For the Good of the State

‘You can give him much more than that, David.’ Panin didn’t even look at Sadowski as he dismissed him again. ‘General Zarubin will give you more.’

Audley waited until Sadowski had disappeared again. ‘I wish he’d bloody say something—just once… even if it was only

“Goodbye”.’ He blinked at the Russian. ‘He isn’t a lip-reading deaf-mute by any chance, is he?’ Then he turned to Tom without waiting for an answer. ‘See what that poor devil’s got in his pockets, will you?’

Tom frowned at him. ‘What?’

Price, Anthony - For the Good of the State

‘My dear boy—we’re going to be hanged, drawn and quartered for this if he was just reaching for his wallet.

But if he has… had… a gun in there, then perhaps they’ll only hang us. Besides which I should have thought it might set your mind at rest somewhat?‘ Audley blinked again, and then sniffed and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. ’Okay?‘ He returned to the Russian. ’You were saying, Nikolai—?‘

Szymiac’s coat was open now, and Tom could see the broken threads and the slight tear where the coat-button on the floor had been ripped out. And the man’s shirt was bloody in two places, over the heart and lower down, near the waistband of his trousers: the spreading stains had mingled but the different wounds were still quite plain. And he could guess which Smith and Wesson bullet was which from Sadowski’s evident professionalism as well as from the memory of his own unsatisfactory firing position, which for one pathetic moment now had roused the half-hope that he might have missed altogether.

He saw the shoulder-holster immediately, tucked under the left armpit, as the body slid back and down under his touch, as inanimate as a sack, the head lolling heavily forward to reveal a bald patch like a tonsure at the back. He started to think well, a real tonsure wouldn’t be inappropriate, but then he thrust the thought away from him and concentrated on extracting the pistol delicately from its cradle. It was small and light and short-barrelled, not unlike a Makarov, but with a distinctly different grip which reminded him of a Walther.

Then he became aware that both the dreadful old men were Price, Anthony - For the Good of the State watching him in silence, so he held it up for their inspection.

‘Well, that’s something,’ murmured Audley. ‘Not much, but better than nothing, I suppose.’ He took a step towards Tom and reached for the weapon. ‘Evidence, Tom.’ He showed it to Panin for a second, and then dropped it into his pocket.

‘P-64.’ The Russian nodded. ‘Polish Army issue.’

‘Is that a fact, now?’ Audley seemed only mildly interested. ‘Well, I suppose it would be, wouldn’t it! But… you were saying—?

General Zarubin wants to give me something—to give to Jack Butler, was it? Or what—?’

Tom let the coat fall back on the blood-stained shirt, watching them both intently as they stared at each other — two really dreadful old men!

‘You were saying?’ Audley opened the bidding formally.

‘He will be grateful.’

‘Uh-huh?’ Audley nodded, then looked down at the rifle, which Tom had leant against a chair, and then nodded again at Panin. ‘I can well imagine that. But as we’ve already done his— your— dirty work, that would seem a somewhat devalued currency now. I’ve never been able to pay any bills with gratitude: the next word after

“Thank you” is usually “Goodbye”.’

‘But he still has business to transact here. Which, of course, is his main business, you understand?’

Another nod. ‘Yes—of course.’ Audley gestured towards the rifle, and then patted his pocket. ‘This is your business. For which you too are grateful—of course. But if you are insufficiently grateful, Price, Anthony - For the Good of the State and I make waves… then that will interfere with his business—I do apologize for being so slow on the uptake, Nikolai? What you mean… is that General Zarubin’s gratitude is only just beginning, eh?’ Innocent understanding did not sit well on the old man’s face; somehow it only made his expression more brutal. ‘All I can do to you is get you on the next plane home, as persona non grata. And then you have to take your chance. But General Zarubin doesn’t want to go home either—he’s got a lot to lose too, has he?’

The Russian’s mouth tightened. ‘You have much to lose, also—’

‘That won’t wash.’ Audley cut him off. ‘We’ve been there before, too.’

‘And Colonel Butler?’

‘Jack will take his chance, like you.’ Another shake.

‘And your country?’

Audley sniffed, not with his head-cold, but derisively.

‘Just make me your offer, and stop buggering about.’ He made a hideous face at Panin. ‘You always knew it would come to this—at least, that it would if your dumb-mute did his work properly.’

Panin stared at him for a long moment. ‘I can’t give you an offer, David. I am not empowered to do so. But General Zarubin will trade you a name, face to face. And that will… will perhaps clear you from this—’ He pointed past Audley, towards Szymiac ‘—

with your superiors.’

‘Tom!’ Audley was no longer looking at Panin, and made no attempt to follow his finger. ‘Better make your call now, just in case, so someone can clear up after us.’ He fixed Tom Price, Anthony - For the Good of the State unblinkingly. ‘And we’ll go and see what Henry Plantagenet has to offer, in exchange for not doing penance for Thomas Becket.

Right?’

10

The road outside was