Maddox took his fork and made a careful incision in the ice-cream. Cayle had noticed that he was a fussy eater who wiped his lips after every mouthful. ‘You know about my boss — the Frenchman, Pol? Well, he’s a pretty big wheel, even out here. Got his finger in a lot o’ pies, and I don’t just mean the aero industry. That deal with the Troika-Caravelle airbus will be just chicken-feed to him. I happen to know, Barry, that Pol’s on to something much bigger. Something of international importance.’
‘Something to do with one of these “Grey Men”?’
Maddox sat back and grinned nervously. ‘Could be.’
‘What’s the price, Lennie?’
Maddox paused to let the ice-cream melt in his mouth. ‘Five grand, US dollars — cash, with one grand in advance.’
‘In advance of what?’
‘Giving you a piece of info that’ll make headlines round the world.’
‘According to you. But you’re not in the newspaper business. And I’m not in a position to make blind deals with strangers who pick me up in foreign hotel bars.’
‘Oh, don’t be bloody-minded, Cayle! I know a good story when I see one. And even if you don’t want it, plenty of others will.’ He had clenched his fist again and his face had taken on a greyish pallor that exaggerated the inflamed blotches round his nose and mouth. ‘Don’t you even want to hear what the story is?’
‘Only if it’s free.’
‘Supposing I told you there was an Embassy angle?’
‘Depends which embassy,’ said Cayle.
‘H.M.’s. One of the dips — works in Chancery — anonymous desk-job, with a hot line to the nabobs back in Whitehall.’
‘So?’
‘It just so happens,’ said Maddox, ‘that he’s been having contacts with my boss, Pol. And Pol’s been getting very matey with a certain Englishman out here. You might say, the most famous — or rather, notorious — of all the “Grey Men”.’
‘Okay. Kim Philby.’ Cayle looked hard at Lennie Maddox, who tried to avoid his gaze, shifting in his chair and glancing round for a waiter. ‘What’s your source?’
Maddox smirked, ‘Secrets of the trade, old boy. Just let’s say that as far as Lipp Entreprises is concerned, I may not be a senior partner yet, but I’m not the office boy either. I keep my eyes and ears wide open.’
‘As well as the occasional piece of private correspondence, no doubt?’
‘Now, now! That’s not very nice — not from someone you’re going to do business with.’
‘You’re jumping the gun, Lennie. I haven’t agreed to do any business with you.’
‘It’s cheap at the price!’ Maddox cried. ‘But if your paper’s so bloody high and mighty they daren’t tread on any precious embassy toes, I’ll flog it to one o’ the tabloids. They might even make it ten grand.’
‘So why don’t you?’
Maddox paused. ‘Because your paper was the one that broke the original story. I reckoned you’d be the natural choice.’
‘That’s not the whole reason, Lennie. You’re also in a hurry. Maybe something you read in one of the confidential letters to your boss was a bit too hot, even for you? Now you’re trying to make a quick thousand bucks, then run for it.’
Maddox had turned dark pink and his fists began to shake. ‘Sod you, Cayle! I’ve already told you more than’s good for either of us. Now you just spit in my face.’
Cayle shrugged. ‘I want names. Sources. Proof.’
Maddox dug a fingernail into the tablecloth. ‘Ever heard of a chap called Hann? Simon Hann, member of Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Corps?’
Cayle shook his head.
‘Toffee-nosed little bastard. Typical FO — you’d think he spent most of his life dressing.’
‘What of him?’
‘He’s been in Moscow for just six weeks. And I happen to know that his real job is connected with Security. A month ago my boss, Pol, had a hush-hush meeting with him — up in a dasha on the Lenin Hills. Afterwards, Pol went straight back to Geneva and I was left more or less in charge of the Moscow end o’ the business.’
‘What are you trying to sell, Lennie?’
Maddox looked anxiously round again for the waiter. ‘Listen, Cayle.’ He was sweating now. ‘Something big is blowing up — and it’s to do with Philby.’
‘Where’s the proof?’
‘For Christ’s sake, I’m not bloody daft! You don’t think I keep copies o’ those letters, do you?’
‘Not if you hadn’t planned this thing from the beginning.’
‘And what the hell does that mean?’
‘What I said just now. You’ve been working with this man Pol on a few fast deals and suddenly you’re into something where you’re out of your depth. You want to cut your losses, make a quick grand, and scarper. Right?’
The waiter poured them two brandies, and Maddox swallowed his in a gulp. ‘Make it five hundred,’ he said hoarsely. ‘I can’t go lower.’
‘Sorry. As I said, I’m not empowered to make deals without higher authority. But it would make it a lot easier if you told me just where Philby fits in. What’s his connection with this fellow Hann and your boss, Pol?’
‘That’s what you’ll have to pay for. But I can tell you, the three of them are in on something together.’
Cayle shook his head. ‘It’s not good enough, Lennie. Unless, of course, I could talk to Pol direct and confirm the story with him.’
‘And get me done in?’ Maddox snapped. There was a pause. ‘I might be able to get something for you,’ he added. ‘When Pol gets back. Something in writing, maybe. Or even a photograph.’ His face now had a pinched, miserable look; he
