Charlie’s Apprentice

Twenty-three

Gower’s final, eve-of-departure briefing was given by Patricia Elder alone. She provided two identifying photographs of Snow, explained he was a priest and described the need to get him out as an operational tragedy. She went carefully through the contact and meeting procedures, making Gower repeat them until she was satisfied he had completely memorized them.

‘We couldn’t risk a spy-cell accusation, involving Snow and Foster,’ said the deputy Director. ‘And we still can’t. Don’t set up any contact with Snow outside the embassy, where you’re vulnerable and beyond diplomatic protection. Use the Taoist temple signal to get Snow to a letter drop of your choice. And use the drop to bring him to the embassy. Tell him it’s his last chance. He either comes out, or we’re severing all responsibility: disowning him.’

‘What if he goes on refusing?’

Patricia produced the Shanghai pictures from the folder on her desk. ‘He’ll never even reach the airport unless he hands these over to the Chinese. The top four are quite innocent, but we’ve tricked them, to be slightly different from any copy prints his escort might have taken. It’ll confuse them: occupy their time working that out. The rest are the important ones: they told us a lot about Chinese naval technology. We’ve doctored them, too: as much as our technical people say is possible. But it’ll show, under scientific examination. Make it absolutely clear to Snow that these pictures give him time to run. But that’s all. If he doesn’t come out with you, they’ll be used against him to prove he’s an agent. If he accuses us of blackmailing him, tell him he’s damned right: that’s exactly what we’re doing.’

‘You’re showing a lot of loyalty,’ admired Gower.

‘Mutual protection,’ said Patricia Elder.

Natalia Fedova was far too professional to be panicked by the discovery of Fyodor Tudin’s surreptitious interest in her. She was forewarned: now she had to find some way of being forearmed. Which presented problems of differing urgency.

She had every right to consult her own records: so an explanation would be easy to provide, if one were officially sought. Not so if she were asked why, from among the thousands of still retained former KGB files on foreign intelligence officers, she had withdrawn the one upon a man with whom she had provable links in the past. She’d have to find a justification to protect herself there. Which still left the biggest problem of all: not knowing if consulting the files was all that Tudin was doing. And what she didn’t know, she couldn’t guard against.

Very quickly Natalia contradicted herself. That wasn’t the biggest problem. The biggest problem was that now she was aware of being spied upon, she would have to abandon any hope of locating Charlie Muffin to tell him he was a father.