‘We were understaffed and overworked. The Inspectors had already reduced us by two against my most strenuous advice. The allowances had been halved. Not just Europe was in flux. There were no constants anywhere any more. Rhodesia, Hong Kong, Cyprus… British troops were running from one to the other trying to stamp out a forest fire. We were half-way into Europe and half-way out again. There was talk of a Nordic Federation; God knows what fool gave birth to that idea!’ Bradfield declared with utter contempt. ‘We were putting out feelers in Warsaw, Copenhagen and Moscow. One minute we were conspiring against the French, the next we were conspiring with them. While that was going on we found the energy to scrap three-quarters of the Navy and nine-tenths of our independent deterrent. It was our worst time; our most humiliating time, and our busiest. To crown everything, Karfeld had just taken over the Movement.’
‘So Harting took you through the act again.’
‘Not the same act.’
‘What do you mean?’
A pause.
‘It had more purpose. It had more urgency. I felt it and I did nothing about it. I blame myself. I was conscious of a new mood in him and I did not pursue it.’ He continued: ‘At the time I put it down to the general state of intensity in which we were all living. I realise now that he was playing his biggest card.’
‘Well?’
‘He began by saying he still didn’t feel he was pulling his weight. He had had a good year, but he felt he could do more. These were bad days; he would like to feel he was really helping to get things on an even keel. I asked him what he had in mind; I thought he’d just about swept the board by then. He said, well, it was December – that was the nearest he ever came to referring to his contract – and he had naturally been wondering about the Personalities Survey.’
‘The what?’
‘Biographies of prominent figures in German life. Our own confidential Who’s Who. We prepare it every year, each of us takes a hand and contributes something on the German personalities with whom he deals. The Commercial people write about their commercial contacts, the Economists about the economists, the Attachés, Press, Information, they all add their bit. Much of the material is highly unflattering; some of it is derived from secret sources.’
‘And Chancery edits?’
‘Yes. Once again he had chosen very accurately. It was another of those chores which interfered with our proper duties. It was already overdue. De Lisle, who should have compiled it, was in Berlin; it was becoming a confounded nuisance.’
‘So you gave him the job.’
‘On a provisional basis, yes.’
‘Until the next December, for instance?’
‘For instance. It is easy now to think of reasons why he wanted that particular job. The survey provided him with a laissez-passer to any part of the Embassy. It runs across the board; it covers the whole range of Federal affairs: industrial, military, administrative. Once charged with the survey, he could call on whomever he liked without questions being asked. He could draw files from any other Registry: Commercial, Economic, Naval, Military, Defence – they all opened their doors to him.’
‘And the question of vetting never crossed your mind?’
The self-critical note returned: ‘Never.’
‘Well, we all have our moments,’ said Turner quietly. ‘And that’s how he got his access?’
‘There’s more to it than that.’
‘More? That’s just about the lot, isn’t it?’
‘We not only have archives here; we have a Destruction programme as well. It has been running for years. The purpose is to keep Registry space available for new files and to get rid of old ones we no longer need. It sounds a somewhat academic project and in many ways it is; nevertheless, it happens to be vital. There is a clearly defined economic limit to the amount of paper Registry can handle, and to the amount of paper it will hold. The problem is akin to that of road traffic: we are constantly creating more paper than we can digest. Very naturally, it was another of those jobs we took up and put down as time allowed; it was also an absolute curse. For a while it would be forgotten; then the Office would write and ask for our latest figures.’ He shrugged. ‘As I say, it’s very simple. We can’t go on indefinitely, even in a place this size, building up more files than we destroy. Registry’s bursting at the seams already.’