Ramirez drew on his cigar and smiled. He was particularly proud of that part of the plan. The United States government could never expose the identity of the dead woman. She had come from an intelligence and crisis management center, not from the State Department. Nor could the United States reveal the fact that she had gone to Madrid to meet with a powerful deputy who feared a new civil war. If Europe ever learned that an American representative of this type had been scheduled to meet with Serrador, America would be suspected of trying to position the players to its own advantage. Which was exactly why Serrador had asked for her. With one shooting, Ramirez and his group had managed to gain control of both the White House and Spanish tourism.

"As for the next step," Ramirez said, "how is that coming, Carlos?"

The black-haired young banker leaned forward. He placed his cigar in the ashtray and folded his hands on the table. "As you know, the lower and middle classes have been hurt very seriously by the recent employment cutbacks. In the past six months, Banquero Cedro has restricted loans so that our partners in this operation"-he indicated the other men at the table-"as well as other businesspeople, have been forced to raise consumer prices nearly seven percent. At the same time they've cut back production so that there has been an eight-percent drop in trade of Spanish goods throughout Europe. The workers have been hit hard although, thus far, we haven't curtailed their credit. We've been extraordinarily generous, in fact. We've been extending credit to repay old debts. Of course, only some of that money goes to relieve debt. People make new purchases, assuming that credit will be available to them again. As a result, interest on loans has compounded to levels eighteen percent higher than they were at this time last year."

Ramirez smiled. "In conjunction with a fall in tourism, the financial blow will be severe when that credit is not made available."

"It will be extremely severe," said Carlos. "The people will be so deeply in debt they will agree to anything to be out of it."

"But the blow is one you're certain you can control," said Alfonso.

"Absolutely," Carlos replied. "Thanks to cash reserves and credit with the World Bank and other institutions, the money supply at my bank and at most others will remain sound. The economy will be relatively unaffected at the top." He grinned. "It's like the plague of blood which befell Egypt in the Old Testament. It did not affect those who had been forewarned and had filled their jugs and cisterns with fresh water."