THE SUPERNOTES
AFFAIR
Agent Kasper is a former operative for both the Italian intelligence services and the American CIA.
Luigi Carletti is a prize-winning veteran investigative journalist and the author of several novels.
THE
SUPERNOTES
AFFAIR
AGENT KASPER
AND LUIGI CARLETTI
—
Translated from the Italian
by John Cullen
Published in Great Britain in 2016 by Canongate Books
Ltd, 14 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TE
This digital edition first published in 2016 by Canongate Books
Copyright © 2016 by Agent Kasper and Luigi Carletti
Translation copyright © 2016 by John Cullen
The moral rights of the authors and the translator have been asserted
First published in the United States by Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LCC, New York
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available on request from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 78211 573 1
eISBN 978 1 78211 574 8
Book design by Michael Collica
THE SUPERNOTES
AFFAIR
Contents
15Dollars, Dollars, and More Dollars
1
Escape or Die
Prey Sar Correctional Center, near Phnom Penh, CambodiaSaturday, April 4, 2009
“Italian! You come here right now!”
The prisoner obeys. But he obeys slowly. A little too slowly.
He’s called Kasper. He’s an Italian prisoner. Kasper has been his code name for a long time, his battle name in a life filled with battles.
Now his only battle is to stay alive.
The Kapo shouts again. He has a hoarse voice. Among his powers, barking is the least dangerous. He narrows his eyes and growls out orders that split the silence of the already sweltering early morning.
“The Kapo” is the name Kasper has given him because he acts exactly like the kapos in the Nazi concentration camps. His Cambodian name is of course different. And unpronounceable.
He’s a prisoner too, the Kapo is, but of a higher category. He helps the guards manage the camp. The job offers some satisfactions. For example, he’s allowed to beat lower ranking prisoners