Free And Is There Honey Still For Tea? by Peter Murphy

purpose is served by that.’
    â€˜The University is not involved in this,’ Hollander pointed out. ‘The Journal is entirely independent of the University. I founded it with two friends just over three years ago, and we run it on a shoestring. We have no assets. They can sue all they want, but there is no money for them there.’
    â€˜That does not give you a licence to publish libel,’ Overton said.
    â€˜I don’t believe my article is libellous,’ Hollander retorted.
    â€˜A jury will almost certainly find otherwise, unless you can produce some evidence. What did you expect to gain from this?’
    â€˜I have already told you. I am trying to expose truths that need to be exposed.’
    â€˜Think about it for a moment, Miles,’ Julia persisted. ‘Francis is a patriotic American. The concerns he raises are real concerns, which affect both his country and ours. You know what’s been going on these last few years. Our security services are out of control. Even now, after Burgess and Maclean, after Philby, after Blake and the others who have been convicted, our Government either doesn’t know, or is refusing to tell us, how much damage has been done, what advantage we have handed to the Soviets through their treachery and our sheer incompetence. It is time someone stood up and said so. If we remain silent, we have only ourselves to blame when Russia starts pushing its empire even further in our direction.’
    Overton pulled himself up in his chair, and placed his hands in front of him on his desk.
    â€˜I understand that, Julia,’ he said, ‘and I am the first to agree that something must be done about the incompetence of the Security Services. If you had written about Burgess and Maclean, if you had written about Philby, if you had demanded a public inquiry – not that you would have been the first to do that – no one could have any possible complaint. But …’
    â€˜It’s not just about the incompetence of the Security Services,’ Hollander interrupted, his voice animated. ‘It’s not even about the fact that your Government covers everything up, that it instinctively protects everyone who wears the old school tie, or comes from the right kind of family – bad as all that is. The fact is, Mr Overton, that this treachery has cost lives. How many, I don’t know. But when agents are betrayed behind the Iron Curtain, they are tortured, and then either killed or sent to the Gulags. We don’t even know how many Digby betrayed every time he went to Moscow.’
    Overton did not reply immediately. As a Silk, he was unused to being interrupted during a consultation. Moreover, he had no doubt about what he had already said – the case was legally indefensible, and Hollander’s stance was almost suicidal in terms of legal strategy. But Overton found it impossible to ignore the sincerity of his manner. Hollander deserved to be heard, as well as told what was best for him. He decided to try another approach.
    â€˜Leaving Stepanov aside,’ he asked of the room in general, ‘what do we have?’
    Ginny spoke up. ‘Digby did make a lot of trips to the Soviet Union,’ she pointed out, ‘and I imagine they would be easy enough to document?’
    â€˜Absolutely,’ Hollander replied. ‘For one thing, he would have needed a visa to visit the Soviet Union. And he did in fact send back articles to the newspapers and chess magazines. No, he was there. There is no doubt about that.’
    â€˜Can we put him together with Stepanov?’ Ginny asked.
    â€˜I am sure we can. They were together at many tournaments, including the 1948 World Championship. Stepanov wasn’t a great player, but he was one of the Soviets’ fixers. He was one of the people they relied on to smooth things over with FIDE and tournament organisers.’
    â€˜Smooth things over in what way?’
    â€˜The Soviets