The Private Life of Spies and the Exquisite Art of Getting Even: Stories of Espionage and Revenge by Alexander McCall Smith

Author:Alexander McCall Smith [McCall Smith, Alexander]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-09T00:00:00+00:00

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THAT EVENING, Pierre knocked on the door of his friend, Alain, further down the corridor in the students’ living quarters. He heard his friend’s voice reply from within and he entered the room. Alain was at his desk, struggling with a passage of New Testament Greek. He looked up at his friend and smiled. “You know something, Pierre? You’re really fortunate you don’t have to learn Greek. Never, ever forget that.”

“At least it isn’t Finnish,” said Pierre. “I gather that’s a really difficult language.”

“That’s why there are only five million Finns,” said Alain. “If Finnish were easier, then there would be far more of them.”

Pierre laughed.

“By the way,” said Alain. “Who was your monastic friend?”

Pierre looked puzzled. “Friend?” he asked. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you mean.”

“Your visitor, earlier today.”

Pierre shook his head. “I didn’t have a visitor.”

“Well, I saw him coming out of your room,” Alain explained. “I was coming back to my room and I saw him coming out of your door. He didn’t see me, but I saw him. He disappeared down the corridor.”

Pierre’s puzzlement deepened. “A monk?”

“Well, he was in monastic garb.”

“Did you see his face?” asked Pierre.

“No. I didn’t.”

Pierre sat down. “I need to tell you about something,” he said.

He started with the letter from the cardinal. Then he went on to describe seeing Father Heaney and his furtive meeting beside the lake. Finally, he recounted his conversation with Monsignor Downside. Alain listened without interrupting him. When he had finished, he rose from his seat and went to gaze out of the window. It was from there that he addressed his friend, not turning round as he spoke.

“There’s only one conclusion you can draw about this Heaney character,” he said. “He’s a double agent. You saw him meeting with a contact from the other side. He must have been passing him sensitive documents. It’s a classic drop, as they call it in espionage circles.”

Pierre wondered what the documents might have been.

“Something to do with the filioque controversy,” said Alain. “You said you heard them talking about that.”

“But…” began Pierre.

He was interrupted. “You need to tell C. You have to warn him.”

Pierre was about to reply to this when he stopped himself. How did Alain know about C? He had said nothing about that being the cardinal’s acronym. He was positive about that, which suggested that Alain knew more than he might be owning up to knowing.

He decided to test his supposition. “You mean the cardinal?” he asked.

Alain replied quite naturally. “Yes, him…” Then his voice trailed away as he realised that he had fallen into a trap.

Now Pierre was certain. “How do you know about C?” he asked.

Alain opened his mouth to reply, then he closed it. He turned round to face his friend. “Because I’m in the Entity,” he said quietly. “I have been one of its agents for over a year now. I’m on a Holy Alliance scholarship here—all my fees are paid—and any dental costs.”

That was all the confirmation Pierre needed.

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