Free Albatross by Evelyn Anthony Page A

Nobody benefits from that kind of thing any more. Only the savages in Bulgaria murder their opponents with poisoned umbrella tips.’
    â€˜But the retirement was a feint,’ Natalia pointed out. ‘It was a cover, so she could try to identify Albatross. If you don’t want him exposed, Igor Igorovich, then surely the first thing you must do is neutralize her.’
    â€˜Not if I can use her instead,’ he answered.
    She started to argue that he had tried that once before, but quickly stopped herself. ‘How? How can she be used by us?’
    â€˜We are still controlling Peter Harrington. She doesn’t know that. If he gives her what she wants, arrangements will be made to release him and we will be contacted in the usual way. But no one knows that he is in communication with us now. He can direct Davina in the way I want her to go, and in exchange he’ll get his Swiss money. Don’t underestimate him, Natalia. Our contact says he is a changed man from the one who made a mess of getting Ivan Sasanov back. Six years in prison have done him a lot of good. Run the fat off him, cut out the alcohol – he wants his freedom and he’ll fight as hard as possible to get it now. He’ll look for Albatross, don’t mistake that. He’ll try to find him because it’s his only hope of getting out. Without telling us, of course. He’ll play a little treason here and there, with both sides. But I have something in mind in which he can really be useful if Albatross is uncovered. And you can be sure that if Davina Graham doesn’t find him, eventually someone else will. Suspicion is like dragon seed. The more you harvest, the more of the monsters spring out of the ground. Albatross is blown. I recognize that. It’s a matter of time, that’s all. I have to turn the reverse into an advantage.’
    â€˜You will,’ she said softly. ‘You always do. Can you see how?’
    He looked at her and smiled. ‘What would you do, Natalia? If you were in my place, what would you do next?’
    He sometimes played this game with her; it used to frighten her at first. Too clever an answer might irritate; she had learned the first lesson of success with any man was never to compete unless you intended to fail. She mustn’t appear stupid, or naive. She had climbed up from the level of the mattress to confidante at the top level of his work. That hadn’t been achieved without exquisite tact and timing. She knew very well what should be done, but the idea must come to him first.
    â€˜I would try to replace Albatross,’ she said after a pause. ‘But I don’t know how.’
    â€˜I have someone in mind,’ Borisov murmured. He saw the expectancy on her face and shook his head. He was a cultured man, extensively read and fond of classical and mythological allusions. It amused him to give his operators names with a double allusion. Albatross, the sacred bird that guaranteed the safety of the sailor. The man who killed the bird was condemned to wear its heavy corpse about his neck.… He had changed the code name when he succeeded the old director. His people in Western Europe were all called after birds, according to their characters or situations. Albatross had an old, mundane name allotted to him when he was recruited many years earlier. Borisov had christened him after the great bird of ill omen. His wings had overshadowed the SIS for a long time. Now the moment was approaching when he would be brought down. And whoever did it must carry the heavy corpse for ever.…
    â€˜I’ll tell you when I’m sure,’ he said to Natalia. ‘I want to let this germinate – you grew up on a farm, my love, you know that seeds musn’t be disturbed. This is something so original, so important that I don’t want to speak about it prematurely. I want to keep it inside and let it grow. Then I will tell you, and you’ll be the first