David Oldman - Dusk at Dawn

‘And the tsarina as well, I suppose?’ he asked.

‘Well yes,’ said Valentine, ‘although she wasn’t as pretty, of course…’

‘What’s that got—’

‘The point is,’ Valentine said quickly, ‘now is the time to act. When everyone can see them for what they are.’ His expression had turned grim, the gleam in his eyes replaced by a dull steeliness. ‘You’ve got the letter, of course?’

‘What letter?’

‘From Masaryk. The one C gave you from the Czechoslovak National Council.’

‘Oh, that. Yes, of course.’

‘I mean it’s all very well the local Soviets giving the Legion orders,’ Valentine said, ‘but they’ll only obey them if it’s in their interest. They want to get to Vladivostok or Archangel and out of Russia. If they receive orders from their National Council, directly from Masaryk and Beneš they’re more likely to do what we want.’

‘Fight the Bolsheviks.’

‘Exactly.’

‘Do you want the letter?’

‘Not me, old man,’ Valentine said. ‘C gave it to you. It’s your responsibility. Just don’t lose it or let the Bolsheviks get their hands on it.’

‘We’ve got to get past the Germans in Finland first.’

Valentine laughed. ‘We’re not going to let a few Hun stand in out way, are we?’

‘Aren’t we? No, I don’t suppose we are.’

‘C mentioned something else, too.’

Paul wondered how much worse it could get.

‘What?’

‘He’d got a report about a chap’s body being found in an alley behind the Waldorf Hotel. Turned out to be a Lithuanian who went by the name of Yurkas. Kell had a file on him. A kitchen porter from the Waldorf and some seamstresses saw this Yurkas attacked and murdered. Their description of the assailant tallies pretty closely with you.’

‘It was me,’ said Paul, ‘But he attacked me . He’d been following me. And the porter and those women didn’t see it happen at all,’ he added for good measure.

‘Browning said you thought someone was following you. He said you were under the impression it was me.’

‘That was his idea. I didn’t think it was you. I know you. You stole my money. I thought it was Hart. I mean, that’s the impression I got from what Browning said. I didn’t know you were Hart then, did I?’

‘I didn’t steal your money,’ Valentine stressed, sounding offended at the suggestion. ‘I wish you wouldn’t keep saying that.’

‘Where is it then?’

‘No need to worry on that score,’ Valentine assured him. ‘We’ve paid it into your mother’s account. C’s idea. He thought if worse comes to worst she’ll not have the bother of wills and all that rot.’

Paul groaned. So it really was gone. He could envisage his mother’s surprise at being in funds again. She’d never be able to resist the temptation to fritter it away at the Waldorf, or scatter it like confetti over Russian ne’er-do-wells…

‘The point is, it seems Yurkas was sent to stop you getting on the ship.’

‘So there isn’t an agent on board, after all, like Kell thought.’

‘I don’t think we ought to jump to conclusions,’ Valentine advised.

Just at that moment a crewman walked by and saw them wedged between the lifeboats. He paused, frowning, then carried on past.

‘Look, we don’t want to be spotted talking like this. Why don’t we meet later and compare notes on the other passengers. After dinner, say. What about your cabin?’

Paul shook his head. ‘I’m in with Pinker. What about yours?’

‘I’m having to share with the Holy Joe… Pater. He’s forever on his knees. A chap can’t move without tripping over him.’ He stuck his head round the lifeboat to see if the coast was clear. ‘We’ll sort it out later.’

Valentine started to leave. Paul held his arm.

‘I was thinking,’ he said. ‘How did they know I was going to be on this ship? This Lithuanian, Yurkas, and his friends.’

Valentine shrugged. ‘They must have got wind that the Admiralty had released the steamer and it was going to Helsingfors. After all, it’s taken a week or more to arrange.’

‘No,’ Paul said, ‘not the ship. Me. How did they know about me ? I didn’t know anything about it myself till lunch on Saturday. Yet this Yurkas fellow was already on my tail.’

Valentine slid back between the boats.

‘Good point,’ he said.

‘Who else knew about me? Apart from you, C and Browning?’

Valentine stroked his chin thoughtfully.

‘Well there’d be Burkett, of course, since he’s the one who suggested you in the first place. Then there are the girls in the office dealing with the paperwork. They had to get the tickets and your identification sorted out. Kell, of course, since we needed what he had on you and your mother… and his office staff. Then there’s Lockhart in Moscow and anyone—’

‘Good God!’ Paul exclaimed. ‘I thought this was supposed to be a secret operation? Was there anyone who didn’t know? Apart from me, of course.’

‘Steady on, old man. One can’t do this sort of thing in isolation.’

‘That’s all very well but someone spilled the beans and damn near got me killed. I can’t see Burkett being a closet revolutionary, but what about someone on C’s staff, or Kell’s?’

‘It would have to be someone who didn’t want you to reach Russia.’

‘Obviously. Bolsheviks?’

‘Or the French,’ Valentine suggested.

‘The French ? They’re out allies, for goodness sake. Why would the French want me killed?’

‘Well they’re pretty jealous of their influence on the Legion, you know. Browning’s always had a down on them. Perhaps they’re a bit of an outside chance, I admit. More likely to be the Bolsheviks. Any counter-revolutionary front put up by the Legion and Kolchak in the east could squeeze them between the allies in the north and Germany in the west. They’d be out to stop anyone who might make that threat a viable one.’

Paul couldn’t quite see himself in those terms although he had to concede that the Bolsheviks wouldn’t know that.

‘Of course Kell didn’t know what we were planning,’ Valentine said.

‘C’s office then?’

‘Well, he’s pretty rigorous about who he employs. You know, only our sort of chaps. And the girls all come from good families.’

Paul wasn’t sure that knowing whoever betrayed him had come from a good family would have been much of a comfort if he’d been the one bleeding to death in the alley.

‘Can’t say the same about the class of fellow we’ve recruited in Russia, of course,’ Valentine went on. ‘Lockhart and Ransome are first class but—’

‘Who’s Ransome?’

‘Arthur Ransome. He’s over there for the Daily News.’

‘You mean S76.’

‘I say, you have got the hang of this haven’t you? Yes, S76. S and St are codenames for Stockholm, our regional station. The numbers all get a bit confusing though so we call him Ransome. He’ll know, of course, as well as Lockhart. Lockhart certainly wouldn’t have told anyone else. I know at home they think he’s a bit too close to the Bolsheviks and now he’s got himself mixed up with another woman, but he’s sound. And there’s Sidney Reilly, of course. He might know. But he’s got no love for the Bolsheviks at all.’

Valentine had brought something said in Cumming’s office to mind but Paul couldn’t quite remember what it was.

‘You were right to bring it up though,’ Valentine went on. ‘If they got wind of you there’s a chance that they’ve fielded a long stop in case Yurkas missed you.’ He squeezed Paul’s bicep. ‘We need to be on guard and play a straight bat. What d’you say, old man, play up, play up?’