Blind Arrows Read Online Free PDF Page B

women or children? God in heaven, what would the foreign press make of it?’ He glanced uneasily at Kant. More calmly, he added, ‘No, we must eliminate the threat posed by Collins in a more efficient manner. ’
    â€˜Poison,’ suggested Riley cheerfully. ‘Or shall we just smash in his brain box?’
    Another voice spoke from the middle of the table. ‘I propose we take him from his bed, and carry him blindfolded to Dublin Castle where we’ll hang him from the gallows ourselves. ’
    Outside the snow kept on falling, colliding with the darkness, hordes of flakes thickening against the glass. The idea of Collins’ murder was now firmly entrenched in the spies’ imaginations.
    â€˜Listen to me carefully,’ ordered the general . ‘Collins is only 26 years old and yet he’s achieved things that many generals never manage in an entire military career.’ His voice quietened, and he gave a slight smile. ‘Success changes a soldier; it makes him vulnerable.’
    â€˜How?’
    â€˜Men with gilded reputations like Collins’ come down in flames very quickly. Do you know why?’
    The spies listened intently.
    â€˜Because people like to see them fail ,’ said the general. ‘Not only their enemies but also their comrades, the ones they call their closest friends. I imagine there are plenty of people on the sidelines of the IRA who would like to see Collins a broken man.’
    â€˜What do you propose we do?’
    â€˜I want you to subject Collins’ closest associates to the most thorough observation. It is a fact of human nature that at least one of them will be prepared to betray or undermine him in order to advance his own position. It is the same as any political game.’
    â€˜We are men of action,’ said Isham. ‘Not political intriguers or gossip-mongers.’
    â€˜ I insist we shall have no unnecessary killing. Men of your generation have seen too many deaths. Instead, my dear fellows, I want you to settle into Dublin life, frequent the bars and hotels. Strike up acquaintance with Republicans instead of killing them. Communicate with their secret cells. Pry into their private lives. I want to know what cigarettes they smoke, their favourite tipples, their habits and dress size, what debts they owe, their domestic situations, any history of alcoholism or insanity in their families.’
    The spies hung over the table, their eyes expressing doubt at the general’s directive.
    â€˜It sounds to me that it’s a sketch artist you want,’ replied Isham.
    The men laughed again and turned their attention to the waitress, who was busy replenishing their glasses.
    Kant watched Stapleton staring grimly at the uninhibited committee of spies and informers. The general appeared at a loss to control them. He ran his fingers over the white linen of the tablecloth as though searching for an escape in familiar luxuries. He caught Kant’s stare and scrutinised him for several moments.
    It struck Kant that, if there was a network of English spies in Dublin, it existed not as a functioning organisation but as a law unto itself, and the general had little control over its actions and their timing . In spite of his sympathy for the general, he could understand the Crow Club’s frustration and impatience. Michael Collins was a void and they were a horde of spies falling without a place to land. If they had been soldiers in the trenches, they could have fought their foe face to face. But where was the enemy they must eventually fight it out with? A faceless figure pushing a bicycle into the twilight mist; an office clerk hiding behind a labyrinth of files; a gunman slipping into the bewildering sea of faces filling Dublin’s busy streets. There was no longer a battlefield, an arena to engage the enemy, just this sense of endlessly drifting downward into darkness, like blind arrows, like snowflakes descending from the