"It's been eight or ten years, hasn't it?" "At least," agreed Scofield. "How've you beenT' "Still here. I'll be pensioned off before too long. Looking forward to that." 'Enjoy it." The Englishman hesitated, then spoke with embarrassment. "Never did see you after that awful business in East Berlin. Not that we were such friends, but you know what I mean. Delayed condolences, chap. Rotten thing. Fucking animals, I say." "Thanks. It was a long time ago." "Never that long," said the MI-Six man. "It was my source in Moscow that brought us that garbage about you and the Serpent. B-eowulf and the Serpentl My God, how could those pricks in D.C. swallow such rot?" "It's complicated." He saw the headlights first, then heard the engine. A London taxi drove into the picnic grounds. The driver, however, was no London cabbie; it was Roger Symonds.
The middle-aged MI-Six officer climbed out and for a second or two blinked and stretched, as if to get his bearings. Bray watched him, noting that Roger had not changed during the years since they had known each other. The Englishman was still given to an excess pound or two, and his thatch of rumpled brown hair was still unmanageable. There was an air of disorientation about the veteran operative that masked a first-rate analytical mind. He was not an easy man to fool-with part of the truth or none of it.
"Bray, how are you?" said Symonds, hand held out. "For God's sake, don't answer that, we'll get to it. Let me tell you, those are not easy cars to drive. I feel as though I've just limped through the worst rugger match in Liverpool. I shall be far more generous with cabbies in the future." Roger looked around, nodding to his men, then spotting the opening in the fence which led into the playground.
"Let's take a stroll. If you're a good lad, I may even give you a push or two in one of the swings."
The Englishman listened in silence, leaning against the iron leg of the swing, as Bray sat on the seat and told his story of the massive shifting of funds. When Scofield had finished, Symonds pushed himself away from the pole, walked behind Bray and shoved him between the shoulder blades.
"There's the push I promised you, although you don't deserve it. You haven't been a good lad." "Why not?" "You're not telling me what you should and your tactics are disturbing." "I see. You don't understand why I'm asking you not to use my name with Waverly?" "Oh, no, that's perfectly all right. He has to deal with Washington every day. Granting an unofficial meeting with a retired American intelligence officer is not something he'd care to have on the Foreign Office's record.
I mean we don't actually defect to one another, you know. I'll take that responsibility, if it's to be taken." "Then what's bothering you?" "The people after you. Not Grosvenor, of course, but the others. You haven't been candid; you said they were good, but you didn't tell me how good. Or the depth of their resources." "What do you mean?" "We pulled your dossier and selected three names known to you, calling each, telling each that the man on the line was an intermediary from you, instructing each to go to a specific location. All three messages were intercepted; those called were followed." "Why does that surprise you? I told you as much." "What surprises me is that one of those names was known only to us. Not MI-Five, not Secret Service, not even the Admiralty. Only us." "Who was it?" "Grimes." "Never heard of him," said Bray.
"You only met him once. In Prague. Under the name of Brazuk." "KGB" said Scofield, astonished. "He defected in '7. 1 gave him to you.
He wouldn't have anything to do with us and there was no point in wasting him." "But only you knew that. You said nothing to your people and, frankly, we at Six took credit for the purchase." "You've got a leak, then." "Quite impossible," replied Symonds. "At least regarding the present circumstances as you! ve described them to me.,, "Why?" "You say you ran across this global financial juggling act only a short while ago. Let's be generous and say several months, would you agreeT' "Yes.,, "And since then, those who want to silence you have been active against you, also correct?" Bray nodded. The MI-Six man leaned forward, his hand on the chain above