by Duncan James
Marsden and his police ‘minder’ quickly went from room to room. The more they searched, the more Nick felt sick. This was all too familiar. The tidily made bed, with Nick’s pyjamas under the pillow. He gathered them up to take away with him. The toys in the lounge and in Donald’s bedroom. Were there any missing? Yes, there were. A couple of his favourites weren’t there The washing up had been done in the kitchen. The gas had been turned off – everything neat and tidy and organised as he would have expected the house to be if Barbara and her mother had left of their own choice.
It was almost a relief to know that they appeared not to have been forced to leave.
But he felt just as sick and ill at ease.
***
It was about an hour later that Marsden rang his Head of Section in Clerkenwell.
“I’m on my way back, but thought I’d give you a bell first in case you can think of something I’ve forgotten. My brain’s not entirely in gear at the moment. But there is no sign of anyone here at all - no bodies, so that’s good. On the other hand, it looks as if they planned to leave. No signs of a rush, no passports, no spare cash, no keys, and no mobile phones – all gone. What’s more, it looks as if the hard drive has been removed from Barbara’s computer, just like hers in the office, and her lap-top seems to have gone as well. There are no notes left lying around, so no clues at all as to where they’ve all gone or why, or even when. The police chappies are taking finger prints and all that – the place is crawling with them.”
“It’s a bit like that here, too. Anything else?”
“Only that it looks as if they’ve also planned to be away for some time. The water, central heating, gas and electricity have all been turned off, and both the fridge and the freezer have been emptied. It’s in the wheelie bin. Stuff missing from the wardrobes, too, and some of Donald’s best toys are missing. I had a few bits lying around – razor, toothbrush, shirts – that sort of thing, and most of that’s gone. I’m obviously not expected back here, so perhaps they don’t expect to be back, either.”
“Any messages on the answerphone?” asked Bill.
“Hang on. I’ll go back in to check.”
Over the mobile phone, Bill heard Nick go back in to the house, to check the phone and dial 1471.
“No messages, but someone tried to get hold of them yesterday about half past two. I’ve got the number.”
“Get back here, then, if there’s nothing else you want to check.”
“On my way, then. Incidentally, Barbara’s car isn’t in the garage.”
“I’ll put out an ‘All Forces’ alert to trace it,” said Bill. “I’ve got the registration number.”
Clayton sat back, deep in thought. No Barbara and no computer again.
Perhaps his search wasn’t going to take so long after all.
***
6 - BILL CLAYTON - HUNT THE TRAITOR
“When Nick Marsden gets back,” said Clayton to Gladys, “get him to come straight in to see me, please.”
Gladys was enjoying this, but she could tell that not many other people were having a good day. She never saw activity like this in the Admin section. Or anywhere else in Section 11, come to that.
“I expect he could do with a coffee,” she said.
“So could I. And a bacon sandwich would be welcome, too. Breakfast was a long time ago.”
“And Mr Marsden doesn’t look as if he’s eaten for days. I’ll get two.”
Gladys hurried off. She had already been kicked out of what should have been her new office, as people were thoroughly and carefully going through everything in it. There were detectives taking finger prints, while others were going through Barbara’s desk and filing cabinets, trying to find what else might be missing, she assumed. It’s not every day of the week that computers get un-screwed and bits removed without authority, ‘specially not in a top security place like this. If Barbara was here, she could tell them what else was missing of course, but she wasn’t.
She’d never been quite sure about that Barbara
“Come in, Nick,” said Clayton when Marsden returned. “And shut the door.”
“Lots going on out there,” said Nick, waving a thumb. “Who are they all?”
“Special Branch is going through Barbara’s office looking for clues as to who might have tampered with her computer, and to see if anything else obvious is missing. Clive Newell organised them since he used to work there and knows people. Our own IT people are helping until someone gets here from GCHQ. Otherwise, I’ve got extra computers and communications kit being installed at one end of the Ops Room, which is where I shall be operating from.”
“I have a nasty feeling about all this,” said Nick. “Frankly, I don’t think you need to look far to find who dismantled the computer in the next office, not least because the same thing has been removed from Barbara’s computer at home.”
“You suspect her of this, Nick?”
“I’m sad to say I do. Having been to her home, there is no question that they carefully planned their departure. They may have been gone in a hurry, but it was deliberate and carefully planned, no doubt about it. I almost think planned well in advance, too, ready to go at a moment’s notice when they needed to.”
“Why do you think that?”
“No sign of panic or hurry.”
“What I meant was, why do you think they needed to plan to leave in a hurry in the first place? What could have been the trigger that made them believe they should go?”
“No idea.”
“It could have been Barbara’s mother who decided to go, of course, and not Barbara.”
“Possible. The question is, where did they go and why, suddenly.”
“And why did someone take the hard drives from both of Barbara’s computers?”
“That must have been Barbara herself, surely. Who else would have access to both her house and her office?”
“You don’t think Barbara will be back?”
“I don’t, to be honest. After all I’ve been through in the last two days, the last thing I wanted was to get back to find my wedding cancelled, but that’s the way it looks.”
“We’ve checked the 1471 phone number, by the way. It seems to have been a friend of Donald’s, trying to get in touch. That also seems to suggest that Donald didn’t know he was going to be whisked off.”
“It certainly looks as if they left in a well-planned hurry.”
“From what you know of her, do you think she’ll make contact?”
“I very much hope so, but who can tell. It depends why she’s disappeared. It could be because of her mother, but then I think she would have left a note or something. If she’s gone because she wanted to for some other reason, then we may not hear anything, at least for some time. I like to think, though, that she was fond enough of me to want to get in touch again. We shall see,”
“Another man, do you think?”
“Somehow I doubt it,” replied Nick after a pause. “But you never know, I suppose. There was never any sign that there was anyone else, but there was Jarvis in the past, so perhaps there was, and she managed to keep it away from me. Perhaps she was that sort of girl after all.”
“Nick, if you agree, I’ll get GCHQ to put taps on your phones, here and at home, including your mobile, and on your internet links. If she does try to make contact, we need to be able trace where she is and where the call comes from. I’ll do the same for my phones, and hers, including those in her office next door.”
“Agreed – absolutely essential. It’s always possible, too,” added Marsden, “that if she doesn’t get in touch, then Donald may try to. We got on like a house on fire, and he was getting very excited about having me as his Dad. He probably won’t be very happy about being dragged away like this, wherever they are. In fact, let’s get GCHQ to tap his school’s phones as well, since his school chum obviously didn’t know he was going away either.”
“Good idea. I’ve got a chap coming up from Cheltenham to join my tea
m and take care of just this sort of thing. Name of Stuart Carrington; should be here around lunch time.”
“Who else is joining your team?”
“David Poulson from MI5, and Fred Browne from MI6, both section heads. I’ll co-opt Clive Newell as well, for his links with Special Branch, otherwise I’ll leave our team here intact. Peter Northcot should arrive tomorrow, by the way, as part of the MI5 team but also to help you out up here. You could be extra busy while I’m running this show.”
“I have a nasty feeling that your enquiry may not last too long. I’m sure you haven’t forgotten that we have wondered before if Barbara could have been leaking stuff, but dismissed the idea when they found that bloke in the Cabinet Office.”
“Of course I remember. But it could still be any one of us, and not necessarily her. One thing we must do, and this is where you can be an enormous help, is decide what information was passed to Makienko after the Cabinet Office clerk left the scene, and who had access to it and knew enough to be able to pass it on. That should narrow the field a bit. After that, if we suspect someone, MI5 can check on them and try to discover what else they may have passed on.”
“We can be methodical about that, too. Make a list of all the facts that must have been leaked, and then make a list of the people who had access to those facts.”
“We should perhaps deal with Barbara’s disappearance as a separate issue, until we see the two problems converge. Making a list of people - suspects, if you like, - won’t be enough. We then have to discover a motive, and how they did it.”
“Starting with security checks.”
“Exactly. The MI5 and 6 chaps are going to be really busy. This sort of thing is not what I’m used to or normally do, so they will have to get on with the real work, while I just pull the strings, so to speak.”
“You’ve been given the sticky end of the stick by Algar because of the Barclay case – that’s where it all started.”
“Whoever has been making life difficult for us over the Barclay case may well have been active for years, of course, and leaking almost anything from anywhere for ages.”
“Let’s see if we can point the finger at someone over our case. Then others can look back into history while we get on with our normal role in life. Not that life here is ever going to be normal again, it seems to me.”
Clayton grinned, for the first time in ages, it seemed.
“I never thought we’d be parachuting you into Switzerland, I must say.”
“Who knew about that, then? Who nearly got me killed?”
“You and Dusty and Lloyd all knew, for a start. But let’s start at the beginning, shall we, then you can get off for some rest.”
Gladys arrived with a whole pot of steaming coffee and bacon rolls for both of them, complete with mustard and tomato sauce.
“Will this do ‘til lunch?” she asked.
“Wonderful,” said Bill. “Thanks for this. We were just going to get down to some serious work. Why don’t you sneak off for a quick break and a crafty fag?”
“I’m trying to give up,” she replied. “But I will nip out for a few minutes, since I was in early. I’ll switch the phones through to you here. People are beginning to arrive to join your new team, by the way. I’m shunting them into the Ops Room and Clive Newell is looking after them, but I can’t get anywhere near to my office, for people. They’ve said they want to come in here next,” she said, “and then in to your office, Mr Marsden.”
“While you’re in charge, Gladys, call me Nick like everyone else does.” He waived a thumb towards Clayton. “And although he’s the boss, he responds better to Bill!”
‘S’ grinned and nodded.
“When all the enquiry team has arrived, I’ll get down there to brief them; half an hour, probably.”
Gladys left, and closed the door.
“This is not really our scene, Nick. But I thought I’d start off by giving the team a detailed briefing about what started all this. The threat to Professor Barclay, the decision for us to give him protection, the assassination attempt and the mistaken shooting of his twin brother by the ex-Head of this section, his own death at the hands of Makienko, Barclay’s re-incarnation as Lloyd, his move to Switzerland, and all that.”
“Don’t forget to mention Barbara’s relationship with Jarvis, and how he was blackmailed by a threat to kidnap Donald.”
“Of course. They’ll certainly need a good briefing and plenty of detail before they can do anything,” agreed Clayton. “They will obviously want to talk to you at some stage, but do you think you can stay awake for long enough to sit through my briefing and help with questions afterwards?”
“No problem.”
“The guys coming down are top level, mostly Directors. They will be taking the lead and my job will simply be to pull the strings and fill in gaps when necessary. They will all know more about tracking spies than I do, but Robin Algar wanted us to take the lead as we know everything there is to know about the Barclay affair.”
“And we are obviously suspected by Algar as being the source of the leaks,” said Marsden.
“I don’t think we are, actually. It could be anyone from anywhere, or even nobody at all.”
“How do you mean, ‘nobody’?”
“Phone taps, internet malware, cyber warfare?”
“Never thought of that,” admitted Marsden.
“The professional security people will sort it, one way or the other.”
Nick Marsden sat back, tired and bewildered.
“I hope to God it’s not someone we know and trust,” he said. “I simply loath and detest traitors. I’ve risked my life for this country enough times in my career, not least a couple of days ago, and I didn’t do that just for some two-bit agent from somewhere, pretending to be on our side, to turn against us. If ever I come across anyone like that, they’re as good as dead, whoever it is.”
“I can understand where you’re coming from Nick. I feel the same, having had a similar career, even if not so life threatening. But take it easy, and let’s allow the experts to find out what’s been going on. And let’s agree to keep Barbara a separate issue until someone tells us it isn’t.”
“OK. Let’s do that.”
“I’ve quickly sketched out a list of what seems to be the most important information to find its way to Makienko in the run up to your sudden trip to Switzerland, and also a list of people who could have known about it. Have a quick look, if you will. The pivotal facts seem to me to be that Barclay was still alive under the new guise as Lloyd, and that he was going skiing in Switzerland having just moved there. Lloyd’s real identity is the crucial fact, but that was known about before the junior mole in the Cabinet Office was uncovered. So too was the plan for him to move to Switzerland to work, but not the date.”
“And so far as I can recall,” added Marsden, “he only decided to go skiing after he arrived in Geneva.”
“But we did know about it here – Dusty Miller told us.”
“So let’s have a quick look at your two lists,” said Nick.
“Once we are more or less agreed, I shall pass them to the enquiry team members,” said Clayton. “At least then they will all have something to work on.”
Gladys knocked, and came in.
“I’ve come for the empties,” she announced. “And all the guys you invited have now arrived, and are in the briefing room. The bloke from Cheltenham got here before one of the blokes from Whitehall, would you believe! Just thought I’d mention it,” she added, wishing she hadn’t.
“Thanks Gladys. We’ll get down there. Are you ready for this?” Clayton asked Nick.
“No choice, really! I’ll bet the ‘bloke from Whitehall’ was late because he was getting fully briefed.”
“We’ll soon see. Let’s go.”
***
Having welcomed the team members, Clayton made it quite clear about his future role.
“I am only here because a recent operation of ours seems to have r
evealed the existence of an active and dangerous agent working for the Russians. It is not my job to unearth him; that’s why you are here. My job is simply to help in any way I can to provide you with the information you think you need to unmask this man, or woman, whoever it turns out to be.”
“Let me start by outlining the operation in question from the very beginning. Most of you will already know something about it.”
Clayton’s summary of events was precise and, so far as Marsden could tell, complete in every important detail.
“Some of you will be aware,” Clayton concluded, “that for some time it was suspected that a junior clerk in the Cabinet Office was responsible for leaking some of the information which fell into the wrong hands. However, information continued to flow even after he was removed from the scene. I have listed that information, as best I can in the time I’ve had available, and attempted also to list alongside it those people, in this office and in others, who had knowledge of it. There are copies here for you. You will see that some people, including the Cabinet Secretary and the Heads of MI5 and MI6, are common to most lists, but only three of us appear on every one of them; myself, my Deputy here, Commander Marsden, and the Cabinet Secretary, although our joint PA, Barbara Wilkinson was also privy to most of the relevant information. I will also try to list other information which leaked while the Cabinet Office man was still operating, and who had direct access to that. I will supply copies of those lists when they are complete, hopefully later today.
“Finally, I must also tell you of what I consider at the moment at least, to be a side issue, so to speak, which may or may not be linked to your present investigation.”
He told them in detail about Barbara’s disappearance.
“My view is that the investigation into this should be kept at arm’s length from the main enquiry, unless the two investigations merge. From now on, I shall be giving this enquiry my full-time attention so as to help you in any way I can, but the rest of Section 11 will also be at your disposal to help if necessary, while they continue to run the Section’s on-going operations. Although I shall be here all the time, I suggest we meet together regularly, perhaps twice a day, to swap notes and monitor progress, but let me now deal with any immediate questions you may have.”
“Why do you suggest the ‘missing persons’ enquiry, if I may call it that, should be dealt with as a separate investigation?” asked David Poulson, from MI5.