Red Alert (23 page)

Z2.7

would link him to the hit but it's not worth taking that chance. It's best if we keep him in the wings until we need him.'

'I see your point,' Graham admitted.

'I want you to go down to the foyer and tell Sabrina what's happened. I'll let you know when Fabio and Commissioner Kuhlmann get back from Worb.'

'What do you want us to do until they get back?'

'There isn't much you can do.'

'What are you going to do about the bodies across the road?'

Til have to discuss that with Commissioner Kuhlmann when he gets back.'

'And Wiseman?' Graham asked, as Kolchinsky led him to the door.

'That's up to the Colonel. I'm going to call him now.' Kolchinsky opened the door. 'And Michael, leave Calvieri alone.'

'When have I ever disobeyed an order, Sergei?' Graham asked, feigning a look of innocence.

'Frequently,' Kolchinsky replied, closing the door.

Heads turned when Graham emerged from the lift but he ignored the curious looks as he scanned the foyer for Sabrina. She wasn't there. He sighed irritably, then crossed to the reception desk and asked for her to be paged. She arrived at the desk within seconds of the call being made.

'Where have you been?' Graham asked, leading her away from the desk.

'I was in the bar,' she replied, 'having a drink with Calvieri.'

'Sounds cosy,' he muttered.

She ignored the sarcasm. 'Any news of C.W.?'

He told her briefly what had happened.

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'That's a relief,' she said. 'I almost missed Calvieri when |be came down here.'

'What do you mean?'

'Well, I had this plan to call the switchboard from a j house phone the moment I saw Calvieri and have him paged to the reception desk. I would have pretended to have been an anonymous caller with information on the Pisani murder. I could have kept him talking on the phone long enough for C.W. to deal with Young.'

'So what went wrong?'

'I was watching the lift. Calvieri must have used the stairs. You can't see them from the house phones. I only saw him as he was about to leave the hotel.'

'How did you get him back inside?' Graham asked, glancing at the electronic doors.

'How could I, without arousing suspicion? Fortunately he came back in when he saw me. It must have been close.' She gestured in the direction of the bar lounge. 'I'd better get back. Why not join us?'

'No thanks, I'm pretty selective about who I drink with.'

'And I'm not, is that it?'

'I don't drink with terrorists,' he said sharply.

This is business, Mike, just remember that.'

'Oh yeah?'

'What's that supposed to mean?' An elderly couple looked at them, startled by her raised voice.

'Is there a problem?' Graham asked, staring at them coldly. They moved away.

'I'm not going to have a slanging match with you out here, Mike. If you don't want to come for a drink, that's fine by me. I just wanted . . .' she trailed off with a shrug and turned to leave. - He grabbed her arm. 'You just wanted what?'

2.2.9

'It doesn't matter,' she retorted, then shrugged off his hand and strode back into the bar.

Graham exhaled deeply, then went after her. They were seated at a table in the corner of the room.

Calvieri saw him and beckoned him over. He pulled out a chair for Graham to sit down. 'Mike! Come and join us. What will you have to drink?'

'The coldest bottle of Perrier you've got,' Graham said, glancing up at the waiter.

'I see you changed your mind,' Sabrina said, eyeing Graham sharply.

'Yeah,' Graham muttered, then sat back and looked distantly around the packed room.

The waiter returned with the Perrier water and a glass filled with ice. He placed them on the table in front of Graham.

'Please, this is on me,' Calvieri said, reaching out for the chit.

Quickly Graham grabbed the chit from the table and signed it. He looked across at Calvieri after the waiter had left. 'You buy your own drinks. I'll buy mine. That way there can be no misunderstanding.'

'Ever since we met you've gone out of your way to condemn me for my beliefs. What makes you so sure you're right?'

'That's a question you should put to the families of all those people the Red Brigades have murdered in the past twenty years,' Graham replied, holding Calvieri's gaze. 'You might just learn something.'

'We only hit legitimate targets, Mr Graham. Politicians like Moro and Tarantelli. Or soldiers like General Giorgieri or your own Leamon Hunt, the director general of the Sinai Peacekeeping Forces we assassinated in 1984. Fascist!.'

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-Graham drank a mouthful of Perrier and sat forward, ; arms resting on the table. 'What about all those inno : bystanders, caught in the crossfire of your so-called lit against fascism? Are they also legitimate targets?' 'It's regrettable, but there will always be innocent jalties in this kind of conflict.'

Graham shook his head in disgust. 'The standard Irrorist reply. You know you can't possibly condone it,

you evade the question.'

'The Red Brigades don't kill senselessly, Mr Graham. ^There's always a reason for our actions.' Calvieri took a [sip of brandy, then placed his glass on the coaster in front &of him. 'You may think we're just a group of terrorists ; out to spread anarchy and revolution. It's not the case. We have aims and ambitions like any other political organization. We have a strong following, especially ; amongst the working classes.'

'You did, until you killed Aldo Moro in '78,' Sabrina cut in quickly. 'You've never managed to regain that level of support since.'

'Granted, killing Moro was a mistake. It gave the authorities a martyr and we lost an important hostage who could have brought us a lot of money. But that was a long time ago. We have won back that support, irrespective of what the Government would lead the world to believe.

'This country has had to endure an endless succession of inept, corrupt governments, none more so than the present communist government under Enzo Bellini. The balance of payments is the worst in living memory, unemployment is up fifteen per cent and tens of thousands of Italians are living below the poverty line.'

'The perfect climate for revolution,' Graham said. 'The perfect climate for change,' Calvieri retorted. 'The

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people have lost faith in the politicians; both the Christian Democrats and the PCI, the Communist Party. It's time to brush aside the dead wood and replace it with a new, dynamic force in politics capable of putting this country back on its feet again.'

'In other words, the Red Brigades,' Sabrina concluded.

'Not necessarily, no.' Calvieri watched the puzzlement in their expressions. 'Of course there are those Brigatisti who won't settle for anything less than the overthrow of the democratically elected government, in the blinkered belief that the Red Brigades could seize power in the ensuing confusion.'

'Like Zocchi?' Sabrina said.

'He was the worst. But there are others, some even on the committee. And these are the ones the authorities highlight in the media, making us all out to be bloodthirsty, revolutionary anarchists whose only law comes from the barrel of a gun.'

'You're their spokesman, surely that gives you a platform for your own views?' Sabrina said.

'I wish it were that simple. The Red Brigades only make the news when they fall foul of the law. That's the only time the media want to know me. Of course I try to put across the other side of the story, but once the interview gets back to the studio it's butchered by the editors and by the time it reaches the television news I've been quoted completely out of context. The media depend on viewing figures to survive, and sensationalism seems to be the way to achieve them. I can't win.'

'So what are your aims, if not the violent overthrow of the government?' Graham asked.

'Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to the violent overthrow of the government. Especially this government. If a volunteer was needed to put Bellini out of Italy's

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I'd be glad to put the gun to his head and pull trigger. It's just not a viable proposition, not here Europe. That's where the militants and I disagree. ; the armed forces and the police just going to stand by let us topple the government in a blaze of gunfire? course not. We have to be realistic. The answer is a ilition.'

Graham sat back and folded his arms across his chest. Fell us about it.'

'We want the working classes to have a say in the itnning of the country. At the moment they don't, which (why there is such an unacceptably high level of unemfoloyment. What I'd like to see in the foreseeable future is jr the PCI to take on board two, maybe three, Brigatisti nd give them a portfolio in the government.'

'With an eye on the Red Brigades finally running the suntry?' Graham said.

'It's a nice thought but we just don't have the experience | to run the country by ourselves. Again, that's where the militants and I disagree. I think it would work. The PCI thave the experience and we have the input of ideas which jShave been sadly lacking in the past few governments.'

'You're overlooking one point,' Sabrina said. 'Some fyears back the PCI denounced you as "common terror lists". What makes you think they would agree to a co laKtion?'

'The Christian Democrats are currently ahead in the Spoils because of the way the PCI have wrecked the econjpomy. At this rate the PCI don't stand a chance of being 'returned to power at the next election. But with the Isupport we have amongst the working classes we could |:not only win them the next election, but the one after that kas well. That's not something to be taken lightly.' Calvieri f finished his brandy. 'It's all hypothetical at the moment.

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We do have contacts inside the PCI but the final decision would lie with Bellini and his senior ministers.'

'And if they don't agree to your terms they'll become "legitimate targets" like Moro and Tarantelli?'

Calvieri smiled at Graham. 'They're already legitimate targets. So you see, the sooner they agree to meet us, the better it will be for all concerned.'

'Blackmail,' Graham muttered. 'I might have guessed.'

'I prefer to call it common sense,' Calvieri replied.

Over the loudspeakers came the request that Michael Graham contact the switchboard immediately. He crossed to the house phone at the end of the bar. The call was from Kolchinsky.

'Commissioner Kuhlmann and Major Paluzzi have just got back,' Kolchinsky told him. 'We'll have that meeting j now.'

'Your room?'

'Yes. Is Sabrina with you?'

'Yeah. And Calvieri.'

'I told you to leave Calvieri alone,' Kolchinsky said sharply.

'Sabrina was having a drink with him. What was I supposed to do, sit at the next table?' Graham raked his j fingers through his hair. 'Do you want us to bring him along?'

'No, just the two of you. We won't be able to talk i freely if he's there. Sabrina can brief him later.'

'Okay. We'll be up in a couple of minutes,' Graham said, then replaced the receiver and returned to the table.

'Sergei?' Sabrina asked, looking up at him.

'Yeah, he wants to see us right away.'

'Does that include me?' Calvieri asked.

'No. Sabrina will brief you later if there's anything you need to know.'

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'It's so refreshing to work in an atmosphere of trust i cooperation,' Calvieri said bitterly. 'I'd prefer to call it common sense,' Graham replied (rtth a forced smile.

They took the lift to the third floor and walked the art distance to Kolchinsky's room. Sabrina knocked, jlchinsky opened the door and ushered them inside. 'I hear you've been drinking with the enemy,' Paluzzi aid with a smile.

'Not by choice, believe me.' Graham went on to explain phat Calvieri had told them about the possible coalition veen the Red Brigades and the PCI. 'I've never heard about it before,' Kuhlmann said. 'I'm not surprised,' Paluzzi replied. 'It's not exactly thing the PCI want the world to know about. At least of yet.'

'So you're saying there will be a PCI-Red Brigades alition at the next election?' Graham said in amazement. 'It's certainly a possibility. As Calvieri said, the PCI I't stand a chance of being returned to power. They the extra votes. And the Red Brigades are capable, i theory, of giving them those extra votes.' : 'But surely the Italian people wouldn't accept the co iition?' Sabrina said.

'I don't have to tell you how bad our economy is at the ament. And it's getting worse by the day. The people we lost faith in the politicians. Can you honestly blame i? They want hope for the future. And if a PCI-Red ades coalition can offer them that hope, they'll be

into power.'

'So what's stopping the coalition happening?' Kolchin ky asked. 'In a word, Bellini. He's totally opposed to the idea.' 'At least someone's got some scruples.'

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Paluzzi laughed and patted Graham on the shoulder. 'You obviously don't know about Enzo Bellini, Mike. He'd make a pact with the devil if he thought it would keep him in power. It's not the coalition that bothers him. It's the idea that he could lose the Prime Ministership and all the privileges that go with the job.'

'Would he be deposed?' Sabrina asked.

'Undoubtedly. Along with most of his cabinet. Especially his senior ministers, who are all loyal to him. Although I don't vote for the PCI, I have to admit that they do have several up and coming politicians who could work wonders for the country. They all back the coalition. And that's why none of them have been given posts in the government.'

Kolchinsky turned away from the window, his eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully. 'What if the vial was going to be used not only to free Zocchi but also to force Bellini to step down as Prime Minister so that these coalition talks could take place?'

Paluzzi shook his head. 'Opposition to the coalition isn't just confined to the PCI. The Red Brigades also have their dissenters. And Zocchi was the loudest of them. He was a militant who wouldn't settle for anything less than the violent overthrow of the government in power. Negotiations between the PCI and the Red Brigades were out of the question as far as he was concerned. And that went for the Rome cell in general. The idea of the coalition was drafted by Pisani, Calvieri and Luigi Bettinga, Genoa's brigade chief, the three so-called "moderates" on the • committee. Had any of them been involved in the theft of the vial I'd have said you had a valid point. But not with Zocchi and Ubrino.'

There was a knock at the door and Paluzzi answered it. He stepped aside to let the two waiters enter and

sky told them to leave the trays on the dressing, Sabrina signed the chit and they left the room, ere's tea, coffee and sandwiches,' Kolchinsky said, ng towards the trays. 'Help yourselves.' luzzi poured himself a coffee then used his teaspoon : the edges of the bread to see what the sandwiches tined. ordered you egg mayonnaise and cheese salad,'

nsky said behind him. || Paluzzi looked round in surprise. 'How did you know

i a vegetarian?' iTIt's in your file at UNACO,' Kolchinsky said, helping

elf to a couple. j='You've got a file on me at UNACO?' Paluzzi exclaimed, oking from Kolchinsky to Sabrina. Graham put a hand on Paluzzi's shoulder as he reached for a sandwich. 'Thing is, Fabio, you just can't be ťcareful when it conies to differentiating between friend I foe. One day friend, next day foe.' 'Like Calvieri?' Paluzzi said. 'No, he'll always be foe,' Graham replied. Sabrina took a cup of coffee to Kuhlmann who was ated by the window. 'Did you come across anything in i helicopter?'

'Nothing. I've got a team of forensic scientists wng over it now but I can't see them coming up with nuch.'

'There wasn't a single fingerprint on it,' Paluzzi said, aking across at Sabrina. 'Not one.' 'What about Ubrino and Francia?' Graham asked. !*Surely the locals must have seen them?'

'Someone gave two men fitting their descriptions a lift |to the railway station,' Kuhlmann said. 'They seem to |have disappeared into thin air after that.'

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'They must have bought tickets. Surely somebody must remember them?'

'The staff at the station were questioned thoroughly, Mr Graham. None could recall them.'

'What if they never boarded the train but slipped back into town?'

'We thought of that, Miss Carver,' Kuhlmann said. 'All accommodation centres have been checked. Nothing. I've also instigated the surveillance of all known terrorist sympathizers in Switzerland. If Ubrino or Francia are staying with any of them, we'll know about it.'

There isn't much else we can do, except wait,' Paluzzi said, sitting down next to Graham.

'Have you spoken to the Colonel, Sergei?' Graham asked.

Kolchinsky nodded. 'He's flying out to Switzerland tonight. I'm picking him up at the airport tomorrow morning.'

'What did he say about Wiseman?'

'He's gone to ground. His present whereabouts are unknown.'

'And Alexander?' Sabrina asked.

'He was spotted at a tube station in London this morning. Scotland Yard are confident of picking him up within the next couple of days.'

'The ambulances have arrived,' Paluzzi said, peering down into the street.

'What ambulances?' Sabrina asked, craning her neck to look over Paluzzi's shoulder.

'To take away the bodies of Young and Escoletti,' Paluzzi replied, then stood aside to give her a better view of what was happening in the street below them.

'Escoletti?' Graham said, crossing to the window.

'Giancarlo Escoletti, the Red Brigades' most senior

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bitman,' Paluzzi told him. 'Just the sort of person to be

it after Pisani's killers.'

'How do you know it was Escoletti?' Sabrina asked. ^Have you been over there?'

Paluzzi shook his head. 'I knew who it was when Sergei ^mentioned the black doctor's bag found beside the body. ; It was Escoletti's trademark.'

'C.W. won't be implicated, will he?' Graham asked, -turning to Kolchinsky.

'I cleared that with the Commissioner as soon as he arrived,' Kolchinsky replied, indicating Kuhlmann. 'It'll be an open and shut case. Escoletti surprised Young, a fight ensued, and they killed each other. At least that's the story that will appear in the morning papers.'

Graham put his empty cup on the tray. 'Talking about the morning, hadn't we better get on with the briefing?'

'Quite right, Michael. Commissioner Kuhlmann and I will meet the Colonel's plane at seven-thirty then the three of us all go directly to the Offenbach Centre for a meeting with representatives of those countries taking part in the summit.'

'Have they already been briefed about the vial?' Sabrina asked.

Kolchinsky nodded. 'The Colonel told the sixteen Ambassadors at the United Nations as soon as we knew that Ubrino's final destination was the Offenbach Centre. They've been kept up to date on all the latest developments.'

'What about us?' Graham asked. 'What will we be doing?'

'You three, plus Calvieri, will be in a car parked a few hundred yards away from the Offenbach Centre. You'll be in constant radio contact with me.'

'What use will we be there?' Graham exclaimed in

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disbelief. 'We know what Ubrino looks like. We should be working with the security guards, not sitting in some damn car.'

Kolchinsky studied the remaining sandwiches on the plate then selected one and turned back to Graham. 'Ubrino also knows what you look like. All of you. And if he sees any of you at the Offenbach Centre he's likely to smell a rat and take off. Then what? We wouldn't know where to start looking for him. At least this way we can pin him down to one place. And as I told you earlier, an extra hundred policemen and women have been drafted in to help look for him.'

'Chances are he'll wear a disguise,' Paluzzi said, looking at Kuhlmann. 'And if he does, I guarantee that none of your people will recognize him. He's a master of deception.'

'I've heard about these disguises,' Kuhlmann replied. 'That's why everyone entering the building will be subjected to a body search. We also have X-ray machines at all entrances to check bags and briefcases. He may be able to disguise himself, but he won't be able to disguise the vial. He won't get into the building undetected, of that I'm certain.'

'I wish I could share your confidence,' Paluzzi said, then turned to Kolchinsky. 'Do you need me for anything else? I've some calls to make before I go to bed.'

'No, I don't think so,' Kolchinsky replied.

'What time do you want us in position, Sergei?' Sabrina asked.

'I'll be there from eight o'clock. Any time after that.' Kolchinsky took a map .of Berne from under a dossier on the bedside table and handed it to her. 'I've marked the street with a cross where I want the four of you to wait. It's close to the highway.'