they walked inside. Richter sat down in a booth at the back. ‘Just coffee?’ the inspector asked, received
two answering nods, and walked across to the counter to place the order.
‘It’s been a long time,’ Richter said, looking across the table at Khatid.
‘I couldn’t believe it when I saw you pointing that pistol at me. And then the code-phrase. It was lucky I still remembered it. Simpson gave it to me before I went to Afghanistan
after 9/11.’
‘Presumably it meant you were about to be extracted?’ Jessup asked, sitting down beside Richter.
Khatid nodded. ‘I think he had a less dramatic exit in mind, but that was the general idea.’ He opened his jacket to reveal the huge red stain on his shirt. ‘What is this
stuff?’
‘Something the boffins at Vauxhall Cross cooked up, I believe. It’s a mixture of dye, some kind of powder and a binding resin. The resin holds the round together when it’s
fired, the powder provides the knock-down effect when it hits, and the dye itself looks remarkably like blood. You’ll have a bad bruise on your chest for a couple of weeks.’
‘But the first round was live?’ Jessup asked.
‘Yes. My boss wanted this execution to be as realistic as possible, so I deliberately missed with the first shot to prove that my weapon was firing live ammunition. Only the second
bullet was a dummy.’
‘I don’t understand why our friend here had to be “killed”. Why couldn’t we just have arrested him and then handed him over to your lot?’
‘Three reasons,’ Richter explained. ‘First, we’ve got another job waiting for Argonaut here – and that has to be one of the silliest code-names yet devised –
which is apparently somewhat urgent. Second, getting our asset back would have taken days or maybe weeks, once he’d been arrested, but taking possession of a corpse takes no time at all.
Finally, Simpson thought that you’d have an easier time getting the other members of the cell to cooperate if they’ve just seen one of their own shot dead right in front of
them.’
‘Why didn’t you confide in me before the operation?’
‘If you’d known what I intended to do, you’d have insisted on briefing your entry team. And unless they’re trained actors, which I doubt, they’d have reacted in
exactly the wrong way. But by doing it for real, with no pre-briefing, they responded precisely the way a couple of good coppers should have done.
‘Now, as far as the world is concerned, one of these six terrorists was shot dead when armed police attempted to arrest him. The five remaining know he was in fact executed, which might
mean they’ll be easier to handle, and Argonaut can start his new undercover operation as soon as he’s ready. All in all, an excellent result.’
Manama, Bahrain
Assembling an IED isn’t difficult as long as you know what you’re doing, as has been proved by the IRA and other terrorist groups on many occasions.
The most difficult weapons to fabricate are those using improvised explosives, usually based on ammonium nitrate fertilizer mixed with fuel oil. Such devices are bulky and unstable, but can be
devastating. The Oklahoma City truck bomb that killed over 160 people in 1995 contained about two tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, and the IRA used the same substance to construct the half-ton
bomb that caused such massive damage to London’s Canary Wharf in 1996.
The problem with these types of IED is the bulk and weight of the components, and mixing the fertilizer and fuel oil requires both care and a large container. Delivery of such bigger devices
also presents problems, normally requiring a substantial vehicle. John Petrucci’s task was a lot easier, because everything he needed was inside the briefcase.
‘You want a hand with anything?’ O’Hagan asked, but Petrucci shook his head.
‘No. I’ll just grab a coffee in the bar, and then I’ll start.’
‘OK, we’ll aim to position it this afternoon at six,
two answering nods, and walked across to the counter to place the order.
‘It’s been a long time,’ Richter said, looking across the table at Khatid.
‘I couldn’t believe it when I saw you pointing that pistol at me. And then the code-phrase. It was lucky I still remembered it. Simpson gave it to me before I went to Afghanistan
after 9/11.’
‘Presumably it meant you were about to be extracted?’ Jessup asked, sitting down beside Richter.
Khatid nodded. ‘I think he had a less dramatic exit in mind, but that was the general idea.’ He opened his jacket to reveal the huge red stain on his shirt. ‘What is this
stuff?’
‘Something the boffins at Vauxhall Cross cooked up, I believe. It’s a mixture of dye, some kind of powder and a binding resin. The resin holds the round together when it’s
fired, the powder provides the knock-down effect when it hits, and the dye itself looks remarkably like blood. You’ll have a bad bruise on your chest for a couple of weeks.’
‘But the first round was live?’ Jessup asked.
‘Yes. My boss wanted this execution to be as realistic as possible, so I deliberately missed with the first shot to prove that my weapon was firing live ammunition. Only the second
bullet was a dummy.’
‘I don’t understand why our friend here had to be “killed”. Why couldn’t we just have arrested him and then handed him over to your lot?’
‘Three reasons,’ Richter explained. ‘First, we’ve got another job waiting for Argonaut here – and that has to be one of the silliest code-names yet devised –
which is apparently somewhat urgent. Second, getting our asset back would have taken days or maybe weeks, once he’d been arrested, but taking possession of a corpse takes no time at all.
Finally, Simpson thought that you’d have an easier time getting the other members of the cell to cooperate if they’ve just seen one of their own shot dead right in front of
them.’
‘Why didn’t you confide in me before the operation?’
‘If you’d known what I intended to do, you’d have insisted on briefing your entry team. And unless they’re trained actors, which I doubt, they’d have reacted in
exactly the wrong way. But by doing it for real, with no pre-briefing, they responded precisely the way a couple of good coppers should have done.
‘Now, as far as the world is concerned, one of these six terrorists was shot dead when armed police attempted to arrest him. The five remaining know he was in fact executed, which might
mean they’ll be easier to handle, and Argonaut can start his new undercover operation as soon as he’s ready. All in all, an excellent result.’
Manama, Bahrain
Assembling an IED isn’t difficult as long as you know what you’re doing, as has been proved by the IRA and other terrorist groups on many occasions.
The most difficult weapons to fabricate are those using improvised explosives, usually based on ammonium nitrate fertilizer mixed with fuel oil. Such devices are bulky and unstable, but can be
devastating. The Oklahoma City truck bomb that killed over 160 people in 1995 contained about two tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, and the IRA used the same substance to construct the half-ton
bomb that caused such massive damage to London’s Canary Wharf in 1996.
The problem with these types of IED is the bulk and weight of the components, and mixing the fertilizer and fuel oil requires both care and a large container. Delivery of such bigger devices
also presents problems, normally requiring a substantial vehicle. John Petrucci’s task was a lot easier, because everything he needed was inside the briefcase.
‘You want a hand with anything?’ O’Hagan asked, but Petrucci shook his head.
‘No. I’ll just grab a coffee in the bar, and then I’ll start.’
‘OK, we’ll aim to position it this afternoon at six,
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