by Daniel Kemp
“The man he gave away your crown jewels to was not the most dependable man to keep a secret. He makes a living by selling them. But for an objective only known by him and Dickie, he kept yours until I asked him for it. Then he gave me everything, Klaus. Now why would someone who thought of you as important give up your name to a man he knew would go looking for you, as well as telling him that same man your holiest of holies?”
I was not going to give him a chance to speak. “When I asked him why it was he gave Cilicia her job as deputy head of the Eighth Directorate, where you must be proud of how she has worked her way up to become the head of a separate section, he just smiled and never answered me. Quite honestly, I had all I wanted from him. There was really no need for me to know. Besides, I'd have no way of knowing if it was truth or lies he told me. But perhaps you might know and be able to tell us, Nikita? Perhaps you might also like to tell us more of your murdered wife's relative, Anatoly Vladimirovich Malikova, while you're about it?” I was not giving way. “But before we get too far into that one, hopefully not jeopardising tomorrow's abduction, let's tackle your references to Henry Mayler and his and your connection to the Rosicrucian fellowship?”
I gave way and smoked my cigarette and drank my Scotch.
“Yes, I can start there, but I doubt either of you will enjoy what I have to say. Your prized Dickie Blythe-Smith was a Mason like me, Mr Ughert.”
“Yet again, you fail to impress me, Nikita. I'm a Mason as well. Most of the British civil service, along with most members of Parliament, are Masons. About the only person I know who's not is West here,” Fraser declared with both pride and amusement.
“Maybe all what you say is true, Mr Ughert. Or maybe the Ugherts' truth is different to other people's truth. Yes, I am Klaus Mecklenburg. A relative of the Adelar Mecklenburg your father murdered. And you dare to insinuate I murdered my wife when you befriend a murderer yourself, Mr West.” His accusing look darted from my face to Fraser's and then back again. When neither of us answered, he carried on with his submission.
“You might well know the story of Adelar Mecklenburg, but what you have never known is that I introduced Blythe-Smith to a very important person who was central to the Circle of Eight you are, as I'm given to believe, obsessed with. Dickie knew the potential those families, who include my own in their number, represent.”
“Yes, I got all that from Trubnikov, Nikita. Despite the past with its ramifications on the present, I also discovered how Dickie shared all the intelligence Trubnikov gave us on the young Vladimir Putin with the CIA. You didn't know that, did you?”
Fraser's missing smile reappeared at just about the same time as Nikita Kudashov's face took on the ashen glaze of shock.
“Hmm, I can understand your worry, Nikita. Especially as Cilicia is still in Moscow, but back to your wife's connection to the Romanovs, and Anatoly Vladimirovich Malikova, for a moment. Could he not have helped his niece to escape from Russia? He must have many connections? Could it be that he knows the truth about Anna, and doesn't want to help? Does he have the same inside knowledge as Jana Kava had, knowing you murdered your wife? And was the consequences of that brutal act covered up by Dickie Blythe-Smith's story of papers stashed away by General Ivan Aleksandrovich Solidus, proving Victor Rothschild's treason? Is that the cover story that did the rounds of those that had to know?
“These are some of the mysteries that led Fraser and me to other mysteries we cannot solve without your truthful replies. Perhaps there are numberless mysteries that will cloud our vision between now and 4 a.m., forcing us to call it off in Moscow and see who gets to Cilicia first? Would it be the corrupted American branch of the CIA who write files on proposed genocides and kills for fun, or perhaps the President of Russia gets there first, either because we call him up and tell him? Or possibly Trubnikov will call his old friend, being unsure what I will do now I know your secret? Either way, we can watch as Putin kills your granddaughter in retribution for your acts of espionage against the old USSR, not forgetting any you may have committed against his new federal state of Russia. Would it be fair to leave Cilicia to pay for your acts? We live in interesting times, Nikita, don't we?” I watched Kudashov as he looked into space and I knew we'd won.
“We do, Mr West, but I fear they will be more interesting for you than me.”
“Tell me about George Stoneman's contribution to your Circle of families and how he and you fit into this blessed Gladio B file that just won't go away. Then I want to know who the Finnish man that's so important to it is? How does he fit into this story? Remember Moscow when you consider my questions, my friend.”
* * *
At first we covered what he did and did not know of the 'leak' at GCHQ. He knew of Geoffrey Prime, but not how Dickie coerced Randall 'Ryan' Cavershall to act as our double and turn Trubnikov into a conduit British intelligence could use with impunity. He suspected his own name could have been circulated, but had no idea by whom; least of all did he suspect Dickie of being his Judas. He had read of George Stoneman's death on the same day as Paulette Simona's plane was shot down, and he strongly believed it was someone from the Stoneman family who was responsible.
What then followed was a detailed analysis of the cooperation the Circle of families enjoyed until they were presented with the Gladio B file that friends of George Stoneman wanted financing. Nikita Kudashov, as Mecklenburg, introduced Bohdan Dimitriyevich Valescov into Stoneman's thinking and, hey presto, Panama was up and running. Now I had the answer to Dickie's obscure reference to the: money as it drains to the sea. We next addressed who the Finnish man was. Fraser had heard the name from somewhere, but was unable to remember from where. He left the room to contact Michael Simmons, who set about running the data through the computers at AIS. Whilst Michael was available Fraser checked on the situation in Moscow with him and was reassured that all was calm and set for the time arranged.
Chapter Thirty-Nine: A Circle
Anatoly Vladimirovich Malikova, the person whom Nikita Kudashov implied that if ever his granddaughter disappeared from Moscow would probably launch nuclear missiles if able was, in reality, as timid as a church mouse. Or so it said in the report Christopher Irons sent directly to Group before it found its way to me last Thursday. Kudashov did not look sufficiently surprised to satisfy either Fraser's or my curiosity. However, in another part of Christopher's report, it stated that he was as KGB as blood was red and very much part of the Federal Security Service, the KGB's replacement.
Anatoly's patriot father, Major General Vladimir Anatolyevich Malikova, was the department head of the Soviet counter-intelligence from 1955 until his honourable retirement in 1981, aged just sixty-six years of age. He had travelled to Prague a year after his retirement not only to attend his sister's funeral, but also to investigate her death. A gunshot to the head was the cause and the handwritten note, found beside her body, attested to her state of mind preceding her apparent suicide. But by the time General Malikova arrived, the note had mysteriously vanished and there had been nobody other than his brother-in-law to vouch for his sister's handwriting.
He had a letter from Anna in his pocket, where it said her husband was having an affair with a woman who worked at the central policy committee of the chairman of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. She had seen them together several times so her letter went on to say, and she did not believe him when he told her, in fits of anger, that the woman was a police informer who only worked for him. Her brother questioned Nikita about the 'affair' and those fits of anger, accepting the explanation of stress for the anger and the importance of secrecy for informers, strenuously denying any infidelity, which the general, a man of the world, understood implicitly. Nevertheless, more doubts started to creep in, especially after he'd returned to Moscow and saw Kudashov in the company of a seductive younger woman a few months after his sister was buried.
He was not in a position to approach Kudashov that day, when he saw his brother-in-law arm in arm with the woman from his
hospital bed, where he lay with the cancer that was eating his body away. Sadly, he died three days later. His son, Anatoly, took it upon himself to continue to look into his aunt's suspicious death and when asked by Nikita Kudashov to care for his parentless granddaughter by arranging a position for her somewhere within government ministries, he knew exactly where her qualifications would be suited. He asked his colleagues in the upper echelons of the Federal Security Service and Vyacheslav Trubnikov, owing a favour to his father, and in the process of taking up his role in India, agreed to appoint them both to the communication hub in Moscow Centre. It was as simple and as fortuitous as that. There was no ulterior motive, or hidden agendas. Simply luck that Cilicia was able to read the NSA signals.
But luck had nothing to do with Nikita Kudashov's wish for the time he desired before we went ahead with Cilicia's extraction. That was to exact retribution on Anatoly for what his father had done to Nikita when he was frustrated over his sister's death.
The major general had let it be known that the reason for Nikita Kudashov's change of name from his rightful German one was not as Nikita said—in order that he could ingratiate himself into the Western intelligence services in order to spy for Mother Russia. The major general alleged the opposite to be true—he was an American spy. The allegation brought trouble to Nikita's door. He was recalled to Moscow to answer the allegation, but Dickie Blythe-Smith had seen this coming immediately after Kudashov had admitted killing his wife. That was the reason behind Nikita being seen encouraging Jana Kava to point out the traitorous Polish army officer.
'There,' Kudashov said at his hearing, 'is your answer to my hate-filled, vindictive brother-in-law's slur on my character. Did I not point out the traitorous army officer? I am yours, as my money has shown, and I will continue to contribute as long as I have your trust.'
The scar left by that accusation was deep and angry, needing lancing by the death of the accuser's son in recompense. Kudashov had someone in mind to kill Anatoly Vladimirovich Malikova, but now, Kudashov said, it was too late for him to be reached and once Cilicia had gone, so had her grandfather's hold over his would-be assassin. Although I suspected something along those lines, I was far from sure; however, I proposed another way of dealing with Malikova to Kudashov, which I had discussed with Christopher Irons on the drive down to Beaulieu. After our discussion, Kudashov agreed that there was no longer a need for the mobile phone. Having cleared that away, I moved on to why Cilicia was now in so much danger from the George Stoneman's family and the third reason for Jana Kava's death, which Fraser was unaware of.
It was Jana who introduced George Stoneman to Karina Kudashov and her husband, Ludvík.
Karina was a beautiful young woman who had the same roaming eye as George. It did not take long for the two to form a secret partnership that was to last until Karina fell pregnant with Cilicia. Jana knew George was the father because Karina told her so. Similarly, she told him he was the father. But she told Nikita's son, Ludvík Kudashov, a different story. She told him he was their daughter's father. Nikita suspected what his son did not, asking Karina outright. She did nothing to conceal her infidelity. All was as well as things could be in the Kudashov family until George Stoneman told Kudashov about his position regarding the Gladio B file and his ultimate aim of the destruction of the world order in which the Mecklenburgs had prospered. That's when things went sour between the Stoneman family and Nikita.
In desperation, Nikita tried to hide his granddaughter away from the clutches of those who shared George Stoneman's ideals. He told Dickie his secret, but Dickie had a higher game to play than hiding Nikita's family's shame. When the time was right for the British interests to exceed those of Kudashov, Dickie told Trubnikov the truth of Cilicia's father in exchange for the information on Vladimir Putin. Trubnikov kept this 'umbrella' dry, but not unopened.
In her final year at university, Trubnikov met with Cilicia Kudashov under the pretence of interviewing her for the eventual role she filled within the Russian counter-intelligence communications department. He told Cilicia the truth about who her father was. George Stoneman, he said, was a senior CIA administrator. He showed her evidence of her stepbrother's presidential nomination campaign, and not being aware of corrupted files of demonic proportions, he played up the all-American Stoneman family to rival anything she may have known of American culture.
“You have two other stepbrothers,” he told her. “One is a highly placed CIA agent who would adore to have a sister working on the inside of Moscow Centre. If you were to agree to the American overtures, I could ensure your grandfather's safety in the West. If you accept, you have my word, but if not, then who knows?” he said.
Being a man who used lies exclusively for the betterment of himself, Trubnikov sold the allegiance Cilicia declared for the CIA to former colleagues he knew from his KGB days. Anatoly Vladimirovich Malikova was one of them, and it was he who suggested to his superior that at the age Cilicia now was, twenty-five, she was ready to 'defect' to America and work there for the interests of Russia.
Nikita Kudashov did not know of Anatoly Malikova's intentions, nor did Anatoly know of Nikita's. But I knew of them both, as Trubnikov was a fountain of knowledge.
* * *
Fraser and I left Kudashov to his agonising worries of tomorrow morning and set off for Whitehall, filled with the same concerns, or so I thought. However, Fraser was occupied with others.
“We now know of two of the families who make up that Circle of mine. Is it our job to police what goes on in the world of legitimate trade and finance, or not? If all they're doing is manipulating prices and availability, then okay, it's a moral issue when it comes to the less fortunate, yes, but is it our role as intelligence gatherers to intervene? I know you had the same question when we were dealing with Henry Mayler and what he represented. I'm quite convinced Kudashov and his part of the Mecklenburgs have nothing to do with Gladio B, Patrick. As for the Court of St James and the House of Windsor, etc., they too have a right to form advantageous allegiances to further their state ambitions. I'm equally convinced of their non-participation in Gladio B.
“From what you have told me, I can only conclude that Samuel Rothschild's hands are also clean, along with the Lebanese Assyrian billionaire, Aaron Simonin, the man he was working with to create the home for displaced Kurds, Syrians, etc., in Southern Turkey. Which leaves us with three names that we know of: the Russian, Bohdan Dimitriyevich Valescov, the Indian in charge of SanMonto, the Israeli with the pharmaceutical company, and we have the Finnish name to come, which completes the Circle of Eight. Now, however, I'm not absolutely certain of what we should do.
“Dickie was always promoting GB interests, as all good servants of this country should. I hope I did the same when on the JIC, and I'm sure you do, and will do, now you have the chair. I've said it before, but it's worth repeating: the world of espionage is never a straight path to tread. But returning to what we have here, there are several things I'm still unclear on, Patrick. The main things are—why did Dickie go to all the extent he did just to name a double-agent dating back to the eighties? Where exactly is the benefit in that? The question about how did he know you would still be around has not been answered and probably never will be, and possibly the most important question of all is why give the Americans all what Trubnikov gave him about Putin? Dickie saw the potential Putin had; otherwise he would not have worked so hard on Trubnikov.”
I spent a few moments thinking in what order I should answer Fraser's questions when the car phone rang and it was Michael with an identity to the name Kudashov gave us of the Finnish man in Dickie's last signal, locked away in the vaults at the Foreign and Commonwealth. Fraser was right in the line of thinking he was taking. What could British intelligence do with four foreign nationals taking advantage of financial situations to dominate the markets they were in? Our role was to protect British interests around the globe. There were no rules attached that obligation, nor should there be. I decided not to tell
Fraser the latest and last name to his Circle. I could see no good reason why.
Chapter Forty: Key Fitzgerald
Exhaustion and the consumption of whisky overtook me on the car journey home, forcing me to apologise to Fraser for falling asleep and only waking on our arrival at Whitehall. Apparently, I'd slept for a solid forty minutes from the time of taking Michael Simmons's call. It felt as though I'd had a full night of sleep as I was wide awake and raring to go. That couldn't be said of Fraser who, despite or maybe because of staying awake to speak to both Frank and Jimmy on the drive from Beaulieu, looked debilitated on the short walk from the lifts to the spare apartment. I enquired about his health and was told to mind my own business in a deep Scottish voice he normally reserved for Molly when she likewise enquired. In many ways I needed that show of affection, even allowing for its alcoholic doctoring, as it took me nearer to the lost affection I had with Hannah. Be that as it may, I had a job to do that in five hours' time that could cost a life, or more, if not done correctly. Fraser asked to be woken early and then waved goodbye, leaving me to reflect on what I knew.
There were a few files attributed to 'Ryan' that I've mentioned and would have mentioned to Hannah had she been alive, but there was one that I have not disclosed to you or Fraser. It went a long way in answering Fraser's main question of why did Dickie give the Americans all the information Trubnikov gave him on Vladimir Putin. It also explained why Dickie did what he did in constructing such a hugely elaborate web to conceal one name—the only name agent Ryan ever sent in plain text. It also had a lot to do with why it was hidden, but not completely concealed from anyone who looked hard enough.