WASHINGTON DC: The Sadir Affair (The Puppets of Washington Book 1)

  Chapter 70

  When Billycan and Mark reached the US Attorney’s offices, Samuel and his solicitor, Mr. Michael Greenstein, were already waiting in the anteroom. They stood up. Marcel came out of the conference room at the same moment and shot a quick glance in Billycan’s direction.

  “Are we ready, Mr. Fauchet?”

  “Yes, sir.” Marcel took a few steps toward the four men. “Agent Meshullam, nice to see you again, sir.” He turned to Samuel’s solicitor. “I am Marcel Fauchet, Assistant US Attorney.” He offered his hand to him.

  The lawyer took it in a limp, sweaty handshake. “How do you do, sir.” Then to the US Attorney on his right, “This is Mr. Lucien Billycan, our US Attorney.”

  Greenstein shook hands with Billycan. He grimaced. “And I’m sure you recall Agent Gilford,” he said to Samuel, switching his attention to the CSIS agent.

  More handshakes. “Hi, mate, how are you?”

  “Keeping on the prowl,” Mark answered, patting Samuel’s shoulder. The latter chuckled.

  Marcel then stretched a hand and pointed to the door of the conference room. As the five men entered the room, Billycan took his coat off and handed it to his secretary who had come in to place jugs of water in the middle of the table and a folder at the head of it. “Thanks,” he said to her, and sat down. “Please, have a seat, gentlemen.”

  Mark sat to the US Attorney’s right while Samuel and Greenstein sat to his left.

  “I’ll be in my office, sir,” Marcel said, “If you need me” and left the room quietly as Billycan nodded knowingly to him.

  The US Attorney then unbuttoned his jacket and looked at the three men. “This is going to be an informal discussion about Agent Meshullam’s testimony, gentlemen.” The men smiled and nodded, although the Australian solicitor appeared nervous. His small, encased black eyes darted round the room. His frown and sallow jaws firmly etched in the line of his face, Greenstein would have been the perfect extra in an old western movie, playing the part of the undesirable mortician. The wiry hands barely visible out of the sleeves of a tired charcoal suit with a white shirt that had seen better days; his attire didn’t reflect his station in life.

  “As you are no doubt aware, Mr. Greenstein, the justice department has granted full immunity to Agent Meshullam in exchange for which, he will give us all relevant information he can provide in regards to the crimes for which Mr. Muhammad Sadir is on trial right now. Were you aware of these conditions, Mr. Greenstein?”

  “Yes, I was made aware of these conditions and the terms of granting full immunity to my client, prior to us leaving Australia, yes.”

  “Thank you, sir. And you, Agent Meshullam, were you aware of these conditions before leaving Australia?”

  “Yes, I was, sir. Mr. Greenstein interviewed me soon after being retained as my solicitor and I gave him a statement that, I believe, fulfilled these conditions.”

  “I will now show you this statement”—Billycan took out a sheaf of paper out of the folder in front of him and handed it to Samuel—“and ask you if you could confirm for us that this is your statement—the one you signed in Sydney and sent to us for recording.”

  Samuel leafed through the pages, his eyes travelling through the document quickly. He nodded. “Yes, Mr. Billycan, that’s the statement I made.” He handed the sheaf of paper back to the US Attorney.

  “Thank you, Agent Meshullam. Now, do you have anything to add to the statement you’ve made at the time you were still in Sydney?”

  Samuel didn’t know what he should or should not say. “I don’t know what I could add, which would be relevant, sir.”

  “Let me help you then. Let’s go back to the time you arrived in Vancouver and when you were taken to an apartment where you were interviewed by Agent Lypsick of the CIA and Agent Gilford of CSIS in Ottawa. Do you recall the interview?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  Greenstein shifted in his chair. He wanted to interrupt, and he did. “I’m sorry, Mr. Billycan, but I haven’t been apprised of the conversation that you say occurred in Vancouver. May I see a statement or a record of this interview, before we proceed?”

  “No, Mr. Greenstein, you may not!” The solicitor clenched his jaw. “If your client was on trial at this time, then yes, I would have a duty to show you evidence that would tie Agent Meshullam to the crimes—but he’s not. The interview in question is part of the body of evidence we have compiled against Mr. Muhammad Sadir, and unless you have been retained to defend Mr. Sadir, this evidence will not be released to you at this time.”

  “Then I would have to object to my client being interrogated about something that happened in Vancouver and before he returned to Australia awaiting Mr. Sadir’s trial.”

  “Why would you have any objection, Mr. Greenstein? This interview is not part of the conditions that were fulfilled in order to grant your client immunity. Besides, if you don’t know anything about this interview, as you claim, you have no reason to object to my asking any question in that regard. Unless, you know something that you’re afraid Agent Meshullam would divulge. Do you, Mr. Greenstein?”

  “As I said, I have not been apprised of the content of this interview, and I have not had a chance to talk to my client about it…”

  “That’s not my problem, Mr. Greenstein. If you failed in your duty to interview your client properly before you came to Washington, it’s your failure, not mine and you shouldn’t impede the investigation of the evidence presented to this office, otherwise we could see what we could do to have you held on charges of obstruction.”

  Greenstein knew the law, perhaps better than anyone in the room did, and he knew he couldn’t prevent Billycan from questioning his client. He looked down briefly. “All right then. But for the record I wish to stress that I strongly object to my client being interrogated at this time.”

  Billycan’s stern look didn’t leave any doubt in Greenstein’s mind that he was there in sufferance. “Okay then. Now, Agent Meshullam, could you tell us what you discussed during the interview that occurred in Vancouver about eight months after Ms. Kartz was shot in the park across the street from her apartment?”

  Samuel brushed a side-glance past his solicitor. “Agent Lypsick asked me several questions about my relationship to Ms. Kartz and…”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt you, Agent Meshullam—my fault—but we’ll need to go through one question at a time.” Samuel nodded and stretched his forearms on the table. “So, did you answer Agent Lypsick’s questions then?”

  “Yes, I did. I told him that I knew Ms. Kartz for about ten years then.”

  “And during those ten years, did you and Ms. Kartz develop an intimate relationship?”

  “And how relevant is that to proving Mr. Sadir guilty…?” Greenstein spurted at Billycan’s face.

  Billycan’s eyes, imposing of severity, fell on the solicitor’s reddened cheeks. “I’ll let you decide, Mr. Greenstein.” The US Attorney threw a kinder and fleeting look to Samuel. “Do you mind answering my question, Agent Meshullam?”

  “Yes, we did.”

  “And that was prior to you leaving Australia and being enrolled in Mossad as an agent?”

  “Yes. I left Australia and went to Israel where I was engaged and trained as a Mossad agent for some seven years now.”

  “Good. And what else, if anything, did Agent Lypsick ask you during that interview?”

  “He asked if I knew who my contact in Mossad was.”

  “And were you able to tell him?”

  “No, sir. None of the agents in the organization knows who their contacts are. We all receive instructions either by phone or coded emails—mostly emails lately.”

  “Did Agent Lypsick indicate that he knew of this being a fact during the interview?”

  “Yes—not clearly mind you—but to me it was obvious that Agent Lypsick knew about Mossad and its inner workings.”

  “Did you have any knowledge about this being the case prior to the interview?”

&n
bsp; “Yes, sir, I did.” Greenstein turned his head with a jerk toward his client. He had no idea. “When we’re about to be interviewed or about to meet agents from other organizations, we are given information about the person we’re to meet.”

  “And this was the case in this instance?”

  “Yes, it was. I received a full set of information on Agent Lypsick during my stay in Australia, and I was told that Agent Lypsick would meet with me at some point in relation to an assignment that I had carried out in the past.”

  “Were you given any more details about this meeting or about Agent Lypsick’s background?”

  “No, not in detail. I didn’t even know which assignment it related to, but the information contained something about Agent Lypsick’s prior involvement with Mossad.”

  “Thank you, Agent Meshullam. We’ll go over this a little later.” Billycan turned to Mark. “But for now I’d like to ask a few questions from you, Agent Gilford, would you mind?”

  Knowing that every syllable of this meeting was going to be taken down as evidence somehow, thus far, Mark had remained mute. He shook his head. “No, I don’t mind, go ahead.”

  “During the interview in question, do you recall asking Agent Meshullam anything in particular?”

  Mark sat up straight. “Yes, I did. I was curious to know why he had not killed Ms. Kartz; given that he is a marksman of note and that he had the woman in his scope to shoot her in the head if he had opted to do so.”

  “And did you obtain an answer to your question?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  Billycan returned his attention to Samuel. “What was your answer, Agent Meshullam?”

  Greenstein couldn’t hold his annoyance back. “I suggest you do not answer the question, Agent Meshullam.”

  Samuel threw him a dirty look. “I said that my contact suggested to “teach her a lesson she would never forget” because of her alleged treacherous deeds against Israel.”

  “And did you know what these “alleged treacherous deeds” consisted of?”

  “I don’t see the relevance,” Greenstein blurted. “What Agent Meshullam knew or did not know about Ms. Kartz’s deeds is irrelevant in this instance.”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Greenstein, but I have to disagree. This knowledge goes directly to show intend and the extent to which Agent Meshullam carried his order in this instance.” Billycan looked at Samuel encouragingly. “Go ahead, Agent Meshullam, answer the question.”

  Samuel nodded ever so slightly. “It was my understanding that Ms. Kartz had collaborated with Mr. Assor in sending faulty weapons to Israel.”

  “And how did you come to this understanding, Agent Meshullam?”

  “I was fed this information through my contact at Mossad, before I went to Vancouver to fulfil my assignment. And during the interview we speak of, Agent Lypsick confirmed to both Agent Gilford and me that “Mr. Sadir, for all these years, stayed quiet, merely feeding Mossad with information designed to demonstrate his neutrality, even his allegiance to Israel, such as persuading Mossad to kill and maiming two of their own” to quote his exact words.”

  Mark shook his head and then chuckled. Billycan’s brow furrowed as he eyed the CSIS agent. “I can tell you right now,” Mark uttered, “that those are Lypsick’s precise words. That’s amazing!” He looked at Samuel, amused. “Do you by any chance learn the Torah by rote?” He shook his head again. “Amazing!”

  Billycan let Mark go on because his confirmation of what Samuel had heard showed him as a trustworthy and utterly reliable witness—and that’s what he needed him to be. “Okay, Agent Gilford, I think everyone agrees that repeating someone’s exact words after as long an interval is quite amazing as you say. However, we’re not here to discuss the manner but the content of Agent Meshullam’s answer.” He nodded in Samuel’s direction. “So, let’s go back to what you just said; you said that Mr. Sadir (according to Agent Lypsick) had fed information to Mossad which was designed to apply blame onto Mr. Assor and Ms. Kartz in regards to sending faulty armaments to Israel, is that a fair summary of Agent Lypsick’s statement?”

  “Yes, it is. But there was something else that struck me as relevant at the time. Agent Lypsick was clearly aware of what Mr. Sadir was doing “for years,” as he said, and that raised a question to my mind: why didn’t Agent Lypsick advise someone of the fact when he became aware of what was happening?”

  Billycan chuckled and stretched to the back of the chair. “I think I should have you take this seat at the head of the table, Agent Meshullam. You hit the nail on the head. Thank you.”

  Greenstein was livid. He looked as if he was sitting on a pincushion. “Are you accusing Agent Lypsick of treachery, not to say treason? Because, if you are, you’ll have the CIA to answer to, I can assure you they won’t take this lying down.”

  “I think you should calm down, Mr. Greenstein,” Billycan said. “I’m not accusing anyone of anything at this time, but if I were, I would certainly have some questions to ask of Agent Lypsick. Why, indeed, didn’t he make the CIA aware of his suspicions? Maybe you could answer that question, Mr. Greenstein, since you are very well acquainted with Agent Lypsick yourself, I believe.”

  “I am not acquainted, as you call it, with Agent Lypsick. He only retained my services when Agent Meshullam returned to Sydney and I only met the man once when we were introduced.”

  “If that’s the case, Mr. Greenstein, who’s instructing you in this case—Agent Lypsick or Agent Meshullam?”

  Greenstein’s face paled. He knew either way he was now losing the battle. “Hum…, Agent Meshullam is, of course.”

  Samuel lost his cool when he heard the answer. He literally shoved the chair beneath him brutally, stood up shouting, “LIAR!” and walked out of the room.

  “Mark. Go after him,” Billycan ordered. “And bring him back!”

  Mark was out the door before the US Attorney had finished pronouncing the last words of his sentence.

  Greenstein was about to get up as well when Billycan stopped him. “I wouldn’t leave just yet, if I were you.” Greenstein sat down, reluctantly. “Thank you.” Billycan then leaned against the back of the chair again. “So, let’s get back to my question; who’s instructing you in this matter?”

  “Off the record…?”

  “Of course. Do you see anyone recording anything?” Billycan turned his head from side to side. Greenstein looked down. “All right then—I’m listening.”

  “I was retained by Agent Lypsick. I believe he’s appointed me because I’ve practiced on both continents. He is instructing me, but leaves most decisions to Agent Meshullam.”

  “Thank you. Could you tell me if Agent Lypsick has made any statement to you designed to coerce Agent Meshullam into giving a false or distorted testimony on the stand?”

  Greenstein looked at Billycan for a long moment before answering. “I wouldn’t use the words “coerce” and “false testimony” in the same sentence, Mr. Billycan. But there were instances, I noticed, when Agent Lypsick insisted in my persuading Agent Meshullam in saying things that were not in his initial statement.”

  “I see. Well, I suggest that, from now on, you ignore these sorts of instructions from Agent Lypsick. If you were to continue, it could have dire consequences for you personally, as you know.”

  Samuel was already in front of the elevator when Mark joined him. “What’s the matter with you? We all know the guy is a liar. You’ve demonstrated that already. So why did you have to yell it at his head?”

  “Do you have any idea what Lypsick is capable of?”

  “I think I’ve got a fair idea, yes.”

  “Well then, mate, you tell me how you and all this legal mumbo-jumbo is going to help Talya?”

  “Is that what this is all about? They’re still after Talya?”

  “Not they, Mark, Lypsick is. If she makes it to the stand, she’s good as dead. Lypsick has got her in his scope. He knows she is fully aware of what he’s been doing. And Sadir is, too. That?
??s why he’s not talking. If he did, he might as well order a funeral for his entire family while he waits to be executed.”

  Mark could only stare. He was out of words. He was shaking when he finally uttered, “Did you tell Billycan?”

  Samuel nodded, pressing the elevator button again. “Yes, I did last night... I’ve got to get to her, Mark. Lypsick is out there, and I’m the only one who could stop him.”

  “No, you don’t!” Mark shoved the Mossad agent away from the open elevator door. “She’s under protection. He won’t get to her, I promise you. But, you, you’ve got to let Billycan dispose of Lypsick the proper way, so we won’t have to chase him for ever or hide from him anymore.”

  Samuel hung his head. He was spent. He no longer knew how to fight. “All right, if you think she’ll be okay for the next few hours. But as soon as we’re done here, I’ve got to see her, Mark. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  “And you will. Let’s get back in there, because the sooner we do, the sooner we’ll be done.”