He hesitated, preparing the blow.
‘And you’ll both be utterly discredited,’ he added. The whole operation will set your services back years.’
‘What you’ve outlined would be impossible,’ insisted Cuthbertson, laughing nervously. ‘So few people knew the complete operation …’
His voice broke away and he looked beyond Kalenin to where only Braley stood.
‘Yes,’ concurred the Russian, seeing the gradual realisation. ‘There was no way I could have evolved the thing by myself.’
‘Jesus!’ exclaimed Ruttgers.
‘You really were incredibly stupid, Sir Henry. Charlie Muffin was one of the few real operatives in your service. Yet you set him up to be shot in Berlin, vilified him for his handling of the Berenkov affair when it was he who originated and co-ordinated the capture and then announced he was being downgraded …’
Kalenin spread his hands, in mock exasperation.
‘How can you expect loyalty when you treat a man like that?’ he demanded.
‘The bastard,’ shouted Ruttgers.
‘Yes,’ agreed Kalenin. ‘But he never made the pretence of being anything else, did he?’
‘You don’t think we’ll let you get out of this room alive?’ demanded Ruttgers, desperately defiant.
The Russian frowned, irritated.
‘Mr Ruttgers,’ he protested, mildly, ‘this room is the only one in the house not occupied by my men, all of whom are armed. Not that their weapons really matter. They’ll be through that door exactly two seconds after I give the command. I agree you could probably shoot me in that time, but to what point. At the moment, my country is prepared to deal with this matter in the utmost secrecy. But if I die, every detail will be leaked to the West, before your repatriation. That wouldn’t make for a very pleasant homecoming to Washington would it?’
‘We’ll still be laughing-stocks,’ said Ruttgers, deflated.
‘I’m afraid so,’ accepted the Russian. ‘But only to a few people in your governments. And you’ll be alive.’
‘What about the money?’ demanded Cuthbertson, suddenly.
‘Oh yes,’ said Kalenin, reminded. ‘That’s Charlie’s. Don’t forget he’s got a long retirement and he’s forfeited his pension rights.’
‘I’ll get him,’ vowed Ruttgers. ‘If it takes me until the day I die, I’ll get him.’
‘He expects you might try,’ said Kalenin. ‘I don’t think he’s too worried.’
He felt in his pocket.
‘He thought you might want this back,’ he said to Ruttgers, extending the device the American had installed in the bottom of the money-bag.
‘Not that it would really have mattered,’ added the Russian. ‘You’ve no one for a hundred miles you could have employed to trace it.’
Kalenin stood, shouting a command as he rose. Braley remained stolidly in front of the door, awaiting instructions.
Ruttgers tensed, then sighed, his shoulders drooping. He shook his head impatiently and the fat American unlocked it.
‘Shall we go?’ invited Kalenin.
(19)
Charlie and Edith sat cross-legged on the floor, the money piled neatly before them. Charlie held the list of numbered notes he and Braley had created and was carefully removing those that were a danger to them. Edith sat nearer the fire, feeding the money into the flames.
‘Fifty thousand,’ she moaned. ‘It seems such a waste!’
Would she ever lose her concern for money? wondered Charlie.
‘We’ll have to be very careful,’ he warned. ‘Both Rutgers and Cuthbertson are vindictive sods. It’ll all have to go.’
‘Are you really worried, darling?’ asked his wife.
Charlie paused in his selection, considering the question.
‘Properly aware of the dangers,’ he said, firmly.
‘You’ve got more money than me now, Charlie,’ said the woman, in sudden realisation. The barrier would be down between them, at last. She was glad, she decided.
Charlie smiled at her, content with her admission.
‘I know,’ he said. The satisfaction was very obvious in his voice.
‘Why don’t we spend mine first? I cashed all the shares and drew the money out, as you asked. Let’s get rid of my damned inheritance.’
Charlie looked at her, aware of the sacrifice. Edith was embarking completely upon a new life, he thought. He hadn’t known she’d appreciated so fully the resentment he had always felt about her wealth.
‘Yes,’ he agreed. ‘That would keep us going for several years, without having to touch this.’
‘And then,’ he continued, ‘during the first meeting with him, a thing she had never been before. He patted the bricks of money lying on the floor, then stood up, stretching the cramp from his legs.
‘I never thought it would work, Charlie, when you told me why we were going on holiday after East Berlin and the Berenkov trial. I really didn’t,’ she said.
‘No,’ agreed Charlie, gazing through the window and watching the incoming tide throw pebbles up on to the beach. ‘There were times when I was doubtful.’
‘I’m amazed you and Kalenin were able to cover every eventuality from that one set of meetings in Austria.’
‘Kalenin is brilliant,’ praised Charlie. ‘It was his idea to bring in the Americans, knowing that Washington’s presence would occupy Cuthbertson so much initially that any flaws we hadn’t covered would have more chance of going unnoticed. Kalenin had a personality file on Ruttgers and guessed exactly how the American would behave. He and Cuthbertson were too worried thinking about each other to properly consider what I was doing …’
‘Didn’t you ever make a mistake?’ asked his wife, admiringly.
‘Not really a mistake,’ conceded Charlie. ‘Kalenin was anxious Berenkov should know he’d not been forgotten and that efforts were being made to get him out. So during a meeting with Berenkov in Wormwood Scrubs, months ago, I had to mention Kalenin’s name before I was supposed to have known about it. I sweated for days that it would be spotted on analysis, but it wasn’t.’
He stopped, reflecting Edith’s question.
‘And then,’ he continued, ‘during the first meeting with Cuthbertson, I got worried at one stage that I was being too convincing with the doubts about Kalenin’s defection. I got away with it, though. They might have doubted my courage, but never my loyalty.’
‘Don’t you feel guilty?’ seized the woman.
‘No,’ he insisted, positively. ‘There was hardly a meeting when I didn’t warn them there was something wrong. I repeated it until they were tired of hearing it …’
‘… which was the entire psychology of doing it,’ rejected Edith,’ … and to salve your own conscience …’
‘Perhaps,’ said Charlie. ‘But I’m not sorry to have disgraced Cuthbertson. He’ll have to retire, which means another Director. And that can only result in good for the service. Wilberforce will still be there to ensure continuity. I don’t like him, but at least he understands the system!’
‘I can’t believe you don’t feel any guilt,’ persisted Edith. ‘You betrayed your country.’
‘I rid the service of a man who was bound to lead it to disaster.’
‘That’s a personal justification.’
‘And exposed to every Western intelligence system the identity of Kalenin, who had been a mystery for thirty years.’
‘And got a fortune in return,’ she said.
‘The service had abandoned me,’ insisted Charlie. ‘It’s better than growing roses on a Grade IV pension and being pissed by three o’clock every afternoon.’
Edith shook her head. He would feel ashamed, in the future, she knew. Would it create another barrier? she thought, worriedly. They only had each other, now.