compound, Bogota: 15 July

  Cordoba had just read the sensational article in the New York Times that had sent Washington into a spin. Like a caged lion, he was pacing nervously back and forth in front of the large window in his observation room when Rodrigo walked in.

  ‘Not quite the reaction we had in mind, is it?’ said Cordoba, turning around.

  ‘Tactics. To be expected.’

  ‘I think they are stalling.’

  ‘Perhaps, but they didn’t say no, and they left the door open.’

  ‘Ajar would be a better way to put it. I don’t like silence. It’s always ominous, like the build-up before a storm. A life sentence is unacceptable. I want Alonso set free or there’s no deal.’

  ‘We must hurry slowly. I am sure our threat is hitting the mark. You must admit the article is excellent and specifically refers to the darknet. That was the message we wanted to put out there. Now the whole world knows … the international response to the article has been enormous. It’s on all the news channels around the world. It’s the hottest topic at the moment and the video has gone viral.’

  ‘Not surprising, but I want my son back. That’s what this is about,’ snapped Cordoba, ‘not publicity.’

  ‘We can’t have one without the other. Publicity is our tool. That’s what will bring Alonso back. It’s more powerful than a cruise missile.’

  ‘I hope you’re right.’

  Rodrigo looked at his agitated client. He hadn’t seen Cordoba in such a state for a long time and realised it was time for some hand-holding.

  ‘Rogan was excellent on the phone, by the way. He did exactly what we asked of him and the conversation with Celia Crawford went extremely well, I thought. Without Rogan, this article would never have happened. It’s only because of his relationship with the journalist that the New York Times went ahead with such an explosive story.’

  ‘That’s not the problem here. We set a deadline and it’s rapidly approaching. Yet still no word from the Americans. That worries me.’

  ‘They have a lot to consider and to organise logistically. And don’t forget public opinion. This puts the administration under enormous pressure.’

  ‘That’s what we wanted.’

  ‘Yes, but we asked for an exchange here on Colombian soil. That’s a big ask. Think about it …’

  ‘I still don’t like it. I know we had to set a deadline, but it locked us in.’

  ‘That’s what deadlines do. It’s a two-edged sword.’

  Being the architect of the strategy, Rodrigo could feel the heavy weight of responsibility pressing down on him and he realised that time was rapidly running out. However, as an experienced lawyer and skilful negotiator he knew how to turn a tricky situation into an advantage, and what he had just learned about Stolzfus from Agabe a few minutes ago would give him all he needed to do just that.

  ‘In a way, the deadline is a godsend,’ he said quietly, watching Cordoba carefully out of the corner of his eye.

  ‘What do you mean?’ snapped Cordoba.

  Rodrigo knew it was time to drop the bad-news-bombshell that would vindicate his decision to put pressure on the Americans by setting a deadline.

  ‘Stolzfus is deteriorating. I just—’

  ‘What?’ interrupted Cordoba.

  ‘I just spoke to Agabe,’ continued Rodrigo calmly. ‘Stolzfus had some kind of fit during the night and—’

  ‘Why wasn’t I told?�
��

  Rodrigo ignored the question. ‘His speech is deteriorating,’ he said. ‘Apparently, it’s because of all the tension. He can sense something’s going on, which is hardly surprising. It’s the stress.’

  ‘Great! That’s all we need right now. If anything happens to him, well—’

  ‘Even more reason to bring this matter to a head right now, while we have something to bargain with.’

  Cordoba thought about this for a while and then nodded. ‘You are right,’ he said. ‘We mustn’t lose our nerve; not now.’

  Rodrigo smiled. His client had reacted exactly as expected. ‘I totally agree. And the best way to do that is to act.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘By raising the stakes.’

  ‘What’s on your mind?’ asked Cordoba, looking interested. As a man of action used to being in control, he liked what he had just heard.

  ‘We put more pressure on the Americans.’

  ‘How exactly?’

  ‘This is not the time to be timid. We should announce an auction.’

  ‘An auction? What on earth do you mean?’

  ‘We should arrange for Stolzfus to be auctioned on the darknet.’

  Cordoba looked stunned. ‘Are you serious?’

  ‘Absolutely!’

  ‘Right now?’

  ‘Yes. Just think about it. Now that the story is out there and the whole world is paying attention, we have the audience we need to pull this off. This won’t last forever. People lose interest quickly. We set a date and a time right now and have a ticking clock, like the countdown to midnight on New Year’s Eve. With the whole world watching, this would be sensational! We know there are interested parties out there … we’ve already had two approaches, remember?’

  Cordoba walked over to his lawyer. ‘I like it! No wonder I don’t mind paying you a small fortune, Raul,’ he said, slapping Rodrigo on the back. ‘I think this is a brilliant idea. It will send the Americans nuts and we’ll play our trump card in the best way possible. We always knew we would get only one shot at this. We might as well make it a good one.’