The Cry of the Halidon Read Online Free PDF Page A

important, is the absorption of the government of Jamaica by Dunstone, Limited. Jamaica is Dunstone’s projected base of operations. They can succeed, Mr. McAuliff.”
    Alex put his glass on the wide windowsill. He began slowly trying to find words, looking out at the slate rooftops converging into the Savoy Court. “Let me try to understand, from what you’ve told me and from what I know. Dunstone anticipates investing heavily in Jamaican development. All right, we agree on that, and the figures are astronomical. Now, in exchange for this investment, they expect to be awarded a lot of clout from a grateful Kingston government. At least, that’s what I’d expect if I were Dunstone. The normal tax credits, importing concessions, employment breaks, real estate … general incentives. Nothing new.” McAuliff turned his head and looked at Hammond. “I’m not sure I see any financial catastrophe … except, maybe, an English financial catastrophe.”
    “You stand corrected; I stand rebuked,” said Hammond. “But only in a minor way. You’re quite perceptive; it’s true that our concerns were—
at first
—U.K. oriented. English perversity, if you will. Dunstone is an important factor in Britain’s balance of trade. We’d hate to lose it.”
    “So you build a conspiracy—”
    “Now, just a minute, Mr. McAuliff,” the agent broke in, without raising his voice. “The highest echelons of the British government do not
invent
conspiracies. If Dunstone were what it is purported to be, those responsible inDowning Street would fight openly for our interests. I’m afraid that is not the case. Dunstone reaches into extremely sensitive areas in London, Berlin, Paris, Rome … and, most assuredly, in Washington. But I shall return to that. I’d like to concentrate on Jamaica for the moment. You used the terms ‘concessions,’ ‘tax breaks,’ … ‘clout’ and ‘incentives.’ I say ‘absorption.’ ”
    “Words.”
    “
Laws
, Mr. McAuliff. Sovereign; sanctioned by prime ministers and cabinets and parliaments. Think for a minute, Mr. McAuliff. An existing, viable government in a strategically located independent nation controlled by a huge industrial monopoly with world markets. It’s not outlandish. It’s around the corner.”
    Alex did think about it. For more than a minute. Prodded by Hammond’s gently spoken, authoritatively phrased “clarifications.”
    Without disclosing M.I.5’s methods of discovery, the Britisher explained Dunstone’s modus operandi. Enormous sums of capital had been transferred from Swiss banks to Kingston’s King Street, that short stretch of the block that housed major international banking institutions. But the massive cash flow was not deposited in British, American, or Canadian banks. Those went begging, while the less secure Jamaican banks were stunned by an influx of hard money unheard of in their histories.
    Few knew that the vast new Jamaican riches were solely. Dunstone’s. But for these few, proof was supplied by the revolving transfers of a thousand accounts within an eight-hour business day.
    Heads spun in astonishment. A few heads. Selected men in extraordinarily high places were shown incontrovertibly that a new force had invaded Kingston, a force so powerful that Wall Street and Whitehall would tremble at its presence.
    “If you know this much, why don’t you move in? Stop them.”
    “Not possible,” answered Hammond. “All transactions are covered; there’s no one to accuse. It’s too complex aweb of financing. Dunstone is masterminded by Warfield. He operates on the premise that a closed society is efficient only when its various arms have little or no knowledge of each other.”
    “In other words, you can’t prove your case and—”
    “We cannot expose what we cannot prove,” interrupted Hammond. “That is correct.”
    “You could threaten. I mean, on the basis of what you know damn well is true, you could raise one hell of a cry.… But