'Annie,' said Avedissian.
'You have an excellent memory,' said Jarvis.
'It improved when I gave up the gin,' said Avedissian.
'Oh yes, I'm sorry about that.'
'Why sorry?' asked Avedissian.
'I'm afraid it was me who took your bottle at Llangern.'
'I see
...
I suppose I should thank you really.'
'You were in a bit of a mess,' agreed Jarvis.
'So what are we going to learn tomorrow?' asked
Avedissian.
'I know as much as you. I was just asked to inform you
tonight and pick you up tomorrow.'
Avedissian invited Jarvis to stay and eat dinner with him but Jarvis declined, saying that he had to report back. He
would see him in the morning at ten o'clock.
Avedissian returned to the A&E department and sought out Harmon. He found him in his office working through a p
ile of paperwork with an air of frustration. 'Bloody
nonsense!' he snorted, putting down his pen as Avedissian
came in. 'Reports, reports, endless bloody reports. Nobody’s
going to read the damned things; they're going to file and forget about them!'
Avedissian smiled and said sympathetically, 'It's the way
of the world.'
'You've been told?' said Harmon, reading the look on
Avedissian's face.
Avedissian nodded. I’m quite sorry to be going,’ he
added.
Harmon took off his glasses and said, 'I never thought that I
would be saying this, but I am sorry to lose you. Things
worked out fine . . . Dr Avedissian.'
'You knew?'
'Not until a few days ago, but there was always something familiar about your face. Then I remembered the case. I didn't
remember all the details so I went and looked them up.'
'I see.'
'If it's any comfort, I have every sympathy with you.'
Avedissian got to his feet and said, 'Thank you, Doctor. It
was kind of you to say so.' He held out his hand.
'I meant it,’ said Harmon taking Avedissian's hand. 'I can't
ever offer you a job, of course, only my best wishes for
whatever your future has in store. Good luck.'
Avedissian left the room and had a last look round the unit.
then he went upstairs to gather his things together before eating and settling down for an early night.
Jarvis arrived promptly at ten and Avedissian got into the car
beside him. He found the drive through the city streets de
pressing for it reminded him of his own time in Belfast with
the military. All these years, he thought, and so little had
changed. A whole generation of children had grown up
thinking of guns and uniforms as the norm. There was no
escaping the bigotry of the graffiti, which was everywhere.
Here in Ireland the enemy was your neighbour.
The car slowed and turned into an entrance bounded on
both sides by high black railings. A wrought-iron gate swung open in response to an infra-red device operated by the driver
and they passed through to follow a semi-circular driveway up
to a low Georgian building with ornate lampposts on either
side of the front entrance. 'N.I. Land Archives District 7' said
the plaque on the wall.
Avedissian and Jarvis were left to wait in a small back room
which looked out on immaculately kept gardens after being
asked if they would like coffee, an offer that both accepted. The coffee arrived and they sipped it in silence while they continued
to look out of the window.
'Mr Bryant will see you now,’ said the woman who had
brought the coffee.
Avedissian and Jarvis left their cups and saucers on the
window-ledge and followed the woman through to a much
larger room where Bryant was sitting behind a long mahogany
desk.
'The waiting is over, gentlemen,’ said Bryant. I'm going to
tell you why we need you.'
Avedissian and Jarvis looked briefly at each other before
giving their full attention to what Bryant had to say.
'A few weeks ago a child was abducted and has not been seen since. We would like you to help us get him back.'
Avedissian was confused. 'But the police?' he began.
'Were never informed,' said Bryant.
Jarvis was as puzzled as Avedissian. 'I'm sorry, I don't
understand, sir,’ he said.'
Bryant opened one of the desk drawers and brought out a
photograph of a family group. He turned it towards Jarvis and
Avedissian and held his forefinger to one of the children. 'This is
the child,’ he said.
Avedissian felt his jaw drop and sensed Jarvis share his
disbelief. 'Are you seriously telling us that one of the royal
children has been kidnapped?' he asked.
'I am,’ replied Bryant.
'But how could something like that be kept secret? . . . And
why?' asked an incredulous Jarvis.
‘
Because of the repercussions,' replied Bryant.
‘
I don't understand,’ said Avedissian. 'What repercussions?'
‘
In
the absence of any information to the contrary the
IRA
would be blamed and the backlash would be unstoppable,’
'Civil war, you mean?' said Jarvis.
'I do. Hard-line loyalists would swarm into Catholic estates and the streets would run red.'
'You said, "In the absence of any information to the
contrary". Does that mean that you don't know who took
the child?' asked Avedissian.
'Correct.'
'Then it could have been the
IRA?'
said Jarvis.
Bryant shook his head and said, 'No, we know it wasn't
them.'
'How?'
'Because they have been asked for the ransom.'
'What?'
exclaimed Avedissian and Jarvis almost together.
The kidnappers asked the
IRA
for the ransom, not us.'
'But why?'
'Presumably they thought the
IRA
would be easier to deal
with and might want him just as badly to use as a bargaining
measure.'
'But surely the
IRA
wouldn't touch it for the reasons you
mentioned? There would be civil war.'
'The new leadership seems to think it's worth the risk,'
said Bryant.
Avedissian, who had found himself being lulled into accepting everything that was being said, suddenly felt a
sense of incredibility well up inside him. 'But how could
something like this be kept secret?' he demanded. 'People
must know the child is not there?'
'Officially, there has been a death threat made against the
royal children. Security has been tightened and the family
are maintaining a low profile, cancelling public en
gagements etc. Only a few trusted servants know that the
child is really missing and they have been sworn to secrecy.'
'But there must be a limit to how long you can keep this up?' said Avedissian.
'Of course. That's why we must get the child back as
quickly as possible now we know about the ransom de
mand.'
'How do you know about the demand?' asked Jarvis.
Bryant pressed a button on the desk and sat back for a
moment in silence. At length the door opened and the
woman who had met Avedissian and Jarvis on their arrival
came in accompanied by another woman, who walked
slowly as if she were stiff. It was Kathleen O'Neill.
'I think you two have already met,' said Bryant to
Avedissian.
Avedissian got up and smiled at Kathleen who smiled
back and said that it was nice to see him again. He enquired
about her health and noted that the bruising to her face had
subsided a good deal. Jarvis was introduced to her and they
all sat down again.
Bryant said, 'It was Miss O'Neill who gave us the infor
mation about the ransom demand to the
IRA.
Apparently
they were offered the child for some twenty-five million
dollars just after he was taken but their leader, O'Donnell,
hesitated for presumably the reasons that have been
mentioned. But now there has been a change in the
leadership. Kell is in command and he wants to bargain for
the boy.'
'How does Miss O'Neill know all this?' asked Jarvis.
'I am Martin O'Neill's sister,' replied Kathleen O'Neill.
Bryant read the look on Jarvis's face and said, 'You are
obviously wondering why we should believe a single word
that the sister of one of the most wanted men in the pro
vince says?'
'Frankly, yes.’
‘
Apart from the information that Miss O'Neill has given u
s about the ransom demand she also told us of a new
alliance between the
IRA
and the
INLA.
She warned us that
the
INLA
were going to hit the banks last Friday and which
ones. She was largely responsible for our success in
wiping them out in their attempt to raise money for the
ransom.'
Avedissian turned to Kathleen O'Neill and asked simply,
'Why?'
'My brother, like Kevin O'Donnell, wanted the
IRA
to have
nothing to do with this business. In fact O'Donnell ordered
him to give the ransom note to the British but Kell found out.'
'What happened to your brother?'
'Kell had him shot before my eyes,’ replied Kathleen,
looking down at her knees.
'But you managed to escape?'
'I was to be shot too, but the man detailed to do it had other
plans for me first.'
'He was the one who beat you up?'
'Yes. After he raped me he fell asleep. I managed to
knock him out and get away before he came round.'
'You've had a horrific experience,’ said Avedissian softly.
'I dare say the O'Neill family have been responsible for some
horrific experiences of other people in their time,’ said Bryant
coldly.
'So what happens now?' asked Jarvis.
'Two days ago the
IRA
placed an ad in
The Times
indicating
their willingness to negotiate with the kidnappers. Our people will stay close.'
'Where will the
IRA
get the money?' asked Avedissian.
'Certainly not from the banks,’ said Bryant with a cold
smile. It will have to come from outside interests.'
'Meaning?'
'NORAID,’
replied Bryant. 'Misguided, interfering American
clowns.'
'But that much?' said Jarvis. Twenty-five million?'
'It's an all or nothing operation,’ said Bryant.
'And where do we come into it?' asked
Avedissian.
'We have assembled a rescue team comprising people of
every skill known to man. Drivers, climbers, parachutists, you name it, we have it. It will be their task to recover the
child. When they have done their job the boy will be
handed over to you two for the return home, while everyone else guards your rear, so to speak. It will be your job,
Doctor, to look after the boy's health.'