A Delicate Truth by John le Carré Read Free Book Online Page B

the black bag.
    As it approaches, the side door slides back
     to reveal thebespectacled Hansi bowed at the wheel and a second
     figure, undefined but could be Kirsty, stooped in the open doorway, one hand clutching
     the grab handle for dear life and the other outstretched for the bag. The Toyota’s
     door bangs shut again. Regaining speed, the four-by-four continues north and out of
     sight. The plum-pudding bag has gone.
    First to speak is Jeb, calmer than ever.
    ‘Was that your people I saw just now,
     Elliot? Picking up the bag at all? Elliot, I need to speak to you, please. Elliot, I
     think you’re hearing me. I need an explanation, please. Elliot?’
    ‘Nine?’
    ‘Yes, Paul.’
    ‘It seems that Elliot’s people
     just picked up the bag’ – doing his best to sound as rational as Jeb –
     ‘Nine? Are you there?’
    Belatedly, Nine comes back, and he’s
     strident:
    ‘We took the executive decision, for
     fuck’s sake. Someone had to take it, right? Kindly inform Jeb. Now. The decision
     is set. Taken.’
    He is gone again. But Elliot is back at full
     strength, talking to an off-stage female voice with an Australian accent and
     triumphantly relating its message to the wider audience:
    ‘The bag contains
provisions
?
     Thank you, Kirsty. The bag contains
smoked fish
– hear that, Jeb?
Bread
.
Arab
bread. Thank you, Kirsty. What else do we have in that
     bag? We have
water
.
Sparkling water
.
Punter
likes
sparkling
. We have
chocolate
.
Milk chocolate
. Hold it
     there, thank you, Kirsty. Did you happen to catch that, Jeb? The bastard’s been in
     there all the time, and his mates have been feeding him. We’re going in, Jeb. I
     have my orders here in front of me, confirmed.’
    ‘Paul?’
    But this is not Minister Quinn alias Nine
     speaking. This is Jeb’s half-blacked face, his eyes whitened like a
     collier’s, except they’re palest green. And Jeb’s voice, steady as
     before, appealing to him:
    ‘We shouldn’t be doing this, Paul.
     We’ll be shooting at ghosts in the dark. Elliot doesn’t know the half of it.
     I think you agree with me.’
    ‘Nine?’
    ‘What the hell is it now?
     They’re going in! What’s the problem now, man?’
    Jeb staring at him. Shorty staring at him
     over Jeb’s shoulder:
    ‘Nine?’
    ‘What?’
    ‘You asked me to be your eyes and
     ears, Nine. I can only agree with Jeb. Nothing I’ve seen or heard warrants going
     in at this stage.’
    Is the silence deliberate or technical? From
     Jeb, a crisp nod. From Shorty, a twisted smile of derision, whether for Quinn, or
     Elliot, or just all of it. And from the minister, a delayed blurt:
    ‘The man’s in there, for
     fuck’s sake!’ Gone again. Comes back. ‘Paul, listen to me closely.
     That’s an order. We’ve seen the man in full Arab garb. So’ve you.
Punter
. In there. He’s got an Arab boy bringing him his food and
     water. What the hell more does Jeb want?’
    ‘He wants proof, Nine. He says there
     isn’t enough. I have to say, I feel very much the same.’
    Another nod from Jeb, more vigorous than the
     first, again backed by Shorty, then by their remaining comrades. The white eyes of all
     four men watching him through their balaclavas.
    ‘Nine?’
    ‘Doesn’t anybody listen to
     orders over there?’
    ‘May I speak?’
    ‘Hurry up then!’
    He is speaking for the record. He is
     weighing every word before he speaks it:
    ‘Nine, it’s my judgement that by
     any reasonable standard of analysis we’re dealing with a string of unproven
     assumptions.Jeb and his men here have great experience. Their view is
     that nothing makes hard sense as it stands. As your eyes and ears on the ground, I have
     to tell you I share that view.’
    Faint voices off, then again the deep, dead
     silence, until Quinn comes back, shrill and petulant:
    ‘
Punter
’s unarmed, for
     fuck’s sake. That was his deal with
Aladdin
. Unarmed and unescorted, one
     to one. He’s a high-value terrorist with a