Eagle Strike by Anthony Horowitz

tourism and second homes.”

    “It‟s got nothing to do with the CST,” Alex insisted. “It was Yassen Gregorovich. I saw him and he admitted it. And he told me that the real target was Edward Pleasure. Why won‟t you listen to what I‟m saying? It was this article Edward was writing. Something about a meeting in Paris. It was Damian Cray who wanted him dead.”
    There was a brief pause. Mrs Jones glanced at her boss as if needing his permission to speak. He nodded almost imperceptibly.
    “Did Yassen mention Damian Cray?” she asked.
    “No. But I found his private telephone number in Yassen‟s phone. I rang it and I actually heard him speak.”
    “You can‟t know it was Damian Cray.”
    “Well, that was the name he gave.”
    “This is complete nonsense.” It was Blunt who had spoken and Alex was amazed to see that he was angry. It was the first time Alex had ever seen him show any emotion at all and it occurred to him that not many people dared to disagree with the chief executive of Special Operations.
    Certainly not to his face.
    “Why is it nonsense?”
    “Because you‟re talking about one of the most admired and respected entertainers in the country.
    A man who has raised millions and millions of pounds for charity. Because you‟re talking about Damian Cray!” Blunt sank back into his chair. For a moment he seemed undecided. Then he nodded briefly. “All right,” he said. “Since you have been of some use to us in the past, and since I want to clear this matter up once and for all, I will tell you everything we know about Cray.”

    “We have extensive files on him,” Mrs Jones said.
    “Why?”
    “We keep extensive files on everyone who‟s famous.”
    “Go on.”
    Blunt nodded again and Mrs Jones took over. She seemed to know all the facts by heart. Either she had read the files recently or, more probably, she had the sort of mind that never forgot anything.
    “Damian Cray was born in north London on 5 October 1950,” she began. ”That‟s not his real name, by the way. He was christened Harold Eric Lunt. His father was Sir Arthur Lunt, who made his fortune building multi-storey car parks. As a child, Harold had a remarkable singing voice, and aged eleven he was sent to the Royal Academy of Music in London. In fact, he used to sing regularly there with another boy who also became famous. That was Elton John.
    “But when he was thirteen, there was a terrible disaster. His parents were killed in a bizarre car accident.”
    “What was bizarre about it?”
    “The car fell on top of them. It rolled off the top floor of one of their car parks. As you can imagine, Harold was distraught. He left the Royal Academy and travelled the world. He changed his name and turned to Buddhism for a while. He also became a vegetarian. Even now, he never touches meat. The tickets for his concerts are made out of recycled paper. He has very strict values and he sticks to them.

    “Anyway, he came back to England in the seventies and formed a band—Slam! They were an instant success. I‟m sure the rest of this will be very familiar to you, Alex. At the end of the seventies the band split up, and Cray began a solo career which took him to new heights. His first solo album, Firelight, went platinum. After that he was seldom out of the UK or US top twenty.
    He won five Grammys and an Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 1986 he visited Africa and decided to do something to help the people there. He arranged a concert at Wembley Stadium, with all proceeds going to charity. Chart Attack—that was what it was called. It was a huge success and that Christmas he released a single: „Something for the Children‟. It sold four million copies and he gave every penny away.
    “That was just the beginning. Since the success of Chart Attack, Cray has campaigned tirelessly on a range of world issues. Save the rainforests; protect the ozone layer; end world debt. He‟s built his own rehabilitation centres to help