JJ took in what he’d heard so far, intrigued by the mechanics behind what had seemed like a straightforward hit. “I’m following you,” he said, “but I don’t see where this is heading. You think Berg wants me dead because I unknowingly killed someone for him two years ago.”
“He wants you dead,” Ed said, clarifying the point, “because he can’t be sure Viner never told you that it was Berg’s hit. See, I made some inquiries afterwards and no one I spoke to knew how David had crossed the line. The more I looked, the more I began to think the hit was personal business for Berg, probably a favor for some gangster or other.”
“And?”
“And now, for whatever reason, Berg wants to eliminate everyone who knew or might have known about the hit. There’s been some ballast, but most of the key people targeted in the last couple of days were connected in some way with the hit on David. Of course, typically for Berg, he’s been methodical about making it look like something else, but he’s done this before. You have to hand it to him, he’s a smart cookie.”
“You have no idea why?” It was already looking obvious to JJ but he wanted to get as much as possible from Holden before he started speculating.
“I’ve got a lot of people looking into options for me, but nothing concrete, no.”
They’d reached the point at the top of the climb that looked over the Copley and the village. Ed stopped to take it all in. “This is one of Susan’s favorite spots,” he said, taking a deep breath as if he could draw all of it in like that.
JJ looked at it too, nodding, in no real mood for scenery though, his mind stacking things up. It seemed hard to believe Holden wasn’t ahead of him, but then Berg was probably better at fooling his own kind than he was anyone else, intelligence people always too eager to construct puzzles where there were none, looking into the distance when there were corpses at their feet.
“What about the Russians I killed? Doesn’t that suggest the most obvious connection?”
“I don’t think so,” said Ed, his tone dismissive. “They’ll have been Sarkisan’s people. Berg and Sarkisan have been in bed together for years. And he wouldn’t care about who killed David; it might even have been his call.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about them being Sarkisan’s men,” said JJ. “Someone told me the other day that Berg’s been making some high-level contacts recently, that they were taking care of his protection at the moment. So maybe it’s those contacts he doesn’t want finding out about Bostridge. I mean, Bostridge must have had some powerful friends out there if someone like Sarkisan didn’t want to be seen to hit him.”
Ed looked at him, impressed that JJ had come up with something he’d missed, like he’d never anticipated getting anything as ethereal as information from him, or a theory.
“Who told you this?”
“Stuart Pearson.” There was a moment of calculation then on Ed’s part, despite his claim of complete trust in JJ, and the careful question, “Pearson talked to you?”
“That’s one way of putting it. I was threatening to kill his children at the time.”
Ed smiled indulgently, relaxing again, like JJ was a student owning up to his part in a drunken prank. His face took on a different expression then, one of satisfaction that the simple piece of information from Pearson was all he’d needed to see what everything came down to. “Then I think you’re right, we have an answer,” he said, then digressed, “Did you retrieve anything from the two Russians?”
“Couple of passports from the house sitter, another from the tourist.”
“Good. I’ll go down to Washington with them tomorrow, make some inquiries. I’m pretty certain, though, that these links you’re talking about must be with Naumenko. It all adds up, everything you’ve said.”
Ed started walking again and after a few paces JJ said, “Aleksandr Naumenko. I’ve heard a bit about him.”
“But not much,” added Ed. “He’s an interesting character, smarter than the rest put together, just as ruthless, discreet with it, and if he isn’t the most powerful man in Russia already, he certainly will be. No one wants to touch him either. The other bosses all respect or fear him. Incredible.” Ed looked in awe, like he was discussing some historic figure.
JJ thought instead about what it meant for Berg to have this person on his side, the obstacle of freeing himself and Holden from the contract suddenly looking insurmountable. In the light of it the last few days picking off people here and there seemed as much a game, as much a fantasy, as Bostridge acting the spy in Moscow. JJ said, “So do you want to share with me why this is good news?”