laboratory. Karim al-Jamil kept one eye on Anne, but she neither flinched nor blanched at what she was doing. She was going about her business in a matter-of-fact manner that both pleased and surprised him. One thing she was right about: He had underestimated her right down the line. The fact was, he was unprepared for a woman who exhibited the attributes of a man. He had been used to his sister, meek and subservient. Sarah had been a good girl, a credit to the family; in her slim form, all their honor had resided. She had not deserved to die young. Now revenge was the only way to win back the family honor that had been buried with her.
In the culture of his father, women were excluded from anything a man had to do. Of course, Karim al-Jamil's mother was an exception. But she hadn't converted to Islam. Mysteriously to Karim al-Jamil, his father had neither cared nor forced her to convert. He seemed to take great pleasure in his secular wife, though she had made for him a great many enemies among the imams and the faithful. Even more mysteriously to Karim al-Jamil, he didn't care about that, either. His mother mourned for their lost daughter, and he, the crippled old man, engulfed every day by her grief, was forced to mourn, too.
"What exactly did Veintrop do to Bourne?" Anne asked.
Happily bisecting a knee joint, Karim replied, "Veintrop is an unheralded genius in memory loss. It was he whom I consulted regarded Bourne's amnesiac state. He used an injection of certain chemically engineered proteins he designed to stimulate synapses in parts of Bourne's brain, subtly altering their makeup and function. The stimulation acts as a trauma, which Veintrop's research revealed can alter memories. Veintrop's protein injection is able to affect specific synapses, thus creating new memories. Each individual memory is designed to be triggered in Bourne's head by certain outside stimuli."
"I'd call that brainwashing," Anne said.
Karim nodded. "In a sense, yes. But in a whole new sphere that doesn't involve physical coercion, weeks of sensory deprivation, and articulated torture."
The oval basin was almost full. Karim signaled to Anne. Together they laid their tools on Overton's chest-which, other than his head, was about all that was left whole.
"Give me an example," she said.
Together they hoisted the basin by its oversize handles and moved it over to a large dry well that in earlier times had been used to illegally dump used motor oil.
"The sight of Hiram Cevik triggered an 'added' memory in Bourne-the tactic of showing a prisoner the freedom he'd lost as a means of getting him to talk. Otherwise he would never have taken Fadi out of the cells for any reason whatsoever. His action accomplished two things at once: It allowed Fadi to escape, and it put Bourne under suspicion by his own organization."
They tipped the basin. Out tumbled the contents, vanishing down the dry well.
"But I didn't feel that a single added memory was enough to slow Bourne down," Karim said, "so I had Veintrop add an element of physical discomfort-a debilitating headache whenever an added memory is triggered."
As they were carrying the receptacle back to the table, Anne said, "This much is clear. But wasn't it unconscionably dangerous for Fadi to allow himself to be captured in Cape Town?"
"Everything I design and do is by default dangerous," said Karim al-Jamil. "We're in a war for the hearts, minds, and future of our people. There's no action too perilous for us. As for Fadi, first of all he was posing as the arms dealer Hiram Cevik. Second of all, he knew that we had arranged for Bourne to unwittingly rescue him."
"And what if Dr. Veintrop's procedure hadn't worked, or hadn't worked properly?"
"Well, then, we always had you, my darling. I would have provided you with instructions that would have extracted my brother."
He switched on the chain saw, made short shrift of the remains. Into the dry well they went.
"Fortunately, we never had to implement that part of the plan."
"We assumed Soraya Moore would call the DCI to clear Bourne's request to release Fadi," Anne said. "Instead she called Tim Hytner to inform him that he should meet her outside on the grounds. She told him exactly where Fadi would be. Since I was monitoring all her calls, you were able to set the rest of the escape plan in motion."
Karim picked up a can of gasoline, unscrewed the cap, poured a third of the contents