Read Online A Matter of Honour by Jeffrey Archer - Free Book Online Page A

had
remained in his present position as Chairman of the National Bank for nearly a
decade, and only Gromyko the Foreign Secretary had served in any office longer.
Romanov dialled a number on his private line and asked to be put through to the
Chairman of Gosbank. It was some considerable time before another voice came on
the line.
    “Comrade Romanov, what can I do for you?”
    “I urgently need to see you,” said Romanov.
    “Really.” The gravelly tones that came from the other
end of the line sounded distinctly unimpressed. Romanov could hear pages being
flicked over. “I could manage Tuesday, say eleven thirty?”
    “I said it was urgent,” repeated Romanov. “It
concerns a State matter that can’t wait.”
    “We are the nation’s bankers and do have one
or two problems of our own, you might be surprised to hear,” came back the
unrepentant voice. Romanov checked himself and waited. There was more flicking
of pages. “Well, I suppose I could fit you in at three forty-five today, for
fifteen minutes,” said the banker. “But I must warn you that I have a
long-standing engagement at four.”
    “Three forty-five it is then,” said Romanov.
    “In my office,” said Poskonov. The phone
went dead.
    Romanov cursed out loud. Why did everyone feel
obliged to prove their manhood with the KGB? He began to write down the
questions he needed answered in order to put his plan into operation. He couldn’t
afford to waste even a minute of his allocated fifteen. An hour later he asked
to see the Chairman of the KGB. This time he was not kept waiting.
    “Trying to play the capitalists at their own
game, are we?” said Zaborski, once Romanov had outlined his intentions. “Be
careful. They’ve been at it a lot longer than we have.”
    “I realise that,” said Romanov. “But if the
icon is in the West I’m left with little choice but to use their methods to get
my hands on it.”
    “Perhaps,” said the Chairman. “But with your
name such an approach could be misunderstood.”
    Romanov knew better than to interrupt the
brief silence that ensued. “Don’t worry, I’ll give you
all the backing you need – although I’ve never had a request quite like this
one before.”
    “Am I allowed to know why the icon is so
important?” Romanov enquired.
    The Chairman of the KGB frowned. “I do not
have the authority to answer that question, but as Comrade Brezhnev’s
enthusiasm for the arts is well known you must have been able to work out that
it is not the painting itself that we are after.”
    What secret can the painting hold? thought Romanov, and decided to press on. “I wondered if...”
    The Chairman of the KGB shook his head
firmly.
    Bugs don’t have eyes, thought Romanov, but
you know what that something is, don’t you?
    The Chairman rose from his desk and walked
over to the wall and tore another page from the calendar. “Only ten days left
to find the damn thing,” he said. “The General Secretary has taken to phoning
me at one o’clock every morning.”
    “One o’clock in the morning?” said Romanov
joining in the game.
    “Yes, the poor man can’t sleep, they tell
me,” said the Chairman, returning to his desk. “It comes to all of us in time –
perhaps even you, Romanov, and maybe earlier than you expect if you don’t stop
asking questions.” He gave his young colleague a wry smile.
    Romanov left the Chairman a few minutes
later and returned to his office to go over the questions that did need to be
answered by the Chairman of Gosbank. He couldn’t help becoming distracted by
thoughts of what could possibly be the significance of such a small painting,
but accepted that he must concentrate his efforts on finding it and then
perhaps the secret it contained would become obvious.
    Romanov reached the steps of Neglinnaya 12
at three thirty because he knew he needed more than the fifteen minutes he had
been allocated if he was to get all his questions answered. He only hoped
Poskonov would agree