"Good morning, Mr. Phelps." "The day before yesterday, information pinpointing the locations of America's four missile control centres was stolen." "A Major Barrett and several other enemy agents involved were arrested, but not before the information was delivered to this man:" "Valentin Yetkoff, military attaché at the embassy in Washington." "As usual, with vital information, it must be verified before it can be acted upon." "Yetkoff has given that assignment to Roger Toland, his top agent in diplomatic circles." "Jim, if the information is confirmed, this country will be vulnerable to a preemptive missile attack." "Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to prevent this." "As always, if you or any of your IM Force should be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions." "This tape will self-destruct in five seconds." "Good luck, Jim." "Colonel Yetkoff has already sent off the information on the locations of the four missile control centres." "The information is accurate." "There is no way to get it back." "So, what we have to do is to make them believe that the information is false." "Rollin, did you work out the harness?" "Yes, Jim." "I'm wearing it right now." "Good, good." "I'd never know it." " Neither will Toland." " Well, he'd better not." "The moment he gets his hands on those negatives, you're a dead man." "How about the car, Willy?" "Dissolves in 30 seconds." "It will make the engine sound like a threshing machine." "And we can flush it out in five minutes." "Good." "When does the courier arrive?" "He arrives on the 11:40 plane Tuesday morning, as usual." "How does that look to you?" " Looks perfect." " It's not." "Roger Toland makes it his business to know every VIP in Washington." "So if we're gonna make this work, it has to be with you, Mrs. Buchanan." "Well, just how much danger will my wife actually be in, Mr. Phelps?" "Toland has already killed twice that we know of." "In each case, the women appeared to have taken an overdose of sleeping pills." "And always after they gave Toland classified information." "And I'm to be victim number three." "Well, Dr. Walters says that the time margin is more than adequate." "But the pills have to be real." "Toland has used these drugs before." "He knows what they can do." "There's no way you can simulate the symptoms of barbiturate poisoning." "Not when you're trying to fool an expert." "And he's an expert." "It's up to you, my dear." "I'll do my best." "Don't worry, Mrs. Buchanan." "We'll be on time." "I'm counting on that." "Des Moines." "Denver." "Atlanta and Portland." "Within five miles of each city is one of America's second-strike control centres." "If these four cities, plus Omaha, are eliminated in a single attack," "America's entire missile force would be paralysed." "The country will be helpless." "Grigor, get me a Scotch, huh?" "Well, so far, the only public announcement was that several agents, including their resident director Major Barrett, have been arrested." "No mention of any stolen documents." "And no reaction from your official contacts." "No, not yet." "Business as usual at the Pentagon." "No closed-door meetings, no panic sessions." "Thanks." "Perhaps they don't know that we have the information." "That would be perfect." "Unfortunately, we have no way to check that without talking to Barrett." "Obviously, we can't do that." "It's all up to me, isn't it?" "You have got to find a way to verify this information, Toland." "Have I ever failed you?" "Now, I've checked through channels, so now it's time for me to pursue some unofficial sources." "Your driver's licence, please?" "What's the trouble, officer?" "There's a stop sign back there." "Take it out of the wallet, please." " Here you are." " Thanks a lot." "Phone company." "Phone company." "Supposed to check your lines." "We did not call for a repairman." "Well, if I don't check your lines, you won't be calling anyone." "Seems there's a short grounding out your circuits." "All right." "Follow me." "May I introduce Mr. Buchanan and Mr. Richardson." "Gentlemen, could I just take one or two for the hostesses?" "Certainly." "A little closer together, please." "Thank you, gentlemen." "Everett..." "Hi, Harry." "Scotch and soda, please." "Yes, it was charming." "We're thinking of going there again." "Yes." "Oh, would you folks excuse me a moment, please?" " Everett?" " I'm sorry, my dear, but I must leave." "Oh, please, Everett, aren't we ever gonna leave any party together?" "Something's just come up." "I have to go to the White House immediately." " When will you be home?" " Oh, I'm not certain." "We may have to go out of town right away." "We have three or four stops to make." "Goodbye, my dear." " Mr. Toland?" " Yeah." " Mind if I take a couple of pictures?" " Sure, go ahead." "Something's missing." "I can't take a picture of Washington's most eligible bachelor..." "Mrs. Buchanan." "How are you?" "Good to see you." "Would you take a picture with Mr. Toland?" "I told you in Paris to stay away from me." "All right, okay." "I'm sorry." "No offence, but I thought you liked having your picture taken." "Mr. Toland, I guess we'll have to do it alone." "Thank you very much." "That's a pretty one whose husband is about to leave town." "Wherever the president goes, he goes." "Excuse me, may I speak to you a minute?" "Why, certainly." "Mr. Toland, I didn't wanna give you the wrong impression." "What happened a few moments ago had nothing at all to do with you." "I'd like to believe that, but facts are facts." "A beautiful woman hears my name and runs off rather than be photographed with me." "You know, something like that could ruin my reputation." "I've heard about your reputation." "I don't think it could be ruined that easily." "You're just trying to rebuild my shattered ego." "No, it was that man, that photographer." "He's easily the most despicable..." "Oh, I see." "Waiter." "Here." "Finished?" "Almost." "Still a couple of lines I have to check." "What's in here?" "You can't go in there." "It's the office of Colonel Yetkoff, military attaché." "Well, maybe there's another way I can do this without bothering him." "Oh, yes, Paris." "Paris is one of my favourite cities." "I thought I'd love it, but my husband is such a busy man." "I spent most of my time alone, either shopping or sitting in some hotel suite waiting for him." "That's a shame." "To leave a beautiful woman alone in Paris is a sin against nature." "Perhaps matters will be more to your liking here in Washington." "Well, I hope so." "Can you give me a hand here?" "I'm almost finished." "What do you need?" "You see this wire?" "It goes to this switch." "Now, I'm gonna follow the line around that way and if you'll just click the switch, like that." "That's right, just keep clicking." "We are, in addition, checking all our sources, positive and negative, in an effort to isolate and verify." "Any confirmation..." "Who are you?" "Are you the military attaché?" "Not another step." "I am the military attaché." "My business is with you and you alone." "Grigor remains." "Close the door." "I was a part of Major Barrett's network, until this week." "My orders, in case my resident director were arrested, were to report directly and only to you." "If you are one of our agents, you were given additional orders." "Yes." "Will you please transmit the following message to the centre:" ""Albert has lost contact with David and wishes to re-establish communication with the director. "" "Your right thumbprint." "Why this elaborate disguise of yours?" "You know as well as I do that this embassy is under constant surveillance." "Besides, it's a good cover." "We will request the centre to validate your credentials." "A courier will bring your records tomorrow." "If everything is in order, you will be contacted." "Where?" "Jackson Park." "On the terrace at 5:30." "Fine." "I get off work at 5:00, anyway." "I really do work for the phone company, you know." "Help you, sir?" "Where is the regular man, Fredericks?" "Oh, he's on vacation." "You the rush job from the embassy?" "Would you start your engine, please?" "You've got troubles, all right." "The problem's in your valve lifters." "How long will it take to fix it?" "Seven, eight hours." "I have a job ahead of you." "All right, all right, fix it." "But it must be ready early in the morning, you understand?" "It will be." "Don't worry." "It couldn't be Everett." "He wouldn't ring." "I'll just get rid of whoever it is." "You just wait here." "Yes." "Good evening, Mrs. Buchanan." "You certainly don't waste any time, do you?" "Not when it comes to business." "Look, I don't have much money here in the apartment." "Sure, I understand." "You're just getting settled." "Three hundred will do fine." "On second thought, better make it 500." "My husband would be suspicious." "All right." "Three hundred this week." "And every week from now on." "That's 50 more than in Paris." "My living costs have gone up." "Thank you, Mrs. Buchanan." "Poor Roger." "How awful for you to be exposed to such a sordid mess." "I've seen blackmail before." "It's disgusting and difficult to deal with." "Those photographs he has, they must be very valuable." "Only to me." "There was a man in Paris." "We tried to be discreet in out-of-the-way places, but somehow he found out and followed us, took pictures of us together." "The funny thing is, my little affair didn't mean a thing to me." "But how could I ever explain those pictures to Everett?" "Have you tried to buy the negatives from Miller?" "Well, I'm sure that he'd sell them, but I can't get enough cash together without Everett knowing." "It's hopeless." "No." "No." "Nothing is hopeless." "We'll talk about it tomorrow." "Thank you, Roger." "For everything." "What are those?" "Just a little something to calm me down, put me to sleep." "They can be dangerous, you know." "Thank you for being so concerned, but I'm very careful." "Will I see you tomorrow?" "Yes." "Sleep well, darling." "I don't understand." "Don't you?" "I'm talking about blackmail." "You've got no right to come in here like this..." "Miller, I'll say it again." "You're a cheap blackmailer." "This is where you keep your negatives?" "I've got some in there." "Mrs. Buchanan and friend?" "I might have those." "How many pictures are there?" "Two." "Tomorrow morning, you'll give me all those negatives and all the prints." "I'll give you $10,000." "What do you mean, 10,000?" "It's worth twice that." "Miller, 10 or nothing." "All right, all right, 10." "But cash." "Seven, 8, 9, 10,000." "You're forgetting." "The receipt." "You're certain that these negatives will get her to open the safe?" "Absolutely." "And my guess is, that red phone book in her safe has the numbers of all the missile control centres and is right there waiting to be taken." "I can have someone else open the safe." "And have it explode in your face?" "When they wire a red phone, they also instal a destruct mechanism." "That is why we will let Mrs. Buchanan open the safe." " Good trip?" " The usual." "Six, seven, eight, nine, 10,000." "First the negatives and the pictures." "Yeah." "Sure." "Where are the other negatives?" "What other negatives?" " Hey, let go." " Listen." "You are not dealing with an empty-headed woman." "Those negatives are 4-by-5." "Your camera uses 35 mm film." "Right, right." "I used another camera to take those shots." "No." "No, please." "I want those negatives." "No." "Okay, I'll show you." "I'll show you." "All right, move." "Move." "Let's get out of this thing." "Photo, fingerprint, code message." "All in order." "Watermark." "Grigor." "This is not our watermark." "There are scratches on the lock." "It is not possible." "There is no other answer." "The seat beside you on the plane was empty as usual." " You did not sleep." " Except in the car." " But only for a few minutes, colonel." " The back seat." "Open that." "You felt nothing." "You saw nothing." "It must have been done last night." "In the garage, when the car was being repaired." "They probably caused the car to need repair." "So our friend from the telephone company is an American agent." "When are you scheduled to meet him?" "Thirty minutes." "I will go with you, Grigor." "I want to talk to him before you kill him." "We have received word from the centre about you." "Fine." "Then we can get down to business." "Before he was arrested, Major Barrett gave me an assignment." "What was the nature of that assignment?" "Through phone-company records," "I was to determine the location of four generals of the Air Force." "These generals, what are their names?" "Lange, Stoner, Dibert, Kelly." "Their locations, do you have them?" "No, not yet." "But I'm going back to the phone company now." "I'll have them this afternoon." "Good work." "Report to the embassy when you have them." "What about payment?" "Barrett only gave me an advance." "We will pay you what we owe you when you report to the embassy." "Fair enough." "You're letting him go?" "I am curious to know where the Americans would like us to think the missile control centres are." "How can I ever thank you?" "Well, that's one way." "Finished." "Free at last of that awful man." "But why did he give the pictures to you, Roger?" "Well..." "You gave him money, didn't you, Roger?" "Yes." "Ten thousand dollars." "Roger." "I'll repay you somehow." "It may take time." "I'm so grateful." "There is a problem." "You see, I'm not a wealthy man." "So I..." "Well, I had to borrow the money from a friend." "Of course, I didn't tell him what it was for." "But, well, this friend, he wants collateral on a loan." "Collateral?" "Yes, anything at all." "A piece of jewellery would do." "You'd get it back, of course." "Oh, Roger, don't be embarrassed, after all you've done for me." "Thank you, my dear." " What are you doing?" " Don't worry." "The only thing I'm going to do is photograph the pages." "No one will ever know." "Somazyne, 15 milligrams?" "It should be relatively painless." "No!" "Drink it." "That's it." "She took the pills." "How long do we have, doctor?" "Fifteen, 20 minutes, no more." "There are many ways to die." "Most of them much more unpleasant than simply going to sleep." "Getting sleepy?" "Please don't let me die." "Doctor?" "She'll make it." "Command Centre 1, Denver." "Two, Atlanta." "Three, Portland." "Command Centre 4, Des Moines." "This checks exactly with Barrett's information." "Well, of course." "The man from the telephone company is here." "Will you excuse us, please?" "This will take only a moment." "Sure." "What did you bring me?" "The jackpot." "Only the jackpot." "Each of the commanding generals at the four missile control centres has close relatives living in other parts of the country." "There's a daughter at Bennington who makes collect calls to Daddy." "There's a wife here in Washington, another wife in New York and a brother in San Francisco." "I traced them all through phone-company records." "What does this all mean, these numbers?" "Those are area-code numbers." "The cities are listed down below." " But..." " Never mind, Grigor." "Very good work." "That will be all for now." "Thank you, colonel." "Oh, what about my next assignment?" "You'll be contacted when you're needed." "The usual way." "Well, now, if you are through with me," "I didn't get much sleep last night." "Just a minute." "This may interest you." "What is it?" "Further verification from another agent." "I see." "After all these years, I am still not trusted." "We have many trusted sources." "In a matter of such importance, we use them all." "This agent's verification is in the form of telephone area codes:" "303, 404, 503, 515." "Which are?" "Denver, Atlanta, Portland, Des Moines." "Complete verification." "We can be absolutely certain that these are not the locations of the missile control centres." "Not the locations?" "What do you mean?" "The man who gave me this paper is not one of our own men." "He is an American agent." "Why would the Americans verify it?" "It appears the Americans think they have put one over on us." "They somehow planted this information for Major Barrett and then made certain that their own agents verified it for us." "But I, too, verify it." "Then you, too, are an American agent." "Now, wait a minute, that's not true." "Now, you know that I'm loyal." "Toland, you are loyal to whoever pays you the most." "Obviously, it is the Americans." "Now, wait..." "Take this garbage down to the incinerator and burn it." " How's Mrs. Buchanan?" " She's gonna be okay." "Toland hasn't come out yet." "He may be a while."