“I don’t like to be referred to as Saint Martin.”

“Really?” Gabriel smiled. “That might be the most encouraging thing I’ve ever heard about you.”

“And why is that?”

“Because it suggests you might actually have a conscience after all.”

“What are you going to do with that list, Allon?”

“I suppose that depends entirely on you, Martin.”

CHAPTER 75

75

CANTON BERN, SWITZERLAND

What do you want, Allon? Money? Is that what this is about? A shakedown? How much will it cost me to make this matter go away? A half billion? A billion? Name your figure. I’ll write you a check, and we’ll call it a morning.”

“I don’t want your money,” Gabriel said. “I want your centrifuges.”

“Centrifuges?” Landesmann’s tone was incredulous. “Where did you get the idea I was selling centrifuges?”

“From your computers. It’s all there in black-and-white.”

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken. I own companies that sell dual-use components to trading companies that in turn sell them to other companies that may or may not be selling them to a certain manufacturer in Shenzhen, China.”

“A manufacturer that you own through a Chinese partnership.”

“Enjoy trying to prove that in court. I’ve done nothing illegal, Allon. You can’t lay a finger on me.”

“That might be true when it comes to Iran, but there’s one thing that hasn’t changed. You can still be torn to shreds by the class-action lawyers in America. And I have the evidence to bring you down.”

“You have nothing.”

“Are you really willing to take that chance?”

Landesmann made no reply.

“I have a hidden child in Amsterdam, a remorseful son in Argentina, contemporaneous diplomatic cables from Carlos Weber, and a list of names and numbers of accounts from your father’s bank. And if you don’t agree to cooperate, I’m going to take everything I have to New York City and give it to the most prominent law firm in town. They’ll file suit against you in federal court for unjust enrichment and spend years picking through every aspect of your business. I doubt your saintly reputation will hold up under scrutiny like that. I also suspect your friends and protectors in Bern might resent you for reopening the most scandalous chapter in Swiss history.”

“Allow me to impart a sad truth to you, Allon. If I wasn’t doing business with the Iranians, one of my competitors would be. Yes, we make all the appropriate noises. But do you think we Europeans truly care whether Iran has a nuclear weapon? Of course not. We need Iranian oil. And we need access to the Iranian market. Even your so-called friends in America are doing a brisk business with the Iranians through their foreign subsidiaries. Face facts, Allon. You are alone. Again.”

“We’re not alone anymore, Martin. We have you.”