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

like to think they dominate world chess,’ Hollander replied. ‘In fairness, they do, in terms of playing strength. They have almost all the strongest grandmasters. But they try to dominate in other ways also. There have been persistent rumours that they fix tournaments – I mean, they order some of their players to lose to or draw with others to achieve a particular result, or to promote a particular grandmaster popular with the Government. Chess is a highly political issue in the Soviet Union because they like to hail their successes as proof that the Marxist-Leninist system works. They have a record of non-cooperation with the International Federation. But however dominant they are over the board, they have problems in terms of the world game. They need a few diplomats like Stepanov, men who speak other languages and know how to talk to foreigners in a civilised way, to sort things out for them. So Stepanov was a regular at international tournaments, as well as the Soviet championship. There is no doubt that we can put him with Digby – on many occasions. There are probably photographs.’
    â€˜That’s something,’ Ginny said. ‘But we would still need a connection …’
    â€˜That may be possible,’ Julia said. She hesitated. ‘I can’t say any more at present, but I believe it is possible that we may soon have access to some evidence to support Professor Hollander’s article.’
    Every eye in the room was on her. Hollander, in particular, seemed taken aback.
    â€˜Are you going to tell us what this evidence consists of?’ Overton asked quietly.
    â€˜I don’t know,’ she replied candidly. ‘But I will know within a few days, and I will make it available to you as soon as I can.’
    Overton considered for some time.
    â€˜Well, I suppose there is no need to do anything at this precise moment. The ball is in Digby’s court. But I fully expect that Harper Sutton & Harper will issue a Writ and serve a Statement of Claim for libel within a matter of a few days. You should tell Herbert Harper that you will accept service on Professor Hollander’s behalf. But then, once that happens, we will have to make a very serious decision. Virginia…?’
    â€˜The only possible defence we see to this claim is one of justification,’ Ginny said.
    â€˜In other words, we have to prove that the allegations made in Francis’s article are true,’ Julia said.
    â€˜Wholly or substantially true. We gave some thought to a defence of fair comment on a matter of public interest, but there is no real sense in which this article is comment. It is putting forward new facts rather than commenting on existing facts.’
    â€˜You must understand, Professor Hollander,’ Overton resumed, ‘that once you set out to justify what you have written, you are in effect repeating the libel in court and attacking Digby’s reputation for a second time. That will increase the level of damages if you lose. There is a potential for enormous damages if you fail to substantiate your claims against Digby. Once they serve their Statement of Claim, we will have fourteen days to file our Defence, so we must decide what we are going to do. If you would like me to approach Bernard Wesley and try to find a solution to this case, this would be the time to do so. If we delay, it will probably be too late.’
    â€˜We will justify the claims,’ Hollander said.
    â€˜I cannot advise that without some evidence,’ Overton insisted. ‘James Digby is not Oscar Wilde. If we are going to justify, we need some evidence.’
    â€˜The evidence will be there,’ Hollander replied.

9
    Saturday, 13 March
    Baxter would have preferred to meet Julia Cathermole somewhere less conspicuous than St Ermin’s Hotel. For one thing, the choice of venue there was limited. The Caxton Bar, with its dark interior and low ceilings was claustrophobic, and