Montclair

Montclair is one of the three OAS chiefs who learns that the conspiracy to assassinate Charles de Gaulle has been exposed after The Jackal has already set out. His response is immediate: he wants the assassin stopped before the French authorities can close in. The conversation with Marc Rodin makes Montclair’s urgency clear, but also exposes the limits of the leadership’s control. The Jackal is on his own, and the men who hired him can neither locate him nor safely send him an order to withdraw.

Identity and Position

Montclair appears as a senior OAS figure among the three chiefs gathered in their suite. He shares the room with Marc Rodin and André Casson, who have heard that a legionnaire could not get a reply from the number in London given to him. Rodin then passes Casson a piece of paper; Casson reads it and hands it to Montclair. The brief chain of gestures places Montclair inside the leadership’s private deliberations, receiving the news directly rather than through a later report.

The scene gives no account of Montclair’s earlier life, rank, or personal history. His position is defined instead by his participation in the OAS leadership’s response to an operational crisis. He is not the person who can communicate with The Jackal, and he does not claim authority over the covert contact, Valmy. His role is that of a chief trying to influence the decision and prevent a dangerous course from continuing, even as the practical means of intervention prove absent.

Reaction to the Exposed Plot

Montclair recognizes the danger in the message and argues that The Jackal must be stopped. His concern is concrete: French authorities may soon be searching widely for the assassin. Rodin counters that the searchers have only a general description of a tall, blond foreigner, no established name or face, and no passport to identify. With many foreigners in the country in August, Rodin believes The Jackal may still have room to evade them and could be warned if he contacts Valmy.

Montclair’s next proposal is to use that contact to end the operation. He maintains that Valmy will order The Jackal to stop if the assassin calls. Rodin corrects him: Valmy’s instructions are limited to receiving information from the girl and passing it to The Jackal when contacted. Valmy has no authority to cancel the assignment. This correction narrows Montclair’s options. A channel that might appear to connect the leadership to the assassin is, in fact, only a relay with tightly restricted duties.

Montclair therefore shifts from the possibility of a direct order to the belief that The Jackal must understand the situation for himself. He argues that once the assassin learns of the exposure through his first call to Valmy, he must leave at once. The insistence is urgent, but it is also conditional: the decision to abandon the mission belongs to The Jackal, not to Montclair or Rodin.

Conflict with Rodin and the Limits of Control

Rodin acknowledges that, in theory, the assassin ought to withdraw, but points out the cost of doing so: The Jackal would have to return the money. The stakes are not confined to the political objective; payment and the parties’ commitments also weigh on the decision. Rodin further suggests that the outcome depends on how confident The Jackal is in his own planning. Montclair’s demand for a recall meets not a disagreement about the danger, but an explanation of why the danger may not be enough to make the assassin comply.

When André Casson asks whether The Jackal still has a chance, Rodin answers that he does not think so, while emphasizing that a professional may resist standing down an operation he planned personally. Montclair then presses Rodin to recall him. Rodin replies that he cannot: The Jackal has departed, the leadership does not know where he is or what he will do, and attempting to use Valmy as an instrument of cancellation could expose the contact. The exchange ends with Rodin’s conclusion that nobody can stop the assassin now. Montclair’s urgency has identified the desired outcome, but it cannot supply a safe or effective means of achieving it.

Narrative Role and Significance

Montclair’s function in the episode is to give voice to the immediate political and practical objection to proceeding after the plot is compromised. His interventions test the available alternatives in sequence: stop The Jackal, instruct him through Valmy, or rely on him to recognize the danger and withdraw. Each possibility is weakened by information Rodin supplies. The result is not a new plan but a sharper understanding of the OAS leadership’s powerlessness once its hired operative is beyond direct contact.

The scene also distinguishes organizational responsibility from operational control. Montclair is part of the group that confronts the consequences, yet the assassin’s professional independence, the limits placed on Valmy, and the risk of exposing the contact leave the chiefs unable to command him. Montclair’s insistence that the operation be stopped therefore underscores the gap between hiring a specialist and controlling what that specialist does after departure. His brief appearance makes that gap legible through disagreement, correction, and the eventual recognition that the decision now rests with The Jackal.