He pulled the three separate transcripts out of the ledger and worked his way through them methodically. Each began with the usual administrative jargon – agent identity code, officer identity code, time and date – which was all part of the minutiae of running an overseas SIS station. Rowlands ignored them; he knew them by heart anyway. It was the text that he craved in the hope that it would yield a clue to the man's intentions and perhaps reveal why he had been murdered so violently.
The first communication had been received less than 48 hours ago and to Rowlands' experienced eye Dobos had been bullish and overconfident in his first contact. It was as if he had a good hand in poker and couldn't wait to tell the rest of the table about it, thought Rowlands.
AGENT: This is [deleted]. I h
