E-Book, Englisch, 384 Seiten
ISBN: 978-1-84243-600-4
Verlag: No Exit Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark
Born in 1946, Peter Murphy graduated from Cambridge University and pursued a career in the law in England, the United States and The Hague. He practised as a barrister in London for a decade, then took up a professorship at a law school in Texas, a position he held for more than twenty years. Towards the end of that period he returned to Europe as counsel at the Yugoslavian War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague for almost a decade. In 2007 he returned to England to take up an appointment as a judge of the Crown Court. He retired as Resident Judge and Honorary Recorder of Peterborough in 2015. Peter started writing fiction more than twenty years ago, but following his retirement from the bench he became a full-time author, often drawing on the many experiences of his former career. Two political thrillers about the American presidency: Removal and Test of Resolve were followed by eight legal thrillers in the Ben Schroeder series about a barrister practising in London in the 1960s and 1970s. Alongside those he also penned the light-hearted series of short story collections featuring Judge Walden of Bermondsey in the 'Rumpole' tradition, based in part on his own experiences as a lawyer and judge, and recently published A Statue for Jacob, based on the true story of Jacob de Haven. Peter passed away in July 2022.
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‘YOU’VE HAD a rough time,’ Ted Lazenby had begun. Almost two years had passed since the interview, but Kelly remembered those first words as if they had been spoken the day before. She remembered her first impression of his personal warmth, how she sensed instinctively that this was someone she could like and respect. It was usually when she was alone at night in her apartment that the memories returned. Memories not only of the interview, but also of the events which had brought her to Washington, to a job which made her the envy of many of her colleagues. If they knew what had gone before, if they knew the price she had paid, she thought, they might be less envious. She remembered her conversation with Lazenby clearly enough, but her impressions of the office she would later come to know so well were hazy. Of course, any young agent would have felt anxious on being summoned without warning into the presence of the Director of the FBI himself. But the events which had brought her there had damaged her self-confidence. She still felt as if she were feeling her way through a thick fog. Twenty-four hours before, she had been lying on the beach in Cancun. Now she was in the Director’s office in the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, and she was alone with the Director. Why she was there, she could only speculate. Her speculations were not encouraging. ‘Yes, Sir,’ she had replied, taking Lazenby’s hand. He had walked to the door of his office to meet her as his secretary ushered her in. In his other hand, he held a brown file folder, which she recognized at once as part of her confidential service record. ‘Have a seat. Did Rose offer you some coffee?’ ‘Yes. I’m fine, thank you, Sir.’ ‘All right.’ Unhurriedly, Lazenby walked back to his desk and resumed his seat. Kelly made herself as comfortable as she could in an armchair in front of the desk. ‘You’re Special Agent Kelly Smith, age thirty, single.’ It was technically a question, but Lazenby was reading from her file, and he made it sound more like a statement. ‘Yes, Sir.’ ‘You’re from Minnesota.’ ‘St. Paul, born and raised.’ ‘College at Notre Dame.’ ‘Yes, Sir.’ ‘Athletic scholarship. What did you do?’ ‘I ran track, middle distance, and I was on the tennis team.’ ‘Then back home to St. Paul to law school. William Mitchell College of Law. The school that produced Chief Justice Warren Burger, if I’m not mistaken.’ Kelly smiled and nodded. ‘I’m impressed, Sir.’ Lazenby returned the smile. ‘So are they, and I bet they never let you forget it.’ ‘No, Sir.’ ‘Why law school?’ ‘My parents are both lawyers. It was expected.’ ‘What kind of law?’ ‘General family practice, wills, trusts, estates, that kind of stuff.’ ‘But you didn’t end up practicing law. Why not?’ Kelly shifted in her chair. ‘I’d always wondered whether it was what I really wanted to do, or whether I was just drifting into it. But I didn’t think about it seriously until my third year of law school. Up until then I had been too busy just keeping up with my school work. I hadn’t really faced up to the reality of what it would be like once I got out of school. When I finally asked myself whether it was what I wanted, the answer I got was ‘No’. If I had become a lawyer, I wouldn’t have done the kind of stuff my parents do. I would have been a prosecutor.’ ‘Why?’ ‘It felt like I would be making a difference, dealing with things that really mattered. But it wasn’t enough. I needed something more direct, more physical, I’m not sure quite how to put it.’ She paused. ‘And I’m sure that’s way more than you wanted to know.’ Lazenby put the file down on his desk and looked at her closely. ‘So, you came to the Bureau instead of becoming a prosecutor?’ ‘I didn’t have it all neatly worked out. To tell you the truth, it just so happened that the Bureau was interviewing on campus around the time I had my great revelation. I thought, ‘what the hell, sounds interesting, can’t do any harm to talk to them.’ So I signed up for an interview, and suddenly, that was it. I was hooked. I knew it the moment I walked into the interview. I don’t know how else to describe it …’ She hesitated. ‘I understand,’ Lazenby said. ‘How did your parents react?’ ‘Actually, they were great. I know they were disappointed that I wasn’t going to go into the family business, but they supported me totally.’ She smiled. ‘I was pleasantly surprised.’ ‘How do you feel about your decision today?’ Kelly closed her eyes, and sat back in her chair, silent for a while. ‘I’m sorry,’ Lazenby said. ‘That wasn’t a fair question. You’ve only been on leave for a few weeks.’ Kelly opened her eyes and wrapped her arms tightly around her body. ‘Seven weeks.’ ‘Seven weeks. New York gave you four months without the option.’ ‘Yes, Sir.’ ‘Were the counselors helpful?’ Kelly hesitated. ‘I guess so. But I’m one of those people who need people they know. I have a friend, an old friend from back home, Linda Samuels. I lean on her a lot. I don’t know what I would have done without her.’ Lazenby nodded. ‘So you feel you’re making progress?’ She sat back up in the chair. ‘I guess so. It took me the first two weeks just to stop shaking. The next two weeks, I couldn’t stop thinking about Joe and Tina, and I cried the whole time. Since then, I’ve tried to think about other things, I’ve tried to remember who I am and what I’m supposed to be doing, but …’ Lazenby stood, walked around his desk, and leaned against it, just in front of Kelly’s chair. ‘Kelly, I’ve read the reports on Operation Shakedown, and I’ve spoken to New York about it. They should never have let you do what you did. You were too inexperienced. I’ve made my views on that very clear to the agent in charge.’ ‘I volunteered.’ ‘I know. And I also know that what happened wasn’t your fault. But they should never have let you do it.’ They were silent for a while. ‘It was going fine at first,’ Kelly said eventually, almost to herself. ‘I got myself taken on at the factory.’ ‘Yes.’ ‘The whole place was just a front, a cover for the rackets the two Families were running in the Bronx. I was getting good information. My cover seemed to be secure, but something went wrong…’ ‘There are no guarantees when you’re dealing with the Mob.’ ‘No, Sir.’ ‘There’s no point in reliving it. Especially the shoot-out.’ Kelly closed her eyes again. ‘I know I’ll never be able to forget that. I still get nightmares about it. It’s only been in the last week or two I’ve been able to sleep through the night.’ ‘I understand.’ ‘I don’t really know why I’m still alive,’ Kelly continued. ‘I have no right to be. If Joe and Tina hadn’t shown up, I would have been dead. That I do know. But the rest of it, well, it all happened so fast. Somehow, we were able to call for back-up. But we were outnumbered, and by the time they arrived…’ ‘Joe and Tina were dead,’ Lazenby added quietly. ‘Yes, I know. And I’m sorry. They were good agents.’ ‘They were my friends,’ Kelly whispered. She made a desperate effort to suppress the tears, but it was no use. ‘I keep thinking, there must have been something I could have done differently. I should have got out of there before they…’ ‘No,’ Lazenby said. ‘You did your job, and you did it well.’ He waited for some time until she recovered her composure. ‘Look, Kelly, I didn’t ask you to interrupt your leave and come all the way from Cancun to bring back such painful memories,’ he said. ‘I’m sure you had quite enough of that when they debriefed you. I brought you here to make you a proposition.’ Kelly looked up. Lazenby walked slowly back to his seat. ‘I don’t know how you’re feeling about the Bureau right now. It wouldn’t surprise me if you feel bitter about it. If that’s the case, I’m sorry. But I do know you’re a good agent, and I don’t want to lose you. I’ve looked at your service record. You were one of the best recruits we ever had at Quantico.’ He folded his hands in front of him on his desk. ‘Keep this under wraps for now, but I’m losing my personal assistant, Fred Keenan. He’s been seduced by the world of commerce. Better pay and regular hours. I can’t say I blame him. In fact, I’m feeling a little jealous. But the point is, Kelly, I need a replacement. It’s not an easy assignment. You’ll be on call twenty-four hours a day. There’s a lot of paperwork, and a lot of dealing with unreasonable people who don’t know what’s going on. That includes people at high levels of government, who damn well should know what’s going on. It can be exhausting and frustrating, and there will be days when it will drive you insane.’ He paused, and his voice softened. ‘But you’ll be here in Washington, Kelly, you’ll be out of the worst of the mayhem for a while, and maybe it will give you time to readjust. And if that happens, and we can keep you in the Bureau, it will be worth it. What do you say?’ Kelly was staring at Lazenby, her mouth open. ‘Director, I’m… I’m overwhelmed. This was the last thing I...
