Free Riptide (aka Bluffing Mr. Churchill) by John Lawton Page B

is “Mr Briggs” from now on. Be ready by seven o’clock, a car will pick you up at your hotel and drive you out to Hendon aerodrome for the flight to Scotland.
Now – any questions?’
    Reggie always had questions.
    ‘Wouldn’t Five normally handle something like this?’
    ‘Don’t ask me about lines of demarcation. I couldn’t honestly care less. The PM wants us to do it. Although I hesitate to tell you this, he asked specifically for
you.’
    Reggie hoped he wasn’t blushing with pride.
    ‘Where are we going exactly?’
    ‘Buchanan Castle on Loch Lomond.’
    ‘I see,’ said Reggie. ‘You tak the high road and I’ll tak the low road.’
    McKendrick pinched the bridge of his nose again and seemed infinitely weary.
    ‘No jokes, Reggie. Please.’
    ‘Are we listening out for anything in particular?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Well – could you sort of give us a hint?’
    ‘The Prime Minister has asked for confirmation of material gained from certain sources.’
    This might as well have been gobbledegook as far as Reggie was concerned.
    ‘Confirmation of what, sir?’
    ‘Can’t tell you that.’
    ‘Well – what sources are we to confirm?’
    ‘Can’t tell you that either. Reggie, stop asking me damn fool questions and keep your ears pinned back. Report everything to me. If Hess confirms we’ll have no difficulty
spotting it. Now. Clear your desks, the both of you. Tie up any loose ends and be at the Savoy at seven.’
    ‘On the matter of loose ends – what about my American?’
    ‘What American?’
    ‘Cormack – the chap General Gelbroaster put us on to. You know, the chap who worked Wolfgang Stahl?’
    ‘What about him?’
    ‘Well – we’re supposed to be looking for Stahl right now.’
    ‘Do we even know Stahl is in London?’
    ‘No, but . . .’
    ‘No buts, Reggie. This is the big one. Forget Stahl. Just concentrate on the job in hand.’
    Out in the corridor Charlie said, ‘Bit of a coincidence Jock Colville being at the FO just as Hamilton calls in with the news of Hess, don’t you think?’
    ‘No,’ Reggie replied. ‘I don’t think. In fact, my fifteen years in the job has taught me that it pays to believe six impossible things before breakfast. Try it for half
an hour a day. Begin with one impossible thing, Jock at the FO will do for starters, then work up to six.’

§ 14
    On the same Monday morning Cal reported to the Embassy, a short walk from his hotel, just around the corner on the eastern side of Grosvenor Square. It had changed much since
he was last there. It was changing as he watched. Teams of carpenters moved in and out with pre-fabricated partitions, carving larger rooms into smaller ones, desks were wheeled in and out on
trolleys, metal chairs carried in in stacks. A face he knew met him – Captain Henry Berg. They’d been through West Point together, risen rank for rank together, and never found enough
common ground to like one another. Berg was a born desk man. Cal nurtured secret dreams that, bifocal eyeglasses notwithstanding, he might be a man of action as well as a man of analysis. Even as
Berg spoke the carpenters were erecting a new office around him.
    ‘You gonna be here long?’
    ‘I really don’t know, Henry.’
    ‘The colonel’s asked for you to have a desk in here. Take the one by the wall. It’s a pity we have to share, but as you can see, things are really hotting up. The staff has
doubled since Christmas.’
    Cal could see that. He didn’t recognise half the faces that had passed in front of him. And he couldn’t escape the sound of pique in Henry’s voice as he used the word
‘share’.
    ‘I’ve got you an In-tray and an Out-tray. I’ve issued a request for a Pending, but really nothing should be pending long enough for you to need it.’
    Cal stopped listening. Any minute now Berg would show him how the pencil sharpener worked and give him a key to the executive washroom. He wondered if this hive of activity spelt out the same