‘I think I’d like to be there when Special Branch pick him up,’ said Steven.
‘No problem,’ said Macmillan. ‘The Home Secretary has agreed that we be kept in the picture at all times. I’ll have Rose inform them of your interest. She’ll text you the details of his arrival time. How did you get on with Professor Rees?’
‘Nice man,’ said Steven. ‘He thinks it might well be possible to identify the agent in Gus Maclean’s culture collection if it’s there. I’ve arranged for it to be delivered to him in Cambridge.’
‘There doesn’t seem to be much point now,’ said Macmillan. ‘We know what they were doing at Porton and what happened with the vaccine.’
‘I think I’d still like to have him go ahead,’ said Steven.
‘Why?’ asked Macmillan.
‘I think I’d be happier if we had an independent assessment of what they were making, just in case they left anything out.’
‘Like what?’
‘Just anything.’
‘All right,’ conceded Macmillan. ‘Let’s hope it doesn’t put too big a hole in our budget.’
‘Can I take it it’s now safe for Jane Sebring to get on with her life without any more attention from MI5?’ asked Steven.
‘Mowbray has been suspended from duty pending further inquiries and the two agents concerned have been made aware of what’s happened.’
‘That must have been a magic moment for the pair of them,’ said Steven. ‘Sorry chaps, you weren’t licensed to kill after all.’
‘Let me know what happens with Gardiner tomorrow,’ said Macmillan.
Steven took Jane out to dinner to Alfredo’s, his favourite Italian restaurant, located in a side street off the Strand. He was known there and the staff always took trouble to make his guests feel especially welcome. Alfredo, a short, stocky man with a bushy moustache and twinkling eyes — who looked more Turkish than Italian despite his proud Neapolitan heritage — took personal charge of ensuring Jane’s comfort, all the while insisting that a woman so good looking must have Italian blood in her.
Steven was pleased to see Jane smiling and relaxed after the trauma of the past couple of days. ‘He’s right, you are beautiful,’ he said as the candles on their table were lit with a flourish.
‘What is this?’ laughed Jane. ‘What are you softening me up for?’
‘How could you?’ said Steven, feigning hurt.
‘Now tell me,’ said Jane.
Steven paused to thank Alfredo who had brought them an aperitif on the house then he said, ‘We agreed from the outset that I would tell you everything that was going on. Well, that has a downside to it.’
‘Go on,’ said Jane cautiously.
‘There are some things that have to remain a secret,’ said Steven.
‘I never supposed anything else,’ said Jane.
‘Good, but that includes things that you might actually want brought out in the open.’
‘Like what?’
‘There’s a real chance that it might not be possible to bring George’s killers to justice.’
Jane’s eyes narrowed. ‘Why not?’ she asked.
‘They believed that they were acting under Government orders,’ said Steven.
‘The same men who came after me?’ said Jane.
Steven nodded.
‘But surely they weren’t?’
‘But they thought they were,’ said Steven. ‘Somewhere in the chain of command above them was a rogue element.’
‘So you can charge the rogue element,’ said Jane.
‘I’d like to think we could,’ said Steven. ‘But if you think it through it would be impossible to charge him or her without charging the two men who actually carried out the killing — and that’s where the problem lies.’
‘You mean, they will maintain that they were only doing their job,’ said Jane.
‘Yes.’
Jane appeared to think for a moment before saying, ‘Well, I suppose it serves George right for getting into such a messy business in the first place. And nothing’s going to bring him back now, is it?’
‘I hoped you might see it that way,’ said Steven.
Steven remained in the background as the Special Branch officers moved in to intercept James Gardiner at Heathrow airport. They did so just after he and his wife had reached passport control. Gardiner reacted in just the manner Steven had supposed he might, given what he’d learned about him from John Macmillan. He initially adopted an air of detached amusement as if some mistake had been made and he had been confused with some ordinary mortal but this quickly changed to outrage when the officers persisted and culminated in demands to know if the officers realised who he was. When he was eventually persuaded to calm down by the two experienced officers who had seen and heard it all before, he was given a few moments to speak to his wife before finally being separated and led off to an interview room where Steven joined them.
The door closed and for a few moments there was silence in the room as no one spoke while the seating arrangements were worked out. General airport noise was largely cut out by the soundproofing although an intermittent vibration every few minutes served to remind them where they were as yet another aircraft took to the skies.
‘Who’s he?’ said Gardiner, becoming aware of Steven’s presence.
Steven showed him his ID without saying anything and Gardiner examined it with the same disdain that he’d shown towards the Special Branch men. He waved it away with an imperious hand gesture. ‘Just what the hell is this all about?’ he demanded.
‘We’d like you to answer some questions, Sir James.’
‘What about? My holiday in Madeira?’
‘We are looking into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of two ex-government scientists, Dr George Sebring and Dr Michael D’Arcy. We think you may be able to help us.’
Gardiner swallowed hard but maintained his equilibrium. ‘Never heard of them,’ he said.
‘Tell us about the Beta Team at Porton Down,’ said Steven.
Gardiner looked long and hard at him before saying, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘We already know that you were responsible for re-activating it back in 1989,’ continued Steven. ‘So maybe we can bypass the blank denials?’
‘1989?’ snickered Gardiner. ‘I was responsible for a lot of things back then,’ he said, leaning back in his chair and looking off to the middle distance as if enjoying a stroll down memory lane. ‘Presumably I signed some piece of paper or other. I don’t remember.’
‘Dr Sebring and Dr D’Arcy were members of that team,’ said one of the Special Branch men.
‘I still have no idea what you’re talking about,’ said Gardiner.
‘Donald Crowe is in custody,’ said Steven. ‘We know about the accident.’
‘What accident?’
‘The one that led to the contamination of vaccines given to the troops before the Gulf War in 1990,’ said Steven.
Gardiner seemed to diminish in stature over the next few moments. All traces of arrogance and pomposity left him; he let out his breath in a long sigh and allowed his shoulders to slump forwards. ‘You do, do you?’ he said.
‘Cecil Mowbray is also being held,’ said Steven. ‘He, of course, was not a member of the Beta Team.’
Gardiner’s eyes betrayed a darting unease as he looked up at Steven.
‘But he was a member of another sort of team, led by you,’ said Steven. ‘Set up around the same time as the Beta Team… along with Colonel Peter Warner, Mr Rupert Everley and maybe a few others?’
‘My, we have been doing our homework,’ murmured Gardiner. He affected an amused smile but Steven could see that he was considering his position, weighing his options. ‘But then, it wouldn’t be difficult for you,’ he continued. ‘We had nothing to hide. As far as I know there is still no law that prevents like-minded people from banding together to act on behalf of and for the good of their country — unless New Labour brought one in while I was away — and I wouldn’t put it past them.’