"You mean all that Iran-Contra stuff really could be true?" She asked in a manner that indicated that she probably felt vindicated by her earlier supposition that the CIA were severely compromised to say the least even though she had considered them as a court of last resort.
"Possibly, but not necessarily so. The president could investigate it for a decade and spend the whole national budget on it and do you know where the country would be?
"Where?"
"In about the same position as if he had decided to do nothing. If he did not nothing, he would be no farther from the truth. If he acted . . ." I allowed my voice to trail off.
"So, who are you then? You're not an FBI operative."
"I feel slighted. What makes you think I'm not working for the FBI?" One of the hard-learned skills characteristic of a successful operative is the ability to lie convincingly. More than one confession has been extracted by a deadpan statement that the suspect's fingerprints were all over the murder weapon.
"We have high level contacts in the FBI and none of them has ever heard of you."
"That does not mean that I don't exist." I expanded on the subterfuge. "Perhaps, I'm not that important."
"Perhaps, but you're important to me, Max. You just don't act like a guy who is deep cover."
"You've been watching too many videos."
"I know quite a bit about you. You are unhappily married to a rather gorgeous woman. You are under contract to Calvin Arborstock. You used to work for Juan Estrada."
"Why did you go to all the trouble of delving into my background?"
"Because we were looking for right person to join us and you were recommended."
"Precisely who is us?" I was dying to ask who had put my name forward but didn't dare. A false move could kill all semblance of progress in an instant.
"Julian and me and some backers."
"Where is he right now?"
"I don't know. I haven't heard from him for a couple of days. I'm not really worried though, he has a habit of popping up when you least expect him."
"Give me a minute to open the package. I think Christie has sent me the photos I asked her to develop. At least, I hope that is what's in here." My fingers were trembling as I tugged on the tear strip.
"Let me clear the table. You can spread the prints out on it," Clarissa suggested.
"This is Julian's aircraft alright," she said. "November X-ray."
Christie had thoughtfully included one of her professional magnifying glasses. I brought the trilight over, plugged it in and turned it up full tilt.
"He was a researcher in Singapore but is now a consultant. He's a bit like me; he has a background in bio-chemistry."
"He worked on the Irish Spring project, didn't he?"
"How did you cotton onto that?"
"You discussed it the other night. Don't you remember?"
"I didn't think your Chinese was that good." She smiled.
"I understand more than I let on."