Madrigal for Charlie Muffin Read Free Page B

up over his sagging eye, a habit of embarrassment.
    ‘I wish I weren’t.’
    ‘That’s … it’s.…’ Naire-Hamilton’s hand moved from his eye, in a snatching gesture, as if he could pick the proper expression from the air.
    ‘…where the traitor is,’ said Wilson.
    Naire-Hamilton carefully replaced his teacup on a wine table beside his chair and said, ‘Tell me why you’re so sure.’
    ‘Four months ago we started transmitting in monitored batches through normal Foreign Office channels an apparently genuine advisory document, recommending the manner of British response to Russian efforts to increase its influence throughout Africa.’
    ‘Why Africa?’
    ‘Because we had a lot of embassies to cover and the size of the continent gave us sufficient number of towns and cities.’
    ‘I don’t understand.’
    ‘The document was identical, but each message listed a different African city or town from which the intelligence prompting the cable was supposed to have come. And each receiving embassy was accorded an identifiable capital; the effect was to make each cable individual.’
    ‘Jolly good,’ said Naire-Hamilton. It sounded as if he were applauding the winning six during the annual Eton–Winchester cricket match.
    ‘Three days ago the document was relayed from Moscow to all the Warsaw Pact embassies. Our source checked back with Prague, for clarification, as we instructed. And got the reply that the message emanated from Cape Town.’
    Naire-Hamilton frowned but, before the question came, Wilson said, ‘Cape Town was the code allocation we gave Rome. There can’t be any mistake.’
    ‘That couldn’t be worse.’
    ‘I thought it might be bad.’
    The Permanent Under Secretary splayed his fingers, to tick off the points. ‘In three weeks’ time, Italy is hosting a Common Market Summit; every European president, prime minister, foreign minister and God knows how many other ministers will be there.…’ The first finger came down. ‘Chief item on the agenda is an attack mounted by us against Italy, for using Market regulations to avoid their full budgetary contribution.…’ He lowered the second finger. ‘We intend announcing our intention to lessen our financial commitment to NATO unless Italy gets into line.…’ Down went the third finger. ‘This year Britain has the presidency of the Council.…’ He threw up his hands in despair. ‘… and now we’re going to be shown up as the country to have right in the middle of everything a traitor leaking it all back to Moscow.…’
    ‘I understand the difficulty,’ said the intelligence director. Naire-Hamilton seemed to have overlooked that there had been three assassinations; perhaps he didn’t have enough fingers.
    ‘Discretion,’ announced the civil servant.
    ‘What?’
    ‘It’s to be handled with discretion: absolute and utter discretion. No scandal whatsoever.’
    ‘We haven’t got him yet,’ said Wilson.
    ‘There can’t be any embarrassment,’ insisted Naire-Hamilton.
    Conservative parties, Labour parties and even Social Democratic parties might fight elections and dream of power, but people like Naire-Hamilton regarded the changes like a bus driver allocated a temporary inspector: there might be occasional changes of route, but they were always in the driving seat.
    Wilson straightened in his chair and the leather elbow patches squeaked against the seat. ‘Are you telling me you don’t want a trial?’
    Naire-Hamilton sucked at his breath, noisily. ‘Just giving general guidance, my dear fellow. More tea perhaps?’
    Wilson wished the other man wouldn’t keep calling him a dear fellow. He shook his head against the offer. ‘If there were an accident, you wouldn’t regret not being able formally to endorse the file closed?’
    ‘Admirably put,’ congratulated the other man. ‘And another thing.…’
    ‘What?’
    ‘I think it would be best if you remained in personal charge. Confusions always arise if things as