The Baron looked down at a folder. “I see that you have a question about one of the profiles?”

“Yes. Why is Senator Gabriel Standing Bear on your list?”

“You wonder perhaps because he is a Native American?”

“Yes. Because he is an ally to the environmental cause.”

“But that may turn out to be a problem. Gabriel Standing Bear is a charismatic leader on the rise. Even though he is only a Senator from a small state, he has attracted a national following.”

Louise still looked puzzled. “Forgive me for being so dense. Why target a leader sympathetic to our cause?”

“He is a potential target…for two reasons, Louise. Some environmentalists will object to our ultimate aims and he could be one of them. And, more to the point, we prefer followers to leaders.”

“The problem with this senator is what, exactly?"

“His bad case of integrity, Louise. His growing prominence and popularity will make him dangerous.”

“But only if he turns on us…”

“When he turns on us, Louise, when. We cannot conceal our real objectives forever.”

Berker thought it through for a second. “Then better to kill him while he still is an asset. Frame our enemies. Make this Indian a martyr.”

The Baron smiled. “…Too clever by half. Why prematurely discard our assets? We’ll just take out some insurance. Men like Gabriel can sometimes be controlled through their children. He has a daughter, a student in Seattle, Helen Snowfeather Lindstrom. She is vulnerable to recruitment.”

“Then we will try to exploit her. Thank you for the guidance.”

“Very well, then.” The Baron got to his feet. “We are done here. At the end of the day, not all of the targets will be obstacles, particularly as we begin to succeed in shaping public opinion. But some will eventually need to be removed with prejudice. Like your example, that Indian Senator. The trick is always to kill them in compromising locations, places that have the smell of scandal about them. And to take out one or two unrelated victims in the same area. It is possible to create such a bizarre crime signature that it overshadows even a celebrity’s death.” His thin smile appeared briefly. “There is an art to this.”

“Political killing must never seem political, unless and until that is the whole point of the exercise.”

“Louise Berker, you were always my very best student. I will miss you.”

But Louise Berker was no longer an amateur revenge killer. She was a professional, now, and was sustained by her new secret religion. Louise Berker was biding her time. Just wait old man, she thought, until I am in charge.