Chapter 31 Section 30

Cap said, "Your friend's choice of meeting place is an asshole." They sat in the back of a white Ford van.The car was parked on Bayswater Road a few meters from Lancaster Gate.Cap leaned over an audio device, adjusting the volume.Amid the din of cars, taxis, trucks, and double-decker buses, Gabriel could barely think.Overhead street trees line the northern boundary of the park, twisting and struggling in the wind.The sound of the wind blowing the leaves picked up by Garp's microphone sounded like the sound of the tide.Beyond Lancaster Gate, in the Italian Gardens, fountains splashed.The sound coming back from the microphone was like pouring rain in a tropical rainforest.

Gabriel said, "How many people do you have out there listening?" "Three," Cap said, "the man who sat on the bench like a banker, the pretty girl who gave bread to the ducks, and the guy who sold ice cream just inside the door." "Not bad," Gabriel said. "No miracle can be expected under such conditions." Gabriel looked at his watch, it was three minutes past two.He thought, he won't show up.They saw Cap's team and had to call off the operation. He said, "Where the hell is he?" "Be patient, Gabe." Moments later, Gabriel saw Yusef emerging from Westbourne Street, galloping across the road, past an oncoming van.While Yusef walked into the park and was still strolling around the fountain, Garp snapped a few pictures in succession.As he strolled to the second lap, he was met by a man in a gray wool coat.The man's face was obscured by sunglasses and a fedora hat.Karp switched to a telephoto lens and took a few more shots.

They walked around the fountain again wordlessly, and from the second round they began to speak English softly.The noise of the wind and the fountain was so loud that Gabriel could only hear every third or fourth word. Cap cursed softly. They walked around the fountain for a few minutes, then headed for the sports field.The girl who had fed the ducks followed them slowly.After a while, there was the sound of children playing in the surveillance car. Garp covered his eyes with his fists and shook his head bitterly. Three hours later, Cap delivered the tape to Gabriel at the listening station.He looked dejected, like a doctor who had tried his best to save a patient and had a failed operation. "I plugged it into the computer, filtered the background noise, and enhanced the useful sound. But I think we only heard a tenth of it at most, and the sound effect was poor."

Gabriel reached for the tape.He put it in the player, pressed play, and paced the room while listening. "...someone is needed...for the next mission..." A voice, like a static blast at its most violent, drowns out the rest of the sentence.Gabriel paused the tape and looked at Cap. "It's a fountain," Garp said, "and there's nothing I can do about it." Gabriel replayed. "...to check her...in Paris...the problem...is normal." Gabriel stopped the tape, pressed the rewind button, and played again. "...to check her...in Paris...the problem...is normal."

"I'm not sure...it's this person...this kind of..." "...persuasively...if you can explain its significance..." "...what am I going to tell her?" "...major diplomatic missions...real peace in the Middle East...routine security measures." "...It seems to work..." The volume dropped drastically.Cap said, "They're walking toward the field now. That girl followed and we heard." "...meet him...de Gaulle...from there...final goal..." "……where……" The child called to his mother, drowning the answer.

"...to deal with her...afterwards..." "...Let him do it..." "...What if... say no..." "Don't worry, Yusuf. Girlfriends won't say no to you." stop.rewind.play. "Don't worry, Yusuf. Girlfriends won't say no to you." Next, Gabriel heard a mother berating her son for picking a piece of gum off a seesaw and stuffing it into his mouth. That night, Jacqueline took takeaway curry after get off work and took it to Yousef's apartment.They ate while watching an American movie on TV.The movie is about a German terrorist who gets away with it in Manhattan.Gabriel watched in tandem with them.He turned his TV to silent and listened to Yusef.After the movie, Yusef yelled "It's all rubbish" and turned off the TV.

Then he said, "We've got to talk about something, Dominique. I'm going to ask you something important." Gabriel closed his eyes and listened. The next morning Jacqueline stepped out of the Tube at Piccadilly Circus station and drifted across the platforms with the crowd.As she walked up the escalator, she glanced around.They must be following her.Yusuf sent to follow.Even after last night's questioning, he would not let her wander freely in the streets of London, and the spies would accompany her all the way.A dark-haired man was staring at her from the elevator parallel to her.When his eyes met hers, he smiled, trying to get her attention.Only then did she realize that he was just a pervert.She turned to look ahead.

Once outside, she walked along Piccadilly.She thought she saw Gabriel using a payphone, only to realize it was a man who looked like Gabriel.She thought she saw him stepping out of a taxi, but he was actually a teenage version of Gabriel.She found herself surrounded by versions of Gabriel.A man in a leather jacket, a teenager in smart business attire, an artist, a student, a courier—Gabriel could play any of them with a little make-up. Isherwood arrived early.He sat behind his desk, speaking Italian into the phone, and looked still reeking of alcohol.He covered the microphone with his palm, and said silently, "Coffee, please."

She hung up her coat and sat at her desk.Isherwood couldn't die with his coffee a few minutes late.There was a Luzon envelope among the morning mail spread out on the table.She opened the seal and took out the letter inside. "I'm going to Paris. Don't walk out of the gallery without hearing my message." She rolled the letter into a ball.