"Do you want a lift?" "No, thanks." "I am waiting for my mother." "You are Costa?" "What do I call you?" "Georgi will do." "I feel naked." "I couldn't risk carrying, not through Customs." "This okay?" "That's good." "You think good." "We are not amateurs." "Ah, yes, you are." "Why else send for me?" "How far?" "An hour." "Maybe less, the way you drive." " You fool!" " The car is stolen!" "I've got papers, passport!" "Amateurs!" "Cop killer." "Not interested in a cop killer, Doyle?" "I didn't say I wasn't interested." "Of course I'm interested." "Not so long ago, it could have been you." "Look, somebody kills a cop, they stick two fingers up at all of us." "All I asked was why." "Cop killers are for cops to find." "Why us?" "It's not the cop we're interested in." "It's the car." "Car was abandoned less than an hour afterwards." "Blood spots." "because the dead man had an unusual blood group." "Lucky." "Lucky?" "That's quite an epitaph." "Ah, what about the car?" "Stolen from a British tourist three days ago in Athens." "We've been through it with a fine tooth-comb." "Plenty of handprints, but they're all blank." "They wore gloves." "So they certainly know their job, whatever that is." "And look here." "See?" "And here." "There." "That's where they carried it." "Carried what?" "The reason you're here." "We took a paper print." "It's guesswork, of course, but this bracket, here, linked to this one, here, carrying a long tube." "And this one, a more compressed form." "Put it together and this is what I came up with." " A rifle." " Cowley, I am guessing." "They smuggled in a rifle." "Why?" "You know where to look, you can find an Armalite." "Because this is no ordinary rifle." "Look at the weight of the barrel, and the stock." "Made to measure, too." "Probably to fit one man." "A sniper's rifle?" "Well, if it is, I've seen nothing like it before." "A rocket launcher?" "Maybe." "Whatever it is, it's something very, very special." "It's terrific." "It is only an instrument." "No, it's more than that." "It's beautiful." "Powerful." "No one touches it." "No one." "I want some coffee." "Sure." "I'll make it." "I like it sweet, very sweet." "You are not Greek." "What are you doing here?" "I believe in the cause." "Your cause." "It is not mine." "I work for money." "Only for money." "And you get some charge out of revolution, huh?" "You find the idea excites you." "And him." "I don't belong to him." "No?" "To everybody, perhaps?" "Would that matter to you?" "The only thing that matters to me is the job." "I don't want anything cluttering up my mind until it is over." "I'll be here." "I know." "Coffee won't take long." "You want to go over the layout now?" "Eventually, yes, but first I must check the gun." "Zero it in." "I think I know a place." "Hilda, when Tommy gets back, will you send him out to get some food?" "A man like this needs looking after." "Ah, that's enough." "You go check my shooting." "Georgi, hey!" "Move." "Move." "Damn!" "Let's move out of here." "If I hadn't slipped, I'd be a dead man." "What were you doing up here, anyway?" "Taking the air." "Oh, yeah, and poaching some game along with it." "Well, I wasn't shooting at anyone, was I?" "Took the hat clean off my head!" "What about the two men?" "Just two men." "I was too busy running." "They had a Range Rover, you say?" "A white one." "And running on heavy-duty tyres." "Okay, thank you." "Well, at least we know now it was a rifle." "A very accurate rifle." " About there, you say?" " Yeah." "What the hell were they shooting at?" "The right direction, wrong area." "Uh, where you're looking, sir, is about two miles away." "More, even." "I know." "What's the effective range of an Armalite rifle, Bodie?" "At least fifteen hundred yards." "Exactly." "So why take the trouble to smuggle it" "Doyle, there." "Beyond that ridge of trees." "A field, sir." "And in the field?" "Oh." "Well, looks like a scarecrow, sir." " Athens?" " Hey?" "That car was stolen in Athens?" "That's a Greek cigarette end." "What do you know about Greeks, Bodie?" "Uh, the fellows all dance together and the cops shave their heads." "They are a tight-knit community." "Yeah, ghetto time." "Don't knock it." "Ghetto means, um, being able to depend on your own kind." "So, you and me are a mobile ghetto, eh?" "I've got some good Greek friends." "Me, too." "Funny thing is, though, they're all girls." "Where we going?" "To see a Greek..." "who is not so friendly." "Hallo, Tarkos." "I am clean." "I am clean!" "Finally got yourself a bathroom?" "You have got nothing on me." "You-- serve a lousy Moussaka." " Oh, you are making jokes!" " Yes." "Fine, we'll make jokes together." "I'll bring out a bottle of ouzo and" "And you keep a fleet of pretty girls." "Till one of them steps out of line and suddenly they're not really pretty any more." "She was lying." "She fell down and slipped that way." "It's nothing to do with me, Tarkos." "No?" "No." "That's police business, that is." "Let them take care of their own, that's what I always say." " Me, too." " Yes." "Tarkos." "We've known each other a long time, eh?" "You're my favourite Greek, you are." "It's a good man, this." "Pillar of the Greek community." "Godfather to many children, eh?" "Godfather?" "Maybe, maybe." "And they all come to you for advice and comfort, don't they?" "They come to you with their problems." "And there's not a dirty game in town that you don't know about." "A rifle." "And a hitman." "I don't know nothing about that." "You have to believe me." "Oh, I believe you." "What are you doing?" "It's an old Greek custom." "I'm with him." "No!" "Hey, that's Limoges!" "Limoges!" "Careful, that's Limoges." "Oh, yeah, Limoges." "Okay, okay!" "Tommy Karishkos." "He lives with his mother, but last week he took an unfurnished flat." "He runs with a pack; opens old wounds." "He's very political." "He's up to something." "I don't know what." " Up to something?" " That's all I know, that's all!" "I know he and his friends have been pulling off some jobs to get money." " To pay a hitman?" " I don't know." "Maybe." "Where do we find him?" "The next street, number 40." "Please!" "They are political animals." "Not like me." "I do not mess with politics." "Well, you should." "I mean, after all, democracy is a Greek word." "Oomph." "Now, he didn't ask you to dance." "Hmm?" "I think you've offended him." "You should have seen me in my prime." "Ah, no, seriously, Ray, you were great back there, you know." "So cool, in command." "Good trick, that." "That's not a trick." "It's just being...offensive." "The field of fire is narrow." "Very narrow." "But this elevation makes it possible." "You have done a good job." "Always announce yourself." "Always." "Sorry." "I got you some kleftiko and hummus" "Amateurs!" "You wear your nationality like a badge." "He's proud to be Greek!" "Sure he's proud." "And when my job is done and they start asking questions, all this will convince them he is a home-loving boy, huh?" "You're right, so, we've got to keep a low profile." "All of us." "Non-existent." "And this." "Take it away, break it up and bury it." "Hey." "Do you know where Tommy Karishkos--?" "Georgi!" "What's the matter, son?" "All right, move." "Move!" "Go!" "Right." "Double barrel, and he's had one." "I'll draw his fire." "Ray." "Alive." "Yeow!" "I think you lost." "Move!" "Where to?" "Drive out of town." "Somewhere quiet and empty." "They've got Tommy." "He'll talk." "Of course." "He can describe you." "Yes, but it will take them some time to find me in their files." "We must use that time to advantage." "To do what?" "The gun." "We still have to prove the gun." "The length of the stock determines his reach, and that in turn suggests an approximate height." "He's probably around six feet tall." "Snipers usually scale heights, so he's probably fit and average weight for his height, say a hundred fifty-five pound." "The curve there could mean he's left handed, but that's all conjecture." "He could turn out to be a short, fat, right-handed orang-utan." "What we do know is the rifle is a one-off, made to measure." "And that means the man who intends using it knows what it's all about." "Now get out and ferret." "Sniff hard." "A rifle--anything that might connect with a rifle" "I want to know about." "Okay." "Hi, Tim." " Hallo." " Hallo, John." "Present for you." "It killed a policeman." "It nearly killed Doyle and Bodie." "Your prints are all over it." "Cop killers are not liked, not even in prison." "Cop killers suffer." "You'll find that out after twenty years or twenty-five without remission, because judges don't like cop killers either." "I didn't, I didn't kill anyone!" "Well, to convince us of that, you'd have to tell us who did." "How old would you say he is?" "Twenty-three." "Twenty-five at most." "Add about the same again, he'll be fifty when he comes out." "All those years wasted." "All those girls." "Best years of his life." "I didn't kill anyone." "But this did." "And covered in your prints." "I'm a man with a tidy mind, you see." "I enjoy stamping "Case Closed"." "I know you didn't do that killing." "What?" "But if you want to serve someone else's time, that suits me." "Keeps everything neat." "But, whoever he is, he must be a very good friend." "He'd have to be your brother." "I don't know who he is." "You go and check his apartment." "Now, Tommy." "It is Tommy?" "Nothing." "Mind it." "Oh, it's all right." "That footprint's mine." "What's that?" "Gun oil." "Hey!" "There's an imprint on this." "See." "What's that?" " T." " Yeh." " R. J." " Trajectory." "Could be." "Could be transistor radio." "Yup." "There's some diagrams here, look." "Let's get it worked on." "So, he calls himself Georgi?" "Is that right, Tommy?" "Georgi?" "No other name?" "But you can describe him, can't you?" "You can pull his face out of a file." "For me." "Yes, of course you will." "Who's he going to hit, Tommy?" "I don't know." "I don't know." "I told you, they wouldn't tell me." "Ah, yes, because they didn't think you were important enough." "But you were important enough to take the risks, eh?" "To raise the money." "How much?" "Five thousand?" "No, ten!" " Thirty." " What?" "Thirty thousand." "We had to raise thirty thousand." "For a contract?" "The going rate is ten." "It must be a very special hit." "Or one very long shot." "Now, look at this." "The trajectory." "Elevation high, very high." "And this is possibly a ten-storey building-- a church, tower-- and that could be the target." "Some kind of circular road?" "Or a castle." "Or a perimeter fence." "Or anything." "Tommy Karishkos pulled a face out of File, International File." "Theodore Scafross." "Mixed parentage." "Armenian, Greek, Irish." "An Irish Greek?" "Well, perhaps his granny had a bicycle." "He saw service in Beirut and Angola, on both occasions as an army instructor." "He's a terrific shot." "Did I say something?" "You said just about everything." "Put this picture on the wire." "General APB." "A terrific shot!" "But not without practice." "A rifle, particularly this rifle, needs sighting." "Zeroing in." "The scarecrow." "That's right, and he didn't have a chance to check his score." "So, he'll have to try again." "Georgi." "Hold it." "We won't get too many bites at this cherry." "What was that?" "High and right." "I know." "Where to now?" "The apartment." "But we are three days too soon." "We'd have to hold the family hostage for" "Give me an alternative." "Bodie!" "Bodie, over here." "You'll recognise this." "Dumdum bullet." "Hollow tip filled with mercury." "Banned by the Geneva Convention." "It's not a popular club with professional hitmen." "A long shot, like I said." "Probably from the rim of the horizon, over there." " Who was the dead man?" " Nobody." "Nobody's nobody." "Oh, I, I didn't mean that." "I meant unconnected with the case." "A small-time insurance broker." "Well, let's just hope he was properly covered, eh?" "For the sake of his wife and children." "He did have a wife and kids, you know" "Oh, knock it off, Ray." "Save it for the guy who uses people as target practice." "Which one?" "Georgi, we have to hold them for three whole days." "They have got Tommy." "By tomorrow, my picture will be in every paper." "Now, which one." "There. 128." "Yes, we" "Frank?" "Frank?" "Billy, come here!" "Shut up!" "Now, everybody do precisely as I say!" "And then nobody gets hurt, okay?" "Thank heavens for modern development." "It eliminates the Houses of Parliament." "There's too many skyscrapers in between." "Well, that just leaves about fifty thousand other possible targets and none of them look like that." "It could be anything, anywhere." "What about a night shot?" "No." "He could use an infra red scope." "If it was a night shot, he would have made his dummy run at night." "He's that good." "Yes, I'm afraid he's that good." "And he's out there, somewhere." "Can I come in or would I clutter your mind?" "I know, I know:" "never before an assignment, not ever." "In case it clouds your judgement, hmm?" "Spoils your aim." "I always try to do my job perfectly." "Do you do everything perfectly?" "Yes." "Well, you must have made some mistakes?" "Yes, one." "Was she prettier than me?" "More desirable?" "She was a boy." "It had been a long, hot summer." "Who is it?" " I don't know." " Who?" "Uh, well" "Well, it's probably Muriel, my neighbour." "She, she often pops in at this time." " That's right." " Right." "You, come here." "Hilda, look after the boy." "Don't hurt him." "Please don't hurt him." "Just you get rid of her." "Okay?" "Now, do you remember what to say?" "Billy isn't well, but it is nothing serious-  ...nothing serious." " But he will not be going to" " But he will not be going to-- - ...will not be going to school." "Yes." "Okay." "Come on." "Mum?" "Muriel!" "Hallo, love." "Uh, look, love, Billy isn't very well." "I'm not going to send him to school." "He's all right, I don't have to get a doctor, but he just isn't that, that well." "Yes, all right, love." "Look, I'll have to go now because I've got some supper in the oven." "Okay?" " All right, bye." " Bye." "It's all right." "All right?" "We haven't eaten, Georgi." "I'm hungry." "I've looked, all they've got is some milk and one lousy frozen pizza." "That's not going to last us." "Not till Saturday." "Saturday?" "Shut up." "Hilda, tomorrow you will go and get what we need." "Here, miss." "You dropped something!" "Hang on." "Here, here." "Look out!" "Stand back, everybody." "Compliments of the computer." "Every Greek VIP in the country." "The computer is now working on friends of Greeks, enemies of Greeks, rivals of Greeks, other nationalities vital to Greek interest" "Uh, thanks, thanks a lot, Betty." "Hallo?" "Yes, Cowley." "Right, I'll send Doyle and Bodie over." "Wouldn't have bothered you boys, except that we found these in her bag." "Greek cigarettes." "Duty cop said she acted scared." "He called her and she ran, right under a taxi." "And when can we talk to her?" "Your guess is as good as mine." "Fractured skull." "She's gonna be in coma for a long while." "Where did it happen?" "High Street." "Outside the supermarket." "What d'you think?" "She wasn't carrying any car keys." "So wherever she came from, she must have walked." "Yeah, wherever she came from." "Sandwiches, fruit, pork pies." "That's what she'd been buying." "The kind of stuff you'd buy if" "If you were holed up somewhere." " Yeah." " Yeah." "Well, uh, let's get to the top of one of them." " How many?" " What?" "Sandwiches." "Well, enough for a couple of days." "Yeah, I know, if they're holed here, they're not gonna be here for very long." "Measure me out a couple of miles." "I'd say about where that church spire is." "Yeah, about there." "Which means any one of these buildings here could be the target." "Umm, like looking for a needle in a haystack." "Yeah." "Can't see one that looks like the drawing." "We'll have to check it out." "This area, too." "She should have been back hours ago." "So we go hungry." "Something's happened." "She's been caught." "Or she chickened and ran out on us." "If she was picked up, she knows we are here." "If she was picked up, she would have talked." "And if she has talked, why are they not here now, huh?" "Why not?" "Act natural." "Sorry to disturb you, a routine check." "Have you, uh, seen this man?" "Have you seen him?" "No." "No." "Why?" "I don't want to alarm you, but we had a report that he was seen in the area." "A petty thief, nothing to worry about." "So, you haven't seen him?" "No." "How about your husband?" "Oh, um, he's been in all day." "He's got a cold." "Oh, I see." "Well, if you do see him, give us a call, will you?" "Sorry to disturb you." "Well?" "Oh, that's them all right." "Mr and Mrs Prior." "This is Mrs Wilson, 125." "She's sure to be in." "Georgi, they've got a photograph." "I think it's you." "They are looking for us." "But they didn't find us, did they." "So now they will go and look someplace else." "It's Hilda." "I think she must have talked." "If she had talked, they would have broken down the door." "No, they are just guessing, spitting in the wind." "Everything is fine, just fine." "What's that?" " What?" " That." "It's, uh, compliments of Cowley." "List of Greek VIPs." "Yeah, thanks, anyway." "All possible targets." "How many?" "Hundreds, thousands." "And he wants us to check them all." "That's a secretary's job-- or, a job that needs a secretary." "How about Betty, hey?" "Come on, let's get her along." "No, Betty's left." "She left for home hours ago." "Anyway, it'd ruin your concentration, starting a new romance now." "New?" "For an ex-cop, you rate low in observation, Doyle." " Coffee?" " Yeah, thanks." " Where'd you get to?" " Nowhere." "You sleep easy, Ray." "Habit." "Grab it while you can." "I've tied them up." "They are in the back room." "Good." "Suppose someone calls?" "There is nobody in." "They have gone out for the day." "Check there every few minutes." "All right." "Testing of the public address system." "Number one." "One two three four five." "Five four three two one." "Testing of the public address system." "Number Two." "One two three four five." "Theory." "Conjecture." "They've done door-to-door checks." "Every block, haven't they?" "Experienced men run those checks." "Anyway, a snapshot from three thousand yards?" "Nearer four thousand." "I thought you were off duty." "You're supposed to be home, feet up, recharging the batteries." "That's funny; that's exactly what we thought you were doing." "No, I'm healthy." "You should be out getting the air." "Come on, we'll go for a drive." "A drive?" "Where?" "Oh, here and there." "You better bring the sleeping beauty with you." "I'm puzzled." "If you thought we were off duty, why'd you come looking for us in the rest room?" "Because there's one thing you and I share, Bodie." " Same secretary." " Hey?" "We share an animal instinct, a nose for trouble." "You, too, Doyle." "You can't teach it, you can't learn it." "You've either got it or you haven't got it." "You mean it's today." "Sandwiches for a couple of days." "Yes, I think they're still in the area somewhere." "I think it could be today." "I think." "Right." "Step outside." "Cowley, CI5." "Put the armoury away, son." "Don't want to alarm the public." "Sorry, sir." "Don't be." "Nice reflexes." "How are things?" "Very quiet, actually." "They're all at home, I think, watching the tennis." "Okay." "Keep at it." "Useful lad, might be able to use him." "Should have taken his number." "P221." "You should have been a policeman, Doyle." "Tennis." "Yeah, Wimbledon." "It's Final's day." "Wimbledon." "That's less than two miles from here." "Hey, stop." "The Centre Court." "Now, that is the Centre Court." "It could be." "There'll be half Debrett and the Diplomatic Register in those stands today." "Not to mention a couple of Royals." "So, who's in the Royal Box today?" "With Greek connections." "We can't stop Wimbledon-- not on a hunch." "No, but I'll warn Security." "Maybe they can filter a couple of tall lads in front of the Royal Box." "But the rest of the stands will be wide open." "Let's go to those tower blocks of yours." "Those involved in the Men's Finals on the Centre Court, please assemble for a briefing in the Chief Steward's office in fifteen minutes." "Officials involved in the Men's Finals, assemble at one o'clock outside Number One" "All spectators are requested to be seated fifteen minutes before the commencement of the match." "Where is he?" "He'll show." "He's got to show." "Heavy-duty." "Doyle, do you know how many vehicles have heavy-duty tyres?" "On a Range Rover?" "A white Range Rover?" "Here?" "Okay, but you explain to the Cow because he'll freak out." "I told you." "You do the explaining." "Bodie." "Let's explain that to Cowley, shall we." "Greek." "You know, it's going to be one of those top floors, isn't it?" "If it's this block." "Yeah, well, let's check it out and argue about it later." "No, let's argue about it now." "He might be firing from the roof, for all we know." "There's a white Range Rover back there," "I think it's theirs." "We found that in it." "Excuse me, sir." "I'd like to take a look around your apartment." "Nice clean place you've got here." "Oh, hallo." "Hallo." "Bodie." "Doyle." "Yeah?" "The seventh floor, west side of the building." "Fifteenth window along from left as I'm standing." "An open window." "I think I can see something." "Yes, it's the rifle." "Two windows to every apartment." "That makes it apartment one two-- apartment 128." "We're on our way." "No!" "Bodie, you take the apartment above." "Doyle, get outside the door, but for God's sake, take it easy." "Hold off until I say so, right?" "Hold off?" "Doesn't he know he could squeeze that trigger at any time?" "Bodie, you move before I give the go and I'll personally break both your arms." "Hey." "Both arms." "Deuce." "Game to..." "Hallo, again." "I thought we made the date for tomorrow night." "Yes, that's quite right." "Look, what's going on here?" "You just sit down, like a good girl." "Hold onto that." "What are you doing?" "I just want to get out on your sunroof." "Oh, what for?" "I'm going to drop in on somebody." "Bodie." "Bodie." "Bodie." "Yup?" "No doubt about it." "I can see the rifle clear, but that's all." "I can't risk a shot." "Anyway, there may be hostages." "Bodie, I want a double entry on my signal." "And Bodie, hurry it up." "I'll make sure you're fully compensated." "Oh, thanks." "Doyle, you in position?" "Yup." " Special locks?" " No." "Bodie, hold it." "There's movement inside." "Okay." "Now." "Now, I have him." "All right, all right, what's happened in there?" "Well, somebody say something!" "Two dead." "Neither of them us." "We did okay." "Okay?" "You call that okay?" "Ah, Bodie" "Look, a bust in like that, you're supposed to shoot from the door." "Yeah, and suppose I" "Well, then, the next time, you can be the monkey on a string and I'll be the back up!" "And if I had fired from the door and missed, who was standing in the window?" "Since when did you miss?" "All right, it's all right, it's all right." "That's set for two miles?" "Yeah." "Incredible." "A good tool, this." "I'd say it was indispensable." "Yeah." "Oh, yeah." " Elevation?" " How's that?" "Perfect, perfect." "They should give us a scope like that." "Yeah." "Sir, I've got the Minister of State on Line Five." "Right, Betty, put him through." "Ah, Cowley, I gather your people had some trouble with our Greek visitor." "But nobody was hurt." "Congratulations." "Thank you, sir." "Well done." "By the way, you don't happen to know who won the Men's Singles, do you?" "Yes, sir." "We did." "Oh, yes, much clearer." "I still think you're wrong, though." "It's nearer 38-22-36." "I'm impressed." "You're not usually interested in an aftermath report." "The Armoury of the Enemy In-depth, that kind of thing." "As a matter of fact, we don't really have to have an in-depth on this." "A one-off." "Please God we don't have to find one or face one again." "Yeah." "So, it'll go in our museum and prob-- 38-22-36?" "Uh, just a guess, sir." "That can't be right." "We probably got the figures wrong." "That may be, but 38-22-36!" "Come on, give us a hand." "I'm no armoury expert, but the limits of compensation on a weapon like this should be approximate" "I should put you both on a reprimand report. 38-22-36?" "What kind of a description is that?" "She's about five foot seven, a hundred and thirty pounds, heavily freckled-- and a natural blond."