who find themselves seated beside one another, sipping tea and eating cheddar baguette and sponge cake respectively. So in sum, a classic covert encounter, perfectly orchestrated, or as Arkady would have it, too perfectly, and excellent use of a denim jacket.
With the soundtrack it was no different. Here again I had the edge over every other spectator in the room. Ed and Valentina speak English throughout. Valentina’s is good but still not free of the mellifluous Georgian lilt that had so beguiled Arkady a decade ago. There was something else about her voice – timbre, accent – that like a long-forgotten tune kept nagging at me, but the harder I tried to place it, the more elusive it became.
But Ed’s voice? No mystery there. It’s the same mannerless voice that addressed me at our first badminton session: bruised, grouchy, distracted, and here and there plain rude. It will remain with me until the end of my days.
*
Gamma and Ed are leaning forward, talking head-to-head. Gamma the professional is at times barely audible even to the microphones on the table. Ed, by contrast, seems unable to keep his voice below a certain level.
GAMMA: You are comfortable, Ed? You had no worries or problems on your way here?
ED: I’m all right. Apart from somewhere to tie up my bloody bike. No point getting a new one round here. They’d have the wheels off before you chained it up.
GAMMA: You saw nobody you recognized? Nobody who made you uneasy?
ED: Don’t think so, no. Haven’t looked really. Bit late now, anyway. How about yourself?
GAMMA: Were you surprised when Willi waved you down in the street? [Willi with a hard W, as German] He says you almost fell off your bicycle.
ED: He’s bloody right I did. Him just standing there on the pavement, flapping his hand at me. I thought he was waving for a cab. Never occurred to me he was your lot. Not after Maria told me to get lost.
GAMMA: I would say that Maria acted with great discretion in the circumstances, nevertheless. We have reason to be a little bit proud of her, would you not agree?
ED: Yeah, yeah, great. Smart footwork all round. One minute you’re not going to touch me with a bargepole. The next, Willi’s flagging me down in German and saying he’s a friend of Maria’s and you’re all up for it and we’re back on course and let’s go. Bit unsettling, frankly.
GAMMA: Unsettling maybe, but completely necessary. Willi needed to catch your ear. If he had called to you in English you might have dismissed him as a local drunk and ridden straight past him. However, I hope that you are still prepared to be of assistance to us. Yes?
ED: Well, somebody’s got to do it, haven’t they? You can’t just sit there saying something’s all wrong but it’s not your business because it’s secret, can you? Not if you’re a halfway decent human being, can you?
GAMMA: And you yourself are a very decent human being, Ed. We admire your courage, but also your discretion.
(Long pause. Gamma expecting Ed to speak. Ed taking his time.)
ED: Yeah, well, I was quite relieved to be honest when Maria told me to get lost. Quite a considerable weight off my mind, that was. Didn’t last, though. Not when you know you’ve got to act or you’re like the others.
GAMMA: [Bright new voice] I have a suggestion for us, Ed. [Consulting her mobile phone] A nice one, I hope. So far we are two casual strangers exchanging pleasantries over a nice cup of tea. In a minute I shall stand up and wish you an enjoyable evening and thank you for our little conversation. After two minutes you will please finish your baguette, rise slowly, not forgetting your briefcase, and walk towards your bicycle. Willi will find you and escort you to a comfortable place where we can talk freely and privately. Yes? Does my suggestion worry you in any way?
ED: Not really. Long as my bike’s okay.
GAMMA: Willi has been keeping an eye on it for you. No vandals have attacked it. Goodbye, then, sir. [Handshake, almost Ed-style] It is always pleasant talking to strangers in your country. Especially when they are young and handsome like you. Please don’t get up. Goodbye.
She waves and heads off down the path to the main road. Ed makes a show of waving back, takes a mouthful of baguette, leaves the rest. He sips his tea, scowls at his wristwatch. For one minute and