BooksBarbecue
Back The Man With No Face Save as PDF
Chapters (45)
  1. The Man With No Face
  2. Also by
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. Contents
  8. INTRODUCTION
  9. CHAPTER ONE
  10. CHAPTER TWO
  11. CHAPTER THREE
  12. CHAPTER FOUR
  13. CHAPTER FIVE
  14. CHAPTER SIX
  15. CHAPTER SEVEN
  16. CHAPTER EIGHT
  17. CHAPTER NINE
  18. CHAPTER TEN
  19. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  20. CHAPTER TWELVE
  21. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  22. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  23. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  24. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  25. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  26. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  27. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  37. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

He nodded. ‘You must think me some kind of a monster. And I suppose history will judge me as such. But you see, Mr Bannerman, what are the lives of a handful of people compared to the well-being of millions?’

For the first time Bannerman felt compelled to speak. ‘If you deny the right to life of any one man, simply because he does not fit with your idea of what is good for all, then you deny the rights of all men.’ He shook his head. ‘And what gives you the right to play God?’

Armsdale shrugged. ‘Ah, Mr Bannerman . . . we all have our ideals. And wouldn’t we just love to be able to achieve them with a snap of the fingers? But, you know, one has to be realistic. Pragmatic. Sacrifices must always be made. The end has to justify the means.’

‘Even at the expense of the very principles you hold dear? Democracy? Human rights? Even if it means murdering a child whose only crime was to see her father shot dead by a man you hired?’

The old man sighed. ‘Clearly it is not something we will ever agree on. If I had the time, I believe I could make you understand. But we have no time, and there would be little point now. I have devoted my life to the party, Mr Bannerman. A party which has done more to improve the lives of ordinary men and women in fifty years than monarchs and politicians achieved in the previous five hundred. Do not think it did not pain me to do the things I have done. But I was not prepared to let the work of a lifetime, and this country’s only real hope for the future, be destroyed by a man consumed by greed. A man who deceived not only myself and my party, but the many millions of people who saw in him the same qualities we all did. Qualities that could have made him great. Qualities that could have brought so much to so many. Except that behind that bright, shiny façade there was something rotten. A sickness that made a nonsense of all the trust we placed in him.’

He had grown agitated now, and he rose to pace across the room to the window. And there he stood, gazing out into the blackness beyond it.

‘How did you find out?’ Bannerman asked. ‘About Gryffe’s involvement in the sale of arms?’