Chapter 15-16 Summary

Peter Thorpe has departed the Lombardy and arrives at the University Club, where he chats with his favorite bartender. The bartender reveals that Carbury is indeed staying at the Club under an assumed name. Thorpe speaks mysteriously of an impending crisis, and then departs for the armory, where his adopted father James Allerton will be honored for his years of service.

The President will be speaking on behalf of his close advisor Allerton. Thorpe immediately runs into Nicholas West, a former professor who is in charge of documenting and compiling the activities of the CIA. West knows that his extensive knowledge makes him a prime interrogation target, and Thorpe manipulates his anxiety by suggesting that the CIA would rather kill him than retire him.

West and Thorpe go to the main dining room, where they sit at the same table with...