“Yes.”
“And on the Polish Politburo?”
“It’s fair to say that any top-level inside stuff concerning the Warsaw government and the KGB came from Phoenix.”
Merrick nodded. “Could you give us a brief picture of his activities?” When he saw Shapiro hesitate he went on, “You can rely on anything you say staying inside this room, Joe. We appreciate how delicate the situation is for you people.”
Shapiro looked away for a moment towards the window and then down at his clasped hands on the table. Then he raised his head and looked at Merrick.
“He spoke English, and fluent Russian and Polish. He was recruited by SIS from the Army. He was intensively trained to go back to Poland and infiltrate into any government establishment that could give us an inside picture of what was going on inside the regime.
“For five years he has been Deputy Chief Liaison Officer between Polish Intelligence and the KGB in Warsaw and Moscow. He fed us information on the Soviet internal rivalries, the organisation and personnel of the KGB in Moscow and Warsaw, especially those who were active against Britain and the United States.
“He prevented both Langley and London from making several major mistakes in our operations and it’s fair to say that there was little that they planned against either of us that we were not warned about. Not always in precise detail but enough to allow us to take general precautions.”
Macleod intervened, looking at his two colleagues. “The Agency’s considered comment to me was that the material provided by SIS from this agent was the only reliable material that we have received in the last four years. I understand that it is the wish of the Director himself that we furnish any help we can to assist SIS.”
Goldsmith said softly, “What help do they need that we can provide?”
Shapiro shrugged. “There is nothing that could help us at the moment. The reason why Robert Macleod wanted this meeting was so that I could clear up your doubts that we were deliberately holding back information from you. I hope I have convinced you on that score.” He paused. “But if I could move to the future for a moment—maybe our friends in CIA could help. I’m hypothesising that we discover that Pheonix has been taken. Whether he’s talked or not doesn’t really matter. We should want to get him out. We have nobody of theirs at the moment who would make the Soviets interested in an exchange. If we put all our Warsaw Pact prisoners together Moscow wouldn’t be interested for a moment.” Shapiro paused again. “Have you got anybody?”
Goldsmith and Merrick looked at Macleod, who looked across at the man who had not been introduced and who had contributed nothing to the conversation. He in turn looked at Shapiro for several moments before he spoke.
He said very quietly, “My name’s Paul Nowak. I’m also CIA. We don’t have anybody who would constitute a likely exchange for Phoenix.”
Shapiro nodded. “Can I ask you why you are here at this meeting, Mr. Nowak?”
“I’m just an observer.”
“Why is that necessary? Does somebody not trust your colleagues here?”
“I don’t have to give a reason.”
“Only three or four people in Britain know about Phoenix. I’ve talked to your colleagues as a courtesy, I don’t appreciate having somebody else in the picture without it being established that they have a need to know. A man’s life is at stake.”
“I came because I was invited to come. It’s not just curiosity I assure you.”
Shapiro looked at Macleod who looked across at Nowak. “I trust Joe Shapiro implicitly, Paul. So does the Director. Are you going to tell him or shall I?”
Nowak stood up and walked to the door. Before he opened it he looked at Macleod. “I won’t tell him. If you do …” He shrugged, “… then it’s your responsibility.”
Macleod nodded, his face calm and showing no concern at the apparent threat. When Nowak had left, Macleod said, “Nowak’s under a lot of stress at the moment. I won’t go into the details.” He paused. “What matters is that what he said is quite correct. At the moment we have no suitable body for exchange. But it is possible that that could change in the next couple of months.”
“Can I be told the basics?”
“OK. But just the basics. We have a man in custody. An important Soviet. He’ll be coming to the final stages of the legal battle in the next few weeks. Nowak was in charge of the operation. There may be a legal cock-up. Nowak is obsessed by getting him the death sentence or at least life. When it all eventually gets untangled there’s just the possibility that the best solution would be an exchange. Nowak knows this but doesn’t want to admit it so that an exchange doesn’t become an alternative in the legal people’s minds and they hold back from making a one hundred per cent effort to nail the guy.”
“Is this Sivrin at the UN, or is it Colonel Abel?”
Macleod shook his head. “I can’t answer any more questions, Joe. But it’s not Sivrin.”
“Can I keep in touch with you on this?”
“By all means. But remember—it’s vague on both sides. On your side you don’t even know that you need an exchange. And on our side we don’t know if it’s a possibility.”
“Is your guy in the same league as Phoenix?”
“Maybe higher. Even more important. We think. Do you want me to book you a flight? I’ll take you to the airport myself.”
“That would be fine, Robert.”
27
The trial of Lonsdale and his network was set for March 13, 1961, only narrowly depriving the press of the chance to quote Shakespeare and the Ides of March. By then the media knew quite a lot about the private lives of the accused but nothing of their alleged activities. The original formal charge gave no details. But they had to restrain
