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Frederick ForsythA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Claude Lebel emerges from a briefing with the Minister of the Interior. Having read the Rolland report, Lebel feels overwhelmed. He has “unlimited access” (189) to any information, manpower, or funds he might need, yet all he has to work with is a codename. Lebel is known as a methodical, slow, precise investigator. He is respected in his department, particularly for his effectiveness. At the end of the briefing, the aristocratic Saint-Clair de Villauban approaches Lebel with “ill-concealed distaste” (191). He will keep a close eye on Lebel’s investigation, and there will be repercussions for failure. Lebel is effective because he can inspire trust in the people who are often overlooked by pompous aristocrats like de Villauban. Previous attempts to intimidate Lebel ended badly. Speaking to Bouvier, Lebel requests being assigned the youthful Lucien Caron as his assistant and seeks permission to informally contact the heads of homicide departments in the United States, Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, West Germany, and South Africa. This is granted, though Bouvier warns that Lebel must share a daily presentation. Lebel reflects on his new assignment, which has made him “the most powerful cop in Europe” (195). He cannot fail. He briefs Caron on their assignment and begins planning.
Colonel Saint-Clair de Villauban stays up late writing a report. He attempts to subtly express his disapproval of the appointment of Lebel. Privately, he presumes that the assassin will not succeed. He plans to grill Lebel at the daily meetings on the investigation. De Villauban’s family is away, but his “newly installed mistress” (201) is staying with him. As they go to bed, Jacqueline Dumas teases de Villauban for not telling her about his plans. As they have sex, he tells her about Kowalski. When he is asleep, she places a telephone call and shares everything.
Caron arranges telephone calls between Lebel and the heads of the international police departments. Anthony Mallinson, Assistant Commissioner Crime for Scotland Yard, is hesitant but he is indebted to Lebel for work on a previous case, so he agrees to be part of this “Old Boys network” (207) and speak to Lebel in an informal conversation.
Jacqueline’s OAS contact is a disgraced schoolteacher named Valmy, who is also the Jackal’s single point of contact. Valmy delivers a coded message to Rodin: “The Jackal is blown. Kowalski was taken. Sang before dying” (208). Rodin receives this message. As a military man, he does not want to send a soldier on an impossible mission. Attempts to contact the Jackal fail, however, as he has already departed from London for Paris. Rodin, Montclair, and Casson convince themselves that “nobody can stop the Jackal now” (213).
Lebel arrives at his office to find that Caron has installed everything they need, including a small bed and a coffee machine. The meetings with the foreign police chiefs are all arranged, and Lebel quizzes them about professional assassins of a certain caliber. He explains that these interviews are “purely routine for the moment” (216) but, due to the nature of the topics discussed, he knows that his fellow policemen will quickly deduce that the target is Charles de Gaulle. He is certain that they will all brief their superiors. While he trusts most of his colleagues, recent political disagreements mean that he is concerned about the English.
Assistant Commissioner Anthony Mallison deduces what Lebel is investigating. He decides not to immediately tell his superiors as a favor to Lebel but drafts a memo and performs an initial search of “known living professional assassins” (219) in the country. These are not typical gangland killers, Lebel has told him, so the possibilities are few. As Mallison suspected, his department has no relevant information. He necessarily passes along the inquiry to Bryn Thomas of Special Branch, sending an update to Lebel. At each stage of his inquiry, the policemen deduce the significance of the request. They are taken aback.
The Jackal flies to Brussels to collect his gun, stored in the left luggage department at the airport. In a motel, he makes himself a plaster cast and attaches it to his foot: He will seem to have a genuine broken foot. He hides the disassembled rifle in the hollowed out space inside his metal crutches, which were created by Goosens according to the Jackal’s designs. The Jackal flies to Milan and passes through the customs check with his rifle and fake documents. He treats himself to a cocktail and a dinner, knowing that the following day will be “extremely busy” (228).
Bryn Thomas’s search turns up nothing, but a passing comment by one of his staff sticks in his mind: If the assassin were British, then he might not have a criminal record in Britain. He may be “a respectable citizen in his home country” (230). Thomas seeks out informal assistance from a fellow Welshman. They share a drink together, and Thomas asks Barrie Lloyd to take advantage of his connections as a member of the Special Intelligence Services. Reluctantly, Lloyd agrees to help and shares details from the assassination of the dictator of the Dominican Republic—a British man was mentioned in passing. He obtains the name Charles Calthrop.
Meanwhile, Lebel attends his first meeting. The heads of the departments provide updates. Tall blond male foreigners have been systematically stopped and searched at French borders to no avail. While most heads of department have nothing to report, the chief of the DST reveals that a telephone call to Rome was intercepted. This was Valmy’s call to reveal that that Jackal’s cover was blown. While Colonel Saint-Clair de Villauban is confident that this means that the Jackal’s plot is over, Lebel suggests that the Jackal otherwise. They agree to proceed with his investigation. Lebel lists the possibilities garnered from his conversations. He has vague profiles of men from the United States, Belgium, Germany, and South Africa, but none from England, the Netherlands, or Italy. The meeting ends, and Lebel steps out into the night. The date is Tuesday, 13 August.
The Jackal wakes at his normal hour. He changes his British currency into Italian lire and French francs, then hires a small garage. Next, he hires an Alfa Romeo sports car and ensures that the insurance paperwork will allow him to drive to France and back. In the garage, he welds the steel framework of his crutches to the underside of the car. He will disassemble the rifle and store the parts inside these pipes. Then, he returns to his hotel.
In Britain, Sir Jasper Quigley summons Bryn Thomas. Quigley is the Head of France in the Foreign Office. He is angry that Thomas has made inquiries into his field. After a dressing down, Thomas is dismissed. Quigley decides not to pursue the matter. Thomas returns to his office and investigates six different Charles Calthrops. His investigations lead him to one interesting possibility, but he is interrupted by a summons to the Prime Minister. In 10 Downing Street, he explains his actions to the Prime Minister. He fears a professional rebuke, but the Prime Minister says that de Gaulle is a “friend” (259). In spite of recent political disagreements between their countries, the Prime Minister wants any assassination attempt to be stopped. Thomas is given special powers to investigate any potential British link to the assassin, though Thomas admits that his investigation is difficult. Thomas returns to the issue of Charles Calthrop. He chases down his most interesting lead, visiting one of Calthrop’s former employers. He speaks to Patrick Monson, who reveals that Calthrop worked for him for a year. Calthrop was in the Dominican Republic when the dictator was killed. Shortly after, Calthrop was dismissed from the company because they were “not entirely satisfied” (262) with Calthrop’s loyalty. Thomas has more questions than answers. When he returns to the office, one of his newly recruited team points out that the French world for jackal is chacal. It may be a coincidence, but the French word chacal is made up of “the first three letters of [Charles Calthrop’s] Christian name and the first three letters [of his surname]” (263). Thomas reaches for the telephone.
After the failure of the conventional French security services, Claude Lebel is appointed to track down the Jackal and stop the assassination attempt. To accomplish this, he is given extraordinary powers. Notably, few other people seem to note that—in one fell swoop—Lebel has been made “the most powerful cop in Europe” (195). Instead, it falls to Lebel to mention this in passing to his assistant. This demonstrates Lebel’s awareness of the responsibility he carries and his humility in approaching the task, highlighting the contrast between The Rise of Meticulous Men and The Consequences of Hubris. Lebel, however, does not immediately avail himself of the full extent of his powers. Whereas he can effectively mobilize a small army to stop the Jackal, he chooses a much more personable option. He reaches out to other men in other countries. In essence, he tries to find versions of Claude Lebel in other countries. This so-called Old Boys’ network is an informal arrangement of law enforcement cooperation that transcends traditional borders. This network, with its emphasis on personal connections and mutual respect, reflects the theme of The Rise of Meticulous Men. Whereas Britain and France may be at odds over some diplomatic falling out, the police officers are able to put politics aside. Lebel is helped by his fellow officers, even if some of them are reluctant. Rather than the violence or bombast of a man like Colonel Rolland, Lebel sets out to achieve his goal through quiet conversation with his peers. In doing so, Lebel subverts traditional notions of power and competence in law enforcement, emphasizing methodical precision over brute force, and demonstrating that a meticulous approach is more effective than relying solely on hierarchy or aggression.
As Lebel acquaints himself with the case, the Jackal is already afoot. The narrative splits in two, tracking the progress of the assassin and the police officer. While Part 1 framed the Jackal as the hunter, going after de Gaulle, Part 2 frames the Jackal as the prey, hunted by Lebel. This shift in perspective reinforces The Rise of Meticulous Men, as both men must now demonstrate their strategic capabilities in an increasingly high-stakes game of cat and mouse. This parallel narrative highlights how similar Lebel and the Jackal are. They are both careful professionals, meticulous men who stand apart from the violence around them. Yet, their differing motivations—Lebel’s duty to protect and the Jackal’s desire for personal gain—underscore the novel’s explorations of Political Resentment as a Catalyst for Revenge and The Consequences of Hubris. In this respect, the Jackal relies on an Old Boys’ network of his own. When he seeks out false documents or a custom rifle, he travels to Belgium. There, through a contact, he is put in touch with fellow professionals. Like the Old Boys’ network, the criminal underground in Belgium functions on an informal arrangement of common interests. Unlike Lebel’s Old Boys, however, the criminal underground in Belgium is not quite so trustworthy. The contrast between these two networks speaks to the novel’s portrayal of the fine line between professionalism and criminality, where methodical men exist on both sides of the law. While Goosens is dependable, the forger attempts to extort the Jackal and is killed. The Jackal kills him and leaves the body behind, enacting an informal justice against those who betray the informal network. The forger’s punishment reflects The Consequences of Hubris, as the forger’s arrogance in attempting to manipulate a professional like the Jackal leads to his demise.
Lebel’s attempts to reach out to the British security services via the Old Boys’ network put him in touch with a Welsh detective named Bryn Thomas. The Welshman is characterized by a change in mannerisms and speech compared to his English counterparts. The narrative notes the way in which the different treatment between the Welsh and the English annoys Thomas; he is patronized by the English and looked down upon as a provincial and backward figure. There is an element of classism to Thomas’s struggles, much in the same way that the awkward Lebel is castigated by the aristocratic Saint-Clair de Villauban. This dynamic highlights the changing social hierarchies and outdated power structures, where traditional class distinctions hinder the effectiveness of those best suited to the task. In both instances, the traditional social hierarchy of the countries creates power dynamics that reward less competent people. Thomas’s success in advancing the investigation mirrors Lebel’s, as both men rise above the limitations imposed by entrenched class systems and demonstrate that competence, not lineage, should be valued. Thomas plays an essential role in solving the Jackal case, but he must receive the endorsement of the British Prime Minister before he can do so. The Prime Minister’s intervention, motivated by a sense of national duty and alliance, subtly reinforces the political maneuvering and loyalty that permeates the narrative. Methodical, meticulous men like Lebel and Thomas are everywhere, the novel suggests, but the extant institutions are adamant about hindering their effectiveness due to outdated classism.
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