“The man I finally decided to talk to is right at the top …”
“Where at the top, the FBI or Langley?”
“Neither. He’s at the White House. In due course I’ll be able to tell you who he is. And if everything goes together you’ll meet him.”
“Why the White House, not one of the agencies?”
“Because if this thing is done it’ll have to be done away from any intelligence outfit. Serov’s friend, let’s call him ‘X’, is in a dangerous position, or would be if anyone from the CIA or the FBI knew his identity. From talking to Serov it’s clear that ‘X’ would only go along with this on his own terms.”
“And what would they be?”
Hancox smiled. “It’s only a guess. He doesn’t know anything about this effort, but we’re sure that ‘X’ would only cooperate if he felt that it was not only on a very high level but as a means of keeping the peace between us and the Soviets.
“The guy in the White House and I have talked at length with Serov about ‘X’ and I’m convinced that Serov has read him well. The reason why it’s taken so long is that we’ve been doing a kind of dry-run on this.”
“What’s that mean?”
“We asked Serov to ask him about McCarthy’s Red hunt, and ask him what advice he would give to the Kremlin about it. Should they intervene or protest or put pressure on the Jews in the Soviet Union as a reprisal.”
“What was his advice?”
“To do nothing. To accept that there was a strong feeling against communists in America but that McCarthy was going too far. He was becoming above Congress and an embarrassment and Congress would put a stop to him sooner or later. Meantime the rest of the world will read about it and see newsreels about McCarthy and that will make them dislike Americans.” Hancox smiled. “And very shrewdly he pointed out that it was harassment of creative people, writers, film people, artists and even musicians. Whilst those were the kind of people who were most respected and privileged in the Soviet Union. And now McCarthy is on screen every day hounding government servants. And the White House share his assessment. McCarthy’s like Hitler. He’ll go too far and Congress is being abused and will turn on him.” Hancox paused. “The last part of the dry run was for Serov to ask ‘X’ where he thought the Soviets will make their next aggressive move against the US.”
“What did he say?”
“It was a surprising answer. Unexpected anyway. He said it would be in East Asia.”
“Does he mean China?”
“I don’t know. That was his answer and we’re waiting to see what happens.”
“We could wait a long time.”
“Maybe. But Serov said that ‘X’ spoke as if it were imminent.”
“When did ‘X’ say this?”
“Just over two weeks ago.” He leaned forward towards Malloy. “The whole exercise has made my man in the White House appreciate the value of knowing what the other side is thinking or planning. There’s no doubt in Serov’s mind that ‘X’ feels that the Kremlin are looking for trouble. And ‘X’ doesn’t like it. He’s very worried.”
“There’s no chance that your White House contact would tip off one of the agencies to put surveillance on Serov to try and identify ‘X’?”
“No chance at all. He’s got great hopes that if this is done carefully and well it could be an invaluable aid for the President.”
“Does the President know?”
“I can’t discuss that. I don’t know for sure anyway.”
Two weeks later on Sunday the 25th of June 1950 the North Koreans invaded South Korea.
CHAPTER 34
There was a note stuck on the apartment door. It just said—“In studio T.O.” It was written in a rounded innocent script and the only affectation was that there was a small circle over the “i” instead of a dot.
For a moment Aarons hesitated and then he walked back down the stairs to the narrow cobbled alleyway. There were two big garage doors painted in bright red, white and blue vertical stripes and there was a smaller door let into the right-hand garage door. He tentatively turned the brass door-knob and the small door swung open into what seemed like total darkness. And then as Aarons’ eyes became accustomed to the darkness he could see that he was behind a black curtain and there were bright lights visible through the thin material. He gently pushed the curtain aside and blinked in the bright lights of the studio.
He saw Tania bent over a camera on a tripod, the long lens pointed toward a girl in only a bra and panties smiling to the camera. He heard the thump of the camera and then Tania stood up straight and turned to look at him. He felt pleased that she recognised him so quickly and then she turned to the model.
“OK, honey. Same time tomorrow.”
Tania walked towards him, still smiling. “It’s been weeks since I saw you. Let’s go upstairs and have a coffee. You haven’t seen the studio before, have you?”
She took his hand and led him to the camera, “This is a Hasselblad, a Swedish camera, much easier to use than those old Graphics and Graflexes.” She waved her hands at the lights on stands and overhead. “These are electronic flashes, the same colour temperature as daylight.” She paused and turned to point towards the doors. “I do mainly fashion and portraits but I get quite a few car shots because I’ve kept the big doors. It’s fine having one of those lovely loft conversions but you can’t get a car up there.”
He looked at a large photograph on the wall, “That’s Paris, when were you in Paris?”
She laughed. “You flatter me, that’s by a guy named Cartier-Bresson. He’s very special. And so’s that guy.” She pointed at a photograph of a desert scene with a solitary yucca.
