“It was a mistake on my part. I’m afraid I don’t remember asking you
anything.”
“Yes, of course. That’s an essential part of your agreement. There can
be no reference whatsoever to Mr. Warfield or Dunstone or anyone or
-thing related. We understand.
Quite frankly, at this juncture we approve wholeheartedly.
Among other reasons, should you violate the demands of secrecy, we think
you’d be killed instantly.”
McAuliff lowered his glass and stared at the Englishman, who spoke so
calmly, precisely. “That’s preposterous,” he said simply.
“That’s Dunstone, Limited,” replied Hammond softly.
“Then I think you’d better explain.”
“I shall do my best. To begin with, the geophysical survey that you’ve
contracted for is the second such team to be sent out-”
“I wasn’t told that,” interrupted Alex.
“With good reason. They’re dead. I should say, ‘disappeared and dead.”
No one’s been able to trace the Jamaican members; the whites are dead,
of that we are sure.”
“How so? I mean, how can you be sure?”
“The best of all reasons, Mr. McAuliff. One of the men was a British
agent.”
McAuliff found himself mesmerized by the soft-spoken Intelligence man’s
narrative. Hammond might have been an Oxford don going over the blurred
complexities of a dark Elizabethan drama, patiently clarifying each
twist of an essentially inexplicable plot. He supplied conjectures
where knowledge failed, making sure that McAuliff understood that they
were conjectures.
Dunstone, Limited, was not simply an industrial development company;
that was to say, its objectives went far beyond those of a conglomerate.
And it was not solely British, as its listed board of directors implied.
In actuality, Dunstone, Limited, London, was the “corporate”
headquarters of an organization of international financiers dedicated to
building global cartels beyond the interferences and controls of the
European Common Market and its trade alliances. That was to say-by
conjecture–eliminating the economic intervention of governments:
Washington, London, Berlin, Paris, The Hague, and all other points of
the financial compass. Ultimately, these were to be reduced to the
status of clients, not origins of resource or negotiation.
“You’re saying, in essence, that Dunstone is in the process of setting
up its own government?”
“Precisely. A government based solely on economic trade factors. A
concentration of financial resources unheard of since the pharaohs.
Along with this economic catastrophe, and no less important, is the
absorption of the government of Jamaica by Dunstone, Limited. Jamaica
is Dunstone’s projected base of operations. They can succeed, Mr.
McAuliff.”
Alex put his glass on the wide windowsill. He began slowly trying to
find words, looking out at the slate rooftops converging into the Savoy
Court. “Let me try to understand, from what you’ve told me and from
what I know. Dunstone anticipates investing heavily in Jamaican
development. All right, we agree on that, and the figures are
astronomical.
Now, in exchange for this investment, they expect to be awarded a lot of
clout from a grateful Kingston government.
At least, that’s what I’d expect if I were Dunstone. The normal tax
credits, importing concessions, employment breaks, real estate …
general incentives. Nothing new.”
McAuliff turned his head and looked at Hammond. “I’m not sure I see any
financial catastrophe … except, maybe, an English financial
catastrophe.”
“You stand corrected; I stand rebuked,” said Hammond.
“But only in a minor way. You’re quite perceptive; it’s true that our
concerns were-at first-U.K. oriented. English perversity, if you will.
Dunstone is an important factor in Britain’s balance of trade.. We’d
hate to lose it.”
“So you build a conspiracy-”
“Now, just a minute, Mr. McAuliff,” the agent broke in, without raising
his voice. “The highest echelons of the British government do not
invent conspiracies. If Dunstone were what it is purported to be, those
responsible in 1 Downing Street would fight openly for our interests.
I’m afraid that is not the case. Dunstone reaches into extremely
sensitive areas in London, Berlin, Paris, Rome … and, most assuredly,
in Washington. But I shall return to that. I’d like to concentrate on
Jamaica for the moment. You used the terms ‘concessions,’ ‘tax breaks,’
‘clout’ and ‘incentives.” I say ‘absorption.”
“Words. “Laws, Mr. McAuliff. Sovereign; sanctioned by prime ministers
and cabinets and parliaments. Think for a minute, Mr. McAuliff. An
existing, viable government in a strategically located independent
nation controlled by a huge industrial monopoly with world markets. It’s
not outlandish. It’s around the corner.”
” Alex did think ‘about it. For more than a minute. Prodded by
Hammond’s gently spoken, authoritatively phrased “clarifications.”
Without disclosing methods of discovery, the Britisher explained
Dunstone’s modus operandi. Enormous sums of capital had been
transferred from Swiss banks to Kingston’s King Street, that short
stretch of the block that housed major international banking
institutions. But the massive cash flow was not deposited in British,
American, or Canadian banks. Those went begging, while the less I
secure Jamaican banks were stunned by an influx of hard money unheard of
in their histories.
Few knew that the vast new Jamaican riches were solely Dunstone’s. But
for these few, proof was supplied by the revolving transfers of a
thousand accounts within an eighthour business day.
Heads spun in astonishment. A few heads. Selected men in
extraordinarily high places were shown incontrovertibly that a new force
had invaded Kingston, a force so powerful that Wall Street and Whitehall
would tremble at its presence.
“If you know this much, why don’t you move in? Stop them.”
“Not possible,” answered Hammond. “All transactions are covered;
there’s no one to accuse. It’s too complex a web of financing. Dunstone
is masterminded by Warfield.
He operates on the premise that a closed society is efficient only when
its various arms have little or no knowledge of each other.”
“in other words, you can’t prove your case and-”
“We cannot expose what we cannot prove,” interrupted Hammond. “That is
correct.”
“You could threaten. I mean, on the basis of what you know damn well is
true, you could raise one hell of a cry…. But you can’t chance it. It
goes back to these ‘sensitive’ areas.in Berlin, Washington, Paris, et
cetera. Am I correct about that, too?”
“You are.”
“They must be goddamn sensitive.”
“We believe they compromise an international crosssection of
extraordinarily powerful men.”
“In governments?”
“Allied with major industries.”
“For instance?”
Hammond held Alex’s eyes with his own. His message was clear. “You
understand that what I say is merely conjecture.”
“All right. And my memory is short.”
“Very well.” The Britisher got out of the chair and walked around it.
His voice remained quiet, but there was no lack of precision. “Your own
country: conceivably the Vice President of the United States or someone
in his office and, certainly, unknown members of the Senate and the
President’s cabinet. England: prominent figures in the House of Commons
and undoubtedly various department directors at Inland Revenue. Germany:
ranking vorsitzen in the Bundestag. France: elitist holdovers from the
preAlgerian Gaullists. Such men as I have described must exist relative
to Warfield. The progress made by Dunstone would have been impossible
without influence in such places. Of that we are certain.”
“But you don’t know who, specifically.”
“No.
“And you think, somehow, I can help you?”
“We do, Mr. McAuliff.”
“With all the resources you have, you come to me? I’ve been contracted
for a Dunstone field survey, nothing else.”
“The second Dunstone survey, Mr. McAuliff.”
Alexander stared at the Englishman.
“And you say that team is dead.”
Hammond returned to his chair and sat down once more.
“Yes, Mr. McAuliff. Which means Dunstone has an adversary. One that’s
as deadly and powerful as Warfield’s forces. And we haven’t the
slightest idea what it is, who they are. Only that it exists, they
exist. We wish to make contact with those who want the same thing we
do. We can guarantee the safety of your expedition. You are the key.
Without you, we’re stymied. Without us, you and your people might well
be in extreme jeopardy.”
McAuliff shot out of the chair and stood above the British I agent. He
took several short, deep breaths and walked purposefully away from
Hammond; then he aimlessly paced the Savoy room. The Englishman seemed
to understand Alex’s action. He let the moment subside; he said
nothing.
“Jesus! You’re something, Hammond!” McAuliff returned I to his chair,
but he did not sit down. He reached for his drink on the windowsill,
not so much for the whiskey as to hold the glass. “You come in here,
build a case against Warfield by way of an economics lecture, and then
calmly tell me that I’ve signed what amounts to my last contract if I
don’t cooperate with you.”
“That’s rather black and white, chap.”
“That’s rather exactly what you just said! Suppose you’re mistaken?”
“We’re not.”
“You know goddamn well I can’t prove that either. If I go back to
Warfield and tell him about this little informal chat, I’ll lose the
contract the second I open my mouth. And the largest fee any surveyor