Robert Eringer, Prince Albert's spymaster, met MING, a suspected spy and money launderer, for dinner at Orient Fusion in London's West End on 16 October (2003).

Full of himself in his low-key way, MING said, "I'm departing tomorrow for the Middle East," implying he would undertake a super-secret mission for the U.S. government. "Back Sunday, out again Tuesday, back to the Middle East."

"A mystery trip?" asked his daughter, swallowing the bait. "Baghdad?"

"No," said MING, a smarmy grin. "Close." Then, another reference to the U.S. President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB), hinting that PFIAB had charged him to undertake secret missions, a ridiculous notion because PFIAB was not chartered for operational activity.

MING also mentioned that he'd recently purchased a ski lodge in Whistler, Canada, and was in the midst of fully renovating his apartment in Monaco.

Next day, Eringer phoned a special agent at FBI headquarters and briefed him cryptically on his dinner with MING.

"You're way ahead of us," said the FBI special agent.

It did not take much to be way ahead of the FBI.

A week later, the special agent phoned Eringer. "To avoid headquarters interference, I cannot deal directly with you," he said. "You must deal with our Los Angeles field office." He provided a name, initials TW.

One week after that, Eringer sat in California with a pair of FBI special agents, including TW. There was, said TW, tremendous interest in MING. Would Eringer be willing to further cultivate MING on their behalf to develop a money laundering case?

Eringer agreed that he would further cultivate MING, not on the FBI's behalf, but on the Prince's behalf, in the spirit of liaison partnership.

Coming Next: A New Requirement