“It’s my turn,” said Bourne. “You answered a question with a question and I didn’t avoid you.
Now, let’s go back. Why do you want him? Why is the private telephone of one of the better shops in Saint-Honoré put on a fiche in Zurich?”
“It was an accommodation, monsieur.”
“For whom?”
“Are you mad?”
“All right, I’ll pass on that for now. We think we know anyway.”
“Impossible!”
“Maybe, maybe not. So it was an accommodation ... to kill a man?”
“I have nothing to say.”
“Yet a minute ago when I mentioned the car, you tried to run. That’s saying something.”
“A perfectly natural reaction.” Jacqueline Lavier touched the stem of her wineglass. “I arranged for the rental. I don’t mind telling you that because there’s no evidence that I did so. Beyond that I know nothing of what happened.” Suddenly she gripped the glass, her mask of a face a mixture of controlled fury and fear. “Who are you people?”
“I told you. A company that wants its money back.”
“You’re interfering! Get out of Paris! Leave this alone!”
“Why should we? Were the injured party; we want the balance sheet corrected. We’re entitled to that.”
“You’re entitled to nothing!” spat Mme. Lavier. “The error was yours and you’ll! pay for it!”
“Error?” He had to be very careful. It was here--right below the hard surface--the eyes of the truth could be seen beneath the ice. “Come off it. Theft isn’t an error committed by the victim.”
“The error was in your choice, monsieur. You chose the wrong man.”
“He stole millions from Zurich,” said Jason. “But you know that. He took millions, and if you think you’re going to take them from him--which is the same as taking them from us--you’re very much mistaken.”
“We want no money!”
“I’m glad to know it. Who’s ‘we?’ “
“I thought you said you knew.”
“I said we had an idea. Enough to expose a man named Koenig in Zurich; d’Amacourt here in Paris. If we decide to do that, it could prove to be a major embarrassment, couldn’t it?”
“Money? Embarrassment? These are not issues. You are consumed with stupidity, all of you! I’ll say it again. Get out of Paris. Leave this alone. It is not your concern any longer.”
“We don’t think it’s yours. Frankly, we don’t think you’re competent.”
“Competent?” repeated Lavier, as if she did not believe what she had heard.
“That’s right.”
“Have you any idea what you’re saying? Whom you’re talking about?”
“It doesn’t matter. Unless you back off, my recommendation is that we come out loud and clear.
Mock up charges--not traceable to us, of course. Expose Zurich, the Valois. Call in the Sûreté, Interpol ... anyone and anything to create a manhunt--a massive manhunt.”
“You are mad. And a fool.”
“Not at all. We have friends in very important positions; we’ll get the information first We’ll be waiting at the right place at the right time. We’ll take him.”
“You won’t take him. He’ll disappear again! Can’t you see that? He’s in Paris and a network of people he cannot know are looking for him. He may have escaped once, twice; but not a third time!
He’s trapped now. We’ve trapped him!”
“We don’t want you to trap him. That’s not in our interests.” It was almost the moment, thought Bourne. Almost, but not quite; her fear had to match her anger. She had to be detonated into revealing the truth. “Here’s our ultimatum, and we’re holding you responsible for conveying it-– otherwise you’ll join Koenig and d’Amacourt. Call off your hunt tonight If you don’t we’ll move first thing in the morning; we’ll start shouting. Les Classiques’ll be the most popular store in Saint-Honoré, but I don’t think it’ll be the right people.”
The powdered face cracked. “You wouldn’t dare! How dare you? Who are you to say this?!”
He paused, then struck. “A group of people who don’t care much for your Carlos.” The Lavier woman froze, her eyes wide, stretching the taut skin into scar tissue. “You do know,” she whispered. “And you think you can oppose him? You think you’re a match for Carlos?”
“In a word, yes.”
“You’re insane. You don’t give ultimatums to Carlos.”
“I just did.”
“Then you’re dead. You raise your voice to anyone and you won’t last the day. He has men everywhere; they’ll cut you down in the street.”
“They might if they knew whom to cut down,” said Jason. “You forget. No one does. But they know who you are. And Koenig, and d’Amacourt. The minute we expose you, you’d be eliminated.
Carlos couldn’t afford you any longer. But no one knows me.”
“You forget, monsieur. I do.”
“The least of my worries. Find me ... after the damage is done and before the decision is made regarding your own future. It won’t be long.”
“This is madness. You come out of nowhere and talk like a madman. You cannot do this!”
“Are you suggesting a compromise?”
“It’s conceivable,” said Jacqueline Lavier. “Anything is possible.”
“Are you in a position to negotiate it?”
“I’m in a position to convey it ... far better than I can an ultimatum. Others will relay it to the one who decides.”