Chapter 38
They spent the evening in the briefing room watching surveillance films Box had taken whilst trailing the other two East Germans: Karl-Heinz Gast and Werner Kasner. The Old Man had insisted on some fresh eyes on the matter, the request emanating from the Director Security Service.
Screen set up, Reg manning the little projector, they sat through two hours of tedious footage, parts of which were repeated several times when someone wanted a closer look at some aspect or other. Not much was happening at all, mainly various cultural sites and several visits to parks and gardens. The locations were shown before each clip, black screen, white writing, a bit like an old silent film.
It all seemed fairly innocent until Gallagher, who'd sat pensively for the last ten minutes asked Reg to run it back to several clips of Karl-Heinz Gast in Queens Park, Swindon. They watched it again then again.
Gally stood up and went to the screen. "Stop it here, Reg. Look. There's the lake and Gast. Look at the trees and look at the benches in the background. Take special notice of this shrub, here." The silhouette of his finger and arm pointed the way. "Right, run it on, Reg. Stop!"
He changed position to the opposite side of the screen. "There's Gast and, behind him, there's a woman sat on the bench. It’s too far away to make out who she is but watch what she does next. Her handbag is on the floor and as she leans forward to pick it up, see where her other hand is." He nodded and the film moved on then stopped. Reg had got the gist.
Gally looked at Sandy and Clive. "What did she do?"
Clive answered. "Her right hand went onto the edge of the bench, sort of like she was holding it."
"Correct. Now, shortly we'll see Gast sit down on a bench, the angle's different but the background features, the trees and that shrub in particular, tell us it's the same bench. Look what Gast does."
The film ran on. From a distance they saw the East German sit down on the bench, leaning back looking as if he was admiring the view. Then he sits forward with his elbows on his knees before dropping his hands to his sides, holding onto the front slats of the bench. He looks at his watch, stands up, puts his hands in his jacket pockets and pulls out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter. Lighting up, he walks away.
Gally stared at the other two. "What did he just do?"
Sandy spoke up this time. "You think he just collected something, from under the bench?"
Gally: "Yep. Something that was left there by the woman we saw earlier. I'd bet that woman was either one of our tea ladies or Reddington's mistress. I may be fixated on tea ladies but the more I've thought about it, not only are they almost invisible but it's the perfect way to introduce a tasteless depressant into someone's system. To be honest, I think this is probably our mistress. She's too well dressed for a tea lady unless they've got some trendy ones working for them."
Reg cut in."I forgot to mention. From Box, they checked out the tea lady with the boyfriend. Both seem genuine. I'll chase them up over the others."
Gally nodded and added. "There's a clip earlier of Kasner getting on a bus. Obviously, they can't follow him with a cine camera but they probably managed to get someone on there with him. What did he do? Where did he sit? Who did he sit next to? See if they can find out if anyone from the project made a trip to London on the same day? Cleaners and tea ladies are still my favourites. It's easier for them to take the time off because the others will take up any slack, unwritten code between the working class and all that."
The Old Man entered the room. "How's it going gentlemen?" They stood up and updated him.
He turned to Reg, "Get on to that tonight, speak to the night man." He sucked on his pipe thoughtfully. "Shame we didn't pick this up before we let them wander off out of the country. Opportunity lost but never mind we can always expel some other unfortunate. Of course, they'll tit for tat us but if we're lucky we’ll be able to use the attaché nearest to retirement and the last one in." He suddenly seemed to remember why he was there.
"Ah, yes, just wanted to bring you all up to date. Box have identified the Edinburgh team. They left on a scheduled flight to Helsinki just after they dropped Pollock off the Forth Rail Bridge. The Finns confirm they visited the Soviet Embassy there then took a train ride across the border to Leningrad. Oh, and the Brighton connection is going well. There's to be an arrest shortly. As for your plan? Very innovative. Make sure you brief our friends across the road tonight. Iron out any issues. I'll be speaking with Sir Martin shortly. "
He sucked the pipe again then took it out and pointed it at them. "Right then. Well done, chaps. I'll be off now. Enjoy the rest of your evening." He glanced at Reg. "You know where I'll be.”