The Day of the Jackal Page #3

as a swear word...

...but it doesn't sound like him.

Fair.

Excuse me, Colonel.

The foreigner--

Could it be a fair foreigner?

A blonde?

Is Kleist the foreigner?

Colonel, it's 4:
30.

The plot described above

constitutes, in my view...

...the most dangerous single conception...

...that the terrorists

could possibly have devised...

...to endanger the life

of President de Gaulle.

If the plot exists as described...

...and if a foreign-born assassin,

whose code name may be 'Jackal'...

...has, in fact, been engaged

for this attempt on the life--...

Sorry.

- On the life of the president...

...it is my duty to inform you,

Minister, that in my opinion...

...we face a national emergency.

New paragraph.

The above report is top secret

and intended for your eyes only.

Written at 0800 hours...

August 14, 1963.

Address to the Minister of the Interior.

Have the dispatch rider stand by...

...and forget everything you've heard.

Well?

- If what Rolland says is true...

...the whole network of our agents

inside the OAS is no good to us.

The president must be told.

I'll ask for an interview.

Get me the Elysee Palace.

Minister.

One moment, sir.

The Minister of the Interior.

There you are.

It's all there.

The driving license and the French

identity card were easy enough...

...but that third card was a big headache.

It's nicely dog-eared,

isn't it?

Have you forgotten something?

- Sorry?

The original driving license

I said I wanted back.

I thought we might have a chat about that.

The fact is, the original

driving license is not here.

But don't worry. It's put away

in a very safe place.

Nobody can get at it but me.

What do you want?

- I'm coming to that.

What I propose is simply a little trade.

I give you the original driving license...

...and all those negatives I took of you...

...for a certain sum of money.

How much?

- A thousand pounds.

Isn't it worth that

to get those documents back?

I suppose so.

An English gentleman can always

be trusted to see sense.

I can find the first 500 by noon

tomorrow, but we don't meet here.

There's nothing wrong with this place.

It's very quiet and private.

There's everything wrong with this place.

Forget about that. Nobody comes

here unless they're invited by me.

One has to be very discreet,

you know, in my little sideline.

I asked for aluminium.

- I tried the aluminium...

...but it bent like tissue paper.

I had to use stainless steel.

But it's all right.

It looks the same.

Where can I practice?

- There's the Montemorro Forest.

You could be there and back in a day.

Excuse me.

- I won't need the case.

Silencer, please.

Strut.

And the sniper scope.

- Here.

Trigger.

Trigger, please.

Beautiful piece of work.

It's really excellent.

These are for practice.

I took out six of them...

...to convert to explosive tips.

Let me have one.

Good evening, gentlemen.

- Good evening.

Please sit down.

I trust that you've all read

Colonel Rolland's report?

I delivered a copy

to the president this afternoon.

Unhappily, in the interest

of the dignity of France...

...he feels obliged to impose

enormous limitations on us.

He refuses to alter in any way...

...the summer schedule

of his public appearances.

Good heavens.

- The search for this Jackal...

...will be conducted in absolute secrecy.

Needless to say, you are all

sworn to total silence...

...and won't discuss this matter

outside this room.

But, Minister--

- But it's impossible.

The president was absolutely adamant.

What extra security precautions

do we take, Minister?

None.

General Colbert.

Any success in Vienna?

Inquiries were made by our agents

at the Pension Kleist.

They showed photographs

of Rodin, Montclair and Casson...

...to the desk clerk.

Some money changed hands.

He stated that he recognized them.

They had arrived on June 14.

Were there any visitors?

One man the next afternoon.

He left half an hour later.

The only description the clerk could give...

...was the man was well-groomed...

...in his early thirties and had fair hair.

Surely a better description can be found.

From whom?

Rodin, for instance.

I hardly think he'd accept an invitation....

...from any of our departments,

Colonel.

Commissioner Berthier,

any suggestions?

We're in trouble on this one.

Our agents inside the OAS

can't pin him down...

...since not even the OAS know who he is.

Action Service can't destroy him.

They don't know who to destroy.

Territorial surveillance can't

pick him up at the border...

...because they don't know

what he looks like.

The gendarmes, all 48,000 of them,

can't pursue him.

They don't know who to pursue.

The police can't arrest him.

We don't know who to arrest.

Without a name, all other

proposals are meaningless.

The first task then is to find it.

With a name,

we get a passport and a face.

With a face,

we get an arrest.

But to find his name,

and to do it in secret...

...is a job of pure detective work.

Commissioner, who is the best

detective on the force?

The best detective on the force...

...is my own deputy commissioner,

Claude Lebel.

Claude.

Berthier wants to see you.

What? Now?

- He's sent a car.

Don't be back later than 9:00.

Commissioner Lebel.

Good evening.

Remember, you have full powers

in this investigation...

...and the resources of every

department represented here...

...entirely at your disposal.

My instructions are simply:

no publicity and do not fail.

Keep your copy of the report.

Any questions?

No, Minister.

In that case,

I'll not detain you.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Collect the reports,

and put them in my private safe.

Yes, Minister.

- Good night, gentlemen.

Good night.

- Thank you.

You'll have to drop whatever

you're doing. Everything.

Clear the desk completely.

You want a new office?

From now on it's headquarters

for this job, nothing else.

The minister said he wants

a progress report by you...

...every evening from now on.

Here. 1 0:
00 sharp.

- Oh, God.

I know.

You've just got to find him

before he gets to de Gaulle.

I wonder if he has a timetable.

- I'm sure he has.

The trouble is,

only he knows it.

He might go for a hit tomorrow

or maybe not for a month.

You've just got to work flat out

until you locate him.

After that, we can have Action

Service do the rest, the thugs.

Obviously, you've got to have

a heavy mob for a thing like this.

Anyway, just go and find

this Jackal, will you?

What?

I'll need help.

- Who?

Young Caron,

and he'll have to be told.

I'll have to get clearance.

- All I want is Caron.

That's all.

You know what they'll do to you

if you don't catch him in time?

I've been given a job,

so we'll just have to do it.

But no crime has been committed yet.

Where are we supposed to start

looking for the criminal?

We start by recognizing that,

after de Gaulle...

...we are the two most

powerful people in France.

Now make notes.

Get my secretary transferred

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