Chapter 6
After a brew, and Reg filling him in on a great night at the stamp club, they divided up the transcripts and sat there quietly reading, the silence only broken by an almost hourly, "another cuppa?" and "club or digestive?"
The hours trickled away, interrupted now and then by a visit to the toilets on the next floor up which served as a welcome leg stretcher as well.
Eventually, Gallagher sat back with a sigh. "Mind- numbing stuff this, Reg, but I'm now fairly convinced that two of these guys are simply there as a distraction. I mean, this chap they reckon is really Harald Radler? Well, if the surveillance is as good as it should be, he appears to be the only one doing anything different. A lot of aimless wandering around all over the place like the others but..."
Reg looked up from the paperwork. "Yeah? What have you got?"
Gallagher rubbed his chin. "Well, he's the only one posting stuff."
"I know, Gally. It was on the summary and they checked it out. They managed to intercept it and he's sending stamps to some stamp enthusiast or dealer out in the Cotswolds somewhere. If I remember rightly, they're the sort of thing somebody new to it would be interested in. Same with the others he posted. They sealed them up again and reposted. I tend to agree with their stamp 'expert' who believes the bloke receiving them is making up compilations to sell as starter packs, probably at local markets and the like. Afterwards, they found out he'd placed an advert in The Times asking people to send him European stamps particularly any from the Eastern Block. We think Radler's seen it and responded. He's got kids himself apparently, that's if the identification is correct."
"How did they identify what he'd posted?"
"The surveillance photos. You couldn't miss it. Big brown envelope."
"What countries were the stamps from, Reg?" His colleague flicked through the paperwork in response.
"Hang on." A few moments silence then, "According to this, the first one contained a selection of Polish stamps, the second mainly from Czechoslovakia and the third and fourth Romanian and some French."
"But nothing from East Germany?"
"No."
"So, he's being kind but keeping his cover? Interesting. It makes me think he's playing a game." He paused. "You know, he doesn't appear to have a strict timetable or place for when he posts his letters although they all seem to be in the same general area. He's travelled out of town from time to time but I can't see that he's ever posted anything whilst doing so. There's a clue there, Reg, but I can't work out what it is at the moment." He pondered a while then said, "Never mind, it'll come. Incidentally, how are MI5 intercepting the stuff? GPO Investigations?"
Reg nodded. "Once they knew what they were looking for. Normally, as you know, they'd photograph what they found, reseal it and send it on its way but in this case our colleagues received the originals to check them for microdots and the like."
"Right, well, pass us that pen and notebook, the big one, will you? I need to make some notes I can read at home. Oh, and is it possible you can get me everything known about Radler and the other two?"
Hours later, Gallagher sat rubbing his head with his hands. "I've got a blinding headache. I need to think about this overnight. Won't your missus be waiting for you, Reg?"
"She's waiting but not in this life, Gally. She died five years ago."
"I'm so sorry, Reg. I'm an idiot. I just assumed..."
Reg patted him on the shoulder as he stood up to take the mugs to the sink. "Don't worry about it, son. We had thirty happy years. Maybe I should have told you."
Gally checked his watch. "I didn't realise what the time was and you've sat there patiently putting up with me, saying bugger all. Let's call it a day."
Reg dried the mugs and placed them back by the kettle. "Do you want to do the same tomorrow? It's just I've got a meeting with the astronomy boys at half twelve so, if you did, I'll have to give you my keys or meet you in the morning to let you in. You just pull the doors to when you leave." He placed a plastic tumbler of water on the table and a box of aspirin.
Gally smiled at him, took two tablets and half the water. "That's a kind offer but I couldn't disturb you further. A day off for both of us, I think. I've got some personal admin to occupy me if I can manage to stop thinking this one through.”