my youth? It was with my uncle on my mother’s side, Mickeen Oge Flynn — good man; still has a garage there. And I can assure you, Colonel Henry Talbot was one of the most hated men in County Down. The grand house he had where he lorded it over the Catholic “scum of Kilmartin”, as he described them. The only thing that kept someone from shooting him was his wife, Mary Ellen. Mickeen Oge used to say, if ever a saint walked this earth, it was her, even if she was a Protestant.’
‘He certainly sounds a real old bastard,’ Harry Salter said.
‘Warrenpoint must have been a bitter pill for him to swallow,’ Ferguson said. ‘Only a few miles away.’
Dillon said coldly, ‘Enough of the ould sod, and back to our problem. We know there are British Muslims in the Taliban ranks: we have recordings of them. I’m with Billy in thinking that most of them simply make their own way to Pakistan and join up there. I shouldn’t imagine there is any organization as such. Information about where to join is probably available at any local mosque.’
‘So what is your point?’ Ferguson demanded.
‘That the job comes down to one thing: find Shamrock. The President asked me if I thought we could, and I said yes. He said, don’t let me down and, with all due respect to you, General, I don’t intend to.’
Ferguson turned to Holley. ‘For twenty-five years, behind the respectable front of Malik Shipping, you’ve sold arms to anyone who could pay. You must be one of the most experienced dealers in the business. Who would we get in touch with? In our discussion with Talbot and Sir Hedley, we kept it general, made no mention of Shamrock. They both felt that if the government was concerned about the situation, they should send someone to take a look. Talbot said he had an excellent staff who would be willing to help.’
‘They wouldn’t be much help for what you’re looking for,’ Holley said. ‘They’re far too respectable. I could provide two or three names, the kind of people who have their hands in everything. But you really have to do it face-to-face: it’s the only way. Peshawar International may not be the biggest airport in the world, but it’ll handle an RAF Gulfstream, I should think.’
Harry Miller said to him, ‘What a splendid idea.’
Ferguson turned to Miller, ‘By heavens, I could go with you. I’ve excellent contacts with Pakistan Intelligence.’
‘That’s up to you,’ said Holley, ‘but be careful what you say. Pakistan Intelligence is riddled with corruption and Taliban sympathizers. As for Shamrock, I’d keep that for the lowlifes whose names I’ll give you.’
‘Thanks for the warning, Daniel. Give Roper the names of the dealers you suggest we meet in Peshawar, if you would.’
‘I can do more than that. They all have laptops, I’ll give you their email addresses. Just remember: these are ruthless men, all out to make a buck. They don’t know what a scruple is. I’d go armed at all times.’
‘Give me the names of this unsavoury lot,’ Roper said.
‘Dak Khan, José Fernandez and Jemal Hamid. I’ll give you their emails later.’
Billy Salter said, ‘So while you and Harry are over in Pakistan, what do we do?’
‘Try to behave yourselves,’ Ferguson told him. ‘And watch Dillon for me. We won’t be away long.’
Holley’s Codex sounded. He answered it and found Josef Lermov. Holley waved frantically at Roper and mouthed ‘speaker’. Roper turned it on and Lermov’s voice boomed a little.
‘I thought I’d let you know that there’s been a terrible accident in Chechnya. Mullah Ibrahim Nadim met a bad end on a country road outside some small town with an unpronounceable name. A car bomb killed him, two bodyguards and his driver.’
Holley felt no remorse for the part he had played in the affair. ‘Well, he wanted paradise, so at least he got that. Inshallah. It was his time.’
‘You know,’ Lermov said, ‘during the Battle of Algiers, Muslim girls threw away their traditional clothes, cut their hair and wore make-up and pretty frocks to fool French paratroopers into believing they were Europeans. That way, they were able to visit coffee shops and leave bombs under the seats.’
‘Yes, I know that. Very ingenious,’ Holley said. ‘What’s the point?’
‘The point, my dear Daniel, is that Chechnyan Muslim women appear to have adopted the same idea. An unfortunate Colonel in the GRU’s Planning Cabinet apparently made the mistake of enjoying the charms of such a woman.’
‘And how is