“There’s two parts. One part for your unit in general and one part for you in particular. Concerning your unit, we need an investigation to uncover who is supplying CNN International with confidential information. The CEO of Queen Victoria and his chief of the medical staff believe it to be a radical academic M.D. who also has admitting privileges. How many there are at the Victoria I don’t know, but I want them investigated now. I want to know who this person is.”

“That can easily be arranged. I will put my best men on it. What is my part?”

“The girl, Jennifer Hernandez. I want her taken care of. It shouldn’t be difficult. She’s staying at the Amal.”

“Why not call up one of your equals in immigration. Have her picked up and deported. Problem over!”

“My sense is that she is feisty, stubborn, and resourceful. If immigration picks her up, I’d worry that she’d make a fuss, and if the media associates her case with the death reported by CNN, there could be an even bigger story about a governmental cover-up. That could make everything decidedly worse.”

“Good point. What exactly do you mean ‘taken care of’? Let’s be specific.”

“I leave that to your well-earned reputation for creativity. I want her to stop being a potential thorn in our side. However you can accomplish that, I’m content. Actually, it’s better if I don’t know. Then if I’m asked at a later date, as one who was interested in her behavior, I don’t have to lie.”

“What if I can assure you she means no harm and her current apparent threat is bogus?”

“That would be satisfactory, of course. Particularly if your team can provide us with the physician mole. I need to attack this problem from both ends.”

“Can I assume my compensation will be the usual?”

“Let’s say comparable. Check things out. Follow her. Remember, we don’t want her to become the news, and we surely don’t want her to be any kind of martyr. As for the compensation, it should depend on degree of difficulty. You and I go back a ways. We can trust each other.”

“You’ll hear from me.”

“Good.”

Ramesh disconnected the call. Toward the end of the conversation with the industrial policeman, he’d had another idea about the Hernandez problem, a possible solution that would be easier, cheaper, and probably better, as it wouldn’t involve the government. All he had to do was get someone he knew angry enough, and it so happened that the individual Ramesh had in mind was easy to get angry when the issue involved money. Ramesh was surprised he’d not thought of Shashank Malhotra earlier. After all, the man regularly paid him off and had even taken him on a memorable trip to Dubai.