you’ll have gone out of your way to be the opposite. And, as you’ve just explained, none of you know what you’re doing there. You all share that lack of knowledge. Despite all that they don’t trust you.’
‘That’s what I said.’
‘I think you’re wrong. I don’t think it’s a matter of trust, otherwise you would have felt that from Jaeger, regardless of how much contact you’d had with him.’
‘Then what is it?’
‘They don’t accept you yet. Because they’re reserving judgement.’
He was quiet for a moment while he considered that. ‘If they’re reserving judgement, then what are they waiting for?’
‘Won’t be until you’ve proved yourself because you did that a few hours ago in Rome. Can’t be until you’ve successfully completed some aspect of the job because they don’t know anything about it. So it must be until you’ve been approved.’
‘I think you might be right, but I already have Leeson’s approval, twice: first by putting me into the team and then by saving his life.’
‘And Francesca doesn’t give out orders. So it’s got to be someone else then, surely.’
‘There’s another person involved in this I haven’t met yet, but everyone else has.’
‘Then they must value this other man or woman’s opinion over Leeson’s.’
‘Yes.’
‘Then it has to be Leeson’s client,’ Muir said, excitement making her speak fast. ‘Has to be. I never thought he’d show his face so this is too good to be true. If they’ve all met him, you will too. When we have him in the same place as Leeson and the others we can take them all down in one go. We won’t need any physical evidence. They’ll be falling over each other to cut a deal against the rest because they’ll be terrified someone else will first. I’ve seen it happen a thousand times.’
‘It’s not the client,’ Victor said. ‘It makes zero sense for a client to have a broker like Leeson running the show if he’s going to be personally involved. The broker is the first and most important layer of protection the client has. He wouldn’t scrap that. Besides, these guys wouldn’t care about the opinion of the man who signs their cheques. This other person is another member of the team.’
‘Who do they respect more than Leeson?’
‘Soldiers respect the men who fight alongside them more than they do the ones who send them into battle. That’s a given. But this is more basic than a matter of respect. It’s more primal.’
‘Then what is it? Why do they care what this other guy thinks?’
‘Because they’re afraid of him.’
FORTY-THREE
They went through what they knew, searching for anything they might have missed. Around Victor, the village was dark and quiet. Aside from Muir’s voice and his own, he heard only the wind.
Muir said, ‘I’ll have the farmhouse checked out, see if it’s been passed to any notable hands in the last few years. But I think we’re going to find it’s been leased for the occasion, probably paid in untraceable cash by an intermediary to a guy whose only crime will be not declaring that income.’
‘While you’re at it, check for couples matching Leeson and Francesca with hotels, guesthouses, et cetera. The village doesn’t have any as far as I can tell, but there must be others nearby. Of course, there’s no reason why they couldn’t be staying in Rome or somewhere even further away.’
‘Leeson would want to stay close to his team though, surely.’
‘Yes,’ Victor agreed. ‘But there’s also no reason why he needs to. Unless he wanted to keep an eye on us at all times. Which he doesn’t, otherwise he would be sleeping there too. It’s a hideout for the team, nothing more.’
‘What about the barn? There must be a reason why you’re not allowed inside it, unlike the rest of them.’
‘Jaeger was in the barn when I arrived and Leeson had Dietrich put the limousine inside it last night, but I think that’s the only time Dietrich goes inside. Coughlin hasn’t been inside to my knowledge.’
‘So what is Jaeger doing in there?’
‘I could take a guess, but that’s not how I like to do things. When I know more, I’ll pass it on.’
‘Can you get in there?’
‘Not easily. But if the opportunity is there, I’m taking it.’
‘Leave it for now. Maybe when you’ve been there longer Leeson will trust you enough to let you inside too. Better that than breaking in and leaving evidence behind. You’ll be top of the list of suspects by default.’
‘I’m not in the habit of leaving evidence