Close Call

Chapter 26

Dinner alone. God knows, Martin was used to it, but it seemed strange to have seen Liz only so briefly in Paris, considering how close they had become. He knew that she found it awkward to be working so closely with him, and particularly to be the cause of delaying what she knew Martin had been working for years to achieve, the trial and conviction of Antoine Milraud. He saw that she had been relieved to go straight back to London the other evening after seeing Milraud, and though he understood the reason why, it made him sad.

He hoped the slight chill in their relationship was only temporary. Even in the fog that seemed to distort everything connected with Milraud, he knew that Liz promised a happy life ahead and Milraud only represented the past.

He was annoyed when the phone rang on the table in his study and broke into his reverie. It turned out to be his young colleague from the safe house in Montreuil, Jacques Thibault.

‘Yes? What is it?’ he asked sharply.

‘He’s had an email.’

Seurat was alert now. ‘What did it say?’

‘It’s calling him to another meeting – in London. It’s encoded in the form he described when your British colleague was here. He says it’s from the Arab.’

So Liz was right, and the UK connection was proving key. ‘When’s the meeting and where?’

‘Two days from now. We’re working out exactly where but I wanted to tell you straightaway. The instructions are in the form of coordinates disguised as sports scores. As soon as we’ve unzipped it, I’ll let you know.’

‘Do you know the time?’

‘Four o’clock in the afternoon.’

Dusk at this time of year, which would make surveillance of the meeting more difficult. ‘I’ll let London know. Contact me as soon as you’ve worked out all the details.’

‘OK. I’ll get back to you shortly.’

Young Thibault was a computer genius, a real geek, thought Martin. Let’s hope he can get more out of that message than the time and place of the meeting.