Robert Wilson - The Hidden Assassins

They weren't quite ready to laugh at Calderon's cynicism. The sense of all that activity described by Elvira was too powerful, and, as if to reinforce his words, a helicopter passed rapidly overhead, like the latest despatch to a new crisis point. Falcon broke the silence.

'The CGI antiterrorist squad in Madrid think that Hammad and Saoudi were providing logistical support for an unknown cell that was going to carry out an attack, or series of attacks. Clearly, a delivery of some sort was made on Monday 5th June. A single hood and sash were found in the delivery vehicle, possibly indicating that either Hammad or Saoudi might become operatives. It also might indicate that one of them was going to return the van to Madrid, so that Trabelsi Amar had his van back as arranged.

'What history can show us is that, prior to the March 11th attacks in Madrid, two cell members went up to Aviles to pick up explosives on the 28th and 29th February. They allowed themselves a full ten days to prepare for the attacks. In our scenario, here, we are being asked to believe that the hexogen in raw, powder form was delivered on Monday, and that on the same night they started preparing bombs so that they were all ready to go on Tuesday morning. Then at approximately 8.30 a.m. there was an accident and the explosion occurred. I realize that this is not impossible, and in the history of terrorism there probably exists an incidence of delivery, preparation and attack being carried out within twenty-four hours, but if you're a group planning the liberation of Andalucia this doesn't seem very likely.'

'What's the scenario you envisage?' asked Gregorio.

'I don't. I'm just picking holes. I was trying to find a line of logic, but there were too many breaks. I don't want our investigation to go down a single path within the first twelve hours of the incident,' said Falcon. 'We're probably going to have to wait two or three days to get forensic information from the mosque, and until that time I think we should keep both possibilities open: that there was an accident in the bomb-making procedure, or that this was an attack on the mosque.'

'Why would someone want to attack the mosque?' asked Calderon.

'Revenge, extreme xenophobia, political or business motivation, or perhaps a combination of all four,' said Falcon. 'Terror is just a tool to bring about change. Look at the havoc wreaked by this bomb. Terror focuses people's attention and creates opportunities for powerful people. The population of this city is already fleeing. With that sort of panic, unimaginable things become possible.'

'The only way to contain panic,' said Comisario Elvira, 'is to show people that we are in control.'

'Even if we aren't,' said Juez Calderon. 'Even if we don't have the first idea where to look.'

'Whoever is behind this, whether it's Islamic militants or "other forces", they've planned their media assault,' said Falcon. 'The ABC received the Abdullah Azzam text in a letter with a Seville stamp. TVE tells us that the MILA have called to claim responsibility.'

'Would they be claiming responsibility for blowing up a mosque and killing their own people?' asked Calderon.

'That's an everyday occurrence in Baghdad,' said Elvira.

'If you send something like Azzam's text to the ABC then you're expecting to launch an attack imminently…not even within twenty-four hours,' said Gregorio. 'As far as I know, Islamic militants have never advertised their exact intentions; all the big ones have come out of the blue, with the intention of killing and maiming as many people as possible.'

Gregorio took a call on his mobile and asked to leave.

'We've had this preliminary report from the bomb squad about the explosion,' said Falcon, 'but what about the explosive? Where does it come from and what are all these different names for it?'

'Hexogen is the German name, cyclonite is American, RDX is British and I think the Italians call it T4,' said Elvira. 'They might each have signatures, which enables them to identify the origin, but they're not going to tell us.'

'We could use some shots of Hammad and Saoudi,' said Ramirez.

'If they're into document fraud there'll probably be a load of photographs in their apartment in Madrid,' said Falcon. 'Has there been an update on the demolition work outside yet?'

'They're still saying forty-eight hours minimum, and that's if they don't come across anything to slow them down.'

Juez Calderon took a call, announced the discovery of another body and left. Falcon made eye contact with Ramirez and he left the room.

'Still no news on the CGI?' asked Falcon. 'I expected to be pooling resources and efforts with the antiterrorist unit, and the only person we've seen is Inspector Jefe Ramon Barros, who doesn't say very much and appears humiliated.'

'I'm told that their job is more to do with gathering data at this stage,' said Comisario Elvira.

'What about some lower level people to help with the interviewing?'

'Not possible.'

'This sounds like something you can't talk about…'

'All I'm going to say is that since March 11th one aspect of counterterrorism measures has been to check that our own organizations are clean,' said Elvira.

'Don't tell me,' said Falcon.

'The Seville branch is under investigation. Nobody is giving any detail, but as far as I can gather, the CNI ran a test on the Seville antiterrorism unit and did not get the right result. They believe they have been compromised in some way. There are some high-level discussions going on now as to whether they should be allowed to participate in this investigation or not. You're not going to get any active help from the Madrid CGI either. They're working flat-out on their own informer network, and they've got the whole Hammad and Saoudi mess to sort through.'

'Will we be getting informer feedback from the Seville CGI network?'

'Not for the moment,' said Elvira. 'I'm sorry to be so reticent, but the situation is delicate. I don't know what the members of the antiterrorism unit are being told to make them believe that they are not under suspicion, but the CNI are trying to play it both ways. They don't want the mole, if he exists, to know that they're on to him, but neither do they want him endangering the investigation without them knowing who he is. Ideally, they want to find him and then release the CGI into the investigation and give themselves the chance of using him.'

'That sounds like a risky manoeuvre.'

'That's why it's taking so long to decide. The politicians are involved now,' said Elvira. Outside, the grind of machinery had become the acceptable ambient noise. Men moved like aliens in a grey lunar landscape over the stacked pancakes of the floors, with snakes of pneumatic hose trailing behind. They were followed by masked men with oxyacetylene torches and motorized saws. Swinging above them was the crane's writhing cable. The hammering, growling and howling, the clatter of falling rubble, the momentous gonging as sections of floor were dropped into the tippers, kept the curious crowds at bay. Only a few TV crews and photojournalists remained, with their cameras trained on the destruction in the hope of zooming in on a crushed body, a bloodied hand, a spike of bone.

Another helicopter stuttered overhead and wheeled away to fly over the nearby Andalucian Parliament. As he trotted down Calle Los Romeros, Falcon called Ramirez to get the name of the worshipper mentioned by Sr Harrouch, who used the mosque in the mornings. He was called Majid Merizak. Ramirez offered to join him but Falcon preferred to be alone for this one.

The reason that Majid Merizak was not one of the casualties in the mosque was that he was ill in bed. He was a widower who was looked after by one of his daughters. She hadn't been able to prevent her father from heading down the stairs to find out what had happened; only his partial collapse had done that. Now he was in a chair, head thrown back, wild-eyed and panting, with the television on full blast because he was nearly deaf.