The Pure

sheets. He saw his face reflected in the glass.
    ‘Do you want to stop the recording?’ said Johnson.
    ‘No, leave it. I’m fine,’ said Uzi. He returned to his seat, passed a hand over his brow, and resumed the narrative. ‘I was uncomfortable with the whole operation. I felt there was no doubt that Nadim would blow himself up sooner or later. In his mind, he’d already crossed to the other side. But using him as an instrument of assassination?’ He shook his head. ‘There was something I couldn’t put my finger on, something that wasn’t right.’
    ‘Do you normally trust your instincts?’
    ‘This operation was far from normal. Anyway, what really bothered me was the target: Ram Shalev. It didn’t add up. He just didn’t seem like the type to be an enemy agent; my gut was telling me it was all wrong. But I convinced myself that since it was a Priority One operation, it wouldn’t have been approved without good reason, especially at such a high level. Call me naive, but that’s what I wanted to believe. It’s what I wanted to be true; this operation was going to be very good for my career.’
    ‘So what happened?’
    ‘Well, K20 had instructed me to get Nadim to hand over all the money he possessed the week before the attack. This amounted to three thousand dollars; his parents had left it to him to be used as a dowry for his sister. K20 said that it was standard practice to take money off suicide bombers, as it made them more committed. If they didn’t have any money, it made them more determined to blow themselves up; they’d have nothing to go back to.’
    ‘Where did the money go?’
    ‘I remember K20’s face when I handed over the cash. There was a very slight change of expression, greed, I guess. And then I knew exactly where the money was going. I knew I was being played. But I let it slide.’
    ‘So the operation went according to plan?’
    ‘It did. It was the strangest thing, taking a suicide bomber to his target. That was Nadim’s last journey, and he seemed so calm, so otherworldly. I picked him up in Gaza, smuggled him out and drove him into Jerusalem. There was something eerie about the boy. He was praying constantly. I waited outside the hotel until the bomb went off. Then I drove away. Later I found out that Nadim had been killed instantly, but Ram Shalev had only been injured. K20 had finished him off.’
    ‘With the explosive charge to the head.’
    ‘With the explosive charge to the head. Then he disappeared.’
    Uzi sat back, running his hands through his hair. He glanced at Avner, who gave him the slightest of nods.
    ‘So what made you investigate further?’ said Johnson.
    Uzi sighed. ‘That night, I couldn’t sleep. I kept seeing the faces of Ram Shalev, of Nadim. When the objective had been achieved and they were both dead, it really hit me. I didn’t know why, but the whole thing stank. The following morning, the PM called me personally to congratulate me and thank me for my dedication. It was when I put the phone down that I knew I had to find out what lay behind the operation. I needed to know what I’d done.’
    ‘So what did you do?’
    ‘I was sure that K20 knew the truth. The Kidonim are the highest-ranking intelligence operatives in Israel; he had to know the full story. I managed to make contact with him by making a formal request for a one-to-one, intelligence-sharing session. Surprisingly enough, the authorities agreed. We met in downtown Tel Aviv, and I threatened to inform his superiors that he had extorted three thousand dollars from Nadim. This freaked him out. Don’t get me wrong, corruption is rife in the regular Mossad, but the Kidonim are held to a different standard. They’re not meant to be players like the rest of us. And if they break the rules, the penalties are high.’
    ‘How did K20 respond?’
    ‘He started to threaten me, but I told him that I’d left a letter containing this information with a friend, to be opened if I were killed or injured. I said I just wanted to know the nature of my crimes, that I had no intention of leaking any intelligence. That it wouldn’t be worth risking my life over. I distinctly remember telling him that I wasn’t that stupid.’ Uzi smiled to himself bitterly.
    ‘So K20 gave you the information?’
    ‘He did. We met the following week and he handed over a file of documents. I had them for only five minutes. I used a clamper – you’re familiar with a clamper?’
    ‘Yeah, that’s our