Haldane was looking at Smiley: “My congratulations to Control,” he said. “Thank him, will you? Thank him for the help, the technical help, Smiley; for the encouragement, thank him for the rope. For the kind words too: for lending you to bring the flowers. So nicely done.”
But Leclerc seemed impressed by the neatness of it.
“Let’s not be hard on Smiley, Adrian. He’s only doing his job. We must all get back to London. There’s the Fielden report… I’d like to show you that, Smiley. Troop dispositions in Hungary: something new.”
“And I’d like to see it,” Smiley replied politely.
“He’s right, you know, Avery,” Leclerc repeated. His voice was quite eager. “Be a soldier. Fortunes of war; keep to the rules! We play the war rules in this game. Smiley, I owe you an apology. And Control too, I fear. I had thought the old rivalry was still awake. I’m wrong.” He inclined his head. “You must dine with me in London. My club is not your mark, I know, but it’s quiet there; a good set. Very good. Haldane must come. Adrian, I invite you!”
Adrian had buried his face in his hands.
“There’s something else I want to discuss with you, Adrian— Smiley, you won’t mind this I’m sure, you’re practically one of the family—the question of Registry. The system of library files is really out of date. Bruce was on me about it just before I left. Poor Miss Courtney can hardly keep pace. I fear the answer is more copies … top copy to the case officer, carbons for information. There’s a new machine on the market, cheap photostats, threepence halfpenny a copy, that seems quite reasonable in these dog days…. I must speak to the people about it… the Ministry .. . they know a good thing when they see one. Perhaps—” He broke off. “Johnson, I could wish you made less noise, we’re still operational, you know.” He spoke like a man intent upon appearances, conscious of tradition.
Johnson had gone to the window. Leaning on the sill he reached outside and with his customary precision began winding in the aerial. He held a spool in his left hand like a bobbin. As he gathered in the wire he gently turned it as an old woman spins her thread. Avery was sobbing like a child. No one heeded him.
Twenty-Three
The green van moved slowly down the road, crossed the Station Square where the empty fountain stood. On its roof he small loop aerial turned this way and that like a hand feeling for the wind. Behind it, well back, were two trucks. The snow was settling at last. They drove on sidelights, twenty yards apart, following each other’s tire marks.
The captain sat in the back of the van with a microphone for speaking to the driver, and beside him the sergeant, lost in private memories. The corporal crouched at his receiver, his hand constantly turning the dial as he watched the line tremble in the small screen.
“The transmission’s stopped,” he said suddenly.
“How many groups have you recorded?” the sergeant asked.
“A dozen. The call sign over and over again, then part of a message. I don’t think he’s getting any reply.”
“Five letters or four?”
“Still four.”
“Did he sign off?”
“No.”
“What frequency was he using?”
“Three six five zero.”
“Keep scanning across it. Two hundred either side.”
“There’s nothing there.”
“Keep searching,” he said sharply. “Right across the band. He’s changed the crystal. He’ll take a few minutes to tune up.”
The operator began spinning the large dial, slowly, watching he eye of green light in the center of the set which opened and closed as he crossed one station after another. “Here he is. Three eight seven zero. Different call sign but the same handwriting. Quicker than yesterday: better.”
The tape recorder wound monotonously at his elbow. “He’s working on alternating crystals,” the sergeant said. “Like they did in the war. It’s the same trick.” He was embarrassed, an elderly man confronted with his past.
The corporal slowly raised his head. “This is it,” he said. “Zero. We’re right on top of him.”
Quietly the two men dismounted from the van. “Wait here,” the sergeant told the corporal. “Keep listening. If the signal breaks, even for a moment, tell the driver to flash the headlights, do you understand?”