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@@@@@ ?Oui?? said the metallic voice on the primitive intercom ?I am a messenger from the American embassy,? answered the visitor in religious garb, his French partially ungrammatical as was all too frequent with Americans?I can?t leave my vehicle, but we have an urgent message for you ?I?ll be right down,? said the French Algerian driver recruited by Charles Casset in Washington Three minutes later the man emerged from the building and walked out on the short narrow pavement?What are you dressed like that for?? he asked the messenger who stood by the large automobile, covering the insignia on the rear door ?I?m the Catholic chaplain, my sonOur military charg? d?affaires would like a word with you ?I?ll do many things for you people,? laughed the driver as he bent down to look inside the limousine, ?but being drafted into your army isn?t one of themYes, sir, what can I do for you?? ?Where did you take our people?? asked the shadowed figure in the backseat, his features in darkness ?What people?? said the Algerian, sudden concern in his voice ?The two you picked up at the airport several hours agoThe cripple and his friend ?If you?re from the embassy and they want you to know, they?ll call and tell you, won?t they?? Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM 317 ?You?ll tell me!? A third, powerfully built man in a chauffeur?s uniform appeared from behind the trunk of the carHe walked rapidly forward, raising his arm and crashing a thick ugly blackjack down on the Algerian?s skullHe shoved his victim inside; the old man in the guise of a chaplain climbed in behind him, pulling the door shut as the chauffeur ran around the hood to the front seat The limousine raced away down the street An hour later on the deserted rue Houdon, a block from Place Pigalle, the Algerian?s bruised and bleeding corpse was disgorged from the large automobileInside, the figure in shadows addressed his aged, personally ordained priest ?Get your car and remain outside the cripple?s hotelStay awake, for you?ll be relieved in the morning and can rest all dayReport any movements and go where he goes ?Never, monseigneur Dimitri Krupkin was not a tall man but he appeared taller than he was, nor was he particularly heavy yet he seemed to possess a much fuller figure than he carriedHe had a pleasant if somewhat fleshy face and a generous head held erect; his full eyebrows and well-groomed pepper-and-salt hair and chin beard combined attractively with alert blue eyes and a seemingly perpetual smile, defining a man who enjoyed his life and his work, an intellect behind bot