MacIntyre, Ben - The Spy and the Traitor by MacIntyre Ben

Author:MacIntyre, Ben [MacIntyre, Ben]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780241186657
Publisher: Viking
Published: 2018-09-18T04:00:00+00:00

On September 15, Bettaney was summoned to a meeting at MI5’s Gower Street headquarters to discuss an urgent counterintelligence case that had arisen. Instead, on arrival, he was taken to a flat on the top floor, and the evidence against him was laid out by John Deverell and Eliza Manningham-Buller—including a photograph of Guk’s front door, intended to imply that he had been seen making his deliveries, which he had not. Bettaney was shocked and “visibly nervous,” but in control. He spoke hypothetically about what this theoretical spy was supposed to have done, without ever indicating that he had done anything at all. He noted that it would not be in his interest to confess, an implicit admission, but hardly a confession. Even if he had acknowledged his guilt, the evidence would not have been admissible, since he had not been arrested and no lawyer was present. MI5 wanted him to tell all, then arrest him, and get him to confess again after being advised of his rights. But he did not.

Bugs relayed the conversation to the monitoring room below, where a bank of senior MI5 and MI6 officers craned to catch every word: “Listening to his attempts to avoid admitting anything was an excruciating experience,” said one. Bettaney might be unstable, but he was not stupid. “We had a very real fear that Bettaney would succeed in bluffing it out.” By evening, everyone was exhausted, and no nearer a breakthrough. Bettaney agreed to spend the night in the flat, though MI5 had no legal right to detain him. He had refused to eat lunch, and now declined dinner. He demanded a bottle of whisky, which he drank steadily. Manningham-Buller and two other minders listened sympathetically, “occasionally asking disingenuous questions,” as he expressed his admiration for the “battery of evidence” MI5 had gathered, without admitting its truth. At one point he began referring to the British as “you” and the Russians as “us.” He admitted that he had wanted to warn the KGB officers that they were under surveillance. But he did not confess. At 3 a.m. he finally collapsed into bed.

The next morning, Manningham-Buller cooked him breakfast, which he did not eat. Sleepless, hungover, hungry, and exceptionally ill-tempered, Bettaney announced he had no intention of confessing. But then he suddenly abandoned the hypothetical form of speech, and switched to the first person. He began referring sympathetically to “Kim [Philby] and George [Blake],” the earlier Cold War spies.

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