At the Hotel Victoria, a man in a dark suit was studying the guest register. He looked up at the clerk. “What time did Commander Bellamy check

in?”

“He has not been here yet. His secretary reserved the suite. She said he would be here within the hour.”

The man turned to his companion. “Have the hotel staked out. Get reinforcements. I’ll wait upstairs.” He turned to the clerk. “Open the suite for me.”

Three minutes later the clerk was opening the door to the suite. The man in the dark suit moved in cautiously, gun in hand. The suite was empty. He

saw the envelope on the table and picked it up. The front of it read: “Commander Robert Bellamy”. He opened the envelope and glanced inside. A

moment later he was dialling the headquarters of SIFAR.

Francesco Cesar was in the middle of a meeting with Colonel Frank Johnson. Colonel Johnson had landed at Leonardo da Vinci airport two hours

earlier, but he showed no signs of fatigue.

“As far as we know,” Cesar was saying, “Bellamy is still in Rom