Gentleman Traitor
Page 27
‘Gentlemen —’ he steadied himself against the table. ‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ he began again, ‘I am now going to read you the names of five men. They all hold high positions in Britain today, and three of them are still Her Majesty’s principal Civil Servants — who are, and have been, to my certain knowledge, for more than thirty years — in the employment of the Soviet State Security Organization.’ He jerked his head down to the paper in his hand, dropped on to his knees, and rolled over on the floor.
In the ensuing uproar, van der Byl called for calm. The two plain-clothes men in the wings were already leaning over Philby. He was breathing in quick gasps. The first journalist to reach him from the floor was Barry Cayle. Philby showed no sign of recognizing him. His eyes had become shiny slits and his face was like wax. One hand was still locked round the sheet of paper; the other fluttered beside him, then lay still.
‘Someone get a bloody doctor, for Chrissake!’ Cayle yelled. He was down on his knees, trying to prise the paper out of Philby’s fingers. Then he saw Philby looking at him. There were bubbles of spit on his bloodless lips. His fingers released the crumpled piece of paper. Cayle opened it, then looked at Philby.
Above the noise, Philby started to speak. Cayle had to lean close to hear. ‘You d-don’t think I’d be fool enough to put it in writing, d-do you?’
A beefy plain-clothes man pulled Cayle to his feet and shoved him back towards the edge of the stage. He was met by a crowd of journalists on the floor of the hall. ‘What’s happened?’ they cried.
‘Heart attack, looks like. And what a time to choose!’ He opened the piece of paper in his hand. It was blank. ‘He conned us all again. The bastard.’
***
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ALSO BY ALAN WILLIAMS
THE CHARLES POL SERIES
Barbouze
The Tale of the Lazy Dog
Shah-Mak
Dead Secret
Holy of Holies
OTHER NOVELS
Long Run South
The Widow’s War
Snake Water
The Beria Papers
The Brotherhood
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Copyright © Alan Williams, 1974.
Alan Williams has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places and events, other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblances to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales are purely coincidental.
eBook ISBN: 9781913335809