The Zul Enigma (26 page)

‘These are grave
allegations.’

‘Yes sir, but I believe
they are warranted.’

‘So why are you talking
to me?’

‘He said you were close.
But right now he thinks you’ve sold him down the river.’

‘I had no choice. I was,
as the saying goes, between a rock and a hard place.’

‘But perhaps you can do
something for him now?’

‘I’ll do anything in my
power.’

‘If I may ask, sir, what
are your intentions?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Are you going to sack
him? Put him on sick leave? What?’

‘I don’t know. The “main
man”, as you call him, hasn’t spoken to me yet, so as far as I’m concerned at
this point in time our friend is still a valued employee.’

‘I’m sure they’ll want
to move him back to where he comes from direct. But for his sake, don’t you
think he should be allowed to pack up his office first?’

‘That would seem the
right thing to do.’

‘Not just the right
thing sir, but the most advantageous. For him.’

Greg cleared his throat.
‘For his mental state?’

‘Mental… physical… Can
you persuade them to take him there first?’

‘I have to be there
myself on Monday. I can say I want to meet him early next week to discuss what
I should do about him. Do you know when they intend moving him?’

‘No. But you can bet
it’ll be sooner than later.’

‘You have my word I’ll
do everything I can to make sure this business is concluded fairly. But you
must understand, I can’t be directly involved in any activities that may jeopardise
my relationship with the main man nor my position.’

‘I understand. I just
hope you can persuade them. Now he no longer trusts me, he needs to know
there’s someone still fighting in his corner.’

‘You have my word I’ll
do what I can.’

‘You must. At the moment
he thinks everyone’s deserted him.’

***

‘Greg? This is Bob. How was Colombia?’

‘Exactly as you’d
expect. It’s a disaster of the greatest magnitude.’

‘I can imagine.’

‘I assume you’re calling
about Carlos Maiz.’

‘Correct. Without
beating about the bush, my NI people ran a full investigation and the findings
are as we anticipated. Dr Maiz is mentally unstable. He acted on his own,
spoofed the e-mails and sent them to himself. There’s no evidence to back up
his story about the hologram. It’s clear he’s made the whole damn thing up.’

Greg grunted down the
phone.

‘Did he confess?’

‘No, not at all. He
denied it to the last.’

‘So where’s your proof?’

‘The computer logs and
CCTV recordings prove Dr Maiz had the opportunity.’

‘The opportunity maybe,
but do they prove he sent the messages?’

‘He was the
only
person to have access…’

‘Unless someone else
managed to…’

‘Greg, you know that
hypothesis was thrown out. He “spoofed” the messages himself.’

‘How?’

‘Okay, so he said he
didn’t know how. But he lied.’

‘What about Zul? The
videos?’

‘Dr Maiz has the make-up
and acting skills to film himself playing out the part of “Zul”.’

‘That’s stretching it a
bit, isn’t it Bob?’

‘We did a voice analysis
check.’

‘I’d like to see the
report.’

‘I’ll getta copy to
you.’

‘And the baby?’

‘I already told you, our
people checked the records. There’s nothing there.’

Greg gave a little
cough. ‘This does
not
sit well with me. It appears you have no hard
evidence at all. It’s all circumstantial.’

‘Just let me finish
Greg, will you? We gave Dr Maiz a choice. Either he commits himself into a
psychiatric institution or we’ll arrest him and this afternoon heagreed to
check himself into hospital. This is a great breakthrough. It means that
although he’s not yet admitting to inventing “Zul”, he’s no longer denying his
mental state is in question. We had one of our doctors give him a preliminary
psychological assessment. I just got the report.’

‘And…’

‘It’s possible Dr Maiz
is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder brought on by his wife’s
death. However, neither Paranoid Schizophrenia nor Dissociative Identity
Disorder can be ruled out.’

‘Heavens!’

‘He’s elected to go to a
hospital in Madrid. Near his family. He’s leaving for Spain tomorrow
afternoon.’

‘Well, I’ll need to talk
to him first. There are some formalities we have to complete. I can leave for
Europe early and meet him in Vienna on Sunday or Monday.’

‘That won’t be possible
Greg.’

‘But he’s my Director of
OOSA. We need to discuss how we’re going to handle his sojourn in Madrid.’

‘Even if we sent him to
Vienna, you wouldn’t get any sense out of him.’

‘He must have some grip
on reality. Why else would you let him choose what you’re going to do with
him?’

‘Greg, I…’

‘Bob, I need to speak to
him. Face to face. He’s worked for me for over four years. We’re very close. I
want to see with my own eyes exactly how sick he’s become since he’s been with
you.’

‘Are you accusing us
of…’

‘I’m not accusing you of
anything. I’m simply saying you need to fly him to Vienna. Come on Bob, he’ll want
to say some goodbyes and collect his things.’

‘His personal effects
can be shipped.’

‘For heavens’ sakes have
a heart. Vienna’s been his home for nearly five years. He has an apartment
there, his office. It’s where he has his last memories of his wife. If you’re
so concerned about his mental health, you
have
to take him there first.’

‘It’ll overly complicate
matters for us.’

‘But what you’re
proposing is inhumane! If Carlos is to have any hope of recovery, he needs
closure on his past.’

‘It’s an expense and a
security risk we don’t need to…’

‘You’re telling me he’s
ill – how can a sick man be a security risk? And let’s not forget, Carlos
is still Director of OOSA and will remain so until I deem fit to terminate the
appointment. I strongly advise you grant my request.’

‘How can we Greg? There
are real security issues here.’

‘I’ll authorise
restricted entry to UNO City for your agency people on condition they are
accompanied one for one and at all times by our security personnel. Naturally,
they will
not
be allowed past our reception area.’

‘Greg…’

‘To continue, I know
there are occasions when misunderstandings occur down the line, so in the
interest of clarity I look forward to receiving your official confirmation of
these arrangements immediately.’

‘You really need to
rethink your demands, Greg. They are not appropriate.’

‘I categorically
disagree. They are most appropriate and I insist on them.’

Bob chuckled down the
phone, ‘I’m not sure you have the authority.’

‘That’s where you’re
wrong Bob. You
will
bring Carlos to Vienna.’

‘You’re not putting your
position on the line, are you? Not for a wacko?’

‘Not at all. But I would
like to remind you about my stance on the Russia issue and how vastly your
views and mine are at odds, to put it mildly.’

‘You mean…’

‘Just a tick Bob,
please, I haven’t quite finished. It’s looking more and more likely you’ll need
my assistance in negotiations between Russia and NATO, which sad to say, is
looking rather vulnerable right now. Its demise would leave your nation very
exposed.’

‘I don’t…’

‘But considering your
country has persistently refused to settle its UN dues, which have not been
paid in full for over ten years and now total, if I’m not wrong, nearly two
billion dollars which, off the top of my head, equates to ninety per cent of
the total we’re owed by all member nations, I’m not sure how seriously you
imagine I can consider any requests you may make for assistance in the future.’

‘But…’

‘You may also do well to
remember I have excellent contacts in the international press and although I’m
sure I won’t need to call on them, I’d like to remind you that you gentlemen
are not the only ones with access to very talented spin doctors.’

‘You’re serious, aren’t
you?’

‘You can bet your life I
am.’

CHAPTER 15

‘Morning, Carlos. Sleep well?’ Mary asked, and Carlos mumbled something
unintelligible as he took his usual place at the dining table.

Scott had turned up at
midday, as promised, the day before and Carlos told him he’d commit himself to
the hospital in Madrid. An hour or so later, the White House psychiatric doctor
arrived to conduct his examination, after which Carlos ate a late lunch and
spent all afternoon and evening in his room staring at the snow covered garden
from his armchair, sipping at his whisky and not thinking about his predicament
at all. There was no point. He had no idea how long it would take before they’d
move him out of the house and what’s more, he didn’t care. And he didn’t care
what would happen to him at the hospital either.

He helped himself to
coffee and a dash of milk.

‘I’ve got good news for
you. You’re leaving this afternoon.’

Carlos peered up at Mary
through puffy bloodshot eyes, visible evidence of sleepless nights and too much
booze. ‘Madrid?’

‘Yes, with a night in
Vienna first. The Secretary-General wants to see you.’

He grunted and took a
sip of coffee.

‘The other good news is
that finally our communication problem’s been fixed.’

‘Well that
is
a
surprise,’ he said pulling a face.

She ignored his sarcasm.
‘So you can call your secretary after breakfast and ask her to pack up what you
want from your office. You’ll be in Vienna tomorrow afternoon.’

Immediately he got back
to his room Carlos set up his iTab and tried to log in to the UN system via the
safe house’s private network using his RFId tag, but although he could connect
to the local network, access to the system was denied. ‘Jesus, Greg,’ he
muttered to himself, realising his tag had been deactivated and he slung it
back into his briefcase. Still cursing, he e-mailed Corrinne with the safe
house holovideo address from his personal account and asked her to instigate a
call to him as soon as she could.

In less than five minutes the safe house computer beeped and Carlos punched at
the keyboard to accept a holovideo from Corrinne.

‘Carlos! Finally!’
Corrinne was sitting at the conference table in his office looking delighted to
see him and the relief in her voice was sincere albeit short-lived, since
scarcely three seconds passed before she started scolding him, ‘I’ve been
worried sick about you.’

Carlos tried to smile.
‘How’s the preparations for the Session?’

‘Willem’s doing a good
job, but it’s been tough without you.’

‘I can see that… you’re
working on a Saturday.’

‘And will be here a lot
longer before I’m done. You need to come back Carlos. You look terrible. You’ve
lost weight. Where are you?’

‘In DC. A guest of the
President.’

‘The White House?’

‘Hardly… they’ve been
investigating me.’

Corrinne pursed her
lips. ‘I knew something was wrong when those people came sniffing around last
Tuesday asking questions about your psychological state.’

‘It’s been a nightmare.
National Intelligence threatened to arrest me.’

‘What for?’

‘They say I threatened
their security.’

‘But you’re UN. You have
immunity.’

‘You think they care
about that?’

Corrinne’s hand shot up
to cover her mouth. ‘Of course… they could say you’re an illegal enemy
combatant. You wouldn’t even be protected by the Geneva Convention. They could
hold you forever.’

‘
¡Exacto!
It’s
America. They can do what they like.’

‘So
are
they
going to arrest you?’

‘No. They’re making me
check into a mental hospital in Madrid.’

‘What?’ she gasped.

‘The past week’s been
horrible. When I left Vienna I was so sure about Zul. I would bet my life on
him. But now? He hasn’t contacted me and I’ve had so much time here to think.
Everyone says I’m depressed. Maybe I am. Maybe it’s more serious… something
that makes me imagine things.’ He saw the look on Corrinne’s face as she shook
her head. ‘Well that’s what
they’re
saying. Maybe it
is
true.
Honestly Corrinne, I don’t know any more. And everyone’s betrayed me. I don’t
know who to trust or what to believe. All I know is right now I feel like I
am
going crazy.’