The Tightrope Men / The Enemy (39 page)

Ogilvie had brought with him Brent, Gregory, Michaelis and, to my surprise, Larry Godwin, who looked very chipper because not only had he got away from his desk but he’d gone foreign. We had an early morning conference to discuss the nuts and bolts of the operation.

Earlier I had again tackled Ogilvie. ‘Why don’t I approach Ashton and tell him the Russians are on to him? That would move him.’

‘In which direction?’ asked Ogilvie. ‘If he thought for one moment that British Intelligence was trying to manipulate him I wouldn’t care to predict his actions. He might even think it better to go back to Russia. Homesickness is a Russian neurosis.’

‘Even after thirty years?’

Ogilvie shrugged. ‘The Russians are a strange people. And have you thought of his attitude to you? He’d immediately jump to wrong conclusions - I won’t risk the explosion. No, it will have to be some other way.’

Ogilvie brought the meeting to order and outlined the problem, then looked about expectantly. There was a lengthy pause while everyone thought about it. Gregory said, ‘We have to separate him from the Russians before we can do anything at all.’

‘Are we to assume he might defect to Russia?’ asked Brent.

‘Not if we’re careful,’ said Ogilvie. ‘But it’s a possibility. My own view is that he might even be scared of the Russians if he knew they were watching him.’

Brent threw one in my direction. ‘How good are the Russians here?’

‘Not bad at all,’ I said. ‘A hell of a lot better than Cutler’s crowd.’

‘Then it’s unlikely they’ll make a mistake,’ he said glumly. ‘I thought if he knew the Russians were on to him he might cut and run. That would give us the opportunity for a spoiling action.’

Ogilvie said, ‘Malcolm and I have discussed that and decided against it.’

‘Wait a minute,’ I said, and turned to Larry. ‘How good is your conversational Russian?’

‘Not bad,’ he said modestly.

‘It will have to be better than not bad,’ I warned. ‘You might have to fool a native Russian.’ I didn’t tell him Ashton
was
a Russian.

He grinned. ‘Which regional accent do you want?’

Ogilvie caught on. ‘I see,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘If the Russians don’t make a mistake we make it for them. I’ll buy that.’

We discussed it for a while, then Michaelis said, ‘We’ll need a back-up scheme. If we’re going to take him out against his will we’ll need transport, a safe house and possibly a doctor.’

That led to another long discussion in which plans were hammered out and roles allocated. Kidnapping a man can be complicated. ‘What about Benson?’ asked Gregory. ‘Is he included in the deal?’

‘I rather think so,’ said Ogilvie. ‘I’m becoming interested in Benson. But the primary target is Ashton. If it ever comes
to a choice between taking Ashton or Benson, then drop Benson.’ He turned to Michaelis. ‘How long do you need?’

‘If we use Plan Three we don’t need a house, and the closed van I can hire inside an hour. But I’ll have to go to Helsingborg or Malmo to arrange for the boat and that will take time. Say three days.’

‘How long to cross the strait to Denmark?’

‘Less than an hour; you can nearly spit across it. But someone will have to organize a receiving committee in Denmark.’

‘I’ll do that.’ Ogilvie stood up and said with finality, ‘Three days, then; and we don’t tell Cutler anything about it.’

Three days later the operation began as planned and started well. The situation in Gamla Stan was becoming positively ridiculous: two of Cutler’s men were idling away their time in antique shops ready for the emergence of Ashton and Benson and unaware that they were being watched by a couple of Russians who, in their turn, were not aware of being under the surveillance of the department. It could have been a Peter Sellers comedy.

Each of our men was issued with a miniature walkietalkie with strict instructions to stay off the air unless it was absolutely necessary to pass on the word. We didn’t want to alert the Swedes that an undercover operation was under way: if they joined in there’d be so many secret agents in those narrow streets there’d be no room for tourists.

I sat in my car, strategically placed to cover the bridges leading from Gamla Stan to the central city area, and kept a listening watch. Ogilvie stayed in his room in the hotel next to the telephone.

At ten-thirty someone came on the air. ‘Bluebird Two. Redbird walking north along Västerlånggatan.’ Ashton was coming my way so I twisted in my seat to look for him.
Presently he rounded the corner and walked up the road next to the Royal Palace. He passed within ten feet of me, striding out briskly. I watched him until he turned to go over Helgeandsholmen by way of Norrbro, then switched on the car engine. Ahead I saw Larry slide out of his parking place and roll along to turn on to Norrbro. His job was to get ahead of Ashton.

I followed behind, passing Ashton who was already carrying a tail like a comet, crossed Norrbro and did a couple of turns around Gustav Adolfs Torg, making sure that everything was in order. I saw Gregory leave his parking place to make room for Larry; it was important that Larry should be in the right place at the right time. Michaelis was reserving a place further west should Ashton have decided to go into town via the Vasabron. I switched on my transmitter and said to him, ‘Bluebird Four to Bluebird Three; you may quit.’

At that point I quit myself because there was nothing left to do - everything now depended on Larry. I drove the short distance to the Grand Hotel, parked the car, and went to Ogilvie’s room. He was nervous under his apparent placidity. After a few minutes’ chat he said abruptly, ‘Do you think Godwin is up to it? He’s not very experienced.’

‘And he never will be if he’s not given the chance.’ I smiled. ‘He’ll be all right. Any moment from now he’ll be giving his celebrated imitation of an inexperienced KGB man. From that point of view his inexperience is an asset.’

Time wore on. At twelve-thirty Ogilvie had smörgåsbord sent up to the room. ‘We might as well eat. If anything breaks you’ll be eating on the run from now on.’

At five to one the telephone rang. Ogilvie handed me a pair of earphones before he picked up the receiver. It was Brent, who said, ‘Redbird is lunching at the Opera - so am I and so is everyone else concerned. He’s looking a bit jumpy.’

‘How did Godwin handle first contact?’

‘Redbird went into that corner bookshop on the Nybroplan. Godwin was standing next to him when he barked his shin on a shelf; Larry swore a blue streak in Russian and Redbird jumped a foot. Then Larry faded out as planned.’

‘And then?’

‘Redbird wandered around for a bit and then came here. I saw him get settled, then signalled Larry to come in. He took a table right in front of Redbird who looked worried when he saw him. Larry has just had a hell of a row with a waiter in very bad, Russian-accented Swedish - all very noisy. Redbird is definitely becoming uncomfortable.’

‘How are the others taking it?’

‘The real Russians look bloody surprised. Cutler’s chap…wait a minute.’ After a pause Brent chuckled. ‘Cutler’s chap is heading for the telephones right now. I think he wants to report that the Russians have arrived. I think I’ll let him have this telephone.’

‘Stay with it,’ said Ogilvie. ‘Stick to Ashton.’ He replaced the receiver and looked up. ‘It’s starting.’

‘Everything is ready,’ I said soothingly. I picked up the telephone and asked the hotel operator to transfer my calls to Ogilvie’s room.

We had not long to wait. The telephone rang and I answered. Cutler said, ‘Jaggard, there may be an important development.’

‘Oh,’ I said seriously. ‘What’s that?’

‘My man with Ashton seems to think the Russians are interested.’

‘In Ashton?’

‘That’s right.’

‘Oh. That’s bad! Where is Ashton now?’

‘Lunching at the Opera. Shall I put someone on to the Russian? There may be time.’

Ogilvie had the earphone to his ear and shook his head violently. I grinned, and said, ‘I think not. In fact I think
you’d better pull out all your men as soon as you can get word to them. You don’t want the Russians to know you’re on to Ashton, do you?’

‘My God, no!’ said Cutler quickly. ‘We can’t have the Embassy involved. I’ll do as you say at once.’ He rang off, seemingly relieved.

Ogilvie grunted. ‘The man’s an idiot. He’s well out of it.’

‘It does clear the field,’ I said, and put on my jacket. ‘I’m going over to Gamla Stan for the beginning of the second act. If Larry does his stuff we should get a firm reaction from Ashton,’ I paused. ‘I don’t like doing it this way, you know. I’d much prefer we talk to him.’

‘I know,’ said Ogilvie sombrely. ‘But your preferences don’t count. Get on with it, Malcolm.’

So I got on with it. I went to Gamla Stan and met Henty in a bar-restaurant in Västerlånggatan, joining him in a snack of herring and aquavit. He had been watching the flat, so I said, ‘Where’s Benson?’

‘Safe at home. His Russian is still with him but Cutler’s boy has vanished. Maybe Benson lost him.’

‘No. Cutler is no longer with us.’ I described what had happened.

Henty grinned. ‘Something should break any moment then.’ He finished his beer and stood up. ‘I’d better get back.’

‘I’ll come with you.’ As we left I said, ‘You’re our Swedish expert. Supposing Ashton makes a break - how can he do it?’

‘By air from Bromma or Arlanda, depending on where he’s going. He can also take a train. He doesn’t have a car.’

‘Not that we know of. He could also leave by sea.’

Henty shook his head. At this time of year I doubt it. There’s a lot of ice in the Baltic this year - the Saltsjön was frozen over this morning. It plays hell with their schedules.
If I were Ashton I wouldn’t risk it; he could get stuck on a ship which didn’t move for hours.’

The bone-conduction contraption behind my ear came to life. ‘Bluebird Two. Redbird by Palace heading for Västerlånggatan and moving fast.’ Bluebird Two was Brent.

I said to Henty, ‘He’s coming now. You go on ahead, spot him and tag that bloody Russian. I don’t want Ashton to see me.’

He quickened his pace while I slowed down, strolling from one shop window to the next. Presently there came the news that Ashton was safely back home, and then Henty came back with Larry Godwin. Both were grinning, and Henty remarked, ‘Ashton’s in a mucksweat.’

I said to Larry, ‘What happened?’

‘I followed Ashton from the Opera - very obviously. He tried to shake me; in fact, he did shake me twice, but Brent was able to steer me back on course.’

Henty chuckled. ‘Ashton came along Västerlånggatan doing heel-and-toe as though he was in a walking race, with Godwin trying hard for second place. He went through his doorway like a rabbit going down a hole.’

‘Did you speak to him, Larry?’

‘Well, towards the end I called out, “
Grazhdaninu
Ashton -
ostanovites!
” as though I wanted him to stop. It just made him go faster.’

I smiled slightly. I doubt if Ashton relished being called ‘citizen’ in Russian, especially when coupled with his English name. ‘The ball is now in Ashton’s court, but I doubt he’ll move before nightfall. Larry, go and do an ostentatious patrol before Ashton’s flat. Be a bit haphazard - reappear at irregular intervals.’

I had a last word with Henty, and then did the rounds, checking that every man was in his place and the Russians were covered. After that I reported by telephone to Ogilvie.
Larry caught up with me in about an hour. ‘One of those bloody Russians tackled me,’ he said. ‘He asked me what the hell I thought I was doing.’

‘In Russian?’

‘Yes. I asked him for his authority and he referred me to a Comrade Latiev in the Russian Embassy. So I got a bit shirty and told him that Latiev’s authority had been superseded, and if Latiev didn’t know that himself he was even more stupid than Moscow thought. Then I said I didn’t have time to waste and did a quick disappearing act.’

‘Not bad,’ I said. ‘It ought to hold Comrade Latiev for a while. Any reaction from the fiat?’

‘A curtain did twitch a bit.’

‘Okay. Now, if Ashton makes his break I don’t want him to see you - we don’t want to panic him more than necessary. Take over Gregory’s car, ask him what the score is, and send him to me.’

It was a long wait and a cold wait. The snow came down steadily and, as darkness fell, a raw mist swept over Gamla Stan from the Riddarfjärden, haloing the street lights and cutting down visibility. I spent the time running over and over in my mind the avenues of escape open to Ashton and wondering if my contingency planning was good enough. With Henty there were six of us, surely enough to take out the two Russians and still keep up with Ashton wherever he went. As the mist thickened I thought of the possibility of taking Ashton there and then, but thought better of it. A quiet kidnapping in a major city is hard enough at the best of times and certainly not the subject for improvization. Better to follow the plan and isolate Ashton.

It happened at ten to nine. Gregory reported Ashton and Benson on Lilla Nygatan moving south, and both had bags. Michaelis chipped in and said that both Russians were also on the move. I summoned up my mental map of Gamla
Stan and concluded that our targets were heading for the taxi rank on the Centralbron, so I ordered the cars south ready to follow. More interestingly, on the other side of the Centralbron, in the main city, was Stockholm’s Central Railway Station.

Then I ordered Michaelis and Henty, our best strong-arm men, to take the Russians out of the game. They reported that, because of the mist, it was easy and that two Russians would have sore heads the following morning.

After that things became a bit confused. When Ashton and Benson reached the taxi rank they took separate cabs, Benson going over the Centralbron towards the railway station, and Ashton going in the dead opposite direction towards Södermalm. Larry followed Benson, and Brent went after Ashton. I got busy and ordered the rest of the team to assemble at the railway station which seemed the best bet under the circumstances.

At the station I stayed in the car and sent in Henty to find out if Larry was around. He came back with Larry who got into the car, and said, ‘Benson bought two tickets for Göteborg.’