‘Yes. I think they killed him. It was through their agency.’
Schmidt came over.
‘I was telling Jem to watch his back.’
‘Sure. We’ve got to take out this group before they start a revolution, like the Bolshevicks did. Jem, I paid over the odds for the Criterion, but it’s worth it. It was a real development in lantern manufacture. The focus is great. It’s...’
‘So long,’ she said.
On the flight home, she had a eureka moment. Sofka yawning as she pasted labels on the icon. The German she was talking to was a member of Babel. Why hadn’t she seen it before?’
Disembarkation
‘It’s crunch time,’ Rudyard said.
‘We’re waiting for your decision.’ Betty Fortuny was the commander of a new agency set up to gather intelligence about corruption in the police . She had come to Rudyard’s office to meet Mackie.
‘You say I’ll have a foot in both camps?’
‘Yes, you will,’ Rudyard said. ‘You’re still a player in the context of the château community. Get closer to Jem Roman. There were people at the magic lantern convention who are associates of Babel. Lorenz Schmidt works for German intelligence. We got that information from one of our people in Berlin. He’s an expert in telecoms. Schmidt also works for the CIA. He’s a double agent.’
‘Looking out for US interests in Europe. Party to German government intelligence on the USA, and Germany’s role in the EU.’
‘Indeed. Sofka Phocas is interesting because of her family history. Her grandfather collaborated with the Nazis and was executed by Greek partisans. She was brought up in London in a fascist household. Her father went to trial, accused of defiling a Jewish cemetery, but he got off on appeal. He was constantly monitored for subversive activities. The whole family were under surveillance. Governments want to forget the war and move on, but die-hards like Stelios Phocas want to fuel hatred of other races and creeds in any way they can, hence the connection with Oskar Weib, the man you saw Sofka talking to at the Convention. He was in the Hitler Youth. And he’s a Babel associate. By the way, I must congratulate you on your nifty use of the service phone.’
‘You’ll lead a team of six undercover officers,’ Betty Fortuny said. ‘You’ll work from here. No one in the police will know who you are or what you are doing. I can see from your record that you aren’t happy about the way things are in The Met.’
‘Are my allegations being taken seriously, ma’am?’
‘They are. But now is not the time to come down hard. Softly and slowly we will clean it up.’
‘An innocent man was framed. The perpetrator left the country. Policer officers at my station colluded with that, and they colluded with the members of the gambling club who engineered it.’
‘That’s tangental to what you’ll be investigating. There are old cases where abuse was alleged and the police covered it up. We want you to investigate those cases where plaintiffs and their relatives felt they were not given justice. There’ll be a lot of travel involved, up and down the country.’
‘We know you like solving crime,’ Rudyard said. ‘And you excel at investigation. As you know, in the special service, you don’t have to solve anything, just keep a look out. We do softly softly too.’ He glanced at Betty Fortuny.
‘You have been overlooked, Inspector Divine and I want to rectify that by offering you this position. You’ll have the rank of Chief Inspector.’
‘Thank you very much, ma’am.’
‘So, crunch time,’ Rudyard said. ‘To blow or not to blow.’
‘I’m confident that the new agency will make changes, ma’am. I accept. I won’t blow the whistle.’ She shook Betty Fortuny’s hand, and Rudyard’s.
‘Keep your head down, Chief Inspector,’ he said. ‘But keep on watching.’
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Other Titles by Anne Morgellyn
Novels:
The Remains of the Dead
Grave Truths
The Art of Dying
Fatal Choices
Legally Bound
Travel:
The Instant Guide To Budapest
The Retreat Page 17
