Chapter 5 fourth quarter
After midnight, Gabriel was moved from the interrogation room to a cell on the other side of the office building.It was small, the walls painted a dead gray, and there was only one bed—not so much a bed as a steel frame with a mattress on top.The toilet was rusty and the water in the toilet kept flushing.A light bulb hung from the ceiling behind the barbed wire and kept humming.His supper had been left untouched on the floor by the cell door, a fatty pork sausage, a few limp greens, and a plate of greasy potatoes beside it.He suspected that the pork sausage had been sent to humiliate Peterson on purpose.
He tried to build up in his mind what had happened outside the bars: Peterson would have contacted his superiors, his superiors had contacted the Foreign Office, and word might have reached Tel Aviv.The Prime Minister must be driven crazy.He already has a lot of things to deal with: the West Bank is fighting; the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are on the verge of collapsing; the coalition government is falling apart and is on the verge of collapse.What he hates most now is when others make trouble for him, but this time, the one who made trouble for him is a killer, although he no longer works for the government, but he has fallen into the hands of the Swiss - which will bring another scandal to the agency, Newspapers all over the world will compete to publish this news as front page headlines.
Right now, the unnamed office building on King Saul Boulevard must be brightly lit, and people are lighting up the night to discuss urgent countermeasures.What about Shamron?Did this incident alarm him?Is he in the official residence by Lake Tiberias these days?Shamron's whereabouts are always uncertain.Since retiring, he has been out of the mountains several times, each time turning the tide in a crisis.From time to time, the authorities called him back to preside over a dubious advisory board, or give instructions to a seemingly independent investigation team.Not long ago, he was appointed interim chief of the Intelligence Service.Since "retiring to the mountains and forests", this is the first time he has held such an important position.Gabriel has been wondering when Shamron's term will end.For him, "temporary" could mean a hundred days, or it could mean a hundred years.He was born in Poland, but he has a flexible concept of time like a Bedouin.Gabriel is Shamron's killer, and Shamron will settle this matter, whether he retires or not.
This old guy... In Gabriel's eyes, he has always been an "old guy", although when we first met, he was only middle-aged.Where did the old guy go?Has anyone seen him?Run to the deep mountains and wild forests to escape!The old guy is coming!When he was really old now, Gabriel felt that he was still the same as when they first met, he was not tall, but he always gave people a sense of oppression. One afternoon in September 1972, he went to Bezalé College of Art and Design to lobby Gabriel, who was still in school at the time, to join him.He looks like a man of iron, and he walks sonorously and powerfully.He knew everything about Gabriel.He knew that Gabriel had grown up on a kibbutz in the Jezreel Valley and hated farm work.He also knew that Gabriel was a loner. Although he was married to Leah Saville, a classmate from the art department, his personality hadn't changed at all.Gabriel's mother made it out of Auschwitz alive, not fighting the cancer that ravaged her body; his father survived the horrors of the camp, only to be blasted to pieces by Egyptian army shells in the Sinai peninsula .Shamron knew from Gabriel's service that he was as good at marksmanship as at painting.
"Do you watch the news?"
"I can only paint."
"Do you know Munich? What happened to our compatriots there?"
"Well, I heard."
"You won't be sad?"
"Of course it hurts, but not because they're Olympians."
"But you'll still be angry."
"Who are you mad at?"
"Palestinians, the 'Black September' terrorists, have the blood of our fellow citizens on their hands."
"I'm never angry."
Although Gabriel didn't realize this, Shamron's intentions were fully revealed in these words.He began to coax Gabriel into taking the bait step by step.
"You know foreign languages, don't you?"
"How many doors will you know?"
"How many doors?"
"My parents don't like Hebrew, so they usually speak European languages."
"Which languages?"
"You already know, you know all about me. Don't play tricks on me."
So Shamron decided to use his rhetoric.His boss, Golda, has ordered him to "send all the killers out" and make the "Black September" bastards pay their debts with blood.The operation was code-named "God's Wrath".Shamron has already said that this action has nothing to do with justice, it's just an eye for an eye, a grudge for a grudge, it's as simple as that.
"Sorry, I'm not interested."
"Not interested? Do you know how many people in this country have sharpened their heads and want to join our team?"
"You go to them."
"I don't want to look for them, I just want to look for you."
"why me?"
"Because you are talented, speak foreign languages, have a good mind, don't drink alcohol, don't smoke marijuana, and won't fight unprepared battles because of your hot head."
And you're as cold-blooded as a killer, Shamron thought.He didn't make it clear, he just told a story.He said that a young intelligence officer was sent on a special mission because of his extraordinary talent.One night, in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, he saw a man waiting for a bus on the side of the road-this man looked like an ordinary person, Gabriel, he was a lowly wretch .The intelligence officer jumped out of the car, pinned him to the ground, and grabbed his neck tightly.The poor fellow was struggling desperately, the expression on his face became ferocious and distorted because of extreme fear, just like the Jews he threw into the gas chamber back then.As Shamron had hoped, the story aroused hatred in Gabriel.He was the only child in his family, and both parents were survivors of Auschwitz concentration camp, and their hatred naturally burned on him.
Thinking of this, Gabriel suddenly felt physically and mentally exhausted.For so many years, he has been fighting and killing, and his hands are covered with other people's blood. Now he is in prison for the first time, and the murderer is not him.You can't get caught!So says the Eleventh Commandment of Shamron.You must avoid getting caught at all costs.When necessary, you can kill innocent people.This is not okay, Gabriel thought, not to hurt innocent people.
He closed his eyes tightly, trying to fall asleep, but it didn't help.Thanks to Peterson, the lights in the cell kept flickering on and on.The office building on King Saul Street must be brightly lit at the moment, and the people there must have called Shamron.Don't wake him up, Gabriel thought, I don't want to see that liar again.Let him sleep, let that old ghost calm down.
It was just after eight o'clock in the morning when Peterson stepped into Gabriel's cell.Of course Peterson wasn't kind enough to tell him the time, but as he sipped his coffee, Gabriel cast an absent-minded glance at the gigantic dive watch dial on his wrist.
"I talked to your boss."
He paused to see how Gabriel would react, but Gabriel was silent.Gabriel's attitude is that his current identity is a painting restorer, nothing else, Mr. Peterson just couldn't get it right and made a mistake for the time being.
"He is very professional and has no intention of fooling me casually. I appreciate his way of doing things. However, my government does not seem to intend to continue to pursue this matter."
"whats the matter?"
"You were involved in the murder of Ali Hamidi," Peterson said coldly.Looking at him, it seemed that he was trying his best to restrain his urge to hit someone. "If you are sued for Rolf's case, it will also dig up your ugly past. We have to drop the prosecution of this case."
Apparently, Peterson was not happy with the decision made by his superiors in Bern.
"Your government has assured us that you are no longer a member of the Israeli intelligence agencies and that you are not in Zurich this time to perform official duties. My government has chosen to believe these commitments in full. We are not interested in recreating the battlefield in Switzerland where the Palestinians and Israelis are fighting each other. .”
"When can I go?"
"Your government will send a representative to pick you up."
"I want to change clothes, can you return my suitcase?"
"no."
Peterson stood up, tugged at his tie, and smoothed his hair.Gabriel felt that doing these gestures in front of strangers was a bit too intimate.Petersen walked to the door, knocked on it, and waited for the guard outside to unlock it.
"I don't like killers, Mr. Aron, especially those who work for the government. We let you out with conditions. One of the conditions is that from now on, you are not allowed to set foot in Switzerland. If you dare to come back , don’t even think about going out again, I promise.”
The door opened and Peterson started walking out.He stopped suddenly and turned to look at Gabriel.
"What happened to your wife and children in Vienna is a great disgrace to your life. It must be very painful to live with such a shadow. I think you must sometimes think that if you were in the car instead of They're all right. Have a good day, Mr. Allon."
By the time Peterson finally let him out, the sun was almost setting.Sergeant Bell accompanied Gabriel out of the cell without saying a word, as if he was about to send the prisoner to the gallows.Bell handed back Gabriel's suitcase and restoration kit, and gave him a thick, honey-coloured envelope containing his personal belongings.Gabriel spent a long time checking that his luggage was complete.Bell looked at his watch from time to time, as if something urgent was urging him.The box was in a mess, apparently those clothes had been emptied out all at once, searched left and right, and stuffed back indiscriminately.Someone accidentally spilled a bottle of wine in his case.In this regard, Bell turned his head to the side helplessly—sorry, man, you know, this kind of thing is always inevitable when you are in the police station.
Walking out of the office building, there is a black Mercedes parked in the foggy yard, surrounded by six uniformed police officers.The windows of surrounding buildings were filled with police officers and team leaders who watched as the Israeli killer was led away from the police station.As Gabriel approached the Mercedes, the back door opened and a puff of smoke hit his face.He glanced at the smoky backseat and immediately knew who was sitting there.
He froze in the road, a move that seemed to startle Bell.He hesitated for a while, and finally took a reluctant step and got into the back seat of the Mercedes.Bell closed the door on the outside, and the car started instantly, and it whizzed away, its tires skidding over the cobblestones.Shamron was sitting next to Gabriel, looking out the window to himself, his gaze had already been set on another battlefield, and his mind had already been put on another battle.
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