Free Message From -Creasy 5 by A. J. Quinnell Page A

attitude," he said. "I can't think why any American should
treat a Vietnamese with anything less than full respect. After all, they took
on the mightiest military machine in the world and defeated it."
    She
could not help herself. She said: "You were part of that machine."
    He
smiled. It was only a brief movement of his lips. He said: "Yes, for a
short time I was. And I have to say that it was an education. I came here from
the wars in West Africa and even though the Viet Minh had beaten the French, I
still tended to look on the Vietnamese as inferior soldiers. I was quickly
disabused of that notion. When it comes to jungle warfare, only the Japanese or
the Ghurkas are their equals...Please continue."
    She
explained how Van Luk Wan had first been detained by the victorious North
Vietnamese and later ransomed for a kilo of gold. Creasy leaned forward and
asked: "Do you know who provided the gold?"
    "Yes,
a Chinese-American called Bill Crum."
    Creasy
had a poker face, but she saw the flicker in his eyes as he sat back in his
chair. She asked: "Do you know him?"
    Creasy
was looking over her shoulder far into the distance. His mind was obviously
back into history.
    She
repeated the question, and he slowly nodded.
    "Yes.
Bill Crum is probably the most evil man I ever met and I've met many..."
He glanced again at Guido, who was watching him with interest. "I've done
a few things in my life which I regret. I guess we all have. But on a cold
night in early 1977 I did something of which I'm proud...I killed a monster
called Bill Crum. I killed him in a converted temple in the New Territories of
Hong Kong and I burned him and the temple until nothing was left."
    Jens
stopped tapping the keys of his computer. He was looking at Creasy in
fascination. He said: "You had left Vietnam ten years earlier. Why did you
kill him?"
    "It
was a job," Creasy answered. "I was hired to do it. I don't normally
do jobs like that, I'm not a hit-man, but on this occasion, it was a
pleasure."
    "Who
hired you?" Susanna asked.
    He
studied her across the table and then answered: "An American group."
    The
reaction was automatic. "My government does not hire assassins!"
    Both
Creasy and Guido laughed and she felt her anger rising.
    "That
kind of thing may have happened back in the sixties, but since the early
seventies our policy has been strictly against it."
    Again
the two mercenaries laughed, and Guido commented: "Since John F. Kennedy,
the policy of every US President has been not to issue executive orders for
assassinations under any circumstance; but Miss Moore, sometimes they use what
we call in the business 'Becket approval'."
    "What
do you mean?"
    The
Italian leaned forward. "Do you know who Thomas A Becket was and how he
died?"
    She
felt he was being condescending, and the level of her anger rose further.
"Yes, Mr Arrellio, I do have an education."
    Guido
inclined his head in acknowledgement. He said: "Then you'll know that when
Thomas A Becket was being a nuisance to his king, the king commented to his
knights: 'Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?' Four knights promptly rode
off to Canterbury Cathedral and ran their swords through Thomas A Becket. The
king claimed to be dismayed. In present times, when a US President is having
problems with a foreign leader, it has often been the case that he might mumble
to his Chief of Staff or National Security Adviser or the Director of the CIA
something like: 'I wish to God that bastard would go away!' Of course it's not
an executive order and of course the President would be horrified to think that
he had given any encouragement." The Italian smiled. "But in the
business it's called a 'Becket decision'...Console yourself with the fact that
it's not only US Presidents who have, and will use, such moral armour."
    Looking
at Creasy, she asked: "How much did the CIA pay you to kill Bill
Crum?"
    His
answer was direct. "It was not the CIA. It was a group of senior American
officers who were being blackmailed by