Free The Blood Upon the Rose by Tim Vicary Page B

And the fact is we're dealing with a major political conspiracy here. A threat to destabilize the whole country, by murder if necessary. Agreed?’
    Radford nodded. Kee began to eat his food, gloomily. He wondered where all this was leading.
    ‘And you, as the established police force, are in no position to deal with it. You agree to that too?’
    ‘At the moment,’ Radford said. ‘But if we could just get hold of the ringleaders, the thing would change entirely. There can't be more than five or six at the very top. Put them behind bars and their organization would start to fall apart, and morale in the force would rise. Those men who are just serving out time at the moment would start to put their backs into the job again.’
    ‘Exactly.’ Sir Jonathan waved his knife emphatically. ‘And as far as I can see there are two ways to do it. Martial law and a curfew would help, and Johnny French has asked for that again. But even if the fools in the Cabinet give it to him, it'll only help if we can lay our hands on these beggars, Collins especially. And to do that, it seems to me, we must fight them at their own game.’
    Kee sipped his beer thoughtfully and said: ‘What do you mean by that, Colonel?’
    The clear grey eyes stared at him coldly. I wouldn't have liked to be up before you for a disciplinary charge, Kee thought.
    ‘What I mean, Detective Inspector, is that when the country is being destabilized by a group of armed thugs who have reduced the police force to a cipher and have attempted to murder the Viceroy himself, it's time we sought out men skilled enough in the same arts of spying and assassination to fight back.’
    There was a silence. The conversation in the main dining room seemed to have fallen, but it was unlikely that anyone could have heard them. Kee noted with relief that the group of men in the entrance hall seemed to have gone.
    Radford said: ‘You mean we should run agents, like we did in Belfast during the war. I agree, but it will take time to set up. We can't tap into the local network yet, because it's all corrupt or terrified. And if we brought in an outsider he'd stand out like a sore thumb. You'd find him lying in a gutter somewhere with a cardboard sign round his neck.’
    ‘Maybe. It'll take, guts, I agree to that,’ Sir Jonathan said. ‘But what alternative have we got? Damn it, man, my own daughter was in that car as well. She'd have been lying in the gutter, too, if those scum had succeeded.’
    The waiter cleared their plates again, and brought the dessert. Radford met Kee's eyes across the table. He said: ‘In principle you're right, Sir Jonathan. If Military Intelligence can find us such men, then it's our duty to cooperate with them, though what help we can give, I'm not sure. We could provide support if called on, and channel information from G Division, to give them an idea of the layout.’
    Kee snorted. ‘I’ll write the information on a postage stamp.’
    Radford smiled. A Kee joke was something rare enough to be savoured. ‘Your handwriting must have improved, Tom. Don't forget there's all that stuff Davis keeps so carefully in those files. There must be something useful there.’
    ‘Two postage stamps then. But that's not the point.’ Kee put down his spoon carefully and looked Sir Jonathan firmly in the eye. 'You said we should seek out men who are good at spying, Colonel, and I fully agree to that. We'll give them all the help we can. But assassination is another matter. As a policeman I've spent all my adult life upholding the rule of law in a Christian country, and that's how I intend to continue. Secret murder, even of Sinn Feiners, is a thing I'll have nothing to do with.’
    Sir Jonathan reddened. For a moment Kee had the odd feeling he was going to be bawled out, publicly, here in the hotel dining room in front of the assembled company. But the blush faded and the cold grey eyes continued to examine him. Quietly, Sir Jonathan said: ‘I presume you carry