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Authors: Brian Freemantle
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response to his seizure. What else was there to deduce? All the identification was of MI6 personnel. Had Ian Flood—as well as his original MI5 support—escaped? If they had, it logically followed that Natalia and Sasha had escaped as well. Too big an assumption but Charlie was encouraged. He thought … The interrupting awareness came in a rush, expanding into a physical stomach lurch at the realization of how close he’d come to missing the Russian’s weakness. ‘Finding an offence to justify all the nonsense is going to be a problem.’
Guzov failed to stop the briefest facial twitch. ‘How long are you going to persist in this stupid insistence of innocence?’
‘Until you accept it to be the truth and put me into the care of the British embassy,’ recited Charlie.
‘We have statements from Denning and Beckindale in which both identify you as a senior MI5 field operative.’
Charlie at once saw the route—a positive shortcut, in fact—to follow, although there was the one specific discovery he didn’t want to make at its end. ‘What else have these two total strangers claimed to know about me?’
On this occasion the anger was visible on Guzov’s mood-mirroring face. ‘We have all we need. As well as sufficient, court-supporting evidence for a charge of active involvement in acts of espionage against the Russian Federation.’
The Russian was bluffing, Charlie decided, surprised at the clumsiness: bluffing very badly and, even worse, inexpertly. That would have been the moment to hit him with Natalia and Sasha: to gloat that they had also been seized and watch, hopefully, for him to crumble. It was conceivable, even, that the Russians didn’t have Denning or Beckindale, either. Their association with the dead Briddle could easily have been established through their arrival documentation, providing Guzov the names with which to attempt the deception. And even if the two were detained, there was nothing in Guzov’s bluster to indicate confessional statements. Feeling a sudden sweep of tiredness, unsurprising after the minor surgery and the concentration necessary for this encounter, Charlie settled himself more comfortably against his bed support and said, ‘It all sounds fascinating.’
‘You’re playing it as I’d hoped you would, Charlie. Imagining you’re better than me: that you can beat me.’
‘Something else I don’t understand,’ dismissed Charlie.
‘How about something you will understand?’ said the Russian, the smile broadening. ‘We know about the woman.’
* * *
They convened at Thames House as they had the preceding day and again Aubrey Smith gave the opening to his deputy. Overnight, Jane Ambersom had organized a transcript of her conversation with Natalia, prefacing the verbatim account with what she considered the salient factors.
‘Charlie knew about Radtsic’s defection—and of Elena and Andrei’s seizure in France—before Natalia told him?’ queried the Director-General, coming up from the papers.
‘I think there should be a qualification here,’ warned Jane. ‘In the full transcript she’s adamant it was Maxim Radtsic whom Charlie knew about. I’m inclined to think he knew there was something else going on, but not that it was Radtsic’s extraction as such.’
‘You mean she’s intentionally misleading us?’ challenged Passmore, at once.
‘Absolutely not,’ denied Jane. ‘I believe she fully understands she’s got to do everything she can to help Charlie. I also believe she sincerely believes Charlie mentioned Radtsic by name, because of her own surprising involvement. There’s also a lot of guilt. Knowing, too late, that she was cleared of suspicion—that her marriage to Charlie hadn’t been discovered—she feels she trapped him into going back to get her and their daughter out.’
‘She didn’t talk about the Radtsic investigation?’ asked Passmore.
‘Before we started talking I specifically excluded anything other
Guzov failed to stop the briefest facial twitch. ‘How long are you going to persist in this stupid insistence of innocence?’
‘Until you accept it to be the truth and put me into the care of the British embassy,’ recited Charlie.
‘We have statements from Denning and Beckindale in which both identify you as a senior MI5 field operative.’
Charlie at once saw the route—a positive shortcut, in fact—to follow, although there was the one specific discovery he didn’t want to make at its end. ‘What else have these two total strangers claimed to know about me?’
On this occasion the anger was visible on Guzov’s mood-mirroring face. ‘We have all we need. As well as sufficient, court-supporting evidence for a charge of active involvement in acts of espionage against the Russian Federation.’
The Russian was bluffing, Charlie decided, surprised at the clumsiness: bluffing very badly and, even worse, inexpertly. That would have been the moment to hit him with Natalia and Sasha: to gloat that they had also been seized and watch, hopefully, for him to crumble. It was conceivable, even, that the Russians didn’t have Denning or Beckindale, either. Their association with the dead Briddle could easily have been established through their arrival documentation, providing Guzov the names with which to attempt the deception. And even if the two were detained, there was nothing in Guzov’s bluster to indicate confessional statements. Feeling a sudden sweep of tiredness, unsurprising after the minor surgery and the concentration necessary for this encounter, Charlie settled himself more comfortably against his bed support and said, ‘It all sounds fascinating.’
‘You’re playing it as I’d hoped you would, Charlie. Imagining you’re better than me: that you can beat me.’
‘Something else I don’t understand,’ dismissed Charlie.
‘How about something you will understand?’ said the Russian, the smile broadening. ‘We know about the woman.’
* * *
They convened at Thames House as they had the preceding day and again Aubrey Smith gave the opening to his deputy. Overnight, Jane Ambersom had organized a transcript of her conversation with Natalia, prefacing the verbatim account with what she considered the salient factors.
‘Charlie knew about Radtsic’s defection—and of Elena and Andrei’s seizure in France—before Natalia told him?’ queried the Director-General, coming up from the papers.
‘I think there should be a qualification here,’ warned Jane. ‘In the full transcript she’s adamant it was Maxim Radtsic whom Charlie knew about. I’m inclined to think he knew there was something else going on, but not that it was Radtsic’s extraction as such.’
‘You mean she’s intentionally misleading us?’ challenged Passmore, at once.
‘Absolutely not,’ denied Jane. ‘I believe she fully understands she’s got to do everything she can to help Charlie. I also believe she sincerely believes Charlie mentioned Radtsic by name, because of her own surprising involvement. There’s also a lot of guilt. Knowing, too late, that she was cleared of suspicion—that her marriage to Charlie hadn’t been discovered—she feels she trapped him into going back to get her and their daughter out.’
‘She didn’t talk about the Radtsic investigation?’ asked Passmore.
‘Before we started talking I specifically excluded anything other
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