The Horsemen were all on the move. Oliver Highsmith had been followed from his home in Surrey to Gatwick Airport, outside London. Agents at the airport made sure that Conqueror got on the British Air flight to New York, then called Washington to report he was en route.

A couple of hours later, an agent phoned from the Philippines. George Bayer was at Ninoy Aquino Airport in Manila. Famine had purchased a ticket to Jamaica, with a stopover in New York.

We already knew that James Whitehead had retired to Jamaica, and that he was on the island now. War was waiting for the others to arrive.

“I’m trying to get a fixed pattern for the Four Horsemen game, but there are several points of view at work. That’s what they like about the game, what makes it so addictive,” I said to Jones as we waited for more information to come in.

“We know that at least three of them have been playing the game since they were stationed in Thailand, in ’ninety-one. Around that time, bar girls and prostitutes began to disappear in Bangkok. The local police didn’t spend much time on the investigations. Girls in Pat Pong had disappeared before. The police have somewhat the same attitude here in Washington with respect to the Jane Doe killings. These girls didn’t mean much. They were written off. Murders and disappearances in Southeast certainly aren’t investigated like ones in Georgetown or on Capitol Hill. It’s one of Washington’s dirty little secrets.”

Jones lit a new cigarette off the butt of his last one. He puffed, then said, “It might be just Shafer who’s involved in the actual murders, Alex. Either that or the others are much more careful than he is.”

I shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t think so, but I didn’t have enough concrete evidence to argue my case effectively with Jones, who was himself no slouch as a detective.

“The end of the Four Horsemen is coming, right? Can they really end their little fantasy game?” Sampson asked.

“It sure looks like they’re getting together,” I said. “Four former British agents, four grown men who love to play diabolical games. In my opinion, four murderers.”

“Possibly.” Andrew Jones finally admitted that the unthinkable could be true: “Alex, I’m afraid you could be right.”

Chapter 110

JAMAICA MUST HAVE BEEN CHOSEN because it was relatively private, and because James Whitehead owned a large beach house there. But perhaps there were other angles attached to the game of the Four Horsemen. I hoped that we would know soon enough.

Oliver Highsmith and George Bayer arrived on the island within minutes of each other. They met at the baggage claim inside Donald Sangster Airport, then drove for about an hour to the posh Jamaica Inn in Ocho Rios.