[WINSTON]
When the phone rang in Interpol's Beijing headquarters, it should've been business as normal. One of Beijing's own senior Criminal Investigation agents had been in a meeting with Ellis Winston and Genevieve Moreau when one of the newer agents burst in. The rapid-fire conversation that followed was one which went over Winston's head, and even speaking Mandarin Genevieve only caught part of it. Between the speed and some of the short-hand and slang words being used, it was a little complicated to keep up.
Still, the younger agent was ushered from the room. The man whom Winston and Moreau had been meeting with cleared his throat and adjusted his tie before he picked up the phone on the conference table and offered it to Winston. "I believe," the agent said, "that this is for you, sir."
Winston's brow furrowed as he looked at the receiver. He glanced over at Moreau, who only watched him, before he reached out and took the phone. "Hello?"
"Is this Señor Winston?" A man with a Spanish accent asked.
"Yes, this is he."
"Ah, excelente," the man said. "I am Agent Santiago Fernández; I work with Interpol here in Madrid. Today there was a truck full of American-made, military-grade weaponry dropped off at the United States embassy. So far as we can tell, the weapons were smuggled; the serial numbers have been filed off, and the boxes they were found in have stamps which indicate that the contents ought to be parts for a computer."
"I fail to see what this has to do with me, Agent," Winston said. He did his best not to roll his eyes in order to maintain professionalism in front of the Interpol agents.
"At first we weren't entirely certain who you were, in all truthfulness, but you see—" Fernández paused and audibly cleared his throat. "A note was left with the truck. It was attached to the door, actually."
"I still don't—"
"The note reads," Fernández interrupted, "To Interpol: Play nice with the FBI. This, of course, led us to tracking you down, given evidently you recently partnered with one of our French agents— Though the only part we weren't entirely sure how to interpret was the signature.
"You see, all that was left were the initials MD."
