Tim Stevens - Ratcatcher

‘Mr Dobrynin,’ Purkiss said, ‘you’ll have realised, of course, that we have insurance in place. If we don’t leave here, unharmed, by five o’clock, my associates will blow the whistle and this place will be buried under so many layers of anti-terrorist police you won’t be able to breathe.’ He’d pulled the five o’clock part out of the air.

Dobrynin’s expression remained mild.

Purkiss said, ‘This is my offer. You tell us where we can find the Englishman, Fallon, and we’ll walk out of here and leave you in peace.’

A frown of interest drew Dobrynin’s brows together. ‘Mr — Hughes, yes? There are two problems with what you say. The first is that I don’t know what kind of a threat you believe yourself to be to me or my company, such that your leaving us in peace would be a blessing.’ The affability hadn’t left his manner. Over the edge of the table his mutilated right hand showed for an instant.

‘You evidently see us as a threat.’

Dobrynin raised his eyebrows. ‘The guns? Security, nothing more. You and your colleague arrive and demand an audience in a fairly threatening manner. It’s natural we should be cautious. In our work we come up against men of violence all the time. Somebody whom we have previously upset might have sent you, for all I know.’ He paused a beat. ‘The second problem is that I don’t know any Englishman called Fallon, or anyone else by that name, come to that.’ Palm raised to the heavens, he smiled ruefully. ‘So I’m afraid I can’t help you.’

It was going to be a game of bluff, then. Fair enough. Purkiss said, ‘Fine. But it’s a pity. Because when Fallon goes down, you’re going down with him, and it could have been avoided.’ He stood up. Neither of the gunmen moved. Elle rose as well. Dobrynin watched Purkiss, his smile lingering.

‘Sit, please, Mr Hughes. Coffee?’

‘No.’ They stayed on their feet.

‘Perhaps my company can help you find this Fallon. We carry out investigations as well as performing security operations. Who is he?’

Again the interest in the narrowed eyes. Purkiss realised suddenly: he doesn’t know . What did that mean?

‘Former British Secret Service. Now a wanted criminal. A murderer.’

He leaned slightly forward as he said it and although the muscles of the man’s face remained shaped in the same expression of polite attention, the change in Dobrynin’s eyes was unmistakeable: a dilation in the pupils crowding out the surrounding grey irises, an almost imperceptible raising of the upper lids.

‘I see.’ For the second time Dobrynin’s mangled right hand came into view as he massaged it with the other. Then it disappeared again as if he’d been caught out indulging a nervous mannerism. ‘And what is he doing in Tallinn?’

‘Conspiring. As you know perfectly well.’

‘Conspiring to do what?’ He spoke as if he hadn’t heard the second part.

‘To derail tomorrow’s summit meeting.’

Dobrynin’s stare lasted a full five seconds before he blinked and shook his head. ‘Mr Hughes, I’m sorry, I really can’t do business with you. Not to put too fine a point on it but you’re a crank. If somebody you know is planning something as serious as you say, then it’s the police you should be talking to.’ He stood, as did his men. One of them waited for his nod, then went to retrieve their phones from the wall safe.

‘Goodbye.’ Dobrynin didn’t offer his hand this time. Purkiss said nothing, trying to keep his churning thoughts in check long enough that he didn’t mistake what he was seeing in Dobrynin’s face. The two gunmen opened the door and gestured them through. At the last glimpse, the rest of his face neutral, Dobrynin’s eyes were lit up with the unmistakeable fire of triumph.

They rode the lift in silence. Purkiss braced himself all the way for the sudden jolting halt, rough hands and gun butts taking over, but by the time they handed in their plastic visitors’ badges to the guard at the front desk he realised they were in fact going to be allowed out.

On the street Elle let out her breath in a slow whistle.

‘What the hell was that all about?’

‘Three possibilities.’ The car was parked two blocks away and as if they had communicated telepathically they began walking in the other direction to flush out tags. ‘One, Dobrynin genuinely has nothing to do with any of this, it’s all his boss Kuznetsov’s operation.’

‘Highly unlikely,’ she said. ‘He’s a good liar but not that good.’

‘You saw it?’

‘The hand? Yes.’ Dobrynin had kept his disfigured appendage out of sight beneath the desk except when he’d been saying he didn’t know what kind of a threat they thought they posed to him and his firm. Unskilled liars will touch their faces during the act of lying, as though trying to keep the untruths from escaping their mouths. More accomplished ones usually still struggle to prevent their hands from beginning the movement.

They paused at a corner as if debating which way to go, and Purkiss did a quick check. Nobody obvious behind them. Turning left, he said, ‘So. Possibility number two is that Fallon is working freelance. They’ve obviously come across him — he was sleeping with one of their number, Ilkun — but Dobrynin was genuinely surprised in there when I mentioned both that Fallon was former SIS and that he planned to scupper the summit.’

‘So both Fallon and Kuznetsov’s crew are working independently to achieve the same thing?’

‘Doesn’t seem credible, does it.’ A car was crawling alongside them but it was just an elderly driver, peering at the street signs. ‘Unless Fallon is trying to hijack their operation for his own ends. It’s the only explanation that makes the remotest sense that I can think of.’

‘That look on Dobrynin’s face at the end,’ she said. ‘It was as if the penny had dropped. As if he understood that Fallon was in competition with them.’

‘Yes.’

They had come almost full circle and the car was in sight.

‘You said three possibilities.’

‘The third is that we’re completely wrong about the first two.’

At the car they took turns, one keeping watch for tags while the other ducked to peer under the chassis for tracking devices. They’d parked far enough away that it wasn’t likely they had been spotted emerging from the vehicle but it was worth taking precautions.

He’d thought about telling her about the satnav he’d salvaged from the wreck of the car earlier, about what he had planned for that evening once dark had fallen. But he thought again of how he’d been caught off guard by his surprise when she’d pulled the gun.

No. It was best to trust only those you knew.

‘Play it back.’

Venedikt had gone inside as soon as Dobrynin called. The noise of the men in the yard was distracting. He sat at the kitchen table and listened to the live feed, then to Dobrynin’s voice directly into the mouthpiece: ‘They’ve gone.’

He listened again, keeping his breathing even, trying not to let delight overwhelm him.

Afterwards he said, ‘As we suspected.’

‘Yes.’

‘Our British friend has been lying to us.’

‘It looks that way, Venedikt Vasilyevich.’

Venedikt sat staring at the flagstones, pondering. Then he said, ‘Did you try to follow Purkiss?’

‘It wasn’t worth it. What staff aren’t with you we needed to close the office down. We have to assume our British friend will keep track of him.’

‘A big assumption. He’s disappeared twice already.’ Venedikt stood. ‘But you’re right. How’s the shutdown progressing?’

‘Just reception left, really.’

‘Good.’

‘A pity. Years of memories, Venedikt Vasilyevich.’