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they were here when they first came but they've done quite a decent job in the last four years." "What are their terms of reference?" "Who were they?" "Oh--couple of technicians--Professor Doktor someone and Doktor someone else--couple of girls and a general dogsbody." "Who was the dogsbody?" "Don't know. Some young diplomat to iron out the wrinkles. We have them recorded at the Department. I can send you details, I suppose." "If you don't mind." "No, of course not." There was another awkward pause. Smiley said: "Photographs would be a help, Peter. Could you manage that?" "Yes, yes, of course." Guillam looked away from Smiley in some embarrassment. "We don't know much about the East Germans really, you know. We get odd bits here and there, but on the whole they're something of a mystery. If they operate at all they don't do it under Trade or Diplomatic cover--that's why, if you're right about this chap, it's so odd him coming from the Steel Mission." "Oh," said Smiley, flatly. "How do they operate?" asked Mendel. "It's hard to generalise from the very few isolated cases we do know of. My impression is that they run their agents direct from Germany with no contact between controller and agent in the operational zone." "But that must limit them terribly," cried Smiley. "You may have to wait months before your agent can travel to a meeting place outside his own country. He may not have the necessary cover to make the journey at all." Smiley was listening now. "As a matter of fact," Guillam went on, "the Americans intercepted a courier quite recently, which is where we learnt the little we do know about G. D. R. technique." "Such as what?" "Oh well, never waiting at a rendezvous, never meeting at the stated time but twenty minutes before; recognition signals--all the usual conjuring tricks that give a gloss to low grade information. They muck about with names, too. A courier may have to contact three or four agents--a controller may run as many as fifteen. They never invent cover names for themselves." "What do you mean? Surely they must." "They get the agent to do it for them. The agent chooses a name, any name he likes, and the controller adopts it. A gimmick really--" he stopped, looking at Mendel in surprise. Mendel had leapt to his feet. Guillam sat back in his chair and wondered if he were allowed to smoke. He decided reluctantly that he wasn't. He could have done with a cigarette. "Well?" said Smiley. Mendel had described to Guillam his interview with Mr. Scarr. "It fits," said Guillam. "Obviously it fits with what we know. But then we don't know all that much. If Blondie was a courier, it is exceptional--in my experience at least--that he should use a trade delegation as a staging post." "You said the Mission had been here four years," said Mendel. "Blondie first came to Scarr four years ago." "Well, of course, if they were on to something really big they might." "Meaning if they had a highly placed resident agent in play?" "Yes, roughly." "And assuming they had such an agent, a Maclean or Fuchs, it is conceivable that they would establish a station here under trade cover with no operational function except to hold the agent's hand?" "Yes, it's conceivable. But it's a tall order, George. What you're suggesting is that the agent is run from abroad, serviced by courier and the courier is serviced by the Mission, which is also the agent's personal guardian angel. He'd have to be some agent." "I'm not suggesting quite that--but near enough. And I accept that the system demands a high-grade - agent. Don't forget we only have Blondie's word for it that he came from abroad." Mendel chipped in: "This agent--would he be in touch with the Mission direct?" "Good lord, no," said Guillam. "He'd probably have an emergency procedure for getting in touch with them--a telephone code or something of the sort." "How does that work?" asked Mendel. "Varies. Might be on the wrong number system. You dial the number from a call box and ask to