‘Have a seat, Alec,’ says Lithiby, failing to introduce me to the older man. I would have preferred to remain standing - and he knows that about me - but this is typical of the way Lithiby operates. He is a student of control, of bending others to his will.
I sit with my back to the door. Barbara makes herself scarce, most probably to the sitting-room near by where she will record and minute the conversation which follows. Sinclair loiters near the sink and Lithiby tells him to make four cups of instant coffee, an order which he obeys like a dogsbody.
‘You take milk, don’t you, Alec?’ Sinclair asks.
Never accept tea or coffee at an interview: they’ll see your hand shaking when you drink it.
‘Black please,’ I reply. ‘Two sugars.’
Caccia now sits down on my left and I take out a cigarette.
‘This is OK, isn’t it?’ I ask him, holding up my lighter. I want to hear Caccia speak.
‘Of course, of course,’ he says breathlessly. ‘This isn’t going to be anything sinister, Alec. We just want to have a little chat.’
I light the cigarette and Sinclair puts a small white plate in front of me to use as an ashtray. They’ve got him well trained.
‘Aren’t you going to introduce me, David?’ I say, nodding towards the old man. I wouldn’t have had the nerve to say that to Lithiby.
‘Of course,’ Caccia says quickly. ‘Forgetting my manners. Alec, this is Peter Elworthy.’
A cover name.
‘How do you do?’ I say, trying to stand up to shake the old man’s hand. My legs get trapped under the table as I say: ‘Alec.’
His look here is revealing: Elworthy knows exactly who I am - of course he does - and gives a passing glance of annoyance. He lacks entirely Caccia’s easily peddled charm and, unlike Lithiby, is too old for me to make any sort of a connection with him.
‘How do you do?’
His suit is a very dark tweed with a waistcoat underneath: men of his age often don’t seem to mind being too warm in the summer months. And although it is late now, he looks sharp and alert, more so than Caccia, who looks significantly more tired than he did this afternoon.
‘Do you know what the Russians are up to these days?’ Elworthy asks. The question appears to have been directed towards Lithiby, who is standing beside him.
‘No,’ he replies, as if he has learned his lines.
‘Rather than track down all their traitors, the KGB or whatever those fellows are calling themselves these days - are trying to turn them into double agents, to play them back against our side. They even have a number that the Russian agents can telephone if they’re having second thoughts and want to turn themselves in. The Yeltsin government then offer them money to feed us disinformation.’
‘Is that right?’ says Lithiby blandly.
This is all a part of their game.
Elworthy continues:
‘The Americans are finding it difficult to recruit new officers as well. You need fluency in two or three languages coupled with a high level of computer literacy. And if one has those as a graduate, why opt for a CIA starting salary of thirty thousand dollars when Microsoft will pay three times that amount?’
‘Mossad has the same problem,’ Lithiby replies. ‘We all have.’
Caccia looks down at the table as Elworthy moves further towards me.
‘My feeling is -‘
I interrupt him.
‘Can we cut the shit? Is that possible? We all know why I’m here, so let’s talk this thing out. Stop fucking around.’
Elworthy looks taken aback: I would almost say that he is impressed. I do not know where this courage has come from, but I am grateful for it. Nothing is said for a few moments and Sinclair takes the opportunity to place two mugs of coffee on the table. He passes one to Lithiby, but Elworthy raises his hand.
‘Listen to me, young man.’ He leans on the table, palms face down, fingers spread out like a web. ‘I will do this in my own time.’
His voice is a dark hiss: it has shifted from nonchalance to malice in a matter of seconds. Only now do I realize the extent of their anger. All of them.
‘I apologize. I’m just a little edgy. You bring me out here in the middle of the night…’
Elworthy stands again, leaving sweat prints on the red plastic surface of the table as he rises to his feet.
‘We understand,’ Caccia says, interjecting gently. He has obviously been designated to soften me up. ‘This must be as difficult for you as it is for us.’
‘What does that mean?’ I say, turning to him. I had not intended to lose my temper so quickly. ‘How can this in any way be as difficult for you as it is for me? Is your life in danger? Is it? Are your friends and family safe? Have you just fucked something up on this scale?’
‘Let’s calm it, Alec, shall we?’ Lithiby says, walking across the room towards the door. He is soon directly behind me and his presence is enough to make me want to move. I pick up my cigarette, push back the chair and stand up. Sinclair looks briefly startled. The cigarette has left a tiny nicotine smear on the plate.
‘Where are you going?’ Lithiby asks.
‘Just let me walk around, will you? I think more clearly that way.’
At some point I have accepted that this will be my last encounter with any of them. They are preparing to cut me loose. It is pointless to hold out any hope of a reprieve. There is no chance, after this, that MI5 will keep to their promise of a permanent job. That was conditional solely on the success of the operation.
‘Why don’t you tell us what happened tonight?’ Elworthy announces, his voice back to its characteristic level of flat understatement.
I inhale very deeply on the cigarette and almost choke on the smoke.
‘You know what happened,’ I tell him. ‘You heard it all. There’s nothing for me to add.’
Behind me, Lithiby says:
‘It would be helpful, none the less, if we could get a handle on things from your point of view.’
‘What, so that Barbara can get it all down for the record?’
‘You’re being very aggressive, Alec,’ he says. ‘There’s really no need.’
Perhaps I am, and this checks my rising anger. Perhaps I have read the situation wrongly and have not been summoned here simply to be mocked and fired. There may be a chance that they are prepared to notch this up to experience.
‘I don’t mean to be that way,’ I reply. ‘You can understand that it’s been a bad day.’
Caccia smiles. He is still sitting at the table, fingers playing idly with the handle of his mug. He has always looked too well-preserved, too decent and respectable, to be involved in something like this. A diplomat out of his depth, a dull foil for Hawkes. Caccia was never SIS, merely window-dressing.
‘Of course,’ says Lithiby, empathetically. ‘Why don’t you sit down and tell us about what happened?’
His trickery has the effect of putting me once again on my guard.
‘I’ve told you, John, I prefer to stand. All that happened was this. I had a meeting with David at Abnex this afternoon. He told me that our people had seen Fortner skip the country and that Andromeda had pulled out of Baku. That was it. I feared the worst, though David didn’t seem too upset. Looking back on it now, that was disingenuous.’ I glance down at Caccia. ‘You must have known that I was blown, but you wanted me to be the one who found out why. You wanted me to be the fall guy.’
‘There’s no truth in that whatsoever,’ Caccia says, maintaining his cool. ‘There is only one person responsible for this cock-up, and that is you.’
‘But you weren’t to know that, were you? At that stage you had no idea why these things were happening.’
‘What happened when you got home?’
Lithiby has interrupted, trying to prevent things from escalating into a slanging match. I am still surprised by how quickly I have allowed the civility of the meeting to break apart.
‘I made the phone call. You heard it all for yourse
lves. Surely I don’t need to go over all that?’
Elworthy coughs, an old man’s way of saying that he wants to be heard.
‘That won’t be necessary,’ he says. ‘But we need to know about this girl. Kate Allardyce. We’ve had a problem with her before, haven’t we?’
Elworthy looks across at Lithiby and I instinctively follow his lead. He nods just once.
‘A problem with Kate?’ I reply. ‘What do you mean? Who are you anyway? Nobody has even told me how you fit into things.’
Elworthy ignores this.
‘In your first meeting with the Friends,’ he says flatly, ‘you led the interviewer to believe that you were still involved with her.’
‘What does that have to do with anything?’
‘There’s a pattern of deceit, Alec, don’t you see?’ Elworthy is now to my left, no more than a foot away, with Lithiby closing in on the right. It is like a pincer movement as Lithiby says:
‘You’ve tried to pull the wool over our eyes about her before. We’d like to know what role she has in this. How does Kate Allardyce fit in?’
What is this assumption they have made about Kate? Where is it coming from? Have they got to her, too? I cannot think how to reply.
‘Alec?’ Caccia says, trying to prompt me into saying something.
‘She doesn’t have any role in this,’ I tell them. ‘This is a blind alley. That was the first time I’d seen her in over two years.’
‘When?’ Elworthy asks very quickly. He is convinced that there is more to this.
‘Last week. When I went to her house. When I told her about what happened to Harry in Baku. About JUSTIFY. About all of this.’
‘And she knew nothing of it before?’
‘No. Of course not.’
They appear to have had doubts about her for some time. Trained to see trickery in even the most blameless situations.
‘So how is it that the Americans discovered what was going on?’
This comes from Caccia, and I hand him a look of derision.
‘Are you not getting this, David? Can you guys stop asking all these fucking obvious questions? You know how the Americans found out. They had her fucking house tapped.’
‘But why?’ says Elworthy, and the malice returns now to his voice. He doesn’t like the fact that I have been disrespectful to Caccia.
‘Because I lied to Fortner about her. Told him we were still seeing one another. This is all on your tape. You heard the fucking conversation with Katharine. They put a bug in Kate’s house.’
‘Just because of that?’
They think I’m lying.
‘What other reason would they need?’ I ask, exasperated by this.
‘The fact that you were still sleeping together hardly justifies a wire-tap.’
‘On the contrary,’ I reply. ‘If tonight has proved anything, it’s that Fortner was entirely justified in making that decision. After all, that’s what caught us out.’
‘That’s what caught you out,’ says Elworthy, emphasizing my guilt with contemptuous precision.
I look at him, itching to retaliate, knowing that what he has said is entirely justified. Now he begins to pick over his words, choosing them with great care, like a politician wary of being caught out by semantics.
‘You asked who I am,’ he says. ‘I will tell you. There are people in this room who are answerable to me. That is all that I am prepared to say. What I have come here tonight to tell you is this. In view of what has happened today we are terminating our arrangement with you. I imagine that you might have expected as much.’
I nod.
‘You will be only too aware that we are under no obligation to keep you on as a support agent. Your contract is with Abnex Oil. Whether or not David decides to renew it is a matter to be settled entirely between the two of you, with the possible input of Alan Murray. The position of the Security Service is straightforward. We are letting you go.’
Only Sinclair has the guts to look at me: both Lithiby and Caccia stare down at the floor, briefly ashamed by what Elworthy has said. The room is suddenly very silent, as if even the walls are absorbing the news. Then Caccia speaks.
‘Abnex are in a similar bind, I’m afraid. After what has happened in the last few days, we feel it would be ill-advised for you to continue as an employee. There may be risks involved. I’m thinking, for example, about Harry coming back to work in due course. How will he feel if you’re still on the team?’
I am enraged by this.
‘I am not the one responsible for what happened to Harry…’
‘That’s not the point I’m making,’ says Caccia. ‘As far as he is concerned, you are a liability, an industrial spy for God’s sake. The last thing we need is for him to start digging all of this up once it’s been put to bed.’
‘Whether I’m there or not won’t stop him doing that.’
‘Oh, I think it will,’ says Lithiby, and I see that they have agreed to present a united front against me. Tonight is not about argument or debate: tonight is about eradicating Milius.
‘So I’ve outlived my usefulness. Is that it? You just wash your hands of me, after everything I’ve done?’
‘You will receive a generous pay-off from Abnex Oil,’ says Caccia, blinking rapidly.
Lithiby again interrupts.
‘We suggest that you get out of London for the time being. Take a holiday or something. Let the dust settle.’
I actually laugh at this, at the effrontery of it.
‘Take a holiday? That’s it? That’s your advice?’ Even Elworthy, for the first time, looks uneasy. ‘And where do you think I should go? Where’s nice this time of year? Do I check the brakes on my car? Spend the next thirty years looking over my shoulder?’
‘That is an over-reaction,’ he says, though with the knowledge of what happened to Cohen, it is the least authoritative thing Lithiby has said all night.
‘I’ll tell you what I want,’ I say to them, and for a moment it is as if I have a measure of control. Having expected to be sacked, and having no great wish to remain at Abnex, the single thing I care about now is my own safety. I look Lithiby directly in the eye. ‘Before I leave here tonight I need concrete assurance that you will negotiate with the Americans on my behalf to guarantee that I go unharmed.’
It is some time before any of them respond.
‘We’ll see what we can do,’ says Elworthy.
‘That isn’t good enough,’ I tell him, pacing towards the door.
‘Well, it’s unfortunate that you should think that,’ he replies. ‘I would remind you that there are more important things at stake here than misguided concerns about your safety.’
‘Such as?’
‘We must protect the institution of secrecy, first and foremost. We told you that you had to be completely deniable. You failed in that respect.’
‘The institution of secrecy?’ I am almost shouting. ‘That is meaningless. What the fuck is that above a man’s life? I could be killed when I leave here. Had that thought even occurred to you? Or is it simply that you don’t care?’
‘You are being relieved of your responsibilities. That is our position. By speaking to Miss Allardyce you broke the very code on which this organization depends for its security and well-being.’
I look away from Elworthy at Lithiby, a flash glance of anger.
‘And did John think about Harry Cohen’s security and well-being when he ordered a gang of Azerbaijani thugs to beat the crap out of him?’
‘Excuse me?’
Lithiby has taken a step forward.
‘You know what I’m talking about.’
‘I suggest that you withdraw that remark, young man,’ Elworthy warns.
I do not do so.
‘John had nothing whatsoever to do with what happened to Harry. That was simply an unfortunate accident.’
‘Is that right? And how would you know?’
Lithiby’s face has darkened to a scowl.
‘You
’re out of your depth, Alec. I suggest that you do not make enemies of us.’
‘I’m not interested in your suggestions,’ I reply, and before I have properly thought it through, I issue them with a clear-cut blackmail. ‘You have given me an ultimatum. Now let me give you one. If I do not receive clear indication that you have negotiated with the Americans to ensure my safety, I will send full details of JUSTIFY to a national newspaper.’
This threat, which I had only briefly contemplated on the journey from Shepherd’s Bush, does not appear to worry them. They would have expected it.
‘You’d be wasting your time,’ says Elworthy. ‘We will simply D-Notice the material.’
‘Then I’ll publish overseas. In France. In Australia. Fancy another Spycatcher? Don’t you think Pravda or the New York Times would be interested in a story like that? It’s news that’s fit to print, wouldn’t you say? And I’ll put everything about JUSTIFY on the Internet. Everything. You have no jurisdiction there.’
‘Two things will happen if you do that,’ he says, very calmly. ‘Firstly, no one will believe you. Secondly, you will be prosecuted under the terms of the Official Secrets Act.’
‘Then it’s simple,’ I tell him. ‘You keep your end of the bargain and nothing will happen.’
‘Why?’ asks Caccia, whose voice seems to hide a measure of concern. ‘Why should we keep our end of the bargain when you have failed so completely to keep yours?’
‘That’s just the way it’s got to be. And if either myself or Kate or anybody is so much as winked at by you or the CIA, I will make arrangements to have every detail of this operation made public.’
‘We will have to talk to her,’ Lithiby suggests.
‘No. You will not. She has nothing to do with this. And if I hear that Kate has been approached by any of you, that will be enough to set things off.’
There is a knock at the door. It can only be Barbara.
‘Come in,’ Caccia says.
‘Telephone call for you, sir,’ she says to Elworthy. I didn’t hear a phone ring.
‘Thank you.’ He turns to Lithiby. ‘Will you excuse me?’
A Spy by Nature (2001) Page 37