'She was totally right! When I questioned you, you also said that she told Webb that "things had been terrible" on that street in Paris, or something like that-'

'That's what she said,' interrupted the major.

'But that they'd be better over here. '

That is what she said. '

'In Paris, a man was killed at the embassy, a man who tried to help them both!'

'What are you trying to say, McAllister?' interrupted Havilland.

The row of trees is insignificant, Mr Ambassador, but not her favourite tree. The maple tree, the maple leaf. Canada's symbol! There is no Canadian embassy in Hong Kong, but there is a consulate. That's their meeting ground. It's the pattern! It's Paris all over again!'

'You didn't alert friendly embassies – consulates?'

'Goddamn it!' exploded the undersecretary of state. 'What the hell was I going to say! I'm under an oath of silence, remember, sir!'

'You're quite right. The rebuke is deserved. '

'You cannot tie all our hands, Mr Ambassador,' said Lin. 'You are a person I respect greatly but a few of us, too, must be given a measure of respect if we are to do our jobs. The same respect you just gave me in your telling me of this most frightening thing. Sheng Chou Yang. Incredible!'

'Discretion must be absolute. '

'It will be,' said the major.

The Canadian consulate,' said Havilland. 'Get me the roster of its entire personnel. '

The call had come at five o'clock in the afternoon and Bourne was ready for it. No names were exchanged.

'It is arranged,' said the caller. 'We are to be at the border shortly before twenty-one hundred hours when the guard changes shifts. Your Shenzhen visa will be scrutinized and rubber stamps will fly, but none will touch it. Once inside you are on your own, but you did not come through Macao. '

'What about getting back out? If what you told me is true and things go right, there'll be someone with me. '

'It will not be me. I will see you over and to the location. After that, I leave you. '

That doesn't answer my question. '

'It is not so difficult as getting in, unless you are searched and contraband is found. '

There won't be any. '

Then I would suggest drunkenness. It is not uncommon. There is an airfield outside Shenzhen used by special-'

'I know it. '

'You were on the wrong aeroplane, perhaps, that too is not uncommon. The schedules are very bad in China. '

'How much for tonight?'

'Four thousand, Hong Kong, and a new watch. '

'Agreed. '

Some ten miles north of the village of Gongbei the hills rise, soon becoming a minor range of densely forested small mountains. Jason and his former adversary from the alley in Macao walked along the dirt road. The Chinese stopped and looked up at the hills above.

'Another five or six kilometres and we will reach a field. We will cross it and head up into the second level of woods. We must be careful. '

'You're sure they'll be there?'

'I carried the message. If there is a campfire, they will be there. '

'What was the message?'

'A conference was demanded. '

'Why across the border?'

'It could only be across the border. That, too, was part of the message. '

'But you don't know why. '

'I am only the messenger. Things are not in balance. '

'You said that last night. Can't you explain what you mean?'

'I cannot explain it to myself. '

'Could it be because the conference had to take place over here? In China?'

That is part of it, certainly. '

There's more?'

' Wen fi',' said the guide. 'Questions that arise from feelings. '

'I think I understand. ' And Jason did. He had had the same questions, the same feelings, when it became clear to him that the assassin who called himself Bourne was riding in an official vehicle of the People's Republic.

'You were too generous with the guard. The watch was too expensive. '

'I may need him. '

'He may not be in the same post. '

'I'll find him. '

'He'll sell the watch. '

'Good. I'll bring him another. '

Crouching, they ran through the tall grass of the field one section at a time, Bourne following the guide, his eyes constantly roving over their flanks and up ahead, finding shadows in the darkness – and yet not total darkness. Fast, low-flying clouds obscured the moon, filtering the light, but every now and then shafts streamed down for brief moments illuminating the landscape. They reached a rising stretch of tall trees and began making their way up. The Chinese stopped and turned, both hands raised.

'What is it? whispered Jason.

'We must go slowly, make no noise. '

'Patrols?'

The guide shrugged. 'I do not know. There is no harmony. '

They crawled up through the tangled forest, stopping at every screech of a disturbed bird and the subsequent flutter of wings, letting the moments pass. The hum of the woods was pervasive; the crickets clicked their incessant symphony, a lone owl hooted to be answered by another, and small ferret-like creatures scampered through the underbrush. Bourne and his guide came to the end of the tall trees; there was a second sloping field of high grass in front of them and in the distance were the jagged dark outlines of another climbing forest.

There was also something else. A glow at the top of the next hill, at the summit of the woods. It was a campfire, the campfire! Bourne had to hold himself in check, stop himself from getting up and racing across the field and plunging into the woods, scrambling up to the fire. Patience was everything now, and he was in the dark environs he knew so well; vague memories told him to trust himself – told him that he was the best there was. Patience. He would get across the field and silently make his way to the top of the forest; he would find a spot in the woods with a clear view of the fire, of the meeting ground. He would wait and watch; he would know when to make his move. He had done it so often before – the specifics eluded him, but not the pattern. A man would leave, and like a cat stalking silently through the forest he would follow that man until the moment came. Again, he would know that moment, and the man would be his.

Marie. I won't fail us this time. I can move with a kind of terrible purity now – that sounds crazy, I know, but then it's true... I can hate with purity – that's where I came from, I think. Three bleeding bodies floating into a riverbank taught me to hate. A bloody handprint on a door in Maine taught me to reinforce that hate and never to let it happen again. I don't often disagree with you, my love, but you were wrong in Geneva, wrong in Paris. I am a killer.

'What is wrong with you? whispered the guide, his head close to Jason's. 'You do not follow my signal!'

'I'm sorry. I was thinking. '

'So am I, thank you For our lives!'

'You don't have to worry; you can leave now. I see the fire up there on the hill. ' Bourne pulled money from his pocket . 'I'd rather go alone. One man has less chance of being spotted than two. '

'Suppose there are other men – patrols? You bested me in Macao, but I am not unworthy in this regard. '

'If there are such men, I intend to find one. '

'In the name of Jesus, why?'

'I want a gun. I couldn't risk bringing one across the border. '

"Aiya!"

Jason handed the guide the money. 'It's all there. Nine thousand five hundred. You want to go back in the woods and count it? I've got a small flashlight. '

'One does not question the man who has bested one. Dignity would not permit such impropriety. '

'Your words are terrific, but don't buy a diamond in Amsterdam. Go on, get out of here. It's my territory. '

'And this is my gun,' said the guide, taking a weapon from his belt and handing it to Bourne as he took the money. 'Use it if you must. The magazine is full – nine shells. There is no registry, no trace. The Frenchman taught me. '