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Back The Frenchman
Chapters (76)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  3. DEDICATION
  4. AMIN
  5. PARIS
  6. … TWO YEARS LATER
  7. CHAPTER ONE
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  24. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  25. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  62. CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
  63. CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
  64. CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
  65. CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
  66. CHAPTER SIXTY
  67. CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
  68. CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
  69. CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
  70. CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
  71. CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
  72. CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
  73. CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
  74. CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
  75. CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
  76. EPILOGUE

So now de Payns completed a short screening request. It was written in the third person—as all OT-generated reports in the Company had to be—and covered the appearance of the Homsi family in his personal life. It named the main people of interest—#ANA HOMSI# and #RAFI HOMSI#—and included their address and all the information that de Payns could remember about them, which wasn’t much. He didn’t know who Rafi worked for or anything about Ana’s background. He included the conversations he’d had with Ana, and the more he wrote the weaker it sounded. Reading the DDC back he realised he had nothing incriminating on Ana or her family, so he requested a check of them on the basis that Ana had asked Romy about her husband’s employer. By the time he hit ‘send’, he knew that it looked like a standard instance of new people entering an OT’s life. He knew he was going to appear paranoid, but he also held to the advice given to him by an old instructor in DGSE training—better to be paranoid and embarrassed than complacent and dead.

CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER

THIRTY

They were waiting for him at the kitchenette when he went looking for a glass of water—Alain Portmann, a DGS straight-shooter, and his sidekick, Julien Laval.

‘Hi, Alec,’ said Portmann in that awkward tone between authority and collegiality. ‘Can you join us for a chat?’

De Payns smiled. Portmann was what they called ‘very FBI’—dark suit, plain white shirt, unremarkable tie and a taupe trench coat, even in the middle of summer. They’d been in the same intake year for French intelligence, and had done a number of rotations together at Cercottes, including firearms proficiency and locks. Portmann had taken the DGS route and de Payns was where he was.

‘Sure,’ said de Payns.

They adjourned to an interview room which featured a white rectangular laminated table, two fabric-covered office chairs on either side and a mirror down one wall. There was a glass dome in the ceiling for the cameras and every word was being recorded.

Portmann started straight in, reading from a page in his folder rather than looking at de Payns. ‘Are you aware of the national security waiver you signed in relation to legal counsel?’

‘Yes,’ said de Payns. If you worked in the French secret services you did not have the right to an attorney and you did not have the right to remain silent. You got to sit in a room and have your colleagues throw accusations at you. It wasn’t personal and it certainly wasn’t open to lawyers.

Portmann recited his first few questions in a robotic tone. ‘Have you told the truth in regards to the destruction of five French passports in Palermo?’ ‘Is there any reason why you cannot speak honestly?’ ‘Have you discussed this matter with any person outside of the DGSE?’