56 pages 1 hour read

Frederick Forsyth

The Day of the Jackal

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1971

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Part 3Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 3: “Anatomy of a Kill”

Part 3, Chapter 19 Summary

Lebel is woken by Caron, who has devised an idea of how to narrow their search for the Jackal. With the help of Bryn Thomas, they narrow the list of names to any Dane who reported a lost or stolen passport during a recent trip to Britain. Next, Lebel hears a recording of a wire-tap. In the recording, Jacqueline tells Valmy that the French police know that the Jackal is posing as a Danish priest. The police arrest Valmy. When the daily call comes from the Jackal, Lebel answers the telephone and poses as Valmy. He says that there is nothing to report, and the Jackal hangs up. The call perturbs the Jackal enough to make him ditch his Danish identity, just as Lebel issues a search for Paster Per Jensen. The Jackal bounces between cheap hotels, changing his clothes and hairstyle until he can pose as the American student Marty Schulberg.

When the French police realize that the Jackal has slipped away again, Lebel asks Thomas to search for any other reports of missing passports from people who match the Jackal’s physical description. At the daily meeting, Lebel plays the recording of the wire-tap. Saint-Clair de Villauban realizes that he is the leak and leaves to write his resignation.

Related Titles

By Frederick Forsyth