Dead And Buried

Sixty-six

As Skinner cleared security in Thames House and moved towards the lifts, he sensed that he was being watched. He glanced to his left, quickly enough to catch the gaze of a man still upon him and to see it being averted. There was anger in those eyes, unmistakably. He pressed the call button with a feeling of satisfaction, and was still smiling as he walked into Amanda Dennis’s office.

‘Have you had people tailing me?’ he asked her, straight out.

A slight flush came to her cheeks. ‘The DG asked me to give you an escort,’ she admitted, ‘for your protection.’

‘That was kind of him,’ said Skinner, ‘but it was unnecessary and even a little indiscreet. I don’t really like being followed to meetings with my girlfriend.’

‘Sorry, Bob. No harm done, though. I gather you slipped them the first time, and that they had another problem this morning.’

‘Life’s one long learning curve,’ he told her. ‘You’d better call them off, otherwise you’ll have to give them an escort to protect them from me.’

‘I’ve already stood them down. They wanted to know who your people were. I assume they were Special Branch.’

He grinned. ‘Yes, special friends, you might say.’ He sat in the one small visitor chair in the room. ‘Amanda, I want to ask you something, just between you and me, if that’s possible in this place.’

‘It is in this room; fire away.’

‘About Rudolph Sewell: when he went bad, was it a surprise to you?’

‘Yes and no. He was a trusted colleague, but on the other hand, he was always a very secretive man, even by the standards of this place. I don’t think anyone ever got to know him, not even Sean, and Rudy recruited him.’

‘What did he know, do you think, about all this? He killed himself rather than be interrogated by me. Do you know of, or can you guess at, anything that we’re not getting to?’

‘You pulled that stunt, remember, to try to make Rudy think that Hassett had been executed. Perhaps he fell for it, and decided that he would go out on his own terms, not anyone else’s.’

‘Maybe, but perhaps there really was a big secret that he died to protect.’

‘Do you really think there was, or do we know the extent of the conspiracy already?’

‘Oh, I know it. I even know why Sewell died. I just need to make a few pieces fit and I’ll be ready to report.’

‘I have another piece for you in that case. MoD ran a check for me on the service records of Ormond Hassett and Joshua Archer: they were both in Germany for a two-year period in the mid-seventies. I still don’t know where Hassett was, but Archer was stationed at Bielefeld.’

‘So they could have met there?’

‘Yes, but it’s a long shot: we had a big army presence in Germany in the seventies.’

‘The odds shorten when Archer turns up as adjutant to Hassett’s Washington trip in 1982.’

‘True, but what does it matter?’

‘That depends who else was in Germany when they were. Thanks for that, Amanda.’ He rose from the chair. ‘There’s something I should tell you: Dottie and I are going away on a field trip for a few days.’

‘Where to?’

‘I’ll tell you when we get back.’

‘Can I make arrangements for you?’

‘No, that’s all done. See you.’

Skinner walked back to his own office. He felt isolated and, unusually for him, a little excited. He had cut himself loose from Thames House, and was leaving no trail behind him.

Shannon looked up as he came into the room. ‘How did it go?’ she asked.

‘Very well. He and I are best buddies now. Do you have Esther Craig’s phone number handy?’

‘Yes. Do you want me to get her for you?’

‘That’s okay, I’ll call her myself.’ He waited as she found a note on her desk and handed it to him, then picked up his phone and dialled.

‘Esther, this is Bob Skinner,’ he said, as she answered. ‘You can start to make your funeral arrangements. Your brother’s body will be delivered to your local undertaker tomorrow morning. Don’t worry about the cost, that’ll all be taken care of by his service.’

‘Bob, thank you. I don’t know what to say.’

‘Don’t say anything. Have you broken it to your mother?’

‘Yes. She’s flying over today, to be with me. My husband’s picking her up at Gatwick tomorrow morning.’

‘How about your stepfather?’ he asked casually.

‘No, she’s coming alone. Titus can’t make the trip: he has something to do at home and he can’t postpone it.’

‘Mmm. Esther, there was something I meant to ask you. It’s idle curiosity, really. How did they meet; your mum and stepfather, I mean?’

‘Titus was a friend of my dad’s, originally. They met in Germany, when Dad was serving there back in the early seventies; Titus was air force then. He came to Dad’s funeral service, and he kept in touch after that. He took Moses under his wing, and encouraged him when he said he wanted to join the army. Mum was against it at first, but Titus persuaded her that it was something he’d do with or without her approval, so he’d be better to have all the advantages going.’

‘Do you remember someone else your father met in Germany, a man called Hassett?’

‘The MP? Oh, yes; he was at the funeral too. He arranged for his old regiment to sponsor Moses’ application for Sandhurst and he was one of the referees on his application form.’

‘Can you remember who the other one was?’

There was a period of silence as she considered the question. ‘No, I can’t,’ she admitted at last. ‘It was someone Titus knew, but I can’t recall the name.’