plotter

The detective and his team deduce that the plotters likely include government and industry officials in Canada and the U.S., as well as organized-crime figures and even members of the Quebec police force.

Brazil's past has been littered with coups or attempted coups, but no one has ever sat in the dock, and past plotters have been granted amnesty.

Mr Cappelli's answer to those who call the response authoritarian is: "Study history. Amnesty for past coup attempts resulted in new coups. Today's pardoned coup plotter becomes tomorrow's coup plotter."

The US foreign intelligence service said the plotters had hoped to kill a large number of concert-goers.

Success after success followed - and cells of plotters were also increasingly infiltrated by spooks finding secret ways to capture chats about plans.