The Walking Dead

She was about to speak when his red telephone, in a bank of three, rang. He grimaced, as if to tell her that he was obliged to answer, a tacit apology for the interruption. He showed no elation or satisfaction that she could see. He repeated the short bullet phrases he heard: 'a facilitator' and 'resisting arrest and broke free' and 'lost in the sea' and 'presumed drowned' and 'a treasure trove of documentation recovered' and 'nothing on the bomber'. He listened closely for a few more moments, then replaced the receiver.

'Where were we, Mary?'

She had no more heart for it. She said that she had told him what she knew.

'May I freshen your cup, no? Another biscuit, no? I think, forgive me, it was that you believed you knew, but could not swear to…but don't doubt that I will follow this through as soon as our present difficult time is played out…May I remind you, Mary, that Dickie Naylor has been a most loyal and devoted servant of our organization for thirty-nine years, a stickler for rectitude, and I find it hard to imagine he would have entered the realms of illegality. The presence of the American is something we welcome, a man of great experience in his field, but I would remind you of last year's speech by his government's secretary of state when she championed the rule of law in dealing with prisoners and most categorically denied they were subject to maltreatment. I quote, "use every lawful weapon to defeat these terrorists"…Even if well-intentioned, Mary, innuendo cannot be permitted to blacken the names of good men.'

She stood up, put down her empty cup, thought herself a chastised schoolgirl.

He said, 'You will, of course, be pleased to hear that early this morning the facilitator, a senior organizer in that murderous gang of zealots, was intercepted as he tried to flee the United Kingdom, broke free but went into the sea and is presumed drowned — good riddance — but he left his travel papers behind him. That information, Mary, is UK Eyes Only and it would do extreme damage to the war against terror should his people learn of his loss and what we have recovered…But, Mary it goes without saying that you have my complete trust.'

Her head was down. She thanked him for his time. She was at the door.

'Oh, a final thought, Mary. The vernacular for such a person is "whistleblower". It is not, in my opinion, a wise route for anyone to follow. It leads inevitably to resignation, the end of a bright, prospering career, and to denigration from previously valued colleagues. New friends might appear to lionize the blower, but it's short-termism in the extreme. Their usefulness past, the blower is discarded,'left lonely and unemployable. I hope you have found our talk helpful.'

She said brightly, 'I have and I'm grateful. Thank you.'

It had been helpful, she reflected, and disguised her rampant bitterness, because she was not a trade unionist, or a Communist, or a Jew.

She closed the door after her.

* * *

They were walking along the pavement towards him, towards the boarded-up toilets and the shadows thrown by the hedge where Lee Donkin waited.

Tremors shook his arms and legs, and he bit down hard on his tongue, his lower lip.

There was heavy traffic going both ways on the road, but still moving. Not another pedestrian within a hundred yards of them, behind them. He checked the sports field: kids booted a ball towards goal-posts that had no net but there were no adults with them. Lee Donkin thought his patience rewarded. His escape run was clear.

The man wore a heavy leather jacket, his body bulging under it, and his hands were in the pockets. The expression on his face was vacant, as if he was distracted, but he had a slight smile on his face. The woman alongside him was dressed in the black robe — what Lee Donkin called 'binbag gear'—had a scarf across her face, and a bag hooked up on her shoulder. They were not talking. They didn't look right or left, just walked. He would have said, Lee Donkin would have, that they saw nothing…would not see him until he hit them. He readied himself, which made the shaking worse, tensed and flexed.

They came level with the hedge.