he’s right at the heart of the work.’
‘Yes.’ Jaggard well knew what R & D’s main present preoccupation was. ‘But… this wasn’t any of Audley’s damn business.’
‘That’s not the way David Audley would see it.’ He had to lead Jaggard on, evidently. ‘Clinton gave them carte blanche from the start—as well as direct access to the PM—remember?’ He knew that Jaggard remembered, even though R & D had been born—
born by Caesarian section—long before their time. ‘He gave them
“Quis cusiodiet ipsos custodes” as their motto. And he always said they were his Tenth Legion, Henry—remember?’
‘Huh! More like a Fifth Column now!’ Jaggard’s nostrils expanded. ‘Audley isn’t even the real problem—R & D is the real problem, itself—no matter how important the work.’ He shook his Price, Anthony - For the Good of the State head slowly. ‘It’s not “Quis custodiet” now—it’s bloody Imperium in imperio!. It’s become a state within a state—and it’s got to be cut down to size, Garry. For the good of the state it was founded to protect, in fact.’
They were almost there. ‘I agree.’ But he needed some reassurance, nevertheless. ‘But with reservations, Henry.’
‘With reservations?’ Jaggard gave him a fierce look. ‘What are you driving at?’
It wasn’t the moment to make some submissive animal-signaclass="underline" Jaggard was almost as intolerant of yes-men as he was of R & D.
‘Their research is first-rate—particularly their analytical advice.
And they’re coming up with first-rate stuff about the Gorbachev appointments right now, Henry—the Americans are trading us all manner of things in exchange for it. So there’s no way we can abolish them—they’re far too useful.’
‘Who said I want to abolish them?’ The fierceness amended itself.
‘All we need is to control them, so that they don’t cause trouble on the side—’ Jaggard raised a slender hand ‘—and I don’t mean that they’re not damn good at covering up the trouble they make… and their mistakes too… because they are—I know that—you know that.’ The hand clenched. ‘But they do cause trouble—and they do make mistakes—every time they go into the field on their own account.’ The fist unclenched, and Jaggard tapped the file on his desk. ‘Even, for example, God only knows what sort of mayhem might result from this FCO signal if I let it go any further. Which, of course, I won’t—that, at least, I can stop, anyway.’
Price, Anthony - For the Good of the State They were there at last. But Harvey craned his neck, as though attempting to read the superscription. ‘Which is that—?’
Jaggard covered it. ‘Audley’s too busy with the Gorbachev work.
Apart from which he’ll only cause more trouble in this case, if he runs true to form.’
‘’Which was that?‘ Harvey stopped pretending to read through Jaggard’s hand. Because Jaggard was going to tell him anyway.
‘Apart from which the KGB is undoubtedly up to mischief.’
Jaggard gave him an unblinking stare. ‘And since the FCO
processed the signal they’ll also want to know what the outcome is.
But I shall say “no”.’
‘Ah!’ Harvey let the light dawn. ‘That’ll be that odd communication about Professor Panin, I take it—?’ After letting the light dawn he let himself relax. ‘I was thinking… it’s a curious coincidence, isn’t it—eh?’
‘Curious?’ Jaggard stopped covering the file.
‘Well, there’s obviously no connection between what Audley’s just done and whatever Professor Panin and the KGB may be contemplating.’ He let that out as an arguable statement, because they both knew who Panin was, beyond what the Soviet Embassy and the FCO alleged he was. ‘So it is a pure coincidence, Henry.
There can be no question about that.’
The stare cracked, and Jaggard flipped open the file. ‘ “Professor Nikolai Andrievich Panin. Third Deputy-Director in the Ministry of Culture: one of the foremost authorities on the archaeology of the royal tombs (6th and 5th century BC) in the bend of the Dnieper, Price, Anthony - For the Good of the State the districts of Poltava and Kiev, and the Crimea’‘? He looked up at Garrod Harvey, then down into the file again. ’ ”Dr David Longsdon Audley. CBE. Ph.D. MA (Cantab)“—‘ He looked at Harvey again ’—” distinguished medievalist“? ‘ This time he didn’t look down again. ’Have you seen this SG?‘
That wasn’t a trick question. ‘Yes. My name’s on the list, Henry.’
‘Yes?’ The nostrils blew out again. ‘But I’ve also got a clever-dick note from some wag in the FCO—did you get that too?’
That wasn’t a trick question either. ‘No.’
‘No?’ Jaggard locked down quickly to refresh his memory. ‘I’ve got: “1. Isn’t Panin one of theirs and Audley one of yours?” And
“2. What has 6th-5th century BC Scythia got to do with Medieval History?” And “3. Are there any Royal Scythian tombs on Exmoor?” ’ Jaggard considered Harvey dispassionately for a moment. ‘And then they advise me that Professor Panin is to be given all reasonable help and consideration, because HM
Government is concerned to improve Anglo-Soviet cultural relations, pending projected diplomatic and cultural exchanges running up to possible East-West disarmament talks later in the year.’ He gave Harvey another couple of seconds. ‘Are there any Royal Scythian tombs on Exmoor?’
‘Not that I’ve heard of.’ That was the moment, as the full awfulness of the FCO advice registered, when Garrod Harvey began to suspect that Henry Jaggard had been there ahead of him, thinking the same wicked thoughts. ‘Prehistoric ones, maybe—or Neolithic. But that could be Dartmoor, not Exmoor…’ He let Jaggard see that he had something else in his mind.
Price, Anthony - For the Good of the State
‘Yes?’ Jaggard paid his penny cautiously.
‘I was just thinking.’ On second thoughts it would be better to be honest—or fairly honest, anyway: that usually paid better with Jaggard. ‘Or… I have been thinking.’
‘About what?’ Jaggard hadn’t got his pennyworth yet.
‘About Audley. And Panin.’ He gave Jaggard a seriously questioning glance. ‘I take it the FCO doesn’t really know why Panin is here? That he’s General Zarubin’s Number Two, I mean?’
‘They certainly do not.’ There was a metallic curtness about Jaggard’s reply: it was the sound of the penny dropping. ‘Nobody knows except the Viking Group. You know that.’
‘Yes. So that’s just you and me, and de Gruchy.’ Garrod Harvey deliberately thought aloud. ‘But the Americans also may have an inkling, we decided.’
‘They may.’ Jaggard accepted the thought. ‘They’ve almost certainly got someone of their own in the Soviet Embassy. So it’s just possible they’ve also picked up a hint of the Polish operation—
agreed.’
‘Yes. But their man is at a much lower level than our Viking.’
Harvey could see that the very mention of Viking, the highest-placed contact they had ever had in the KGB’s London Station, made Jaggard cautious. Yet he still had to push matters further. ‘So the Polish operation is the one you want us to leave well alone.’
Jaggard stared at him. ‘The one we have to leave well alone, Garry.’ The edge of his patience was beginning to fray. ‘We’ve been through all this.’
Price, Anthony - For the Good of the State
‘Even though we know that Zarubin—Zarubin and now Panin…