Conspiracy

81

Rubens was still considering exactly how to summarize the situation for Bing when she returned his call.

“This is Dr. Bing. You have an update on the Vietnam project?”

“Thao Duong is part of a people-smuggling network,” said Rubens. “There is no Vietnamese assassination plot.”

“There’s no assassination plot or he’s not part of it?” The bite in Bing’s voice annoyed Rubens. He reached for his cup of cinnamon herbal tea — part of his never-ending campaign to cut back on caffeine — and took a long sip before replying.

“The only evidence that we had of a possible plot involves dated CIA data, and circumstantial evidence we developed related to Thao Duong. Upon further analysis, that evidence now fits better with the hypothe-sis that he was part of a people-smuggling operation originating in China. We were wrong, initially,” added Rubens — even though he had cautioned about jumping to conclusions all along. “We have now given the material a very thorough review, and there is nothing substantial there.”

“There was an attempt on a senator’s life, Billy. If that isn’t evidence enough for you, what is?” Rubens winced. He hated being called Billy.

“I realize that you want to take a harder stand toward Vietnam,” said Rubens as evenly as he could. “But I have to tell you that we have no intelligence linking them to the attempt on the senator’s life.”

“Then you’re not working hard enough,” said Bing, abruptly hanging up.