‘Well, I can see plenty, Mr Culver,’ said the director. ‘Starting with the fact that my agents do not act without my say-so. I’ve reviewed your case and I agree there is a role for us to play – if Special Agent Monroe is willing. Operationally, she remains on secondment to the London Cage. But your concerns about Texas appear to overlap with unfinished business of ours. Perhaps they don’t, but the possibility that they do invites us to speculate and study the matter further. Agent Monroe is our in-house counsel on Baumer, to borrow a phrase from your former career. I also understand why the President needs to be kept out of it. From our perspective, sir, that is a matter of little import. Echelon is not an American agency. We answer to the Alliance Secretariat. But nor are we your Praetorian Guard, sir, nor Ms Monroe your personal emissary or executioner. If she runs with this, she does so on my dime.’

Jed conceded the point with a tilt of his head. ’You’ve read the brief, ma’am?’ he asked.

‘Yep,’ said Monroe.

‘And?’

‘What can I say? We’re already in motion. The French didn’t release Baumer. Ahmet Ozal got him out and Ozal had a connection to Fort Hood through that salvage contract for Hazm. Contract’s not even registered in Texas, as I understand it. Treasury got the information from Hamburg. Lupérico says –’

‘Wait a minute – Lupérico says? I thought he was dead,’ said Culver, suddenly concerned that perhaps Echelon had stashed him somewhere.

‘Sorry. Poor phrasing,’ replied Monroe. ‘Lupérico is dead.’

‘Okay. Because I understood it was only you and him at the end.’

‘That’s right. He told me what we needed and then I settled our personal account.’

‘Is that something you’re in the habit of doing, Ms Monroe . . . Caitlin?’ asked Culver. ‘Settling personal business on company time?’ He was still a little put out.

She shrugged. ‘Business and pleasure. It can be hard to tell them apart some days. If you don’t like it, get someone else. I’ve got diapers to change.’

She wasn’t smiling as she said it. Jed felt the need to test her further.

‘It didn’t occur to you that there was more we could’ve learned by debriefing him out of the field?’

‘My mission parameters covered a hostile, in-field debrief,’ she said, without emotion, as if that concluded the matter. ‘The subject was terminated at the end of the debrief.’